#sustainable

[grickle14]

Sustainable Kaiju.

[solarpunkbusiness]

Seaweed packaging is shifting single-use plastic out of stadiums

Notpla is aiming to expand in Europe and displace 1 billion units of single-use plastic by 2030.

Notpla, the company which makes seaweed-based packaging to replace single-use plastics, started with its two French and Spanish founders, Pierre Paslier and Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, experimenting in their student kitchen while at Imperial College London.

Now, Notpla has replaced more than 21 million items of single-use plastic across Europe, and is aiming to displace 1 billion units by 2030. In partnership with Just Eat, Notpla’s packaging was used at the UEFA Women’s Final at Wembley Stadium, London in 2022. From seven types of folded carton board boxes that year, it has grown into a catalogue of over 50 different designs. 

And the company is launching a new deli range, featuring plastic-free windows so people can see their sandwiches before buying. Honsinger hopes this will help Notpla branch out into office catering and museums, where that sneak peek is important. 

[hope-for-the-planet]

The Shops Where Trash Becomes Crafters' Treasure

Creative reuse centers keep leftover and unwanted art supplies out of landfills — by giving them a second life in the hands of other creator

From the article:

But, as Brownell explained to new customers, Smart is different from the typical craft store: Everything on its shelves has been donated. The shop is what is known as a creative reuse center. These crafting thrift stores keep leftover and unwanted art supplies out of landfills, and instead get them into the hands of other creators at affordable prices. Smart combines that model with another mission. Many of the employees and volunteers who run the shop are adults with disabilities. Over the last decade, the organization has diverted more than one million pounds of art and craft materials from landfills, while providing over 37,400 hours of job coaching, volunteering and employment for adults with disabilities.

I think this is a really great example of how expansive environmental work can be--and how it can coincide with other forms of community action.

Protests and politics aren't the most effective or sustainable form of action for everyone (though there are more diverse ways to participate in that kind of action too!)--providing a service to your community that increases sustainability and aligns with your passions and interests is also an extremely valid and needed form of environmental action.

[thenordroom]

Nature is part of daily life in this sustainable Dutch villa | subscribe for weekly home tours

[feralfaelife]

@Joan_de_art

[thingsorganizedneatly]

Photo by Bose Bonda for National Geographic Amazing story about natural water sources in Southern Africa with the Okavango Wilderness Project. Caption from the magazine: The Okavango Wilderness Project team pilots several flat-bottom canoes called mokoro along the Cubango River, which wends through the western part of the Angolan highlands. The expedition crew's mokoros are loaded to allow access to what is needed on the water while keeping the boats carefully balanced to avoid capsizing.

[montereybayaquarium]

Protecting ocean habitats by eating sustainable seafood can help coral reefs 🪸—and all the life that depends on them!

Our warming ocean and human impact are putting entire reefs at risk. When corals disappear, countless ocean animals lose the homes they depend on to survive. These animals range from clownfish to sea turtles to sharks.   🌊

Take the Great Barrier Reef for example: it’s home to over 9,000 animal species, according to National Geographic–including animal species that millions of people rely on for food. 

While many fishing methods are perfectly safe for the seafloor, certain methods like bottom trawling can also cause severe damage to reefs. Bottom trawling drags heavy nets and chains along  the seafloor to scoop up bottom-dwelling fish, which can also dismantle coral beds in the process. Limiting when and where trawling occurs can lessen impacts to sensitive ocean habitats. 

The good news is: our choices matter. Seafood Watch green ratings ensure our seafood is caught using methods that protect our ocean ecosystems. By choosing sustainable seafood, we protect the ocean and people who depend on it! 

Read more about the importance of coral.