Sustainable Review

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plastic littered on grass
  1. Lifestyle

Music festivals need sustainability now more than ever

Hot take music festivals need sustainability now more than ever.

What’s the matter The music industry is an integral part of society, but it has some catching up to do in the world of sustainability. With constant traveling, waste production and energy demands, tours and festivals carry a heavy environmental impact.

By the numbers

  • A UK study found that in 2015, five artists collectively generated 19,314 kilograms of CO2 emissions between April and September (the equivalent of 1 million people’s CO2 emission per year)
  • Tours can go through 18,720 plastic bottles a year

Bottom line While touring and festivals may be environmentally harmful now, there are many potential solutions for eliminating single-use plastics, utilizing biodiesel in transportation, recycling batteries, sourcing merchandise made from organic materials, promoting carpooling to the event, and educating fans.

Dig deeper → 2 min
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cycling and climate
  1. Lifestyle

How cycling contributes to new climate conversations

The scoop: Cycling is a simple but effective way for individuals to reduce their carbon footprint. On a larger scale, cycling is an important tool in fulfilling the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Facts and figures:

Bottom line: Cycling allows individuals to lead a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. And when an entire society adopts cycling, it can profoundly impact the climate.

Dig deeper → 4 min

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  1. Energy and Environment

How the Sahara Desert can fuel solar energy in Africa

Busy? Try the speed read.

Big picture

  • If all sunlight received by Northern Africa converted into solar energy, it could power all of Europe more than 1000 times over.
  • Concentrated solar power (CSP) technology can use lenses and mirrors to store large amounts of solar heat. 
  • Tunisian transcontinental transmission of photovoltaic power (PV) and CSP prove this concept.
  • PV is more reliable for decentralized plants to power rural regions in Africa.

Between the lines

  • To better understand how a CSP plant works, check out the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California’s Mojave Desert (link below)
  • Desert solar panels can improve climate conditions in the region.
    • Compared to sand, panels reflect lower amounts of heat to space.
    • The result: surface heating in the desert and cloud formation.
    • Changing the desert’s heat budget may increase rain, but too many panels can raise temperatures to an unproductive level. Panels are less reflective than desert soil. 

Questions to consider

  • Which companies/countries would fund the project? 
  • Who benefits most from affordable solar electricity, Africa or Europe? 
  • How can you export energy to nations inside and outside of Africa?

Why it matters

  • CSP can release energy overnight, creating a 24-hour source of energy.
  • CSP has a high initial set-up cost but has long-term advantages over traditional forms of energy generation such as hydroelectricity.

Bottom line The developing world has a unique opportunity to learn harsh lessons from 20th century economic development principles. Using natural phenomena like the Sahara Desert for solar energy or the Congo River for hydro, Africa can become the energy superpower of the future.

Dig deeper ➝ 2 min
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  1. Energy and Environment

How desalination could help solve the looming water crisis

A scientific process called desalination could help solve a looming water crisis.

With a higher demand for freshwater, a growing population will continue to pressure natural freshwater resources. Today, 1 in 9 people already lack access to safe water. If current water consumption trends persist, the demand for water will exceed supply by 40% in 2030.

Only 0.7% of Earth’s water is readily accessible as freshwater and 96.5% of it is saltwater. Through the process of desalination, scientists can turn saltwater into safe, drinking water. This process is either thermal-based (solar desalination) or membrane-based (reverse osmosis).

Why not implement desalination worldwide? There are environmental and economic challenges. For example, brine, the concentrated salt byproduct of desalination plants, is known to disrupt ocean ecosystems. But path to more sustainable alternatives exist.

If global water scarcity worsens, sustainable desalination plants can help provide fresh, potable water to vulnerable populations across the world.

Dig deeper → 2 min

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  1. Politics and Policy

How can unemployed Americans get green jobs?

The global spread of the coronavirus has caused layoff after layoff in the United States, forcing over 40 million Americans to file for unemployment in less than three months. How can America put its citizens back to work while fighting climate change?

What to know

  • FDR kickstarted the economy in the Great Depression by creating the Civilian Conservation Corps to restore America’s infrastructure while employing jobless workers – similar programs could help unemployed workers during COVID-19
  • Other countries are already doing it – Pakistan has employed 63,000 people in its 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Programme
  • Governments control more than 70% of energy investments globally, so they can steer recovery in a positive direction for the climate and their people
  • With an additional $15 trillion in a global COVID-19 recovery plan, we can increase our global GDP by 2.4% and add tens of millions of jobs in energy and infrastructure

Bottom line

  • Implementing a green stimulus is necessary to effectively combat climate change as we emerge from the grips of COVID-19
  • Many communities disproportionately affected by the coronavirus are also disproportionately affected by climate change, so we must target a dualistic recovery

→ Dig deeper 5 min
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  1. Lifestyle

All food access was not created equal

What’s the sitch? For all the innovations we have today, access to quality food is still a critical issue across the globe. Food disparity is driven by a number of factors, such as income inequality and local production levels.

Big picture The barriers that prevent many people from eating healthier are interconnected with race, inequality, and systemic biases embedded in our society. Race, education, careers, income, and housing all play a role in determining food access.

Why it matters Overcoming system inefficiencies like excessive subsidies for meat production helps to lower barriers to healthier foods but it will take a national and global effort to completely eradicate systemic inequalities.

Dig deeper → 1 min
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sustainability risk management
  1. Business

Sustainability risk management is trending

Big picture In the age of corporate social justice, sustainability risk management can help firms make better choices for the planet while staying competitive.

Why it matters

  1. Identify the effects of sustainability issues on internal and external stakeholder value.
  2. Actively include sustainability in objective setting and cascading objectives across the levels of the organizational hierarchy.
  3. Develop concrete support for identifying, assessing, and managing economic sustainability risks.

Bottom line Sustainable risk management is the most effective and realistic strategy for creating a sustainable economy, as it allows companies to achieve the best of both worlds: financial success and climate risk mitigation.
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  1. Earth Week

Earth Day Future Friday: 2020 and beyond

“It is worse, much worse, than you think.” Welcome to Earth Day, 2020 edition. For future Friday, we are exploring the 2020s and beyond as it relates to the environmental movement. Are we talking about coronavirus? No, we’re talking about climate change. That quote comes from David Wallace-Wells, the author of The Uninhabitable Earth.  Emissions […]
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