CRessence

Corporate Responsibility & Responsible Consumption

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Rare overtime protest by China tech workers goes viral

Chinese technology workers are protesting online against grueling overtime hours at some companies, a rare push back against the work cultur

Chinese tech workers protest against working 9-9 for 6 days a week as an industry norm.

It is an intriguing incident not only it shows a modernised view towards ‘diligence’ in Chinese working culture. It also shows how employees use their ‘voices’ to challenge a long accepted workplace practice (knowledge workers in finance, advertising, accounting, etc have been unwillingly receptive of this norm).

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朝九晚九每週六天：大陸程序員GitHub上抗議996血汗加班，能否凱旋歸來？

國內IT行業工作的員工發起反對996（每天工作九至九時，每星期上班六天的安排），突然有感國內勞工維護其權益意識較香港強。香港的金融、會計、廣告、出入口貿易行業加班是「奉旨」的，我想差別在那裡呢？我想中國的勞動法是功不可沒的！相比之下，香港連標準工時、最高工時及法定加班費也沒有，工時的長短便全取決於「無形之手」及勞動者的協商能力。

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Manufactured water can supplement the natural stuff, but never replace it

And the cost of desalination can be prohibitive

The price of desalinated water is USD$0.50-0.55 a cubic metre (around HKD 4.32) which is cheaper than Dongjiang water (HKD 5.9). Advanced membrane technologies like reverse osmosis make it economical for Hong Kong to consider building its own desalination plant to address the freshwater dependency issue.

In 2015, Greenpeace conducted a drinking water test in Hong Kong. The result shows reservoirs that primarily store Dongjiang drinking water have a higher concentration of PFCs, PFOS, and PFOA than those reservoirs receive mainly rainwater and mountain stream water.

This technology has started to be used in the last 10 years in China to treat industrial wastewater due to the stringent pollution discharge regulation. Hong Kong based Esquel Group has also cited in its sustainability report that its Chinese factories use this technology to enable the reuse of reclaimed water in production. Singapore has gone one step further- 30% of Singapore’s drinking water, known as Newater, is actually reclaimed wastewater treated with advanced membrane technology.

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Why Bangladesh’s divorce rate is rising

First women get jobs, then they get ideas

An unintended effect of the booming garment industry in Bangladesh- divorce applications have increased by 34% in the last 7 years! Earning a salary makes women leaving a bad marriage possible.

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A coalition of giant brands is about to change how we shop forever, with a new zero-waste platform

Loop will send you name-brand products, like Tide detergent, Crest mouthwash, or Häagen Dazs ice cream. When you’re done, you ship the em

An inspiring article on reimagining packaging:

1) Switch packaging from cost to an asset: make it looks better on the shelf and performs better as a packaging. Refund deposit if the reusable packaging is returned.

2) Partner with logistics company that has figured out the reverse logistics- delivery trucks go out full and come back full.

3) Introduce new products- from shampoo soap to chewable solid toothpaste... sky is the limit.

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Sewage effluent fights desertification in Egypt Deutsche Welle (www.dw.com), dw.com

A forestry project in Egypt is using sewage effluent to nurture tree plantations in the desert, preventing desertification. The method has been so effective that it's attracted the interest of German forestry companies.

Water sparkles under a cl…

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Recycling industry's working conditions can be hazardous. #Deathrate is 9 times of the #manufacturing industry average

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Excessive packaging is one of the most preventable sources of waste, and most of it ends up in the landfill. Often taking up more than half of a product’s unit volume, some studies indicate that product packaging accounts for nearly half of all household waste. http://flip.it/UoWo_

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Sustainability is pretty clearly one of the world's most important goals; but what groups can really make environmental progress in leaps and bounds? Chris McKnett makes the case that it's large institutional investors. He shows how strong financial data isn't enough, and reveals why investors need to look at a company's environmental, social and governance structures, too.

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Al Gore The case for optimism on climate change https://www.ted.com/talks/al_gore_the_case_for_optimism_on_climate_change

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Anthony Watts, wattsupwiththat.com

This study reminded me of one of the most ridiculous green marketing campaigns ever, “carbon free” Domino sugar. My view is that the only consumers that care about a carbon footprint are the ones incapable of understanding what they are being sold…

Does consumer care about carbon footprint?

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Toward a circular economy in food mckinsey.com

The French food and water company Danone has a history of environmental awareness. In this interview with McKinsey partner Clarisse Magnin, CEO Emmanuel Faber discusses his commitment to resource …

#Danone #circulareconomy

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Meet a 23-year-old traveling the world on a bicycle to collect stories of climate change pri.org

Devi Lockwood is a 23-year-old poet and touring cyclist turned professional storyteller from Boston. And she's traveling the world by bicycle and boat to collect 1,001 stories about water and climate change.

With a background as a rowing coach,…

#climatechange #storytelling

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More plastic than fish in the sea by 2050, says Ellen MacArthur Graeme Wearden, theguardian.com

As a record-breaking sailor, Dame Ellen MacArthur has seen more of the world’s oceans than almost anyone else. Now she is warning that there will be more waste plastic in the sea than fish by 2050, unless the industry cleans up its act.

Accordin…

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Living Near A Lot Of Trees Makes You Feel 7 Years Younger (And $10,000 Richer)

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A movement has started in Hong Kong called “sleep one hour earlier and offset carbon emission”.  This is how much electricity one can save by sleeping an hour early in a week.