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Phasing Out Disposables | Earth Wise      

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Humans generate a remarkable amount of garbage.  According to the World Bank, humans produce 4.5 trillion pounds of trash every year, with at least 33% of this garbage not managed in an environmentally-safe manner. By 2050, global garbage generation is expected to reach nearly 7.5 trillion pounds a year. 

Globally, an average of 1.6 lbs of waste is generated per person per day.  While high-income countries only account for 16% of the global population, they are responsible for about 34% of the world’s waste. 

But almost everything humans throw away was bought from a company.   Whether it was the packaging or the product itself, we purchased it from somewhere.  There’s a growing movement to hold the companies responsible for the trash they produce. 

Faced with increasing consumer consciousness, many companies are stepping up and announcing initiatives to reduce their waste.  Starbucks is one of them.  The company’s white logo-emblazoned paper cups and clear plastic cups are instantly recognizable symbols of the brand.  But these ubiquitous cups are disposable and also serve as a symbol of our throwaway society. 

By the end of next year, Starbucks is planning to allow customers to use their own personal mugs at every location in the U.S. and Canada.  By 2025, the company wants every customer to be able to use either their own mug or to borrow a ceramic or reusable to-go mug.  This borrow-a-mug program is currently being tested in eight different markets around the globe. 

In lieu of regulation mandating corporate responsibility for waste, we will have to hope that more companies do the right thing.

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Starbucks is planning to phase out its iconic cups

Photo, posted June 11, 2010, courtesy of Sunghwan Yoon via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The Largest Renewable Energy Project In The World | Earth Wise

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India has broken ground on what is planned to be the largest renewable energy project in the world:  a 30-gigawatt wind and solar power project in the state of Gujarat.

The renewable energy park will have two zones:  a 122,000-acre hybrid park zone that will accommodate 25 gigawatts of wind and solar power plants and a 57,000-acre zone entirely dedicated to wind power.  Multiple developers will be building the power plants in the hybrid zone.  A single company has been allotted the wind power zone.  The selected developers have to develop 50% of the total generation capacity in the next 3 years and finish the project in five years. The project is expected to create jobs for 100,000 people. Total investment in the project will be about $20 billion.

This is not technically a single standalone project but is rather an aggregation of multiple projects in a single general area.  Nonetheless, it represents the largest renewable energy development ever.  By comparison, the entire United States has a total of 50 gigawatts of installed solar power in large plants – which does not include any rooftop solar.  Total wind power capacity in the U.S. is a little over 100 gigawatts.  So, the 30-gigawatt Indian project is huge by any measure.

India already gets over 30% of its electricity from renewable sources, making it one of the largest renewable energy markets in the world.  The country has a goal of 60% renewable energy by 2030, amounting to 450 gigawatts of capacity.  This will require the country to double its already substantial renewable capacity in less than 10 years.  The Gujarat energy park will represent substantial progress towards that goal.

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Largest Renewable Energy Project In World Will Be 30 Gigawatt Solar–Wind Project In India

Photo, posted October 16, 2019, courtesy of Jonathan Cutrer via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The First Earth Fund Awards | Earth Wise

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Last February, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced that he was launching the Bezos Earth Fund that would grant money to scientists, activists, NGOs and others making an effort to help preserve and protect the natural world.  The fund would start out with $10 billion and would begin issuing grants later in the year.

In November, the first Earth Fund award recipients were announced.  In total, 16 organizations will be receiving nearly $800 million in funding.

The largest awards include the following:  the Environmental Defense Fund received $100 million to build and launch MethaneSAT, a satellite that will locate and measure sources of methane pollution around the world and provide public access to data that assures accountability.

The Natural Resources Defense Council was awarded $100 million to advance climate solutions and legislation at the state level, promote policies and programs focused on reducing oil and gas production, protect and restore ecosystems that store carbon, and accelerate sustainable and regenerative agriculture practices.

The Nature Conservancy also received $100 million and plans to use the money to help protect the Emerald Edge forest.  (That is the largest intact coastal rainforest on Earth, spanning 100 million acres through Washington, British Columbia and Alaska).

The World Resources Institute will receive $100 million, doled out over five years, to be used to develop a satellite-based monitoring system to advance natural climate solutions around the world.

An additional $100 million award went to the World Wildlife Fund to help protect and restore mangroves, develop new markets for seaweed as an alternative to fossil fuel-based products, and to protect forests and other ecosystems around the world.

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The organizations that will benefit from Bezos’ $791M and what will they do with the money

Photo, posted March 4, 2015, courtesy of Kevin Gill via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

COVID-19 And The Wildlife Trade | Earth Wise

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Historically, many diseases have jumped from animals to people with serious consequences for the human host.  In fact, coronaviruses alone have caused outbreaks in humans three times in the past 20 years:  SARS, MERS, and COVID-19.  The majority of human pathogens that caused substantial damage to human health and economies during the past three decades have originated from wildlife or livestock.

According to a team of researchers from the University of Göttingen and other international institutions, more epidemics from animal hosts are inevitable unless urgent action is taken.  In order to help  protect against future pandemics, which could be even more severe than the current one, the researchers published a series of suggestions for governments to consider in the journal Trends in Ecology & Evolution.

The research team calls for governments around the world to establish effective legislation to do three things:  address the wildlife trade, protect habitats, and reduce the interaction between people, wildlife, and livestock. 

The wildlife trade and habitat fragmentation both facilitate disease outbreaks by increasing the potential for contact between humans and animals. Animals in wildlife markets are often kept in crowded and unsanitary conditions, which creates fertile breeding grounds for pathogens to jump to humans. Animals and humans are also forced closer together when natural habitats are cleared or otherwise fragmented in order to meet the various needs of a growing global population.  

Since the Covid-19 outbreak, China, Vietnam, and South Korea have introduced regulations to better manage the wildlife trade as well as support wildlife conservation.  According to the researchers, these actions serve as examples for other countries to consider.  The status quo isn’t good enough. 

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COVID-19 highlights risks of wildlife trade

Photo, posted August 23, 2010, courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Northeast Region via Flickr. Photo credit: Rosie Walunas/USFWS.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Food Waste And Access To Groceries | Earth Wise

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One-third of all food produced is wasted, which turns out to be a major contributor to carbon emissions.  Most of the carbon emissions associated with food waste are related to the production of the food.  Reducing waste would trickle through the supply chain over time and ultimately less food would be produced.

A study at Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business looked at a particular strategy for reducing food waste’s environmental impact:  opening more grocery stores.

It turns out that the more stores there are, the lower food waste will be.  Cornell Professor Elena Belavina created a model that incorporates data from the grocery industry, the U.S. Census Bureau, and other academic studies.

When applied to Chicago, which is typical of many American cities, the model predicts that by adding just three or four markets within four-square-mile area, food waste would be reduced by 6 to 9 percent.  This would achieve an emissions reduction comparable to converting more than 20,000 cars from fossil fuels to electric power.  According to the model, not only would food waste be reduced, but so would grocery bills.  By trimming food waste and travel costs, consumers would spend up to 4% less.

Most big cities are well below their ideal density of grocery stores that would minimize food waste. When consumers can purchase perishable goods nearby, they shop more often but buy less each time.  There is less food sitting at home, so there is a much lower likelihood that food will spoil.

New York City, which has an abundance of produce stands and neighborhood markets, comes close to having the ideal density of markets.  Basically, the way to reduce food waste is to bring less groceries home.

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Better access to groceries could reduce food waste, emissions

Photo, posted March 22, 2009, courtesy of Nick Saltmarsh via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Lots Of Renewable Energy Jobs

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According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, there were 11 million people employed in renewable energy worldwide in 2018.  This compares with 10.3 million in 2017.  So roughly three-quarters of a million new jobs were added last year.   As more and more countries manufacture, trade and install renewable energy technologies, renewables jobs continue to reach new high levels.

The geographic footprint of renewable energy jobs is changing.  Until now, renewable energy industries have remained relatively concentrated in a handful of major markets such as China, the US, and the European Union.  But more recently, East and Southeast Asian countries have emerged alongside China as key exporters of solar technology.  Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam were responsible for a greater share of growth in renewables last year.  Overall, Asia has a 60% share of renewable energy jobs worldwide.

Beyond climate goals, low-carbon economic growth has become a driver for renewables technology.  Renewables deliver on all the major elements of sustainable development:  environmental, economic and social.

The solar photovoltaic industry continues to be the most dynamic renewable enterprise.  It accounts for a third of the renewable energy workforce with more than three million jobs.  

Biofuel jobs were up by 6% to over 2 million.  Wind power supports 1.2 million jobs, with onshore projects predominant.  But the offshore wind segment is gaining traction.  Hydropower is still the largest installed capacity of all renewables but is now only expanding slowly.  The hydropower sector employs 2.1 million people directly, three-quarters in operations and maintenance.

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Renewable energy market employs 11 million in 2018 – IRENA

Photo, posted January 11, 2012, courtesy of the Oregon Department of Transportation via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Banning The Shark Fin Trade

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Shark fins are considered a delicacy in many parts of the world, especially in China.  Shark fin soup, for example, is often served at engagement parties and weddings.  But the use of shark fins has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, especially since an estimated one-third of fins are harvested from species deemed at risk.  

Many of the fins used in shark fin soup come from a practice known as “finning,” which is an inhumane and wasteful practice where the fins are hacked from live sharks and then the sharks are thrown back into the water and left to die.  According to U.N. estimates, 73 million sharks are killed every year for their fins.

The possession, sale, and distribution of shark fins is banned in 12 U.S. states, as well as in all European Union member states.

In 1994, Canada banned the practice of finning in its own waters, but allowed the import of fins to continue.  Canada has been one of the largest markets for shark fins outside Asia, importing nearly 300,000 pounds of shark fins last year.  But in late June, Canada passed a bill that bans both the import and export of shark fins harvested by shark finning.  They are the first G7 and the first G20 country to do so. 

But shark fins taken from sharks sustainably harvested for their meat will continue to be allowed in Canada.  While demand for shark fins is decreasing globally, demand for shark meat is rising.

Since sharks still face a myriad of environmental pressures, including illegal fishing and high bycatch rates, there are concerns that this Canadian ban oversimplifies the threats facing global shark populations. 

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Canada becomes the first G20 country to ban shark fin trade

Photo, posted January 4, 2013, courtesy of Andrew Currie via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Supermarkets And Zero-Waste

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There are about 38,000 supermarkets in the United States alone and they are responsible for vast quantities of waste in the form of single-use plastic bags, plastic containers that store food products, and food waste as well.  Globally, over 80% of poll respondents feel strongly that companies should help improve the environment.  Responding to this message, markets are starting to make changes.

In a number of places, there are now markets that are package-free.  The Nada grocery store in Vancouver and Precycle in Brooklyn are examples of zero waste grocery stores.  Websites like Litterless provide online help for customers trying to find packaging-free grocery stores.

Markets are not only changing their packaging, they are using artificial intelligence to develop more sustainable production processes and seeking other ways to reduce waste.

On average, Americans throw away over 300 plastic bags a year, but an increasing number of grocery retailers are making commitments to more sustainable, plastic-free options.  It isn’t just small stores either.  Grocery giant Kroger plans to eliminate plastic bags in its stores by 2025.  When that happens, it means that 6 billion plastic bags will no longer be distributed.  Big Y stores will fully transition to reusable bags by next year.  More and more cities and states are banning or imposing fees on plastic bags. 

An interesting statistic shows that the age group of Americans that is leading the adoption of reusable grocery bags is not millennials but in fact is people over 50.  With multiple generations now indicating that they want shopping to be more sustainable, it is likely that supermarkets will strive to help make that happen.

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Why More Supermarkets Are Committing to Zero-Waste

Photo, posted March 4, 2013, courtesy of Dean Hochman via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Small Forests And Climate

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Trees are the number one way in which carbon can be removed from the atmosphere and stored in vegetation over the long term.  A single tree can absorb CO2 at a rate of 48 pounds per year.  Because of this, the carbon footprints of 18 average Americans can be neutralized by one acre of hardwood trees.  And it has been found that managed forests accumulate more carbon per acre than unmanaged forests.

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