By Jeremy Williams “What comes into your mind when you think of environmental breakdown?” asks Laurie Parsons in the opening to his book Carbon Colonialism. For a lot of people it’s still melting ice and polar bears. If people feature, it’s likely to be forest fires or famines far away. With some notable exceptions, “what your example is unlikely to […]
How can we make one of the most recycled materials more sustainable? Meet Jennifer Bogs, director of global sustainability at Crown Holdings, Inc., one of the largest aluminum can manufacturers worldwide at $12.9 billion in annual sales. The aluminum industry famously claims that 75% of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today; it’s a highly recyclable material. Reusing […]
Did you know cigarette butts are not fully biodegradable? But there’s a solution: TerraCycle, the company that strives to find a way to recycle everything, offers a free Cigarette Waste Recycling Program. Just sign up with TerraCycle, collect the waste, and ship it to them for recycling. After they’re tossed on the street, the beach, or wherever they fall, cigarette […]
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. […]
You’ve probably seen the #1 plastic resin code on various plastic containers when you’re sorting your recycling. Those containers are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), also known as polyester. Because PET is strong, lightweight, and easily molded, it is a popular material for packaging a wide range of foods and consumer goods. PET is one of the most recyclable plastics. […]
Vertical farming, the emerging indoor approach to growing greens and other vegetables, has begun to transform agriculture. This food revolution is starting from the center of cities, where unused industrial space is now being converted to grow produce for local consumers. Marc Oshima, co-founder and chief marketing officer at AeroFarms, brings a career’s worth of marketing experience at Toys R […]
With technology use advancing worldwide, electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing problem worldwide. According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2020, the world generated 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste in 2019, while only 17.4% was collected and recycled. We think it’s time to up the electronics recycling game. We are launching a new technology refurbishment program that plants 20 mangrove […]
E-waste recycling falls woefully short of the levels necessary to reduce the need for mining and producing new raw materials that involve toxins that frequently reach the environment. We talked with John Shegerian, co-founder and CEO of ERI, a Fresno, Calif.-based e-waste recycler with eight U.S. processing locations that serve every ZIP code in the country and partnerships with recycling […]
Meet Sean Wittenberg, founder of the seafood company Safe Catch. He started the business with a mission to source safe and sustainable tuna and other fish after his mother was diagnosed with mercury poisoning when she adopted a diet that included frequent servings of canned tuna. Sausalito, Calif.-based Safe Catch offers a wide variety of fish products in cans and […]
When it comes to greening your wardrobe, a lot depends on what you do with your clothing at the end of its usefulness to you. We urge you to never send clothing to the landfill. Textile recycling is alive and well in the United States. Almost always, nonprofits that accept donations of clothing will recycle articles that are not reusable. […]