People who live in more built up areas and spend less free-time in nature are also less likely to take actions that benefit the environment, such as recycling, buying eco-friendly products, and environmental volunteering.
Source: phys.org
UN agencies along with the World Economic Forum, the Global Environment Facility, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development called for an overhaul of the current global electronics system this week in Davos, Switzerland. The world produces as much as 50 million metric tons of electronic and electrical waste annually — weighing more than all of the commercial airliners ever made, according to UN Environment. This waste is actually worth over $62.5 billion. Given that less than 20% of global e-waste is formally recycled, a new report from the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy (PACE) and the UN E-Waste Coalition proposes a circular e-waste economy. The report, A New Circular Vision for Electronics, Time for a Global Reboot, says it is time to reconsider e-waste, re-evaluate the electronics industry, and reboot the system for the benefit of industry, consumer, worker, health of humankind and the environment. “There is a lot of economic value in e-waste, particularly from such materials as gold, silver, copper, platinum and palladium, among others,” the report notes. In addition, it points out that there is 100 times more gold in a metric ton of smartphones than in a metric of gold ore. Last year, researchers discovered that extracting metals from e-waste costs 13 times less than mining ore. “The transition to a circular economy must take place in a way that benefits all stakeholders from the consumer to workers, government, businesses, entrepreneurs and society at large,” the report concludes. “There will be a need for mass collaboration, system changing ideas, new policy frameworks and new ways of doing business.” We are currently accepting submissions for the 2019 Environmental Leader Awards. Learn more and submit a project or product here. Design: Products designed for durability, reuse and safe recycling, substances of concern substituted out. Reintegration of manufacturing scrap: Scrap metal from manufacturing is re-introduced into new components.
Read the full article at: www.environmentalleader.com
As lockdown eases in some countries but not in others, and as the death toll continues to rise, there may be a light at the end of this long, dark tunnel of uncertainty – as long as the world does not backtrack, back to business as usual, nor falter on the promised path toward a sustainable future.
As a student, there are several ways in which to engage in sustainability science. No matter which faculty you belong to, you can work on issues of sustainability. There is an abundance of unanswered questions in regard to sustainability – and perhaps your discipline can be the one to shed new…
SunPeak customer DePauw University has attracted newfound attention from top state and local agencies for its commitment to environmental protection and sustainability. The liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana recently received three awards for its use of solar power and other energy-management strategies. DePauw was selected by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management as a recipient of the prestigious Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence. The awards are reserved for innovative, sustainable, and exemplary programs or projects that demonstrate measurable environmental, economic, and social benefits to the state. The award specifically recognized the success of DePauw’s campus energy master plan.
The US Plastics Pact — a consortium launched in August by The Recycling Partnership and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), as part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s global Plastics Pact Network — unveiled an aggressive national strategy to ensure all plastic packaging will be reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025. Roadmap to 2025 is supported by nearly 100 corporations, startups, research entities, NGOs, universities, and state and local governments across the plastics packaging value chain; and includes mandatory reporting and specific timeframes for realizing meaningful and targeted outcomes for a truly circular plastics economy.
Learn everything you need to know about how to invest and trade more sustainably.