Extended producer responsibility (EPR), the idea that manufacturers of products and packaging should take responsibility for collecting and recycling the things they make, is a hot topic in the sustainability and business worlds. One EPR bill has passed so far in 2023, Washington State’s SB 5144, which requires battery makers to be responsible for the environmental management of their products. […]
Zac Clark, founder and executive director of the HomeMore Project in San Francisco, returns to share an update. The HomeMore Project has distributed several hundred solar-powered backpacks, the Makeshift Traveler, which features a built-in charging station packed with an AM/FM radio, rechargeable flashlight, sleeping bag, and other necessities. When we first talked with Zac in January 2022, when he was […]
Wave power, ocean energy, and wave energy are all terms used to describe an energy resource hidden in the movement of ocean waves. Attempts to harness this power have been ongoing for many years. But finding the best way to do this is proving to be a challenge. The U.S. has the potential to produce up to 2 trillion kilowatt […]
Because they are too young to vote, many high school students feel locked out of the political process. But voting is not the only way to have a political impact. In fact, youth can be directly involved in the political process and can help develop policy at every level of government. On March 28, more than 60 high school students […]
Making circular living easy for people is the key to achieving our sustainability goals. The take-make-waste linear economy has excelled at making the disposal of products and packaging easy, but only if you consider the landfill an environmentally responsible solution (it’s not). Now we need to make collecting and reusing items as convenient as tossing packaging in the trash after […]
The documentary Kiss the Ground helped raise public awareness about regenerative agriculture. This no-till farming method helps restore the complex biology of topsoil and produces many public health and environmental benefits, such as boosting diversity and sequestering carbon. But finding regeneratively grown foods can still be challenging depending on where you live. Narrated by actor and environmentalist Woody Harrelson, “Kiss […]
Is there enough lithium in the United States to fulfill the made-in-America requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax incentive programs for new electric vehicles? The International Energy Agency projects that the world will need 1,063 kilotons of lithium in 2040. That’s 48 times the volume of lithium used in EVs and electricity storage in 2020. Where will it come […]
Factory farms tend to move in and out of the public consciousness. People become briefly alarmed at news of antibiotic-resistant bacteria or epidemics. But they continue to purchase inexpensive meat at the grocery store as headlines change to other topics. CAFOs, the official term for industrial-scale meat-growing facilities, have serious implications for animal rights, environmental pollution, and even environmental justice. […]
Stories and the way the press reports them shape our perception of the world and the climate crisis. While most major media companies have started to pay close attention to climate issues in recent years, often setting up their first environmental or climate desks, these beats are still understaffed to address the complex environmental narrative. Mickey Huff, director of Project […]
In 2015, a sea turtle with a straw stuck in its nose took over the internet. It launched a movement to eliminate plastic straws and raised awareness of plastic pollution in the ocean. Did any of it make a difference, or was it just another viral moment of shared but shallow outrage? Let’s see how the sea turtles are doing […]