November Top 10 Sustainability Highlights
November came and went way too quickly! It seems impossible that so much happened in the world of sustainability, but of course, this is the new normal! Every day, it seems we are learning more about the human footprint, witnessing incredible innovation, and seeing business and government taking responsibility for their impact.
1. UK Government Investment to Turn Food Waste into Plastic
https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2018/12/06/UK-government-investment-to-turn-food-waste-into-plasticHold on, what?! Well, this is big news! The Government is investing to help develop new forms of eco packaging from food and farming waste. The money might also be used for new labeling of packaging. But the investment comes with a caveat that industry must co-invest and enter into a partnership to sort it out. They’ll be leading competitions and other initiatives to help stimulate innovation. The UKRI department says they want the UK to be “a world leader in creating sustainable packaging and reduce the impact of harmful plastics on the environment.” Well, we are certainly on board for that!
2. COP24: What is the Paris Agreement and What is Expected from the Major New Climate Change Summit?
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/cop24-paris-agreement-climate-change-global-warming-poland-katowice-un-environment-a8663431.htmlIn November, the COP24 (Conference of the Parties) UN Climate Change Conference 2018 kicked off. In the heart of Poland, the leaders of the UN come together to discuss climate change. It’s a historic event and some see it as make-or-break for our planet. This represents a continuation from the Paris agreement where they set out a plan and now the countries must set up guidelines to address the climate challenges. Today is actually the last day of the conference so soon we should be hearing what the ultimate conclusions of the event have been. Here’s hoping we’ll be on track to getting our planet back to health.
3. We're Running Out of Landfill and Brexit Could Make it Worse Says New Report
https://www.theguardian.com/suez-circular-economy-zone/2017/sep/20/were-running-out-of-landfill-and-brexit-could-make-it-worse-says-new-reportOh no. Our landfills are filled. Likely a mixture of impacts of Brexit, the Chinese embargo of recyclables, and some slow movement from Government to address the challenge of waste facilities, UK landfills are almost at capacity. The industry is asking for clear direction, policy, and investment from the government to solve this problem before it’s too late.
4. Heathrow Details Carbon Offset Plan for New Runway
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/heathrow-details-carbon-offset-plan-for-new-runway-454091/Heathrow is growing! And they’re trying to do it sustainably. Its third runway is coming to action and they plan to build it without any additional harm to our environment. They site “cleaner aircraft technology, improvements to airspace and ground operations, sustainable aviation fuels” and other methods of offsetting their emissions. They’ve previously incentivised electric aircrafts and wants to implement charging stations as well. It’s clear that Heathrow is taking the planet seriously – let’s hope they stick to this plan!
5. Landmark Moment UK Breaks Clean Energy Generation Record
https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/3066645/renewables-made-up-nearly-half-of-wales-power-consumption-in-2017And the UK also is boasting a record-setting year in the use of renewable and clean energy! They’ve reached 26.1% renewable energy due to wind, solar, bioenergy output. This marks a continued reduction of carbon-based energy – great efforts for the planet! The UK is still facing pressure to be more aggressive in their de-carbonisation, but at least this shows progress – we’ll take it! For now.
6. Kickstarter's New Features Put Sustainability Top of Mind for Creators
https://www.forbes.com/sites/edfenergyexchange/2018/11/27/kickstarters-new-features-put-sustainability-top-of-mind-for-creators/#a5028f644aeaThis is how you change the future. We all know Kickstarter, where entrepreneurial hopefuls launch their ideas to solicit crowdfunding. Now, Kickstarter has launched new features that will encourage and help entrepreneurs to develop products that have sustainable practices baked into their DNA. Hopefully, this will lead to a new generation of
7. Costa Launches Coffee Cup with a Built-in Contactless Card
https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/28/costa-launches-coffee-cup-with-a-built-in-contactless-card-8185757/
Here’s an interesting one. Costa has launched a cup with a contactless card so that you can sip and pay with efficiency. By making their reusable cups more convenient, they’re trying to further encourage reuse. The cup will be £14.99 and £1 will go to The Costa Foundation. What do you think, would your customers like something like this?
8. Food Industry Aims to Green-Up with Ecotricity Partnership
Did you know that food waste accounts for nearly a quarter of all manmade greenhouse emissions? Yikes. The Sustainable Restaurant Association and Ecotricity have teamed up to help foodservice businesses to take efforts to combat food waste. They’ll be launching educational materials and support tools to help businesses like yours do better for the planet!
9. Climate Change: UK Summers Could Be Over 5C Warmer by 2070
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46343103
UK Climate Projections 2018 have been released and warn against significantly increasing summer temperatures, wetter winters, and rising sea levels that will cause flooding. Michael Gove is urging for urgent action to prevent climate change and also to prepare for the inclement weather conditions that will come as a result if we don’t.
10. Renewable Made Up Nearly Half of Wales Power Consumption in 2017
Wales leading the charge! They’ve achieved 50% renewable energy and it’s only going up from there!
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