VIDEO – TreeZero Sustainability Headlines – https://youtu.be/uRCdbqjfD6o 1 minute 25 seconds
August 12 – World Elephant Day – http://worldelephantday.org/about
ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND CLIMATE CHANGE
One-third of the world’s energy is consumed by buildings, but most are inefficient. “Just implementing today’s best practices could cut global energy demand by one-third by 2050” https://bit.ly/2vq0cPs
US Renewables Are Closing In on Nuclear Generation – Renewables produced more electricity than nuclear for the first five months of 2018 https://bit.ly/2nwHv8p
Carbon Offsetting: The Basics – https://bit.ly/2Mca9KO
Asia, where coal consumption grew by 3.1% a year from 2006 to 2016, accounting for almost three-quarters of the world’s demand for the most polluting fossil fuel. BP notes that coal’s share of global electricity generation—by far the largest source at 38%—has not shrunk in over 20 years, despite the rise of gas and renewable energy. https://econ.st/2Omrk99
Researchers at Syracuse University are looking to the geologic past to make future projections about climate change. Christopher K. Junium, assistant professor of Earth sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) says, “the past enables us to test and hone models on which future projections are based. It also helps us determine what processes are missing from our current Earth system models,” he says. “These things combined help us understand and prepare for what is on the horizon.” https://bit.ly/2MGVyDi
The UK and Ireland arm of Aldi is planning to go carbon neutral by next year. https://bit.ly/2B0ocOq
Ball Corp. sets emissions reduction target – Ball has committed to reducing scope one and two greenhouse gas emissions by 27 percent and scope three emission by 25 percent by 2030 https://bit.ly/2vYEamC
Energy-Efficient LED Lighting Provider Orion Lighting Q1 Revenue Rose 10% to $13.8M – https://read.bi/2MeiInR
Harley-Davidson® to commercialize electric motorcycle, LiveWire™ in 2019. https://bit.ly/2mUpeBC
The global wind and solar power capacity has reached 1 terawatt (TW) at the end of June and is expected to double by the middle of 2023, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) said last week. https://bit.ly/2LUCSE7
Here’s how community solar works. https://bit.ly/2LYwco8
WATER STEWARDSHIP
International Coastal Cleanup – September 15th, 2018 – Volunteers from states and territories throughout the U.S. and more than 100 countries come together each year and participate in a Cleanup event near them. Next time you’re headed out to the beach or a nearby park, download Ocean Conservancy’s app, Clean Swell and take along a trash bag to collect and document the debris you find. https://bit.ly/2s2rKu0
Microfibers shed from your clothing are polluting our oceans – https://bit.ly/2B07AGE
WKU developing statewide drought warning system – Western Kentucky University is developing a statewide drought warning system with the help of a $200,000 federal grant. Officials will use the money to install soil moisture and temperature probes at 10 sites within the Kentucky Mesonet, a network of 69 weather monitoring stations across 67 counties. https://bit.ly/2MjyopD
DEFORESTATION
Coller FAIRR Protein Producer Index – an assessment of how 60 global livestock and aquaculture companies disclose and manage key ESG risks, including deforestation and biodiversity loss. 84% of the land-based protein companies in our Index – suppliers to some of the biggest food brands in the world – do not have targets or policies to address deforestation risk. https://bit.ly/2MDUYWW
Iceland’s Comeback Story – In this wonderful short film, Throstur Eysteinsson, director of the Icelandic Forest Service and EUFORGEN National Coordinator, speaks about the work he’s doing to bring the forests back to Iceland. https://bit.ly/2nvqnjx
Despite Deforestation, Earth Is Gaining Trees As Land Use Changes – analyzing 35 years of satellite data to determine the changes in land cover. While deforestation remains a major problem in the tropics, global tree cover area increased by 870,000 square miles (2.25 million square kilometers), a 7.1 percent change from 1982. https://bit.ly/2w0BXa3
RECYCLING
China to enact tariffs on OCC and other recycled paper – https://bit.ly/2MjmHPM
A Twist On Recycling: Retailers Rebuying Their Merchandise For Resale – Staples accepts any brand and type of electronic at its stores for free recycling. https://bit.ly/2Mk0Ac4
CRISPR licensing deal could lead to better traits in food, reduce waste – Simplot, which provides fresh, frozen and chilled products including potatoes, avocados and strawberries, said it plans to use the technology to develop desirable traits in certain fruits and vegetables and bring those products to the U.S. market to benefit farmers and consumers. https://bit.ly/2npvf9Y
Video – Obaggo explains its revolutionary solution for recycling your plastic bags and packaging film. https://youtu.be/xs9Elk0u–E
Worst types of litter: Plastic straws not even in the top 5 – top five most common forms of litter, according to Keep America Beautiful’s latest national study. Cigarette butts, paper, food wrappers, confections and napkins/tissues topped the list. https://usat.ly/2MCQj7R
City of Enterprise to end curbside recycling program – https://bit.ly/2vANU7b
Whole Foods’ Walter Robb Is Taking on Food Waste – Robb joined the board of FoodMaven, a digital platform and logistics company that sells oversupplied and imperfect food to restaurants and institutional kitchens at a significant discount. Last week, he also became a board member and investor in Apeel Sciences, a company that extends the shelf life of produce through a naturally derived coating. https://bit.ly/2MydLmC
Seventh Generation Reaches Packaging Milestone – introducing its new green cap for its Natural Dish Liquid, marking the first 100% post-consumer recycled plastic cap on the market. With this innovation, Seventh Generation has converted nearly 85 percent of their packaging to virgin petroleum free materials. https://bit.ly/2vuQLP2
CHEP Supply Chain Solutions – Discover how by sharing and reusing our equipment throughout the supply chain we can help reduce our customers’ environmental footprint and encourage circular economy. https://bit.ly/2Ou6Jjr
Indorama Ventures Expands PET Recycling Capabilities with Acquisition of Sorepla – https://bit.ly/2vQ59AP
Webinar on Steel Recycling: Tuesday, August 21, 2018 1:30 pm – 2:45 pm EDT, Speaker: David Keeling, Director, Recycling, Steel Recycling Institute. REGISTER NOW! Click Here
Video – Piling up: Drowning in a sea of plastic – https://cbsn.ws/2MlfdIX
Sonoco set out key commitments for more sustainable use and increased recyclability of packaging by 2025 – https://bit.ly/2OTWN3K
MAKING CRUDE OIL FROM PAPER PULP? VERTORO CREATES THIS ‘GREEN GOLD’ https://bit.ly/2vCWOkt
Reduce food waste? There’s an app for that – Steve Hamilton, professor of economics at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, has studied a number of different possibilities that have the potential to impact food waste. Companies he studied include: Imperfect Produce; Food Cowboy; Waste No Food and Food Rescue US. https://bit.ly/2AZv8vp
SUSTAINABILITY
The EPA Is Making It Easier to Use Asbestos Again. Why Is It Dangerous?- https://bit.ly/2nnYQk5
What New EPA Rulings on Asbestos Mean for Consumers and Business – https://bit.ly/2nsVzQj
HSBC, one of the largest banks, issued an alarming warning that Earth is running out of the resources to sustain life https://read.bi/2M4ykdz
Mastercard Commits to Science-Based Emission Targets – https://bit.ly/2AXqNsH
New database highlights benefits of integrated reporting – The database, which is a freely available resource, can be accessed at: http://www.iracademicdatabase.org. https://bit.ly/2OtwXCC
Majority of impact investors satisfied with investment performance: https://bit.ly/2B1bWx5
What are Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? – 17 Global goals include eliminating poverty, protecting the environment, reducing economic inequality and ensuring peace and justice for all. New topics such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable consumption, peace, and justice have been added. https://bit.ly/2MyG3xc
Video: Interface CEO: We’re Going Green By Using Other People’s Waste – https://for.tn/2P1AN71
ESG adoption gaining among U.S. asset owners – More than 40% of U.S. asset owners have incorporated environmental, social and governance factors into their investment decisions, up from 37% in 2017 and 22% in 2013, said Callan‘s annual ESG survey report. https://bit.ly/2nrY3yx
LOLIWARE is the first and only edible disposable cup that provides a completely new drinking and eating experience.100% plastic-free, gluten-free, gelatin-free, BPA-free, non-GMO, all natural, non-toxic, safe, and FDA approved. https://www.loliware.com/pages/about-us
How advisers can capitalize on impact investing – A recent report from Morningstar and WSJ shows that funds focused on sustainable investments have offered superior performance to non-sustainable investments over periods of one, three, five, and 10 years. https://bit.ly/2Mf4XVZ
Coast to Coast Sustainability Tour Summer 2018 – https://bit.ly/2vJTunZ
THIS COMING WEEK IN HISTORY…
August 13, 1913 – Invention of stainless steel by Harry Brearley, Sheffield, England
August 14, 1980 – 17,000 workers go on strike at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland, marking the beginning of the Solidarity movement
August 15, 1248 – Construction of Cologne Cathedral begun
August 16, 1954 – “Sports Illustrated” magazine begins publishing
