contributor

  1. Business

What to know Sustainable investing allows you to implement your core values while increasing your profits. ETFs, Index Funds, and Roboadvisors are a good place to start.

Four main approaches

  • Exclusionary screening - avoiding investment in companies or sectors that do not align with investor values.
  • ESG integration - rating companies based on their implementation of Environmental, Social and Governance principles.
  • Thematic investing - focusing investments according to interest in specific themes, for example clean energy.
  • Impact investing - investing in companies or funds with the intention of generating impact alongside a financial return.

Bottom line -- Sustainable investing not only offers you a way to invest according to your values, but it also provides good financial performance and potential risk mitigation.

Dig deeper —> 5 min

  1. Lifestyle

The problem with food waste

  • 30% of all food in the US is thrown out (UN Environment)
  • Food waste is often incinerated, which causes pollution... instead of feeding hungry mouths, or nourishing soil as compost. 
  • Food waste harms the environment, which is already stressed by food production’s demand for land, water, and the associated release of greenhouse gas emissions.

What you can do

  1. Plan meals ahead of time
  2. Use leftovers creatively, in multiple ways
  3. Shop responsibly, with a purpose
  4. Store food intelligently; don't let it go bad too soon
  5. Support local initiatives, there are good-neighbor ways to help

Bottom line As individuals, we can reduce the environmental consequences of food waste by making simple adjustments to our food habits. Cultivating awareness around food waste will help us work towards a more sustainable food system.

Dig deeper → 4 min

  1. Lifestyle

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

  1. Lifestyle

Big picture: There is a lot of activism on campus, but we need to evaluate how effective it is.

Why it matters: 89% of youth believe they can make a difference on climate change. Students at colleges and universities commit to making a positive impact on the planet and crafting a more promising future. There is, however, a stark disconnect between young people’s passion for helping the planet and their understanding of how to make effective change.

College activist best practices: Explore specific career paths for peers to find meaningful work in the renewable energy sector or in startups that are actively practicing sustainability. Show everyday people how small individual changes, such as reducing red meat consumption, can have an impact. Demands for divestments and recycling programs only go so far.

Bottom line: Activism focuses on short-term problems such as university endowments or common initiatives. These issues have a streamlined pathway for success, but their impact is statistically uncritical.

  1. Business

What they do KAJ is a B2B entertainment consultancy that offers full service solutions ranging from brand experience; marketing, strategy, sponsorship and content creation and more.

Talking points

  • Forbes inc. estimates a $7 billion dollar revenue loss for the US concert and live event industry. This will inevitably lead to the downfall of startups like KAJ. 
  • PPE prices have more than tripled in price as a reflection of increased demand from COVID 19.  

Why it matters PPE shortages are increasingly likely, and life threatening.

The pivot KAJ partnered with ApeironMed, a PPE supplier to co-sign a fundraiser to supply PPE at cost for Canadian hospitals in need.

For the people It’s important for small businesses and community members to do their part. KAJ listened to their community and saw an opportunity to connect a network to a cause. To learn more how they did it dive a little deeper below.

Dig deeper → 3 min

  1. Lifestyle

If you’re a socially conscious adult, you may have experienced trouble navigating the jungle of brands and product offerings that is the eco-friendly space. 

Big picture: Shopping dominates modern culture, yet it also advances many issues like messy supply chains or the abundance of plastic waste in the ocean.

Between the lines: Buying green or purchasing eco-friendly products creates a ‘warm glow’ in consumers. It generates satisfaction, like the feeling from helping others. 

Purse vs. Purpose

  • Buying less is better for the pocket book, but buying green isn’t often more expensive. 
  • Price often largest barrier for consumers
  • Eco friendly items are often more expensive to less sustainable alternatives 

For the people: Buy green or Buy less? Short answer — do both 

  • Limiting your consumption within reason
    • On one ✋: you don’t need to stop buying things you need on a regular basis, but you might not need that fourth pair of sunglasses
    • On the other ✋: you might deserve that new pair of sunglasses after your latest accomplishment, we get it. We encourage you to find a company that has limited environmental impact - Read how here.

Dig deeper → 3 min

  1. Business

Why it matters

  • The program failed to exclude big businesses and smaller firms in good standings from receiving the low-interest loans as part of the PPP. 
  • Small businesses received little to no help through the program.
  • A large number of big businesses and small firms that received funding through PPP experienced financial hardship long before the COVID-19 crisis, according to an Associated Press Investigation.

Corporations facing backlash

  • Several large beneficiaries have decided to return the loans received through the PPP.
  • The LA Lakers, Kura Sushi USA and Sweetgreen have returned loans they received through PPP.

Between the lines

  • Small business owners and executives found the PPP process of application ambiguous and confusing. 
  • The Small Business Administration and Treasury Department had given businesses that wrongfully received loans till May 7th to return funds.
  • Corporations and small businesses that received over $2 million in loans will be audited and criminally prosecuted if found guilty of financial wrongdoing. 

Actions taken

  • Publix announced that it will purchase excess milk and food produce from farmers and donate it to Feeding America food banks.
  • Eateries such as Ho Foods and Roku have been feeding healthcare workers through fundraisers, while using their own resources too.

Dig deeper → 4 min

  1. Business

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.

  1. Business

Current score Sports are still ‘cancelled’ - thanks COVID - but this ‘stoppage of gameplay’ presents an opportunity to improve sustainable business practices.

Quantify it Waste Management (WM) estimates that the four major professional leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL) generate approximately 35,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year from their fans’ waste activities alone.

Big picture The sports world is rife with possibilities to convert to more sustainable practices that would strengthen bottom lines and increase public perception and longevity of their industry.

Why it matters Sports’ influence extends far beyond the reach of their stadiums, fields, rinks, and media presence. They impact cities’ transportation infrastructure, boost local economies and can significantly affect their regions’ environmental systems.

Next steps Say bye to hot dogs, and hello to better AC.

  • The pandemic draws attention to the meat industry and indicated essential changes necessary in the ‘food space’ 
  • Plant based alternatives can help pivot from factory farming and more towards a plant based future. 
  • Another adjustment will need to come in the live event arena where improved HVAC technology and design will reduce air pollutants and filter bacteria while increasing energy efficiency and lowering costs. 

Bottom line This pandemic will give fans and consumers a rare opportunity to play a role in systematically changing the operations of the sports industry. Our past has revealed that human beings can quickly adapt to changing environments.

The sports industry as a whole should reflect on this opportunity and make significant changes needed to forge ahead and prevent history from repeating itself.

Dig deeper → 2 min

Weekly Sustainability News!

By subscribing you agree to our Privacy Policy.

Sustainable Review is copyright material. All rights reserved.

Close Bitnami banner
Bitnami