How we think and feel about the climate response, whether optimistic, pessimistic, cynical, or pragmatic, shapes our perceptions of possible solutions. Too often, we argue over emotional perceptions and not hard climate data. But hard data is sterile, it doesn’t necessarily engage the passions that move us to act. So, we tell stories, often focusing on what can go wrong. […]
Environmentalists love compost. We debate the merits of commercially made bins versus home-built. And we work to keep bins active in winter – even bring composters into our kitchens. But not everyone rhapsodizes the smell of healthy compost like book lovers at a library. Compostable waste makes up a third of all garbage in America. Composting must take place at […]
eBay estimates that sales of used goods on the site earned $4.6 billion in 2022 and avoided sending 73,000 tons of usable products to landfills, which contributed to reducing carbon emissions by 1.6 million tons. Renee Morin, chief sustainability officer at eBay, returns to the show to discuss the findings of the 2022 eBay Recommerce Report, a survey of more […]
If we intend to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, the future of local transportation must look a lot different than today’s car- and heavy vehicle-dominated traffic. The U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy reports that 64% of trips, across all types of transportation, involve traveling fewer than 5 miles. Only 2% of trips reach more than […]
Staying within the Paris Climate Accord’s 1.5 degrees Celsius limit, at which potentially devastating climate changes will occur, requires ending deforestation before 2030. But as of 2020, the world was still losing about 38,600 square miles of forest annually. Meet Allan Traicoff, chief commercial officer at Emergent, a nonprofit that creates incentives for and connects businesses to natural climate solutions […]
Pollution and the impacts of climate change threaten all types of land, whether public or privately owned. Even the most isolated conservation area is not protected from wildfires. Exotic species can still invade wildlife refuges, and plastic pollution litters national parks. Protected public lands aren’t even protected equally. There are many different classifications of public lands, and their protections vary […]
Is plastic recycling at a turning point? Meet Emmanuel Ladent, CEO of Carbios, a Clermont-Ferrand, France-based company that has developed an enzymatic plastic recycling technology that promises to make plastic a circular material with 95% yields, comparable to aluminum. The Carbios technology recycles polyethylene terephthalate, or clear and colored PET, better known as plastic #1, which is the basis for […]
Women bring the skills, perspectives, and emotional intelligence necessary to achieve the green transition, address food shortages, and implement equitable financing. Women are 49.7% of the world’s population, but only 1.9% of venture capital investments in 2022 were placed with women-led startups. Patience Marime-Ball and Ruth Shaber, co-authors of The XX Edge: Unlocking Higher Returns and Lower Risk, join Mitch […]
“Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health,” the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) wrote in a new report. The report issued a dire warning about the pace of global warming but acknowledges that humans are making progress toward reversing climate change. “There is a rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a livable […]
Biodegradable plastics have emerged as a potential solution to the severe environmental problem caused by the production and disposal of traditional plastic. These plastics can be made from natural sources like plant-based materials and micro-organisms such as bacteria that can be used in a variety of industries such as packaging, construction, and healthcare. While plastic pollution remains a significant issue, […]