PORT E R L A I C E SP
: Y I T L E A R W T HE NE
, G N I N R U B OUR WORLD G N I T L ME PLUS:
The Global 2030 response s pay Should compiaalnie For beneficy? biodiversit eater r g e h t e r a t a h W able needs of sustain cities? ’s Action by Nartuorese 2018 Eco-He
FROM THE EDITOR
Our lead story, “A New Reality,” begins like this: They poured in like a half-dozen tsunamis between early October and early December, each climate change report shaking us more. “We must fundamentally change how we live, how we use fossil fuels, and how we relate to the world around us.”
Climate change is not alternative facts, or overhyped, or a creation of the Chinese government. Not only is it real, but as the six reports that dropped this past fall indicate, it’s accelerating at an even faster clip than Rolling Stone environmental writer and 350.org Director Bill McKibben forecasted in his apocalyptic 1989 book, The End of Nature – which many found overly pessimistic. Now, his predictions would improve the situation on the ground, in the air, and in the seas. Sustainability must be the operative principle moving forward. We need to adopt every sustainable practice we can. This goes for home and business. We must fundamentally change how we live, how we use fossil fuels, and how we relate to the world around us. As the Global 2030 report indicates, we have 12 years – max – before we slide into a reality that makes today’s ongoing series of “storms/fires/floods/droughts/famines of the century” look like pop-up thunderstorms. Sound like hype? For those old enough, think back 30 years. Never did we see such a succession of disasters. That’s because it’s never happened this intensely. And this could be the century’s opening act? Scary. The Trump Administration’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Agreement – the U.S. is the only nation out of 200 not to participate – has significantly harmed the push to sustainable living. U.S. carbon emissions soared by almost two percent in 2018 as the Administration continued pursuing policies that were, as one expert described, “creating 19th century jobs in a 21st century economy.” However, numerous states, led by California and New York, took it upon themselves to honor the Paris Agreement. Now, a majority of states are doing so. Simply put, people are starting to take over their own futures, and to do it more sustainably. In business, we see major players making strides to reverse, or slow down, the course of this speeding train. Walmart’s world-leading use of solar energy, IKEA’s decision to include recycled ocean plastics in many products, Interface’s great work in biodiversity and biomimickry, Google’s renewable energy data centers, and Coca-Cola’s quest to use 50 percent recycled materials are but five of hundreds of initiatives being undertaken. More will follow in 2019, which we’re looking forward to hearing about at Sustainable Brands ’19 in Detroit in June. In this issue, we open with a look at the six blockbuster reports, then see how numerous companies are forging sustainable futures that promote biodiversity, protect the climate and environment, and make maximum use of available resources. Joanne Burgess and Edward Barbier provide an excellent story on beneficial biodiversity, and we explore the greater needs of sustainable cities. We close by honoring the sustainability leaders of tomorrow, 19 student Eco-Heroes from around the world. On behalf of our partners at Sustainable Brands, we invite you to dig into this issue and think about how you can live or run your business more sustainably. Please send us comments or suggestions on how we can give you more of what you’d like to read.
Robert Yehling Executive Editor
2
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
Sometimes the address says it all.
Irvine businesses are thriving. Grow with us. Irvine was master planned to be an economic powerhouse. A strategic location, 21st century university and colleges, business-oriented governance, a high quality of life and rich diversity energizes us. And empowers us to attract and retain the best talent and the brightest companies in the life sciences, technology, digital arts & media and advanced manufacturing. Ask about Irvine Ready! – our “soft landing” package for qualified companies looking to establish a presence in Irvine- affordable exploratory options, full range of expertise, economic data and industry and employee engagement networks.
36 Executive Park, Suite 100 • Irvine, CA 96214 Linda DiMario, Executive Vice President: ldimario@irvinechamber.com irvinechambereconomicdevelopment.com
SINCE 2005:
SAFEST CITY IN AMERICA (population over 100,000)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
PUBLISHER/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Charles Warner cwarner@goipw.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Shane Brisson shane@goipw.com
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Robert Yehling
MANAGING EDITOR
Dylan Rodgers
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Anthony Elio Alex Moersen
Adam Saldaña
SENIOR VIDEO EDITOR
VIDEO EDITOR
SENIOR WRITERS
Evan Kelley Patricia Miller
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Edward Barbier Joanna Burgess Winifred Curran Trina Johnson Michelle Lee
SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Charlie Hernandez Dave Van Niel
Steven Higgins
PROJECT DIRECTOR
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES
Mike Kelly Nick Milano Ray Baker
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Kelsey Elgie Domier
SALES COORDINATOR
SALES ASSISTANT
CLIENT RELATIONS SPECIALIST
DIGITAL ASSET MANAGER
SENIOR DIRECTOR, DEVELOPMENT
Dave Kester Claire Forbes Christina Salyards Walter “Bud” O’Neill David Marble
Special Thanks: Marie Perriard/Sustainable Brands Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation The Conversation Joseph Cornell Mark Lee
Member, Society of Environmental Journalists
Published by INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES WORLDWIDE, INC 3400 E. Bayaud Ave., #280, Denver, CO 80209 | (720) 476-4920 www.innotechtoday.com | info@innotechtoday.com
This publication is dedicated to the dreamers, the innovators, the collaborators, and the doers – who can’t be bothered by those saying it can’t be done. Nicholas and Aria,the future is yours!
PRODUCED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH: CEO/Founder, Sustainable Brands KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz Director, Global Brand & Corporate Communications Marie Perriard
Photo Pexels.com/Guillaume Meurice
#innotechtoday innovationandtechtoday
innotechtoday
innotechtoday
innotechtodaymagazine
For advertising inquiries, please contact: 720-476-4920 FOR PRINT OR DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS, VISIT INNOTECHTODAY.COM, OR FIND US ON POPULAR DIGITAL NEWSSTANDS AND READERS.
All trademarks, service marks, photos, and logos contained within this publication are the property of their respective owners, and may not be individually identified in this publication.
4
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
contents COVER STORY:
12 SPECIAL REPORT: The New Reality: Our Burning, Melting World By Robert Yehling Cover Photo: iStockphoto.com/KevinHyde
8 Quick Bits 20 Global 2030 Response: A Few Examples 28 Should Companies Pay for Beneficial Biodiversity? 34 Sustainable Cities’ Greater Needs 36 The Fate of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch Trash Collector 38 Action by Nature’s 2018 Eco-Heroes 40 Lighting That Protects Us – And Our Environment 42 . A New Frontier in Cannabis Reporting 44 On the Shelf Photo iStockphoto.com/MarioGuti
6
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
QUICK BITS Fighting Back Against Climate Change With the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, how are U.S. communities battling the weather, sea level rises, and wholesale changes impacting their local economies and environments? How are they assuring themselves of a sustainable future? A quick recent look produced a number of forward-thinking examples, a few of which include: • The State of California is committing to 100 percent renewable energy. • The tiny California coastal border city of Imperial Beach, surrounded on three sides by water, is suing 37 oil companies to assist with shoring up defenses against sea level rise. So are the Northern California communities of San Mateo and Marin, along with five other cities. This tact of suing oil companies to aid climate change defenses, including fire prevention, also is happening in New York City and municipalities in Colorado and Washington State. “These communities are facing massive costs that will have to be paid either by their taxpayers or by the oil, gas and coal companies who caused them,” said San Francisco lawyer Matt Edling, who represents Imperial Beach and the other California cities and counties. • The State of Georgia has become one of the nation’s top 10 solar energy states – despite very little government support. Even without tax credits or a state renewable energy portfolio, Georgia has a huge asset in Lauren “Bubba” McDonald Jr., director of the state’s Public Service Commission (PSC), who studied Germany’s solar investments and decided to act. Since 2013, the state’s solar power capacity has increased 13-fold while the cost of solar has dropped from 13 cents per kilowatt hour to 4 cents. With voters likely to add pro-solar candidates to the PSC in the fall, look for Georgia to become an even bigger solar presence. • The City of Norfolk, VA, home of the nation’s largest fleet of Navy ships, is in dire danger of being consumed by rising sea levels. They’re turning to a combination of shoreline fortification, climate adaptation, economic
Photo iStockphoto.com/Mlenny
development, and making over the poverty-stricken, low-lying areas into technology hubs. Their coastline plan is based on studying how officials in The Netherlands built levees to further protect that low-lying country from sea level rise. • Halfway between Las Vegas and Reno, SolaReserve CEO Kevin Smith is engaging in a future conversion of energy – using a field of shimmering mirrors and molten salt to maximize solar power, already being used throughout the state. • Net zero homes – where solar energy offsets the cost of electricity – are making a big impact outside the Sun Belt. In the Midwest, more and more communities are offering incentives, and homeowners are finding the investment in solar pays for itself within a decade. The other keys to net-zero homes: great insulation, triple-paned windows, LED lighting, energyefficient appliances, smart thermostats, and positioning to maximize natural lighting, shade (in summer), and sun (in winter).
Congress forms select committee on climate change Just before the first Democratically-controlled House of Representatives in eight years took office in January 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the formation of the House Select Committee on Climate Change, meant to bring strong science back into the discussion, look at environment-friendly infrastructure projects, and restore protections removed by the EPA and Department of the Interior in the last two years. The bipartisan committee will be lead by Rep. Kathy Castor, a Democrat from Tampa, FL. Further appointments were being made through January. The committee’s formation restores the former House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, which was disbanded when Republicans assumed control of Congress in 2011. Photo iStockphoto.com/Tanarch
8
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
This Holiday Season, GiveThe Gift Of Freedom Celebrate this holiday season by giving someone you love a truly meaningful gii! For $777 you can purchase an acre of land and give it to a majessc creature in need. Designate your gii in honor of someone special so they can become a Founding Member of The Wild Animal Sanctuary's new 9.004-acre Wildlife Refuge!
$777
Buys An Acre Of Freedom For A Rescued Animal
WildAnimalRefuge.org WildAnimalSanctuary.org
QUICK BITS
Photo iStockphoto.com/Magnus Larsson
New uses for ocean plastics
Photo iStockphoto.com/D-Keine
Global financiers warn of financial crash if climate change not addressed At December’s UN Climate Change Summit, global financiers and signatories of the 415-member Global Investor Statement, who manage a combined $32 trillion in capital, issued a stern warning to governments: without an urgent cut in carbon emissions and phasing out all coal burning, a crash in excess of the 2008 meltdown would occur. “Climate change has already started to alter the functioning of our world,” noted Standard & Poor’s. Financiers fired this shot across the bow as more and more cities and communities lose property, homes, and structures, and municipalities spend more to shore up their defenses against sea level rise, wildfires, hurricanes, flooding, and the impacts of extreme heat and cold – all typical of climate change. However, they also strongly encouraged and pledged backing toward renewable energy and clean projects – potentially worth trillions to economies, but also the path forward to a sustainable future. “The low-carbon economy presents numerous opportunities and investors who ignore the changing world do so at their own peril,” said Thomas diNapoli of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which holds $207 billion. Another expert, Lord Nicholas Stern of the London School of Economics, took exception to President Trump’s statement that action on climate change was a “jobs killer.” Yes, climate change itself is killing jobs – but actionable steps can lead to the biggest growth industry of the century, spread across all nations. “You don’t create jobs for the 21st century by trying to whistle up jobs from the 19th century.”
In our last issue, we wrote of the enormous problem of plastics disposal, and the tremendous amount now in the world’s oceans and its impact on everything from bird and sea life to our lives. With the Great Pacific Garbage Patch sweeper (see story on page 36) now in the North Pacific Gyre trying to collect plastic, and efforts to educate and reduce use of plastic escalating, innovation and ingenuity have risen forth to create new product lines made of ocean plastic. We’ve seen bracelets, necklaces, cups, and the like appear from ocean plastics in the past few years. How about skateboards, shoes, ink cartridges, furniture, and more? It’s going to happen now. In the summer of 2018, both HP and IKEA updated their sustainability plans with a concerted effort to use recycled ocean plastics in their future product builds. They’re not alone. Bureo, Dell Technologies, Herman Miller, Humanscale, and Interface have joined them to create NextWave, a collaborative, opensourced global network of ocean-bound plastics supply chains. Already, HP has sourced 250 tons of ocean-bound plastics – the equivalent of 12 million plastic bottles not going into the ocean – and created 600 income opportunities for adults in Haiti. While NextWave’s work has already been impressive, their 2025 goal is truly ambitious: to convert 25,000 tons of ocean plastic into merchandise and support products. If that happens, then the equivalent of 1.2 billion bottles will avoid spinning in the trash gyres, killing sea life, compromising our ocean food supply with microplastics, and polluting our shorelines.
New pipeline projects not faring well in courts During the final two months of 2018, two monumental court decisions spelled out the reality on the ground: oil and gas pipelines aren’t cutting it during these environmentally sensitive times, when clean, renewable energy is the choice of most. In November, courts blocked further construction of the controversial Keystone Pipeline XL, 18 months after the Trump Administration lifted Obama-era bans against the pipeline. A federal judge found parts of the permitting process flawed. Leakages, dangers to water supplies, and environmental impacts were other reasons. One month later, the same happened to the Atlantic Coast pipeline, due to federal officials improperly granting forest-use permits.
Photo iStockphoto.com/Ben-Schonewille
10
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
This comes at the same time Energy Transfer LP and its Sunoco pipeline subsidiary were socked with more than 800 federal permit violations while trying to rush completion of the Energy Transfer Rover and Sunoco Mariner East 2 natural gas pipelines in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia.
LIGHTING THE
PATH TO BETTER GROWING EXPERIENCE THE VIOLET GRO DIFFERENCE Violet Gro’s LED Ag lighting is designed to give your plants the light they need without growing your expenses. • Cutting-edge design and patented technology • Produces more light with less heat • Can save up to 70% in energy costs over traditional lighting • Coming Soon: Ability to incorporate UV light to help control plant pests and increase production of flavonoids
Violet Gro | www.violetgro.com | 407.433.1104
A SUSTAINABILITY TODAY SPECIAL REPORT
The New Reality:
Our Burning, Melting World Six devastating Autumn reports, including two by the U.S. government, make it clear that smart environmental and sustainable practices are no longer optional. We practice now – or suffer even more later. By Robert Yehling
Photo iStockphoto.com/liangpv
12
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
A SUSTAINABILITY TODAY SPECIAL REPORT
T
hey poured in like a half-dozen tsunamis between early October and early December, each climate change report shaking us more. One after another, they piled onto every worsecase scenario envisioned by first responders thirty years ago, and later the Paris Climate Change Agreement signatories. The bottom line? Climate change is here – and it’s proving more devastating than earlier predictions. As if to put an exclamation point on the debate, while those reports were reshaping our fundamental view of the situation, the earth went off. Hurricane Michael shot from nowhere into Category 5 status and blasted northern Florida – right after Hurricane Florence dropped up to 55 inches of rain in the Carolinas, causing flooding no one has seen before. On November 8, two days after the elections, Californians woke up to a mounting twin disaster – the Camp Fire up north, the Woolsey Fire burning up Malibu and L.A.’s western suburbs down south. Both were fed by winds exceeding 60 m.p.h. and single-digit humidity, all part of the expanded California fire season. Nearly 100 deaths, 250,000 burned acres, and 25,000 destroyed homes and businesses later, the winter rains finally arrived. Hundreds of thousands were affected. Either of these would have been centurydefining events. Not in the 21st century. Now, they’re just the latest annual events. By the time the six reports – the NOAA World Climate Change Arctic Report, U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and 2018 Emissions Gap reports, the U.S. government’s Fourth National Climate Assessment, the World Wildlife Fund’s Living Planet Report, and a study on wilderness by the British journal Nature – rolled through, we had an entirely different look at the world today and likely tomorrow. It is not promising. Four things stand out, which should alarm everyone from the most hostile polluters to environmentally and sustainability-centric
organizations, and everyone in between: 1) We’re headed toward overheating and environmental destruction on a catastrophic level. In some places, it’s already underway. 2) Everyone and everything on the planet is suffering: human health, animal populations, stunning losses in wilderness, business and crop losses. 3) We ignored the early warnings issued almost 30 years ago – and now are running carbon concentrations 60 parts per million above the scientifically verified “point of no return” for unsustainable warming. 4) The cost in lives and money is growing fast – and is already threatening economies. “When you put these reports together, you have the most complete official picture to date about the impact of our carbon footprint and how we expand on the planet,” said Drew Kenzie, a climate change specialist based in Southern California. Prior to moving into environmental science and meteorology, Kenzie was an early-adopter to sustainable business practices in the 1990s while owning three small companies. “What these reports lay out is what so many millions of people have already experienced on the ground – ‘thriving’ and ‘prospering’ are going to be distant dreams if we don’t fundamentally change the way we live our lives, run our businesses, and use our resources. Starting right now.” We first heard the drumbeat of environmental protection a century ago, when President Theodore Roosevelt and naturalist-author John Muir answered the call to preserve millions of acres of land after fifty years of Eastern industrialism and Westward expansion leveled the pristine America in which native peoples thrived for 10,000 years. They formed our National Park system. We heard it again in the late 1960s and 1970s, highlighted by Earth Day’s inception in 1970, which led to President Nixon forming the Environmental Protection Agency and signing the Clean Water Act. It roared back again in the late 1980s, when rising carbon levels and shrinking ozone layers, plus the Reagan Administration’s anti-environment
policies, awakened politicians like Al Gore and journalists like Bill McKibben. In his 1989 book The End of Nature, McKibben, the world’s foremost environmental journalist, laid out exactly what is happening now. He also famously stated we were at the ‘point of no return’ if our atmospheric carbon levels rose above 350 parts per million – which could elevate the global air temperature by 2 degrees C (3.8 degrees F) or more, “2” being a most dangerous number. He even named his climate change activist group 350.org to cement the number in our minds. Had we heeded McKibben’s advice then (some businesses and individuals did, launching the first wave of sustainability in current business practices), we’d likely be seeing fewer destructive fires and hurricanes, more moderate famines and floods, community and business costs associated with climate and resources, cooler oceans, and sightings of thousands of plant and animal species that have gone extinct since 1989. We also would not wake up today to a carbon atmosphere reading of 408 ppm (as of November), nor a global temperature rise of 1 degree C since 1970 – and accelerating. “Thirty years ago, experts and researchers already knew what was happening – obviously,” said Kenzie, a big fan of McKibben since reading The End of Nature. “This constant in-fighting between the U.S. government, big business, and environmental regulations, this whole pushand-pull between too many or too little, is costing us our basic ability to do business, not to mention making living comfortably, without disease, more and more difficult.” The fact the U.S.’s current policy runs retrograde to the 197 nation-members of the Paris Climate Change Agreement has not helped. However, we’re now in an all-hands-on-deck situation. It is time for people and businesses alike to roll out every sustainable practice they can, evaluate resources and how they utilize them, analyze their logistics, and make even stronger changes to practices that warm the atmosphere, pollute the earth and waterways, or strip away more wilderness.
WINTER 2018/19 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY
13
A SUSTAINABILITY TODAY SPECIAL REPORT
Looking at the Reports The six reports came from different agencies and studies, yet they intersect with each other enough to form a multi-layered picture of a world beginning to lose its habitability. A glimpse at each: U.S. Government Fourth National Climate Assessment: This report drew headlines because of its stark contrast to policies the Trump Administration has enacted to satisfy the fossil fuel lobby, reduced regulations and increased fossil fuel production. A team crossing 13 federal agencies, 300 leading scientists, and another 700 researchers and assistants compiled it. A few findings take the breath away: 1) The U.S. economy is predicted to lose hundreds of billions of dollars, up to a catastrophic 10 percent of gross domestic product, by 2100. Farmers, fisheries, and most businesses will be hard hit. 2) If we don’t significantly reduce greenhouse gases by the end of the century, we could see a global temperature rise of 5 degrees C (9 degrees F). 3) Wildfire seasons could burn up to six times
14
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
more forest annually by 2050. That’s not comforting out west, where California lost 1.5 million acres of land between November 2017 and November 2018 to wildfires – an area 20 percent larger than Delaware. Looking back 25 years, to 1993, the state lost 122,000 acres. And that was a busy fire season. Of the wildfireprone state’s ten worst fires, nine have happened since 2000. California residents also lost over 40,000 homes and businesses in 2017-18. 4) The Midwest, predicted to be the hardest hit with extreme temperatures, will see up to 2,000 premature deaths annually by 2050. 5) Millions more will become exposed to foodborne and waterborne diseases, mosquitoes, and other effects of elevated temperature. 6) Public infrastructure and $1 trillion in coastal real estate are threatened by accelerating sea level rises. We’ve already seen levels rise by eight inches since 1900, half of that coming in the last 25 years. It is the largest such centuryto-century increase in 2,800 years. 7) We will see a sharp increase in blackouts and taxed power grids – costing some sectors
hundreds of billions by century’s end. The report conclusively states, “There is no convincing alternative explanation for the changing climate but human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases.” Adds David Easterling, director of the Technical Support Unit of NOAA’ National Centers for Environmental Information, “The global average temperature is much higher and is rising more rapidly than anything modern civilization has experienced, and this warming trend can only be explained by human activities.” U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: This report, issued in early October, was three years in the making, a product of the Paris Climate Agreement. The agreed-upon goals: try to keep the average global temperature “well below” 2 degrees C above pre-industrial (pre-1900) levels, and aim for 1.5 degrees C – still a very serious situation. Consider what we’re seeing now, with the figure barely above 1 degree C. The panel concluded we will reach the crucial 1.5 degree C temperature rise benchmark by 2030, adding to the already ratched-up misery
A SUSTAINABILITY TODAY SPECIAL REPORT
of rapid-succession drought, wildfires, famine, floods, and weather systems our parents and grandparents could only imagine through science fiction movies. The road to 2.0 will become that much more dangerous – and fast. “This is concerning because we know there are so many more problems if we exceed 1.5 degrees C global warming, including more heatwaves and hot summers, greater sea level rise, and… worse droughts and rainfall extremes,” said Andrew King, a climate science lecturer at the University of Melbourne and a participant in the report. 2018 U.N. Emissions Gap Report: This annual report card records how the Paris Climate Agreement signatories (every country but the U.S.) are doing with emissions control. The 2017 grade? An F: global emissions of CO2 were 53.5 gigatons, the most ever released into the atmosphere. It was a stunning one percent increase over 2016. It also surprised scientists, who were hoping to see a fourth straight year of plateaued emissions, signaling a peak in output. Now, they’re hoping we peak by 2030. This, after nearly 30 years of trumpeted warnings to lower emissions. The report also stated that, if
the current emission reduction targets of countries stay the same, we’ll have a 3.2 degree C (nearly 6 degrees F) global temperature rise by 2100. If we do nothing, we’ll go up 5 degrees C (nearly 9 degrees F). Remember: the point of no return is considered to be 2 degrees C. World Wildlife Population Report: Earth Day was created to increase awareness of our resources, wildlife, and interaction with the planet. Yet, have you noticed fewer bees, butterflies, birds, and animals in the wild? Your eyes are good. From 1970 to 2014, world wildlife populations plummeted by 60 percent. The causes? Accelerating pollution, deforestation, population growth, expanded farmlands, climate change, and habitat removal to build homes and businesses. In addition, species extinction rates are up to 1,000 times higher than before human involvement in animal ecosystems became a factor. Most alarmingly, only 10 percent of the planet’s land will be free from human impact by 2050. Right now, we’re at 25 percent. The other problem? Plastics in the ocean: a stunning 90 percent of seabirds now have plastic in their stomachs, while half the world’s shallow-
water corals are bleached and lifeless. All since 1970. That’s not moving forward. “This crisis is unprecedented in its speed, in its scale and because it is single-handed,” said Marco Labertini, the WWF director general. “We’re talking about 40 years. It’s not even a blink of an eye compared to the history of life on earth. “We continue to use nature as if we were the hunters and gatherers of 20,000 years ago, with the technology of the 21st century. It has to stop.” 2018 Arctic Ice Report: Geologist and longtime glacial researcher Dr. M Jackson wrote in her new book, The Secret Lives of Glaciers, “Talking glaciers is talking climate change, because glaciers are icons of climate change.” Ice has long been considered the canary in the coal mine when it comes to global temperatures. What is the canary singing to us? Not the song we want to hear. In just the past thirty years, Arctic ice has gone from impenetrable to an annual melting event. Down south, glaciers are calving off the Antarctic Ice Shelf at a stunning rate. In both places, the ice is melting… not to mention the glaciers, which hold 99 percent of WINTER 2018/19 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY
15
A SUSTAINABILITY TODAY SPECIAL REPORT
Photo iStockphoto.com/kotangens
the earth’s fresh water. According to the peer-reviewed report from NOAA, sea ice is falling, and so are wildlife populations, while marine toxins and algae are growing. Ever imagine a Florida-style red tide of dead fish and marine mammals washing ashore in Prudhoe Bay or other Arctic Alaska villages? It happened in 2018. Worse, the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the planet; temperatures in 2018 (recorded as October-to-September) were 1.7 degrees C above the 1981-2010 average. The warmest five years recorded? The last five. This past year saw the second-lowest winter sea-ice coverage since record keeping began in 1979. This isn’t last year’s newly formed ice we’re losing; it’s ice that stood in place for hundreds or thousands of years. Researcher Thomas Mote, one of the contributors, noted that “what starts in the
16
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
Arctic isn’t confined there. Changes in sea ice influence ocean currents and the jet stream in ways that can affect weather in lower latitudes, including the United States and Europe.” Recent massive storms in Europe and the swarm of Nor’easters that demolished the eastern U.S. coastline in early 2018 were directly cited.
between 1993 and 2009.
Our Vanishing Wilderness: The British journal Nature’s exhaustive study, co-authored by University of Queensland scientist James Watson, spells out a wilderness situation that reads like a pestilence scene from a dystopian novel. To wit, 87 percent of the ocean has been modified by the direct effects of human activities. The percentage of the Earth’s surface used to plant crops and grow livestock has ballooned from 15 percent to 77 percent since 1910. Bringing that home, 1.2 million square miles of land – five times the size of Texas – was lost to human settlement in just 16 years,
Steps Moving Forward
Study authors also noted that 70 percent of remaining wilderness land sits in five nations – Russia, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and the United States. Canada has the most progressive policies, while the others protect their wilderness to varying degrees. Based on the six reports, recommendations they noted and forecasts for the future, we have an ominous task ahead. Thirty years ago, we could have prevented global warming. Now, we cannot. We can only mitigate and hope to slow it enough that our grandchildren enjoy a habitable planet. Some steps forward are drastic, but bear repeating: • Reduce global emissions by 25 percent by 2030 to limit warming to 2 degrees C (it is now 1 degree-plus). Reduce to “net zero”, the same as
Effortless Cultivation Management Move, update, harvest, and inventory plants without the hassle and irritation of clipboards, smartphone cameras, or barcode scanners. Save time with the MoGroTM RFID handheld! We are a certified METRCTM integrator.
Cultivation Data Analysis The MoGroTM web-based app provides management & analytical tools so you can quickly make data-driven decisions to improve operations and your bottom line. From our handheld RFID scanners and scales to fixed-mount antenna, we offer the most complete RFID solutions for the cannabis market.
TM
lodestonedata.com
A SUSTAINABILITY TODAY SPECIAL REPORT
Photo iStockphoto.com/Mario_Hoppmann
2010 levels, to limit to 1.5 degrees. If the world’s nations double or triple their projected emissions cuts, these numbers are attainable. But only if: a massive ask for commerce and industry. “The good news is some of the kinds of actions that would be needed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees C are already underway around the world, but they need to accelerate,” said Valerie Masson-Delmotte, who co-chaired one of the two U.N. Intergovernmental Groups for Climate Change working groups that penned the climate change report. • Phase out fossil fuel and coal-based projects, and work toward phasing out fossil fuels in daily business and personal use. Move into clean energy, electric or hybrid vehicles, and away from products with petroleum bases. “Financiers and insurers need to set firm targets for phasing out all financing of fossil fuels over the next two decades, and rapidly accelerate their support for clean energy,” Patrick McCully, Climate and Energy Director at the Rainforest Action Network and part of the U.N. climate change report, added. • Take international action to stem the tide of natural resource destruction. The World Wildlife Federation urges world governments and businesses to strike a deal similar to the Paris Climate Change Agreement. Why businesses? Look no further than the U.S.: While the Trump Administration singularly
18
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
pulled the U.S. out of the accord, numerous states and businesses picked up the mantle and started implementing the standards. Every business needs to become a lot more sustainable. • Immediately reduce fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. (a track on which the U.S. was headed pre-2017). It could save thousands of lives and billions of dollars – and create a bigger clean energy economy. Where does that leave us? “The next few years are probably the most important in our history,” said Debra Roberts, co-chair of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II. Added John Robinson of the Wildlife Conservation Society, co-author of the Nature report, “Wilderness will only be secured globally if these nations take a leadership role. Right now, across the board, this type of leadership is missing. Already we have lost so much. We must grasp these opportunities to secure the wilderness before it disappears forever.” Texas Southern environmental scientist Robert Bullard, commenting on the U.S. government climate change report, put our next step as businesses and individuals into sharp focus: “If we’re going to run this country like a business, it’s time to address climate as the threat multiplier we know it is before more lives are lost.” ❖
Photo iStockphoto.com/KevinHyde
The Global 2030 Response: A Few Examples
The Hilton in Santa Barbara, CA, is one of 250 locations in the U.S. trying to reduce food waste to landfills by 50 percent by 2030. Photo Hilton
How are organizations taking charge within their ranks, supply chains, and areas of operation to tackle the numerous challenges of our world in climate change crisis, and one losing habitat and wildlife in staggering numbers? There are hundreds of examples – all of them progressive and directed with long-term business, resource, and personal stability in mind. We’ve put together a few examples of companies jumping forward with major solutions to make the world more sustainable, economically and environmentally, for all: • Wilmar International, the world’s largest palm oil producer (supplies 40 percent of the world’s palm oil), revised its action plan to require deforestation practices by all of its suppliers – a deeper dive into its 2013 ‘no deforestation, no peat, no exploitation’ policy.
20
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
Palm oil plantations are one of the biggest causes of deforestation in equatorial countries. • In late 2018, Starbucks began banning the use of plastic straws – a noteworthy nod to the dire situation with plastics in our oceans and waterways. • Patagonia, long a champion of sustainable practices, donated the $10 million it received from the federal tax cut to NGOs “committed to protecting air, land, and water and finding solutions to the climate crisis,” CEO Rose Marcario wrote in an open letter posted on LinkedIn. • adidas, BlackRock, CIT, Facebook, and others are partnering with One Tree Planted, CalFire, and the California Native Plant Society to plant millions of trees in the devastasted wildfire burn areas that have
scorched over one million acres in the last 15 months. They’re addressing the estimated 130 million trees that have been lost to wildfire, disease, and other causes in California since 2010. • Luxury fashion giant Kering is partnering with The Savory Institute under Savory’s Land to Market program to practice regenerative agriculture, which restores healthy soil, removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and produces regenerative raw materials – one of the three key principles to building a circular economy in fashion. • The Hilton chain has joined forces with the World Wildlife Fund to reduce food waste on its 250 managed properties in the U.S. Hilton’s goal: to reduce waste to landfills by 50 percent by 2030, part of its Travel with Purpose campaign. The impact is swift and noticeable: in
Kill Germs in a Flash with Violet Defense BRING THE GERM-KILLING POWER OF SUNLIGHT INDOORS Violet Defense’s patented technology harnesses the germkilling power of sunlight into our mobile and installed UV light products. Bring clinical-level disinfection to your every day spaces with the ability to kill up to 99.9% of bacteria and viruses without harmful chemicals.
Begin Protecting Your World From Germs Today! www.violetdefense.com | 407.433.1104
The Global 2030 Response: A Few Examples
Photo BASF SE
a 10-week pilot project with nine hotels in the U.S. and South America, Hilton donated 6,000 pounds of prepared leftover food, enough to feed 4,200 people. It also kept 130 tons of inedible food waste out of landfills, preventing the equivalent of 100 tons of carbon emissions.
(Top) New process technologies developed by BASF can reduce the carbon footprint of olefin production by up to 50 percent. Laboratory Technician Oliver Secosan controls the new plant for synthesis gas direct conversion.
• United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) is using $120 million in government funding, part of its post-Brexit plan, to turn household food scraps into environmentally friendly plastic bags and cups. They’re using sugar beet, food scraps, and wood chippings in their move away from oil-based plastics, as well as recycling single-use plastics. The country’s recent ban on microbeads, and 5-penny charge for single-use plastic shopping bags, has seen supermarket bag distribution drop by 86 percent.
(Right) Coca Cola recently unveiled an environmentally-friendly cooler.
• BASF is now making products with chemically recycled plastics through its ChemCycling project. Pilot products include mozzarella packaging, refrigerator components, and insulation panels, an indication of how widespread the new packaging will become – and its positive environmental impact.
Photo Coca-Cola
• Coca-Cola is partnering with Unilever and Indorama Ventures to reach the global target of 50 percent recycled material use by 2030. This allows plastics like colored PET Continued on Page 26
22
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
Don’t take the same old journey. Be somewhere genuine. Be somewhere amazing. Be changed.
playanydaygetawaycation
800.828.4244
visithendersonvillenc.org
The Global 2030 Response: A Few Examples (Top) IKEA has long been a leader in business sustainability, both in its operations and consumer products contents. The company has stepped up in a big way with solar energy use, and also announcing it would use recycled ocean plastics in many of its products beginning in 2019. (Bottom) Solar panels on the roof of a Walmart in Puerto Rico.
Photo IKEA
Photo WalMart
24
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
Control is Always at Your Fingertips Your connected home or business needs a smart control solution focused on security. ELK’s M1 Control provides uncompromising security and life safety on site, plus secure connectivity with your favorite smart devices! M1 goes beyond security with flexible automation features to enhance comfort and convenience. • Rock solid security and life safety with comprehensive detection and state-of-the-art reporting capabilities • Wireless sensors with multi-level security to prevent hacking
• Intelligent control solutions for lights, thermostats, integrated locks, garage doors, water valves and more • Smart features and flexible integration capabilities help you reduce energy costs without sacrificing comfort
• Securely control your system from smart phones, tablets, web browsers and more, with or without monthly fees • Event notifications via phone call, email or text to keep you informed
To find a qualified M1 Installer near you visit: www.elkproducts.com/installer
The Global 2030 Response: A Few Examples Continued from Page 22
bottles, normally not recyclable, to be recycled into food grade-quality packaging. The first industrial production plant for the new packaging will be commissioned in The Netherlands later this year. • 3M is one of the most prolific product producers on earth, with a launch average of 1,000 new products per year. As of 2019, 100 percent of all 3M products will have sustainability baked in under its Sustainability Value Commitment policy. The focus for product development now includes five areas: reusability; recyclability; energy, waste, and/or water savings; responsible sourcing; and renewable materials. 3M has been a sustainability giant for two decades, from scouring solutions that use 100 percent recycled materials to roof shingles with smogreducing granules. • In December 2018, Unilever announced it will develop a crowdsourced, plastic-free laundry tablet to replace single-use sachets, highly popular in the world but a major source of plastic pollution. This is part of Unilever’s commitment to make all its plastic packaging reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025. • Walmart’s Project Gigaton supports and invites suppliers to eliminate one gigaton of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2030. With 90 percent of the company’s emissions coming from its supply chain, this is a huge undertaking – and the first time an organization’s emissions-reduction strategy involves its supply chain. • Mars is addressing the emissions of 139 of its factories in 80 countries, investing $1 billion to reduce GHG emissions by 67 percent by 2050. • Google, the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy, has a goal of operating 100 percent of all global operations solely on renewable energy. To date, it has signed more than 2.5 gigawatts worth of solar and wind energy contracts – enough to power nearly two million homes. Google’s data centers already use 50 percent less energy than a typical data center. The company is vested in nearly 25 renewable energy projects. • IKEA plans to be completely energy independent in all stores by 2020 – and to use recycled ocean plastics in many of its products. To do so, it is investing $680 million over the next five years. ❖ Photo Google/Google 2018 Environmental Report
26
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
According to a sustainability report from Google: “Data centers are the backbone of the internet, processing and storing huge amounts of information … We still need a lot of energy to process trillions of Google searches every year, play more than 400 hours of YouTube videos uploaded every minute, and power the products and services that our users depend on. That’s why we began purchasing renewable energy – to reduce our carbon footprint and address climate change.”
Sustainable Brands
Innovation Expo
What to expect in the Innovation Expo: • Collaborative workshops • Expo stage programming • Evening receptions • Onsite demos • Nonprofit causeway • Startup alley • Innovation Open • Networking meetups
Buy Your $49 Innovation Expo Pass Today! Meet the brands innovating for social and environmental good
June 3–6, 2019 | Cobo Center, Detroit To purchase a pass or learn about sponsorship, please visit www.SB19Detroit.com 415.626.2212 | events@sustainablebrands.com Copyright ©2019 Sustainable Life Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Sustainable Brands® is a registered trademark of Sustainable Life Media, Inc.
Should Companies Pay for Beneficial Biodiversity? By Joanne Burgess and Edward Barbier
In the beloved children’s book The Lorax, an entrepreneur regrets wiping out all the makebelieve truffala trees by chopping them down to maximize his short-term gains. As the Dr. Seuss tale ends, the Once-ler – the man responsible for this environmental tragedy – tells a young child that, “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
Without an array of ecosystems and species, it’s tough for farmers to grow crops or ranchers to raise animals.
Likewise, many corporations that profit from nature’s bounty, such as Unilever, Patagonia, and Interface, are reaching a similar conclusion, realizing that it’s time for the business world to do more about conservation.
Insurance companies depend on coastal wetlands to minimize the impact of big storms. For example, an international group of researchers estimated that preserving one hectare of mangroves in the Philippines yields more than $3,200 in flood-reduction benefits each year.
We propose a new way to solve the problem of species and ecosystem loss. Corporations that benefit from biodiversity could forge what some are calling a “new deal for nature” by paying part of the tab for biodiversity conservation.
Biodiversity Biodiversity, the variety of all natural ecosystems and species, is being lost at an unprecedented rate. According to the recent World Wildlife Fund Living Planet Report, the populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have fallen by an average of 60 percent in just over 40 years. Scientists Gerardo Ceballos, Paul R. Ehrlich, and Rodolfo Dirzo have dubbed this decline and an impending wave of extinctions a “biological annihilation.” We argue that many businesses are threatened by the loss of species and ecosystems, such as declining bee populations and dwindling stocks of fish, forests, wetlands, and mangroves.
28
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
The pharmaceutical industry needs them to make and create drugs. For example, one team of U.S.-based researchers estimates that the pharmaceutical value of marine biodiversity for anti-cancer drug discovery could range from U.S. $563 billion to as much as $5.7 trillion.
A global treaty, the Convention on Biological Diversity, does set worldwide conservation targets. But they may not be ambitious enough. U.N. Biodiversity Chief Cristiana Palmer is considering raising the treaty’s targets to conserve at least half of terrestrial, inland water, coastal, and marine habitats to preserve biodiversity. But the existing efforts to preserve biodiversity are not only inadequate, they’re underfunded.
New Way to Pay Global biodiversity protection requires $100 billion annually, according to a previous study we conducted, yet the international community spends up to $10 billion each year on biodiversity conservation. Much of the world’s biodiversity is in
developing countries, which lack the financial wherewithal to adequately conserve it. The Lorax could speak for the trees, but he lacked the cash to preserve them. In Science magazine, we stated our belief that involving businesses in an international environmental agreement could help bridge a chronic funding gap. A key part of this new deal for nature would be making the corporations that depend on the health of natural ecosystems and species help foot the bill to preserve biodiversity.
Benefitting the Bottom Line Why would corporations want to get involved? First off, it may benefit their bottom line. Big companies depend on robust natural ecosystems and individual species. We calculate that the increase in revenue and profits from biodiversity conservation could generate $25 billion to $50 billion annually to fund global conservation efforts. The seafood industry stands to gain $53 billion annually from an increase in marine stocks. This could generate $5 billion to $10 billion each year to spend on preserving biodiversity. The insurance industry could see an additional $52 billion from increasing the area of protected coastal wetlands with a similar investment. Agriculture also has an incentive to protect habitats of wild pollinators, who, along with managed populations, enhance global crop production by an amount a global group of
Photo iStockphoto.com/K_Thalhofer
WINTER 2018/19 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY
29
Should Companies Pay for Beneficial Biodiversity? scientists estimates to be worth between $235 billion to $577 billion annually. What’s more, there is growing evidence that when corporations engage in environmental stewardship, they become more attractive investments and their borrowing costs decline.
Corporate Social Responsibility There is a second reason why big companies are sometimes willing to take action and pay to conserve biodiversity: corporate social responsibility, an ethos that builds into business models a commitment to protect the environment and benefit society. Danone is a leader in this regard. It established the first partnership agreement between a global environmental convention and a private company over 20 years ago. Since then, the multinational corporation best known for its yogurt and bottled water has promoted and supported the sustainable use and management of wetlands. Danone has worked with local partners to replant mangroves in approximately 500 Senegalese villages. Danone, which earned $3 billion in profits in 2017, has its own $80 million “Ecosystem Fund.” It’s just one of an increasing number of companies taking concrete steps toward biodiversity protection, even though they are not required by any law or national policy. More than 21 national and regional initiatives have been established to encourage partnerships between business and biodiversity conservation. For example, 10 of the 13 biggest seafood companies that control up to 16 percent of global marine catch and 40 percent of the largest and most valuable fisheries have come together to support an ocean stewardship initiative. Similarly, the International Council of Forest and Paper Associations, which represents the global forest products industry, now engages in sustainable forest management certification. The total area of forests worldwide deemed to be subject to sustainable practices supplying the industry increased from 62 million hectares, 12 percent of the total global forest area, in 2000, to 310 million hectares in 2015, according to the industry group. That’s more than half of the total global forest area. The annual revenue of the world’s 100 largest global forest, paper and packaging companies is over $300 billion. Photo iStockphoto.com/MarioGuti
30
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
HydrofarmCommercial.com
Should Companies Pay for Beneficial Biodiversity? A New Deal for Nature In addition to creating marine reserves, protecting forests, preserving the habitats of wild pollinators, and conserving coastal wetlands, the private sector could also help finance conservation efforts in developing countries. Based on our calculations, if the seafood sector were to set aside up to 20 percent of the increase in profits it gets from sustainably managing marine biomass stocks, it could conceivably spend up to $10 billion annually for marine biodiversity conservation. And we estimate that by channeling up to 10 percent of the gains from sustainable forest management, the forest products industry could raise as much as $30 billion each year for investment in increasing protected forest area. An agricultural sector contribution of around 10 percent of the benefits it derives from wild pollination services would amount to about $20 billion to $60 billion per year in additional financing for the conservation, creation and restoration of wild pollinator habitats. All told, this business-world support could help close the $100 billion gap in global biodiversity conservation funding. This would go a long way toward slowing, and potentially reversing, biodiversity loss. There are, of course, barriers to corporate conservation. The costs may be high. It may be hard for to businesses to assess the longterm value of biodiversity conservation benefits and integrate them into investment decisions. And it is possible that some of the corporations that take this step could be at a competitive disadvantage, especially in the short term. But a number of companies are already showing that they believe investing in ecosystem preservation is worth it. In our view, corporate support for international biodiversity conservation is essential to prevent “biological annihilation.� � Joanne Burgess and Edward Barbier are Assistant Professors of Economics at Colorado State University. Photo iStockphoto.com/Tigercat_LPG
32
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
Sustainable Cities’ Greater Needs
Cities are enhancing civic and natural beauty with an emphasis on riverwalks, parks, new green spaces, and healthy cafes. Is it truly adding to sustainability – and is it equitable for all? By Trina Johnson and Winifred Curran
Photo iStockphoto.com/Man As Thep
Many indexes aim to rank how green cities are. But what does it actually mean for a city to be green or sustainable? We’ve written about the “parks, cafes, and a riverwalk” model of civic sustainability, which focuses on providing new green spaces, mainly for high-income people. This vision of shiny residential towers and waterfront parks has become a widelyshared conception of the typical green city. But it can drive up real estate prices and displace low- and middle-income residents. We prefer a model that recognizes all three aspects of sustainability: environment,
34
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
economy, and equity. The equity piece is often missing from development projects promoted as green or sustainable. We are interested in models of urban greening that produce real environmental improvements and also benefit long-term working-class residents in neighborhoods that are historically underserved. Over a decade of research in an industrial section of New York City, we have seen an alternative vision take shape. This model, which we call “just green enough,” aims to clean up the environment while also retaining
and creating living-wage blue-collar jobs. It enables residents who have endured decades of contamination to stay in place and enjoy the benefits of a greener neighborhood.
‘Parks, cafes, and a riverwalk’ can lead to gentrification Gentrification has become a catch-all term used to describe neighborhood change and is often misunderstood as the only path to neighborhood improvement. In fact, its defining feature is displacement. Typically, people who move into these changing neighborhoods are wealthier and more
Photo iStockphoto.com/Man As Thep
educated than residents who are displaced. A recent spate of new research has focused on the displacement effects of environmental cleanup and green space initiatives. Land for new development and resources to fund extensive cleanup of toxic sites are scarce in many cities. This creates pressure to rezone industrial land for condo towers or lucrative commercial space, in exchange for developerfunded cleanup. In neighborhoods where gentrification has already begun, a new park or farmers market – green, wholesome, healthy, environmentally positive in all eyes – can actually exacerbate the problem by making the area more appealing to gentrifiers and pricing out long-term residents. In some cases, developers even create temporary community gardens or farmers markets, or promise more green space than they eventually deliver, in order to market a neighborhood to buyers looking for green amenities. Environmental gentrification naturalizes the disappearance of manufacturing and the working class. It makes deindustrialization seem both inevitable and desirable, often by replacing industry with more natural-looking landscapes. When these neighborhoods are finally cleaned up, after years of activism by longtime residents, they often are unable to stay and enjoy the benefits of their efforts.
Tools for greening differently Greening and environmental cleanup do not automatically or necessarily lead to gentrification. There are tools that can make cities both greener and more inclusive, if the political will exists. The work of the Newtown Creek Alliance in
Brooklyn and Queens provides examples. The alliance is a community-led organization working to improve environmental conditions and revitalize industry in and along Newtown Creek, which separates the two boroughs. It focuses explicitly on social justice and environmental goals, defined by the people most negatively affected by contamination in the area. For 220 years, Newtown Creek has been a dumping ground for oil refineries, chemical plants, sugar refineries, fiber mills, copper smelting works, steel fabricators, tanneries, paint and varnish manufacturers, and lumber, coal, and brick yards. In the late 1970s, an investigation found that 17 million gallons of oil had leaked under the neighborhood and into the creek from a nearby oil storage terminal. In 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency placed Newtown Creek on the Superfund list of heavily polluted toxic waste sites. The Newtown Creek Alliance and other groups are working to make sure that the Superfund cleanup and other remediation efforts are as comprehensive as possible. They’re also creating new green spaces within an area zoned for manufacturing, rather than pushing to rezone it. As this approach shows, green cities don’t have to be postindustrial. About 20,000 people work in the North Brooklyn industrial area that borders Newtown Creek. A number of industrial businesses in the area have also helped make environmental improvements.
Just green enough The “just green enough” strategy uncouples
environmental cleanup from high-end residential and commercial development. Our anthology, Just Green Enough: Urban Development and Environmental Gentrification, provides many other examples of the need to plan for gentrification effects before displacement happens. It also describes efforts to create environmental improvements that explicitly consider equity concerns. For example, UPROSE, Brooklyn’s oldest Latino community-based organization, is combining racial justice activism with climate resilience planning in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood. Its goal is not only to expand well-paid manufacturing jobs, but to include these businesses in rethinking what a sustainable economy looks like. Rather than rezoning the waterfront for high-end commercial and residential use, UPROSE is working for an inclusive vision of the neighborhood, built on the experience and expertise of its largely working-class immigrant residents and small business owners. In our view, it is time to expand the notion of what a green city looks like and who it is for. For cities to be truly sustainable, all residents should have access to affordable housing, living-wage jobs, clean air and water, and green space. Urban residents should not have to accept a false choice between contamination and environmental gentrification. ❖ Trina Hamilton is Associate Professor of Geography at University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Winifred Curran is Associate Professor of Geography at DePaul University. WINTER 2018/19 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY
35
The Fate of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch Trash Collector By Michelle Lee
36
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
It headed out from San Francisco Bay like an army of one, the first manufactured collection system sent to tackle the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Its mission: the $24.6 million Ocean Cleanup Project, to gather some of the estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic swirling in the Pacific and polluting coastlines, disrupting sea life and impacting part of our food supply. In early January, word came that after three months, the 2,000-foot-long trash collector, the brainchild of 24-year-old Boyan Slat of The Netherlands, broke and was unable to retain plastic that its sweepers harnessed. The U-shaped barrier, which Slat actually invented when he was 17, lost 60 feet of its piping when it broke off. In addition, plastic occasionally drifted out of the U-shaped funnel, unable to be corralled by the system. Also, Slat and his team realized the four-inch-per-second speed of the system was too slow. Under ideal circumstances, the trash collector’s floating series of connected pipes, four feet in diameter, would have processed collected refuse by the nine-foot net skirt that caught particles from the natural flow of
currents and the water. The push of water against the net would propel fish and other marine life under and beyond, so they wouldn’t be caught. Fitted with solar-powered lights and anti-collision systems to protect it from stray ships, the trash collector also included cameras, sensors, and satellites to communicate with its creators.
misguided; 95 percent should be about keeping plastics from reaching the ocean, with five percent for cleanup. Another criticized the project’s focus on plastics floating on the surface, though microplastics now are found on the sea floor. Finally, one expert noted that ocean currents actually only sweep up three to five percent of the total amount of ocean plastic.
Interviewed by NPR, Slat feels the setback is temporary, a necessary growing pain in learning how to gather so much plastic while working in an ever-moving ocean. “In principle, I think we are relatively close to getting it working,” he said. “It’s just that sometimes the plastic is escaping again. We have to speed up the system so it constantly moves faster than the plastic.”
Still, this major effort is proving invaluable to scientists and engineers looking at NextGen solutions to tackle the plastics crisis.
However, researchers and ocean cleanup experts following the system concluded that a number of things have worked. It travels with wave propulsion, orients itself in the wind, and has had some success catching and concentrating the plastic – but was ultimately stymied by the system’s slow speed. The Ocean Cleanup Project was met with healthy skepticism from the start. One marine litter research official said that the effort was
In mid-January, the system returned back to port in Hawaii for repairs and upgrades, which leads to another challenge: the remoteness of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch for such a huge piece of machinery. It is located 10 times further from land than the world’s most remote oil rig, creating a timely offline process any time a major repair needs to be made. Should it work this time, Slat’s larger vision is truly high-impact: deploying 60 more devices, projected to remove half the Great Pacific Garbage Patch’s surface plastic within five years. Sound far-fetched? So did the trash collector – until it left San Francisco Harbor in August. ❖ Photo courtesy of The Ocean Cleanup
WINTER 2018/19 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY
37
Action For Nature’s
2018 Eco-Heroes
Nineteen young activists received 2018 International Young Eco-Hero Awards for their impactful environmental projects addressing climate change, energy conservation, wildlife protection, landfill waste, and water pollution. The youth range in age from 8 to 16, and live in the U.S. as well as Australia, Canada, Columbia, Peru, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates. The San Francisco-based nonprofit Action for Nature recognized them for their creative projects aimed at solving the world’s environmental problems. The 19 Eco-Heroes were led by:
Stella Bowles, 14, Nova Scotia, Canada: Stella was disgusted by the “straight pipes” leading from household toilets into the river that runs beside her house. She became a young citizen scientist, tested the water, publicized the results, and mounted a campaign to demand action. In response, the municipal, provincial, and federal governments approved a $15-million plan to replace all straight pipes to the river with septic tanks by 2023. Now she is teaching other students to test their river water and challenge local authorities. Nikita Shulga, 12, Kyiv, Ukraine: Nikita noticed that classmates threw lunchtime food scraps into trash bins destined for the many landfills in Ukraine, so he set up a composting program called “Campola.” Even though composting and recycling are not widely practiced in Ukraine, he knew that Campola could reduce the size of landfills, while the compost could nourish trees. Starting at his own school in the fall of 2016, Nikita’s project expanded to 30 schools within the first year. Today, the Ministry of Ecology and Nature of Ukraine is preparing to implement Nikita’s composting initiative across 1,000 schools. Charlie Abrams and Jeremy Clark, 13, Portland, Oregon: Charlie and Jeremy are climate action campaigners and public speakers who have traveled throughout the state and beyond to lobby for environmental action. Consequently, 60,000 students in 80 Portland public schools are taught climate change as a fact. They founded their blog, “Two Green Leaves,” as fifth graders with an aim to educate others from the perspective of “the affected generation.” Anya de Saram-Larssen, 13, Columbo, Sri Lanka: Anya addresses the conflicts between humans and elephants in rural Wasgamuwa by writing, speaking, and fundraising for an “elefriendly bus.” It now safely transports school children who previously had to walk through an area where dangerous encounters with elephants have occurred. She is currently working on a pilot Photo iStockphoto.com/OktalStudio
project bringing seven students from the Sri Lankan capital of Columbo to Wasgamuwa for a weeklong wildlife camp.
38
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
OTHER ECO-HEROES INCLUDE:
Robbie Bond, 10, Hawaii: Created the
Hunter Mitchell, 10, South Africa:
Shalise Leesfield, 11, Australia:
nonprofit Kids Speaks For Parks to raise
Raised money for rhino awareness and
Publicizes the dangers that discarded
awareness for the preservation of U.S.
protection and regularly visits a local
fishing lines pose to marine wildlife and
National Parks and Monuments.
sanctuary to work with an orphaned
has set up a collection box system to
baby rhino.
gather such lines.
Ryan Hickman, 8, California: Recycled nearly 300,000 cans and bottles. He picks up, sorts, and takes recyclable items each weekend from his customers to the local recycling facility, earning $6,000, which he contributed to his
Asvini Thivakaran, 9, Texas: Diverted half a ton of batteries from the local landfill through her recycling efforts and persuaded her city’s mayor to establish collection bins in high-traffic areas.
Genevieve Leroux, 12, California: Persuaded others, including her local mayor, to join her in establishing pollinator gardens to support migrating Monarch butterflies.
local marine mammal center.
Lila Copeland, 15, California: Aided the Hannah Testa, 15, Georgia: Planned and
Los Angeles Unified School District roll-
executed two Plastic Pollution
out of a healthy vegan lunch option to all
Awareness days for the State of Georgia;
1,000 schools and 660,000 students;
educates others through extensive
now lobbying for this at the state level.
networking and public speaking
Jose Adolfo Quisocala Condori, 13, Peru: Started a banking system in his school whereby students receive compensation for turning in recycled paper. He also advises the students on spending their money wisely.
engagements.
Victor Aguilar, 16, Puerto Rico: Rahul and Rohan Raju, 13 and 15,
Developed a habitat for indigenous boa
United Arab Emirates: These young
constrictors, and established trails with
artists portray endangered species, their
educational information for the public.
Nicole Francis, 16, New York: Studies glass eel migration in Blind Brook off the Long Island Sound.
works exhibited all over the world, highlighting the urgent need to protect wildlife. Will Gladstone, 13, Massachusetts: Set Juan David Galeano Avila, 13,
up a foundation, website and Instagram
Colombia: Engaged his neighbors in
account to educate others about the
Claire Vlases, 15, Missouri: Persuaded
collecting trash from the local river
Blue-Footed Boobies of the Galapagos
her local school authority to install solar
bank, then researched and implemented
Islands. He has raised $40,000 for The
panels at her school, and raised the
recycling options.
Galapagos Conservancy by selling blue
funds for the installation.
socks.
39
Lighting that Protects Us — and Our Environment
We live in a time where there is growing concern over antibiotic resistance – so called “super bugs” have become increasingly difficult to kill or treat – and one of the most common solutions are chemicals that can harm us and the environment. This clear and present situation creates a wide-open field for next-gen organic lighting technology, notably Violet Defense’s proprietary Surface & Air Germ Elimination (S.A.G.E.) technology. “Chemicals have become an ever-increasing health concern — cleaning chemicals, agricultural chemicals, and countless more” said Terrance Berland, Violet Defense President and CEO. Violet Defense’s progressive S.A.G.E. system utilizes germ-killing lights in combination with violet and UV light to eradicate pathogens. The patented technology in the S.A.G.E line of products produces a combination of UV-A, UV-B, UV-C, and Violet-Blue light – the same photonic energy as the sun. The S.A.G.E.
40
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
technology kills up to 99.9 percent percent of germs, including “superbugs” like MRSA. “Our view is that the S.A.G.E. technology does what the sun has done for billions of years – using UV rays to destroy germs at the cellular level,” Berland said. Then there are the sustainability benefits. With the S.A.G.E. technology capable of killing up to 99.9 percent of both bacteria and viruses – compared to chemical-based cleaning products that studies have shown to leave 50 percent of surfaces still contaminated – environments will become far less toxic. Not only does this reduce the need for harmful chemicals but can also reduce waste associated with products like disinfecting wipes. The S.A.G.E. products are available in mobile versions and installed products that can run completely autonomously – either disinfecting anytime a room is unoccupied or completing a deep disinfection overnight. Think about the possibilities for this technology to help prevent
the spread of illnesses, resulting in reduced employee absenteeism, fewer students or staff getting sick in a school when the flu makes the rounds every winter, and fewer infections in healthcare spaces. “Chemicals are not conducive to human interaction,” Berland said. “We provide a more sustainable, cleaner, and greener way of killing germs. One study from a Scandinavian company equated the impact to the lungs of working a cleaning job, such as a janitorial position, with smoking several packs of cigarettes a day. We want to eliminate that.” Violet Defense’s protective lighting technology is already deployed in schools, in health clinics, in the hotel/hospitality space, large scale food production facilities, and more. With the ability to also incorporate the power of ultraviolet light into the agricultural space, Violet Defense is driving the usage of a lighting system that vastly improves indoor sanitation and creates healthier working and agricultural environments. ■
The Ultimate LED Desk Lamp Charging Station The Lumicharge® LED desk lamp is a versatile addition to any work area, office, or bedroom, providing dimmable lighting in a sleek design with high functionality. The included universal phone charger and two extra USB ports are perfect for families and people with various devices to charge. This innovative LED desk lamp with modern features aids nighttime reading, studying, and general work with illuminating delight.
GENERATION 1 AVAILABLE NOW ON AMAZON AND THELUMICHARGE.COM
DEBUTING LUMICHARGE GENERATION 2 AT CES 2019 FEATURES INCLUDE: Built-in 10W fast charging wireless charger // 1 USB port // Accommodates cell phones with covers* // 300-degree light area coverage // Easy access to front setup buttons // Dimmable front display to adjust the brightness with day or night option // Preprogrammed to include daylight savings in North America and some European countries // 3 light colors – soft white, bright white, and soft yellow – with multiple brightness levels // Last setting memory // Night light motion sensor // Metallic middle and upper arm VISIT US DURING CES 2019, BOOTH #51128/EUREKA PARK Contact info@lumicharge.com to pre-register for early adopter and crowd funding specials.
THELUMICHARGE.COM
*Can accommodate approx. 90% of cell phone covers in the market depending on thickness
iStockphoto.com/gremlin
A New Frontier in Cannabis Reporting How one woman’s vision is bringing data-driven solutions to a global market. By Patricia Miller The legal cannabis industry is rapidly expanding across the U.S. In fact, it generated more than $8 billion in 2017 and is expected to surpass $23 billion by 2025, according to a 2018 industry report. This is critical information for investors, operators, and policymakers involved in the sector. Further, it’s information that is only available thanks to the rigorous studies conducted and compiled by New Frontier Data (NFD), an independent, technology-driven analytics company. In part, NFD owes its success to its forwardthinking founder and CEO Giadha Aguirre de Carcer. She created NFD to provide unbiased, vetted, actionable intelligence to those operating, researching, or investing in the cannabis industry. Her leadership and vision have propelled her company into a global powerhouse, and their work will only increase in relevance as more markets enter the legal cannabis space. We had the opportunity to speak with de Carcer at the Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition, where she revealed what’s next for the ground-breaking company.
42
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
Sustainability Today: How does New Frontier Data use technology to elevate the discussion around cannabis? Giadha Aguirre de Carcer: We provide data analytics and high-level, actionable intelligence. In order to do that, we had to create a massive technological infrastructure. The data in the industry remains fragmented and disjointed due to regulation, and now that we cover not only the United States but the globe, we needed to adapt and technology is the solution for that. Information flow and the speed of information flow will be critical to continue to see a more cohesive evolution of the industry in North America, where it started, but also across other regions such as Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and even Africa. ST Today: What are some unique challenges cannabis companies are facing in regard to raising capital? GC: Transparency. There are still those, especially in the mature financial space, who question what the plant’s future will really be
and the socioeconomic impact of the plant. We have a very narrow pool of investment sources and the more we adopt sophisticated reporting practices and embrace the need for transparency in all things in our businesses, then we are more likely to continue to attract those mature investors that will help us continue to operate in this wonderful space. ST Today: What’s next for New Frontier Data? GC: Global expansion. We are going to begin by establishing ourselves in Europe – we are covering all countries legalizing across the European Union. Followed very closely by our presence in Latin America, we’ll soon be in Panama as of February 2019. We also went to Sydney and Hong Kong this October, where we are beginning to have mature discussions around, not only cannabis and CBD production, but hemp’s advanced industrial applications, with some serious stakeholders across the region. So again, global expansion. ■ For the full interview, check out the winter issue of Cannabis & Tech Today.
On The Shelf Four books that paint different pictures of sustainability and environmental concern — and spotlight the challenges ahead Reviews by Robert Yehling In year two of the U.S. government’s retrograde approach to the environment, climate change, and sustainability, one could expect books to begin rolling out to address the problems and examine our way out of this. That happened, and then some: 2018 proved to be a watershed year for new books on these subjects. We chose to review four titles that, while not representative of all the new works, illustrate the issues and their complexities. They illustrate something else, in big, flashing red letters just beneath every page of every book: We’re in red flag status. Survivors of the California wildfires that have wiped out over 1.5 million acres and more than 25,000 homes since November 2017 know exactly what that means. A closer look:
A Finer Future: Creating an Economy in Service to Life By L. Hunter Lovins, Stewart Wallis, Anders Wijkman and John Fullerton (New Society Publishers: $31.99) During the past two years, the U.S. economy has been reverse-engineered to the point we are living to serve an economy that benefits fewer every year. The four authors, world leaders in business, economics, and sustainability, point the compass again in the right direction in this acclaimed book. They examine grid-locked politics, the state of humanity, failed states, and soaring inequality globally, then lay down an inspiring policy blueprint of a regenerative economy that works for people and the planet while sustaining itself. The beauty of this book is both its complexity and simplicity – complexity in the issues that are tackled, simplicity in its delivery so we can act upon the steps laid out. The authors argue for enlightened entrepreneurism, technology, and innovative policy as they examine transforming or re-imagining finance, corporations, energy, agriculture, the nature of how we work, respect for ecosystems and human community, and enhancing overall human well-being. The U.S. has always been a leader in this area, despite its current retrograde approach. The authors show why, also reminding us of what needs to happen if we’re to remain viable in business and life.
The Secret Lives of Glaciers By M Jackson (Green Writers Press: $24.95) The Secret Lives of Glaciers has all the makings of an environmental science classic: compelling narrative of the author’s years of research in Iceland, a hard and unsparing look at the societal and economic impact of the rapidly melting ice caps, sheets, and glaciers, and why glaciers – more than any other meteorological measuring stick – write our future weather map through their expansions and recessions. A long-time glacial geology expert, M Jackson paints broadstrokes to show how Iceland’s 400 glaciers – the largest such cluster in the world – reflect the effects of climate change, particularly given the country’s location near the Arctic Circle. Through her exhaustive research and people who know the glaciers best, the local scientists and ranchers, she shows how entire villages have come and gone at the hands of glaciers – and how, presently, Icelanders are reclaiming ranch land laid bare by those same glaciers on fast retreat. The Secret Lives of Glaciers is not only a great read because of its fascinating insight into our world’s ice sources (99 percent of the world’s ice is contained in glaciers and polar caps), but because it shows the direct impact of the rapid ice melt. Coastal residents in the U.S. are seeing water levels rise, but imagine being at the start point of all this. This book puts us there.
44
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
ON & OFF ROAD MAKE YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE ELECTRIC!
Whether on or off-roading, cruising the neighborhood, or on the golf course, EcoCruise has the electric vehicle to meet your needs while offering an advanced multitude of efficiency, technology, and safety features for a fully integrated drive. They are DOT, ECC, EPA & Carb Approved. Features Include: Lithium Batteries: 72 Volt– 60 to 132 AH Option Range of Charge: 30 to 70 Miles AC Motors Disc Brakes Heavy-Duty Suspension
Visit www.ecocruise.com to learn more.
On The Shelf
Can Business Save the Earth? Innovating Our Way to Sustainability By Michael Lenox and Aaron Chatterji (Stanford Business Books: $29.95) The thousands of focused business professionals who attend the Sustainable Brands conferences each year might look at this title and think, “We’ve been working on this for a decade. What’s new?” In short, the authors’ expanded approach on what it will take for businesses to truly save the earth. The book’s central argument focuses not on bottom lines or ROIs or trying to quantify the value of trees, but on forming a wider pool of stakeholders and collaborating with other businesses to turn this ship around. Lenox and Chatterji believe that it will happen not from market pressure, but from dramatic innovation. To achieve this, they advocate for a broader ecosystem of players including inventors, executives, customers, investors, activists, and governments. The book outlines how and the extent to which each group can serve as a driver of green growth. The authors go from there to identify where economic incentives currently exist, or could exist with institutional change, and ultimately address how far well-coordinated efforts can take us in addressing the current environmental crisis.
46
SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2018/19
A New Reality: Human Evolution for a Sustainable Future By Dr. Jonas Salk and Jonathan Salk (City Point Press: $26.00) The first thing that jumped at us was the author – Dr. Jonas Salk. Some 65 years after he developed the polio vaccine, some of the late visionary scientist’s lesser-known work comes back to life. Jonathan Salk has intermingled several of his father’s papers with his own writing to create this visionary, close-up look at how we can bring forth the most necessary aspects of ourselves, individually and as the human race, to live in and build a more sustainable future. The departure point is in the late 1970s, when population growth was slowing and Dr. Salk saw a sea-change in human values: A shift from an assumption of unlimited availability of resources, unremitting growth, excess, independence, competition, and short-term thinking, to those based on limits, equilibrium, balance, interdependence, cooperation, and long-term thinking. It was a heady time in the environmental movement, and books like Marilyn Ferguson’s The Aquarian Conspiracy further laid out a blueprint for a deeply sustainable life. Imagine if we’d listened. Sadly, part of this country’s current social division is spelled out by the paragraph above, spurred by greed and “get it while you can.” Now, Dr. Salk echoes back to give us another look. This book belongs with anyone who wants to grow deeper into the values and actions that reflect stewardship of resources and the earth, and doing business in a way that serves the planet and the customer.
Protect your tech, in-st yle. jill-e.com
TRIPLE DRIVER BT IN-EAR HEADPHONES
Chores + Rewards System
Finish HW
Take out Trash
Read a Book
Wash the Car
2019 CES INNOVATION HONOREE AWARD WINNER
The fun way to manage chores and screen time. A smart parental router that helps parents manage their kids' time online and chores with the tap of a button.
WWW.1MORE.COM
ryfi.co
Fujifilminstax.com
#myinstax
SHARE AN ORIGINAL!