There is more and more interest in sustainability, but it’s not always the best kind.
Unfortunately organisations seem to be getting obsessed with measuring their climate footprint and offsetting. This myopia often pushes genuinely sustainable initiatives off the agenda, particularly if they’re not measurable.
After all, how do you measure the waste you didn’t throw away or the carbon savings of materials you won’t get to reuse in the future?
I’m now deeply suspicious of companies and organisations touting a carbon neutral badge. Sure with enough offsetting even a coal mine can be carbon neutral.
And on that topic here’s a interesting video explaining the pitfalls of carbon offset schemes
Alas, I fear it’s the human weakness for the quick fix. Let’s hope sense prevails soon.
Now onto this month’s circular economy news …..
This is a very distressing article on the connection between violence and the felling of Romanian’s primary forests for furniture production
Sometimes sustainability isn’t straightforward, a new US study found that corn-based ethanol “is likely at least 24% more carbon-intensive than gasoline”
A new packaging design would make it easier to separate paper from plastic
Innocent Drinks TV advert banned in UK over ‘greenwashing’
Global survey suggests three in four want single-use plastics ‘banned’
Tesco successfully removes one and a half billion pieces of plastic
Tips on getting sustainability information from suppliers by US company Toxnot (Video)
Excellent interview about design and development at circular furniture company Vepa
Are urban micro-factories the way of the future for circular cities?
A very interesting presentation by a Danish maker of digitally supported reusable kitchens
Design student uses animal bones instead of plastic for minimalist sockets and light switches
Flow Loop is a shower system that recirculate and purifies your shower water
Sustainable battery supplier Northvolt produces EV battery from recycled metals
Accessible, easy-to-read overview of what motivates Finnish citizens to engage in a sustainable lifestyle
An excellent outline of what we need to do to move from 2.4 degrees of global warming to 1.5 by the organisation Circle Economy
Not new news, but news to me! Ecosia, a Berlin-based search engine, pays the legal fees for their employees who are arrested due to non-violent civil disobedience.
Some short snappy interviews with leaders of Cradle to Cradle businesses
As part of the Waste Action Plan for a Circular Economy, Ireland is considering a French-style ban on fruit & veg plastic packaging
Hong Kong company Ampd Energy helps construction companies avoid diesel generators on site
Sweden’s SSAB, a pioneer in making steel from hydrogen, is bringing forward the closure of its coal-fired furnaces from 2045 to 2030. This will eliminate eight million tonnes of carbon a year, reducing Sweden’s carbon emissions by 10% and Finland’s by 7%.
The Print The Change is a pan-European cooperative of printing companies that produce in accordance with the Cradle to Cradle principle: passionate pioneers in eco-friendly printing.
Apeel is an ingenious coating that extends the life of fruit a veg without any packaging
PepsiCo Europe to use 100% ‘recycled or renewable’ plastic in all packets by 2030
New product grows moss on concrete walls, helping them to trap carbon
Till next time
Elaine
Circular Design Institute 