Sustainability is worth how much?

Who is this book for? What’s in this book for you?For parents who would love to find ways to teach their children all things sustainability For children who are super passionate about learning about our planet, sustainability in a hands-on-manner For those who want to learn about the environmental…

Prominent Northeastern grocery store chain Hannaford Supermarkets made headlines recently by declaring that for an entire year it had not sent any spoiled or outdated food to landfills, where the organic decomposition process produces methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases. Instead, Hannaford, which operates in New England and New York, is contracting with an anaerobic food reprocesser to strip the food from its packaging, mix it with microbes and manure, and turn it into fuel, fertilizer and bedding for dairy cows.

Artists are recognising that music activities can contribute to the protection of our environment by raising awareness as well as encouraging and taking action. Musicians have joined the call for a green recovery from the coronavirus crisis, whilst several major record labels, bands and festival organisers who form the UK music industry have declared a climate and ecological emergency. The declaration has been administered by the newly formed Music Declares Emergency group, an independent organisation created by music business professionals and artists. Here I look at some examples of activities carried out by those involved in the music industry as they put ideas into action, including incorporating the circular economy into their activities.

The sustainability culture at CHEP, a global leader in pallet and container pooling services, was upheld as an aspirational standard for the industry during this week’s episode of Net Zero Carbon. But this culture is baked into CHEP’s history.  “CHEP was founded when the allies left all these pallets for moving equipment during World War II in Australia,” said Tyler Cole, FreightWaves’ director of carbon intelligence. “It started as a way to get rid of waste with all the excess pallets laying around, and through a big global growth expansion and standardization of pallet size and forklift offloading, they’ve been able to scale and get rid of a lot of that waste.”
As the current climate crisis spurs supply chain constituents to join the movement, CHEP has continued its efforts by partnering with Convoy to reduce empty miles. Like many shippers, CHEP was paying for those empty backhauls, but during an initial trial of Convoy’s technology, it was able to reduce empty miles by 50%. Behind that optimization lies cost savings, a more efficient supply chain and emissions reductions.