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Jar Jar Binks Fan Club
Lint Roller? I Barely Know Her
Love Begins
gracie abrams
Sade Olutola
Show & Tell
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
Misplaced Lens Cap
Keni
The Stonewall Inn
Claire Keane
ojovivo
TMBGareOK. The Official They Might Be Giants tumblr
Sweet Seals For You, Always
Interview Vampire Daily
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One Nice Bug Per Day
Kiana Khansmith
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@sensiblebusiness
Economic Times: Sustainability is the theme for corporate gifting across India Inc this Diwali
Economic Times: Sustainability is the theme for corporate gifting across India Inc this Diwali.
Besides the sustainable gifts, companies are also giving experiential gifts like travel or stay at a hotel to employees, especially as the p
Photographer Stéphan Gladieu Documents the Congolese Street Children Turning Waste into Wonder
UK, 1968.
Packaging
Packaging is a nearly inescapable part of modern life. Unless an item originates from local materials and is only transported in reusable containers, the item or its components have been packaged at some point. Even if you don’t see the packaging, it may be lurking just out of sight. Baked goods may have been made onsite or transported and stored in reusable containers, or they may have been individually packaged for transport or storage before being unpacked for sale. Either way, the ingredients are likely to have been packaged before use. Some packaging is reused, and some is recycled, but large amounts of packaging are discarded in the trash or into the environment.
I buy a breakfast cereal that comes in a bag rather than a bag inside of a paperboard box. According to the label on the bag, this saves 942 tons of paperboard per year, along with the resource costs of producing the boxes and recycling/disposal. Is there hidden packaging associated with transporting the bags of cereal? Yes, but perhaps not as much as if each bag was sold in a paperboard box. And buying the cereal in the “EcoPac” lets the manufacturer know I care about reducing packaging. Some countries have requirements that items such as electronics must be sold in recyclable packaging, but many don’t – yet. I try to watch for opportunities to buy items that apparently have less packaging. When possible, if I cannot avoid packaging, I try to buy items in recyclable packaging that meets my local recycling processor’s requirements for acceptance.
A few ideas:
Check out the bulk bins at your grocery store and take your own container/bag if it’s allowed. Or reuse the bag from the last trip.
Look for ways to reuse the packaging you bring home.
Choose items in packaging that can be recycled in your local recycling processing facility.
Look at different brands of the item and consider the packaging in addition to all the other features of the item.
Don’t litter.
A hot heart in a cool city 👉 Located off the coast of Helsinki, #HotHeart is a series of islands with the dual function of storing thermal energy storage and serving as a hub for recreational activities. The project has won the #HelsinkiEnergyChallenge, which aims to decarbonize the heating system of the Finnish capital by 2030. Hot Heart functions like a giant thermal battery: low- or negative-cost renewable energy is converted into heat, stored in the tanks, and withdrawn into the city’s heat distribution channels during the winter. In addition to its thermal storage properties, it doubles as a recreational venue: four of the 10 hot water reservoirs are enclosed in transparent domes containing the “Floating Forests”. Hot Heart is now being developed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati in collaboration with Squint/Opera Ramboll Transsolar KlimaEngineering Danfoss /Leanhear, Schneider Electric OP and schlaich bergermann partner sbp
Globally, climate change is intensifying the risk of drought in many regions. Solar panels can help prevent water loss through evaporation by shading canals. It’s a win-win for some solar panels because they work even better since the cooler environment prevents them from overheating. It also reduces habitat loss by…
Methane from landfills
I was reading an article the other day about organizations that are putting satellites into orbit with sensors that can locate large sources of methane leaking into the atmosphere. The organizations hope to use this research to identify large sources of methane pollution that can be eliminated. This is important because methane is a very powerful greenhouse gas (about 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide) that contributes significantly to global warming and climate change. One type of large methane source is leakage from ordinary municipal landfills – the places we send our garbage. Methane is created inside of a landfill when organic matter decomposes in an oxygen-free environment. Organic matter is anything that used to be alive – food, paper, cardboard, wood, lawn clippings, and cotton and linen fabric. Some large, new landfills have methane collection systems that move the methane to a power-producing plant, but most landfills still vent the methane to the atmosphere. If we reduce the amount of organic matter going to the landfill, we can reduce the amount of methane produced by the landfill. Here are a few alternatives to sending organic matter to the landfill:
· If you have recycling options available, recycle your paper and cardboard.
· Find alternatives to paper towels and other paper disposables.
· Manage the food you buy so you don’t have to throw it away.
· Don’t collect your lawn cuttings in plastic bags and send them to the landfill. Most lawns will remain healthy if you leave the cuttings on the lawn (as long as they are spread out).
· If you live in an appropriate situation, investigate composting. If composting is done properly, far less methane is produced when the organic matter decomposes. If you plan to try it, do some research on techniques and you’ll be more successful. One of the key factors in home composting is air flow; if the organic matter decomposes in the presence of air, far less methane is produced. The decomposition process still produces carbon dioxide, but it is a less powerful greenhouse gas.
Hello! Here are several images I worked on recently for Danish Union for an article about the Green Economy :)
https://michaeldriver.co.uk
1962 Book Silent Spring
In 1962, Rachel Carson published a book titled “Silent Spring”. It has been called “the single most influential book on the environmental conservation movement”. The concepts and information in this book influenced large numbers of readers to become concerned about environmental issues. This public concern led to laws regarding air pollution; water pollution; production, use, and disposal of hazardous chemicals; and other forms of environmental protection. The actions of one person CAN make a difference, whether large or small. When you look on the Internet, you will find a lot of good, scientifically sound information on environmental issues, as well as information of questionable accuracy. Find trustworthy sources of information (websites, books, or magazines), educate yourself, and then decide what you personally can do. I found a very nice summary of “Silent Spring” and some of the main concepts (which are still relevant) from the book. See the link below.
https://www.treehugger.com/legacy-silent-spring-continues-60-years-publication-5186985
Researchers have developed a new method to convert single-use plastic waste into ready-to-use molecules for jet fuels, diesel and lubricants. It requires 50 percent less energy than other technologies and doesn't add carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Good news in recycling:
In the United States, less than nine percent of plastic waste is recycled. Instead, more than 75 percent of plastics waste ends up in landfills and up to 16 percent is burned.
Researchers from the University of Delaware’s Center for Plastics Innovation (CPI) have developed a direct method to convert single-use plastic waste to ready-to-use molecules for jet fuels, diesel and lubricants.
The work, reported in a paper in Science Advances, focuses on using a novel catalyst and unique process to quickly break down these hardest-to-recycle plastics, known as polyolefins. Polyolefins account for 60 to 70 percent of all plastics made today.
The UD-developed process requires approximately 50 percent less energy than other technologies, and it doesn’t involve adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, an emissions savings over other commonly used techniques. It can be done in just a couple hours at low temperature, around 250 degrees Celsius. This is slightly higher than the 450-degree Fahrenheit oven temperature you might use to roast vegetables or bake a puff pastry at home.
Importantly, the UD team’s method can treat a variety of plastics, even when they are mixed together, a plus considering the way recyclables are managed….
“Alone these two catalysts do poorly. Together, the combination does magic, melting the plastics down and leaving no plastic behind,” Vlachos said.
This gives the CPI-developed method an advantage over current techniques used today, although Vlachos stressed that more work is needed to translate these scientific methods to industry. Another plus: the team’s catalyst materials are commonly used and, therefore, fairly inexpensive and abundant…
By turning polyethylene packaging into high-value products, chemists hope to incentivize recycling of what is essentially zero-value waste
No, You Do Not Have To Reuse A Cloth Bag 171 Times to Equal a Plastic Bag
Some studies have shown that in order for a cloth bag to be as environmentally effective as a single-use plastic bag, the cloth bag would have to be used 171 times or more. But overall, thee studies are missing a lot of factors.
(image from Pixabay)
The two main studies I will be focusing on is a UK report from 2011, and a danish report from 2018. Both of these reports have a lot of good information in them, but they make a lot of assumptions that don’t seem to be based on fact, or else ignores potential alternatives.
More Than CO2 Emissions
When people spout this statistic, they make it seem like carbon emissions are the only thing that one has to deal with when it comes to the creation and disposal of a product. The second study showcased different scenarios such as ecotoxicity, but both studies leave one major thing out: plastic pollution.
Neither of these two studies, for some reason, mention plastic pollution and microplastics as a factor in determining the eco-friendliness of the alternative. This is strange to me, saying that we are currently living in a plastic crisis. Microplastics are found in fish, even those we buy at the grocery store. Plastic bags have even been found at the bottom of the ocean.
Paper Bags
The first study claimed that 40% of consumers reused plastic bags as a trash carrier before tossing them out. But they did not look at paper bags as something that people use as a trash carrier after use. Claiming that “Paper bags were assumed not to be reused as bin liners, as there was no evidence that they could successfully be reused for this purpose.“
While the US and UK might have different ways of going about things, I have seen hundreds of people in my life alone who use paper bags for this purpose. This includes various times in my dumpster diving adventures where I have seen paper bags and even cardboard boxes used as trash recepticles.
(Image from Pixabay)
The one thing I did not see, however, is recycled paper bags. While Denmark might not have recycled paper bags as commonplace, most locations that I have seen have paper bags made out of at lease some recycled materials. Walmart, Whole Foods, and even Cracker Barrel, Mcdonalds, and more are using paper bags made from post-consumer recycled paper here in the US.
So it would be interesting to know how low the eco footprint of a paper bag goes when accounting for post-consumer recycled materials, especially 100% post-consumer recycled content.
Conventional Cotton
Every single study that I have seen looked only at convential cotton tote bags bought new. They took into account the harvesting of the cotton, the production of cotton into a textile, and the shipping of the cotton tote bag from China to the US. They do not look at factors such as pollution from dying and bleaching the fabrics.
The 2018 Danish Report does look at Organic Cotton vs Conventional Cotton Vs a Jute Composit Bag. It shows that conventional cotton bags would have to be used 7100 times to mitigate the overall harm from the manufacturing of the bag. Neither of these studies take textile recycling or reuse of the cotton fabric into mind.
That study also shows that organic cotton is 3 times worse on all counts than conventional cotton, but only claims that this is because organic cotton has a 30% less yeild and isn’t as bundled together than cotton is. But the fact that organic cotton uses less pesticides and uses better land management processes overall is not factored in. I cannot grasp how this is estimated to be 3 times worse though, as that number seems to come out of nowhere.
(chart showing how many times someone needs to be reused to counteract their eco footprint, but it also ignores many factors, as explained in this post.)
It is almost as if they took the impact of cotton production and times that number by 3 and never bothered to explain why they did that. Especially because in the report itself, it says that:
“ As far as the carrier bag material is concerned, organic cotton provides environmentally pref-erable productionconditions by avoiding the use of fertilizers and pesticides, but with a lower yield. The lower production yield translates in overall higher environmental impacts connected to its production“
But that makes little sense unless you are ignoring vital factors, such as the dying process, which is far more sustainable and often isn’t dumped into rivers in poverty-stricken countries and villages.
What ignoring cotton vs organic cotton, else else can we find?
Alternatives to Conventional Cotton
The second study does look at jute bags made from 80% jute, 10% PP, and 10% cotton. The overall impacts of buying these bags new were only a tenth of conventional cotton production. This makes them a far better alternative, needing to be used only 23 times to begate the greenhouse gas emissions to produce it, and 870 times to eliminate their overall impact. But can we do better?
Reused bags
Go to just about any thrift shop and you can find tons of these reusable tote bags made from all kinds of materials. Pretty much all of them have been used at one time or another, and often as storage or for carrying groceries. As a result, their impact is already far lower.
Despite what these studies say, you do not have to buy a brand new tote bag. We have so many on the market already that buying a new virgin material bag would just be a waste.
Recycled fiber bags
Cotton can be recycled. Textile recycling plants are a thing, despite what these studies might have you believe. There are a ton of tote bags on the market right now that are made with 100% recycled cotton. As a result, these bags have a far lower environmental footprint, as factors such as the growing of the cotton, and even the dying process for the most part, is no longer part of the equation.
Upcycled Fabric
If you have a cotton t-shirt or button up shirt, etc, that you might have worn a few times and you might have worn once or twice more before donating, you can turn that into a tote bag. DIY tote bags have a far lower impact, and since you have used the clothes in the past and plan on using them for longer, it is a great way to reduce your impact to almost zero.
Upcycled reclaimed Fabric
(This is a tote bag that I sell on my etsy shop, Upcycleability)
This is what I do with my shop. I take clothing that people have thrown in the garbage, and use those textiles to create new projects, such as a tote bag. Since these are post-consumer textiles and salvaged from the landfill, their overall impact is basically zero. With the exception of something like shipping, or the electricity used by a sewing machine or a small iron.
Overall, there is a lot that we can do to lower the impact of the bags we use at grocery stores. Upcycled, recycled, and thrited tote bags are your best option. But whichever you choose, you can be happy with your choice that it will not be tossed out almost immediately and cause massive harm to sea turtles and ocean life.
Just make sure that you USE the bags and do not buy a ton of tote bags and never use them. That helps nobody, and actually harms the environment.
***
If you want to support me, check out my upcycled crafts and reclaimed crafting supplies on Upcycleability at Etsy
Also, you can check out the secondhand clothing that I have saved from the trash on my Poshmark!
Floral Design for printed textiles, 1800–1818, Smithsonian: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Medium: Brush and gouache, graphite on white wove paper
http://collection.cooperhewitt.org/view/objects/asitem/id/119968
Kitchen ideas, part 2
Here are more ideas for sustainability in the kitchen.
· Learn how to store produce to maximize the time it stays fresh. Some items, such as apples, should not be stored near other produce, because the apples emit a gas that causes fruits such as bananas to ripen faster. Here are two links with information on the best ways to store food.
https://www.savethefood.com/food-storage
https://www.livestrong.com/article/523091-what-fruits-shouldnt-be-stored-next-to-each-other
· Don’t stand in front of the refrigerator door while you are thinking about what to remove. For every 30 seconds the door is open, it takes 30 minutes for the refrigerator to cool back down. Also, when you need to get multiple items out of the refrigerator, try to get them in batches so that you open the door as few times as possible.
· Minimize use of disposable paper towels. Keep washable cloths or rags handy for cleanup chores. Paper towels are still sometimes a useful option, so use the smallest piece that will do the job. I buy the rolls that have half sheet perforations, and then frequently tear the half sheets in half because I only need a small piece of paper towel for the job.
· Per a Time magazine special edition on sustainability, using a microwave or pressure cooker saves energy (and time) compared to baking in the oven. Using a toaster oven may also save energy compared to roasting in an oven.
Michael Stanley-Jones Interview Focus 1. An introduction from you - background, overview, education. 2. When was the moment you decided to change your life in Silicon Valley towards a sustainability activism career? 3. Can you tell us about your career highlights so far working in the UN, Sustainable Fashion Alliance, as an environmentalist in Silicon Valley, etc.? 4. Can you tell us more about the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development? 5. As part of the UNEP Sustainability Work Group, you supported the development and adoption of the UNEP Environmental, Social & Economic Sustainability Framework, which provides review, transparency, and grievance procedures. Can you tell us about your vision and how to put it in practice? 6. You have been the inaugural Secretary and the first Chair of the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion, an inter-agency coordinating group (from Dec. 2018, as the Alliance's co-Secretary with Simone Cipriani, Head of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative) since July 2018. Can you tell us about that role and your work done so far? 7. How can we create a more sustainable world, focusing on two major topics - fashion and textile industry? 8. Can you tell us about your work as author of "Reward and Renewal: The Poverty-Environment Initiative Final Project Report (2014-2018)" and co-author of J. Gupta et al, "Re-imaging the driver-pressure-state-impact-response framework from an equity and inclusive development perspective" (Sustainability Science, June 2019)? 9. What advice do you give to individuals and organisations at the time of Covid-19 and on how to cope with the present challenges specially with advent of Society 5.0 - 4IR and all areas of digital transformation when it comes to UN SDG and your work with UN, at large? 10. About data ownership and technology. What are your visions on data ownership and the UN’s approach to it? 11. You are a poet too. Can you tell us more about this creative side?
