Posts

holiday

How To Tackle The Holiday Season Sustainably To Help Protect The Planet 

/in , /by

The holiday season is busy for all of us, and in the US, it’s expected that spending will hit a record high this year. According to the National Retail Federation, 2025 is set to be the first time America collectively spends over $1 trillion on gifts during the last month of the year. 

One thing that often gets overlooked during the chaos of the holidays is how much waste and planet-warming gases are emitted into our atmosphere due to increased manufacturing, traveling, one-time material use, and more. 

There are many easy ways, however, that we all can help make the holidays greener to help give our planet the gift of environmental protection. 

Embed from Getty Images

Going homemade can not only become a fun holiday activity and tradition, but it helps reduce waste. Sandra Goldmark, associate dean of Columbia Climate School’s Office of Engagement and Impact, told AP that one of her favorite gift-giving options is providing an act of service for a loved one. She gave the example of how one year, her husband took the time to organize all of her passwords for her, something that may seem mundane to some, but is so personal and helpful it became one of her favorite gifts. 

“It was not something easy to wrap and put under the tree, but believe me, it was meaningful and really helped me more than any additional object cluttering up my home could have,” she told the publication.

Something more general that everyone enjoys is the gift of good food. A trend that has been taking over the holiday season in recent years is buying ingredients in bulk and packing them in Mason jars. Cookie mix, soup mix, spices, bread starters, and more can be easily packaged in cute jars which can then be adjourned with ribbon, stickers, and cute recipe labels. 

Goldmark also emphasized that by simply buying less stuff, we work towards a greater sustainability goal. “The advice starts out simple: Buy less stuff. The best way to give gifts more sustainably is to buy fewer new things.” 

Additionally, gifting experiences rather than a physical gift has become more and more popular in recent years. Concerts, local festivals, spa days, museums, zoos, etc. all are great options and it’s been shown that having experiences together work to strengthen relationships even further than material gifts. 

Embed from Getty Images

“There is so much that you could do by just saying, ‘I would prefer if you just made me a nice meal or took me out for some sort of adventure,’” said Atar Herziger, environmental psychologist.

Sustainable living educator Sarah Robertson-Barnes recommends looking into secondhand gifts as they involve less manufacturing, packaging, and shipping. 

“I bet somebody has the thing that you’re looking for and they would love to get rid of it. We do have a weird cultural thing where new is better and used is gross. I suggest reframing used gifts as vintage,” she said.

Herziger said “secondhand options might be received better when they’re items that can’t be bought new, such as a family heirloom or a collectible that isn’t produced anymore.”

“Focus on items that are high-quality, long-lasting, repairable and really needed. That ensures that it’s worth investing in and reduces the chance that it gets returned. Look to buy locally, rather than ordering online, to reduce how far it travels,” Goldmark stated. 

Finally, every year millions of pounds of wrapping paper end up in landfills, and a lot of it can’t be recycled due to the fact that many pf them are made with non-recyclable materials. There are, however, plenty of recyclable wrapping paper options out there, just make sure to check labels when you buy them in store or specifically search for it if you’re ordering online. 

Gift bags have also long been reused, especially ones that are intricately designed, so when it can call for it, opt for a bag over paper to wrap up your gifts. 

Getting creative with your wrapping paper is also a great option. Newspaper and brown paper offer a unique aesthetic to your gifts while making it easy for the recipient to recycle them afterwards.

la

Los Angeles Planning To Host The Most Sustainable Olympics Yet For 2028 Summer Games

/in , /by

Los Angeles, California will be hosting the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. In the most recent Summer Games, hosted in Paris, there were major strides made in sustainability and protecting the environment while holding the world’s most anticipated athletic competition. 

Throughout the Paris Olympics, the total CO2 emissions equated to 1.59 million tons, which is less than half of the average emissions at both the London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 Games, according to reports from Forbes Magazine. 

Embed from Getty Images

Becky Dale, the Vice President of Sustainability for Los Angeles 2028 said that they’re ready and willing to try to become even more green than the Paris Games, which have become the new standard for sustainability. 

“It’s the great thing about the sports industry: everyone wants to win, including sustainability. Every time you host, you want to up the ante.”

Dale cited the 2028 Game’s Impact and Sustainability Plan, which outlines how the city is committed to reducing waste, utilizing materials that can be put back into the community. 

Nurit Katz, UCLA’s Chief Sustainability Officer, collaborated with Dale to give a presentation on how they plan on making the Games greener than ever. The two presented the plan at the Energy Innovation Conference at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. 

LA 2028 also released an Impact and Sustainability Plan, “a structured document laying out how organizers plan to maximize the Olympic’s sustainability potential,” Blythe Lawrence for Forbes wrote.

One of the biggest aspects of this plan is that LA is not planning to build any new venues for hosting the event. This is major because the last time the Olympics took place without any new construction being built beforehand was London in 1948. 

The sustainability plan wrote: “[LA was] built for large, live-scale events, from the Grammys and the Academy Awards to the FIFA World Cup and the Super Bowl. With the region’s abundance of existing world-class stadiums and arenas ready to host the Games today, athletes at the 2028 Games will have access to exceptional fields of play and fans will enjoy unbeatable spectating.” 

Embed from Getty Images

This automatically sets LA up for being much greener than previous Olympic Games. Not only will there be a reduction of carbon emissions from the lack of construction, but it entails that every competition venue will take place within a 35-mile radius of downtown LA, so transport around from the Olympic village to each venue won’t take as much energy/emissions. 

Dale went on to explain that almost all of the materials used for the Games will be reused in some way after the Olympics are over. 

“The target is to have 90% of materials used for temporary infrastructure reused or recycled. LA will rely on a combination of rentals, buybacks, and donations to ensure reuse of as much material as possible,” she stated. 

The plan also noted that the electricity used to power venues will be fully renewable by using the grid to reduce the Games’s carbon emissions. 

Dale stated that the organizers will be enhancing public transit to motivate fans to to take it from one venue to another. 

“Our big challenge is how do we make public transportation the most attractive option for people coming to the Games? Ultimately people are creatures of free will, but there are ways to create incentives and smooth the path so we can make it a more desirable option,” she said. 

Katz also discussed at the conference that the Olympics going green doesn’t necessarily mean that the planning and implementation of the new sustainable measures will be more expensive than the average cost of putting on the Games. 

“There’s very much a myth that going green or being sustainable always has to cost more. Some of our initiatives, especially around energy efficiency or around reducing waste, really have operational savings.”

online shopping

Making Sustainable And Climate-Friendly Choices When Online Shopping 

/in , /by

The internet is a vast resource that has created easy ways for us to purchase essentials. Clothing, furniture, electronics, groceries, and more are all available with the click of a button. The growth of technology and the conversation surrounding climate change has occurred simultaneously. With so many ways to shop online, the number of products labeled as “sustainable” has also increased. 

Embed from Getty Images

However, it can become difficult to distinguish how sustainable certain online shopping habits actually are. The term “sustainability” is so vast that it’s hard to determine if our actions are actually helping the environment. So what can we look out for to make the best choices before clicking purchase?

Third-party nonprofit organizations, study manufacturers, and government programs such as the Agriculture Department’s organic certification and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star efficiency standard all offer easy ways to find sustainable digital shopping options. 

Elwyn Grainger-Jones, who leads a nonprofit that certifies product sustainability, told the Associated Press that “there also isn’t a single clearinghouse that tracks which third-party certifications are the most credible.”

“Therein lies an issue and a challenge. What we haven’t seen so far is a third-third party step in and be the information portal on what a good certification is,”  said Grainger-Jones, CEO of Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

According to a study recently published in Environmental Science and Technology, there are cases where a person shopping online may emit less emissions than they would if they went to the store. Of course, this depends on which site they’re on, the shipping speed they choose, and how close they live to a brick-and-mortar alternative. 

Embed from Getty Images

Third-party certification generally is meant to show that an independent group studied sustainability factors. Some focus on certain specific issues while others look at a more general holistic picture. 

Certification labels are also widely varied. Some retailers place them directly on the product and others have them listed on the manufacturer’s website. Larger retail bodies typically list them in their product descriptions. 

“Ideally you want to look for some certifying bodies because they’ve removed some of that up-front labor that as a consumer you otherwise might have to do,” said Clementina Consens who works for B-Lab, which certifies companies that meet environmental and social standards.

Grainger-Jones said “some companies create their own self-certifications that look convincing but don’t mean much. You can go and buy a self-declared certificate for a couple of thousand dollars.”

Consens stated that companies that are serious about sustainability need to not only have their manufacturing and shipping practices properly assessed, but need to make that information easily accessible to their customers. This builds a foundation of trust between the company and consumer.

Specifically, Consens looks to see if a given company has completed an environmental impact assessment, if they make that information public, and whether or not they have data on the company’s greenhouse gas emissions, water, or energy use.

copper

Scientists In London Creating A Greener Way To Mine Copper From The Planet

/in , /by

Copper is a key component to civilization’s infrastructure, however, unrestricted extraction has led to environmental devastation, and it will only continue to get worse in the future. Scientists in London are trying to combat this outcome by creating a greener method to extract the vital metal for humanity’s benefit.

Read more
deforestation

Clothing Made From Wood Pulp Fabric Is Not As Sustainable As Consumers Might Think 

/in , , , /by

Sustainable clothing has been on the rise in recent years in an effort to combat the fashion industry’s contribution to climate change and global greenhouse gas emissions. Fabrics, such as viscose, are made from tree-pulp, and are allegedly a more sustainable option than other alternatives, however, the deforestation needed to make the fabrics is a major issue.

Read more
plane

NASA Planes Could Lead To More Sustainable Air Travel By The 2030s

/in , /by

NASA has revealed plans for two aircraft projects that they are hoping will be the next generation of sustainable flights. 

One of the aircrafts is called X-66A, which NASA and Boeing worked together on as a part of Boeing’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, according to reports. The two companies have the goal of building, testing, and flying the planes, which will be emission-reducing, single-aisle aircrafts, within the next decade; by 2030 ideally. 

Embed from Getty Images

“It’s our goal that NASA’s partnership with Boeing to produce and test a full-scale demonstrator will help lead to future commercial airliners that are more fuel efficient, with benefits to the environment, the commercial aviation industry, and to passengers worldwide,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in a statement according to CNN. 

“If we are successful, we may see these technologies in planes that the public takes to the skies in the 2030s.”

The design could potentially reduce fossil fuel consumption and emissions by up to 30% when compared to current aircrafts. 

According to NASA and Boeing, the concept of design is known as the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing, which relies on elongated thing wings that are stabilized by diagonal struts connecting to the wings of the plane, creating less of a drag and thus reducing the fuel that is burned. 

The new designs were shown off at the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

“This is an experimental aircraft. This is not a commercial development of an aircraft that passengers are going to fly in today. And the reason we need to do this is because this is high-risk technology. We’re trying to validate technology,”  Bob Pearce, NASA associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, said.

Embed from Getty Images

The first test flight is scheduled to ideally take place in 2028, with NASA hoping that the technology and new design will be used throughout around half of the commercial flight market for short to medium haul single-aisle aircrafts. 

According to NASA, single-aisle aircrafts account for almost half of all aviation emissions around the world. Boeing also predicts that the demand for these single-aisle aircrafts will increase by 40,000 planes between the years 2035 and 2050. 

“The goal is for the technology to serve about 50% of the commercial market through short- to medium-haul, single-aisle aircraft,” Nelson said.

As a part of NASA’s Electrified Powertrain Flight Demonstration project, the hybrid electric aircraft that GE Aerospace and magniX are developing will also be getting an updated look to include lighter and more efficient motors, and utilize materials that will also improve fuel use to reduce emissions. 

Within the next five years, NASA is hoping to conduct at least two flight demonstrations to show off the new technology, so that ideally the aircrafts can be introduced commercially in the US between 2030 and 2035.

leather

Luxury Designer Brands Are Investing In Sustainable Bags Made From Leather Scraps And Unconventional Materials 

/in , /by

Luxury designer bags are often made from exotic animal skins, which in recent years has been called out for its harm towards the environment. Now, some brands are shifting their focus to create bags made from recycled materials as a form of up-cycling, and reducing the carbon footprint/environmental impact that comes from traditional designer bag production. 

Coach, for example, just launched Coachtopia, a sub-brand that will be focusing on creating a variety of bags made from leather and other materials that would otherwise have been thrown away and ended up in landfills. 

Embed from Getty Images

Telfar’s vegan bags are also nicknamed the “Bushwick Birkin ” after they grew in popularity in New York. While the bags are still on the more expensive side, the prices are more reasonable for the average consumer looking for a nice sturdy designer bag. 

“Every time you eat an apple, you’re basically eating a handbag,” said Stella McCartney after showcasing her latest collection of bags made from waste such as orange and cacti byproducts. 

The animal leather industry is actually one of the first examples of up-cycling, as the leather is brought from cows who are used for their meat/food, however, the industry is still very wasteful. According to ELeather, an engineered leather supplier, up to 75% of all leather hides are disposed of. 

The Leather and Hide Council of America also released a report in 2019 that stated 5 millions hides went to landfill in America that year. 

The younger generation has also been a driving force in this shift in fashion. In general, Gen Z has been a major player in the fight against climate change and the industries that drive it, especially fashion. 

Embed from Getty Images

According to research, 90% of Gen Z consumers believe companies have an obligation to address environmental and social issues. 54% of the group also stated they’re willing to spend more if it means they’re getting a sustainable product; only 23% of baby boomers had the same ideals. 

Joon Silverstein, senior vice president for global marketing, creative and sustainability at Coach and head of Coachtopia, says that “according to [the company’s] research older generations and more established luxury consumers tend to consider pieces made from recycled leather as low quality. Gen Z has a different mindset – they consider it a moral and ethical [issue].”

There are two major aspects to the leather industry that lead to its waste. When the leather is being tanned at the tannery, the hides are treated and processed into leather using chemicals that make the leather, and its waste, non-biodegradable. The production also takes place in large factories where pollution is consistently emitted. 

Faux leather, like “pleather,” also comes with its faults, as it’s often produced from plastic or petroleum-based materials that have their own environmental issues. 

While this issue is going to take a lot more than a couple brands releasing small collections of sustainable bag lines, it’s hopeful to see sustainability and recycling/up-cycling trends enter the mainstream.

sustainable

Tom Steyer, Ex-Presidential Candidate, Is Investing In Sustainable Real Estate

/in , /by

Tom Steyer, co-executive chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions and 2020 presidential candidate, recently discussed his plans to launch a new sustainable real estate investment strategy.

Read more
united

United Airline Ventures Invests In Algae-Based Fuel Producer, Viridos

/in , /by

United Airline Ventures (UAV) is investing in Viridos; an algae biofuel company that is aiming to turn microalgae into sustainable aviation fuel (SAV).

Read more
albania

Albania Focusing On Alternative High-End Eco-Tourism

/in , /by

Albania is becoming one of the go-to European travel destinations. Last year the country experienced 7.5 million tourists, more than half of its population. Now, officials are working to rebrand the nation as a “high end quality” destination to cater to a wider range of tourist markets.

Read more