Sustainability

Tag Archives: planetary health

No Children Because of Climate Change? Some People Are Considering It

Add this to the list of decisions affected by climate change: Should I have children?

It is not an easy time for people to feel hopeful, with the effects of globalwarming no longer theoretical, projections becoming more dire and governmental action lagging. And while few, if any, studies have examined how large a role climate change plays in people’s childbearing decisions, it loomed large in interviews with more than a dozen people ages 18 to 43.

A 32-year-old who always thought she would have children can no longer justify it to herself. A Mormon has bucked the expectations of her religion by resolving to adopt rather than give birth. An Ohio woman had her first child after an unplanned pregnancy — and then had a second because she did not want her daughter to face an environmental collapse alone.

Trump administration could be sued over pesticide threat to orca and salmon

 

  • Fishing industry and environmentalists mull lawsuits
  • EPA tried to delay report detailing chemicals’ harm to wildlife

Commercial fishermen and environmental groups could file lawsuits against the Trump administration, if it fails to follow a recommendation by one of its own agencies to protect salmon, sturgeon, orca and other endangered species in the Pacific north-west.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) recently issued a long-awaited opinion on three organophosphate pesticides – chlorpyrifos, diazinon and malathion.

It did so after a long court fight. Environmental groups sought publication of the opinion while the Trump administration, supported by pesticide manufacturers, pushed for a two-year delay.

The 3,700-page federal report was issued on 29 December. The scientists warned that the widely used pesticides pose a threat, through run-off into rivers and oceans, to dozens of endangered and threatened species.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jan/21/trump-administration-lawsuit-pesticide-orca-salmon?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+USA+-+Collections+2017&utm_term=261334&subid=14675834&CMP=GT_US_collection

 

INSIDE COCA-COLA’S SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY

The Coca-Cola Company in Western Europe and Coca-Cola European Partners have launched a first ever joint Sustainability Action Plan for western Europe, entitled ‘This is Forward’, setting out new commitments on drinks, packaging and society. Developed through a consultation process encompassing 100 stakeholders, governments, NGOs and customers, as well as 12,000 consumers and a thousand of its own employees across Europe, the plan sets respective targets of 100 per cent packaging collection and 50 per cent recycled content for PET bottles by 2025. Joe Franses (vice president, Sustainability, ‎Coca-Cola European Partners) and Ulrike Sapiro (director of sustainability, Coca-Cola Western Europe) reveal the iconic brand owner’s packaging strategy to Packaging Europe.

‘This is Forward’ sets out an aim to collect 100 per cent of Coca-Cola’s packaging in western Europe. What concrete steps and collaborations do you have in place to realise this?

https://packagingeurope.com/inside-coca-cola-sustainability-action-plan-europe/

From Tree-Planting Drones to Shade-Grown Tea: Businesses Are Making Money by Reforesting the Planet

An estimated 15 billion trees are cut down each year—more than 41 million per day. Given this pace of land degradation, it’s hard to imagine how traditional reforestation methods, which rely on the hand-planting of live seedlings, could ever keep up. BioCarbon Engineering offers another way—a device, no more than two feet in height, that has the potential to plant 400,000 seeds per day—150 times faster than hand-planting carried out by a human.

http://www.wri.org/blog/2018/01/tree-planting-drones-shade-grown-tea-businesses-are-making-money-reforesting-planet

The Business of Planting Trees: A Growing Investment Opportunity

Planting trees as a business venture

The World Resources Institute (WRI) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) analyzed over 140 companies that have made landscape restoration and reforestation their core business model. Out of all those companies, 14 who had reached median sales growth of 100 percent in 2017, were showcased in a new report titled The Business of Planting Trees: A Growing Investment Opportunity.

The restoration economy, according to the report, refers to the network of businesses, investors, and consumers that engage in an economic activity related to restoring the land. And while there are no officials records on the size of the restoration economy, yet, it does include a vast array of companies, including early stage, pre-revenue startups to timber funds that manage billions of dollars. Similarly, the goods and services produced by these companies vary widely as well, from biofuels to climate-smart credit systems to green infrastructure.

Read more:  http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/startups-emerging-in-the-restoration-and-reforestation-economy/article/512592#ixzz54mz1NtfM

 

http://www.wri.org/publication/business-of-planting-trees

The Problem of Plastic Waste will require Drastic Measures

Plastic waste is everywhere, but several countries, from Malawi to Morocco, have made plans to phase out plastic shopping bags and other disposable items. Now, following in their footsteps, Great Britain is planning to enact new measures aimed at weaning customers off disposable plastic products that are chucked out after a single use, thereby greatly adding to the already massive amounts of plastic waste.

Among other measures, the European nation will impose a 5 pence (RM0.3) surcharge on single-use plastic bags and lean on retailers to set up plastic-free aisles. The aim, according to Prime Minister Theresa May, is to eradicate all plastic waste within the next 25 years.

So far so good. But here is a problem: that quarter-century timeline is unfeasible. There is way too much plastic waste in the world as it is, and such long-term plans will do little to alleviate the situation in the near future.

The Problem of Plastic Waste will require Drastic Measures

Responsible consumption, a guide to a zero-waste New Year

It’s early in the new year and there is no other way to hit the ground running than an inspiring new year compliments and ambitious felicitation, may the new year bring fulfillment to set goals and aspirations.

New year resolution is a tradition in which an individual resolve to change an undesired trait or behavior, to accomplish a certain personal goal or otherwise improve their lives.

Responsible consumption, a guide to a zero-waste New Year

China to plant forest the size of Ireland in bid to become world leader in conservation

China wants forests to cover 26 per cent of its land by 2035.

China has announced plans to plant new forests in 2018 that will cover at least 6.6 million hectares, an area roughly the size of Ireland.

The move is China’s latest bid to shed its polluting image and become world leader in environment protection, since President Donald Trump chose to withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement last year.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/05/china-plant-forest-size-ireland-bid-become-world-leader-conservation/

California is preparing to defend its waters from Trump order

In its first act to shield California from the Trump administration’s repeal of regulations, the state’s water board has prepared its own rulesprotecting wetlands and other waters.

The proposed new rules, scheduled for a vote by the board this summer, could insulate the state from President Donald Trump’s executive order toroll back the reach of the Clean Water Act. That rollback would strip federal protection from seasonal streambeds, isolated pools and other transitory wetlands, exposing them to damage, pollution or destruction from housing developments, energy companies and farms.

California is preparing to defend its waters from Trump order

Sally and Mike Gale raise grass-fed beef and lambs and grow apple trees on un-irrigated pastureland dependent on rain at Chileno Valley Ranch in Petaluma, CA.

Top