Read the full story at Packaging Europe.
Unilever has joined Nextek’s global NEXTLOOPP project, which aims to create food-grade recycled polypropylene (rPP) from post-consumer packaging waste.
Day: June 29, 2021
This whiter-than-white paint cools buildings down dramatically. Why isn’t it everywhere?
Read the full story at Fast Company.
The paint, made of barium sulfate, has a dark side.
Tool developed to measure carbon footprint of a Cornish pasty
Read the full story from the University of Exeter.
Nothing says Cornwall more than a Cornish pasty, but have you ever considered the environmental impact it is having?
There are 120 million Cornish pasties made annually and according to researchers at the University of Exeter each one produces around 1.5-2kg of carbon – though their carbon footprint can be halved if the traditional beef filling is replaced with a vegan or vegetarian alternative.
The researchers made the finding using a new tool that measures the carbon footprint of Cornish pasties.
The Carbon and Low Impact Pasty (CLIP) tool measures the carbon emissions of the ingredients that make up a Cornish pasty as well as factoring in transportation, freezing and the energy and water used to make it.
Among Big Ag facilities, ADM’s Decatur plant emits most carbon dioxide, EPA data shows
Read the full story at the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting.
Four of the five largest industrial agricultural facilities that have released the most carbon emissions in the past decade belong to Archer Daniels Midland, one of the world’s largest food processing and commodity trading companies.
It’s a good look: Envisioning the long-term value of innovation and sustainability
Read the full story in Forbes.
Sustainability efforts are proving to be fertile ground for many organizations to nurture innovative, competitive and potentially market-disrupting advantages that also contribute to the common good. But in order to capitalize on those efforts, they have to be approached with more than a flash-in-the pan mindset; they require commitment and patience if abiding value is to be achieved.
‘Home Depot architecture’: How one developer is turning farm storage into sleek apartments
Read the full story from Fast Company.
In Detroit, one developer has turned Quonset huts—better known for their use on farms and military bases—into affordable, efficient housing.
Old-school computing: when your lab PC is ancient
Read the full story in Nature.
Antiquated computers are common in science, from geochemistry and linguistics to biochemistry and microscopy. Often an old computer is hooked up to an expensive piece of scientific kit — a microscope or chromatography system, for instance — with software that is incompatible with newer computers or too expensive to upgrade. Sometimes the old computer just refuses to die, or is so in demand that it’s impractical to decommission it for long enough to upgrade it.
NIH Disaster Research Response program launches new website
Read the full story from Environmental Factor.
For more than 20 years, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) has played a lead role in our nation’s health research following oil spills, hurricanes, and other environmental calamities. Now, the institute is providing a new home for the Disaster Research Response (DR2) program and its vast collection of web-based resources needed for scientists to conduct vital and timely public health research in the aftermath of disasters.
More than 500 curated research tools and resources are now organized into an easy-to-use online portal, available on the NIEHS website free of charge.
Expectations for Renewable Energy Finance in 2021-2024: Growing Confidence in the Aftermath of the Pandemic
A new analysis released June 15, 2021 by ACORE finds that confidence among both renewable energy investors and developers is at an all-time high. This report presents the results of a new survey of prominent financial institutions and renewable energy development companies on their confidence in the sector in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new report also tracks progress on the $1T 2030: American Renewable Investment Goal, an initiative ACORE launched in 2018 to help secure $1 trillion in private sector investment in renewable energy and enabling grid technologies by 2030.
What would happen if the world stopped shopping?
Read the full story in Fast Company.
Fast fashion is destructive and exploitative—and yet millions of people rely on it for work. In a new book, J.B. MacKinnon explores these complexities.
Environmental News Bits 