Earth911.com's Sustainability In Your Ear

The pace of renewable energy investments has gained momentum over the past decade. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) World Energy Investment 2023 report, $2.8 trillion will be invested this year in energy, including fossil fuels, with almost 61% dedicated to clean energy. Meet investor Ben Wolkon, a founding partner at MUUS Climate Partners. The firm invests to accelerate renewable energy adoption and to create clean technologies. Now that renewables have crossed the chasm and entered the scale-up phase, we wanted to get a read on how to make more progress faster because the nation is still not on track to cut emissions by 50% before 2030.The IEA reports that for each $1 spent on fossil fuel development, $1.7 is invested in clean energy. Only Five years ago, the ratio was 1:1. That's real progress, and most of that investment flows into new companies. At the same time, oil companies are not turning their recent record profits into investments in renewables. Instead, they are developing more wells and paying dividends rather than investing in low-carbon and renewable energy. That leaves room for many upstarts, including MUUS Climate's portfolio companies, our previous guest, Nth Cycle, as well as Harvest Thermal, BrightNight, and Cache Energy, among others. You can learn more about MUUS Climate Partners at https://www.muusclimate.com/

The landscape of environmental disclosure is changing fast. Go behind the scenes at Climate Week in New York to hear the introduction of a potentially transformative environmental reporting tool, the Ecological Benefits Framework (EBF). Created by the environmental storytelling studio The Lexicon, led by Douglas Gayeton, the EBF aims to go beyond Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting, extending today's financial risk assessments with a comprehensive quantification of environmental impacts. Earth911's Mitch Ratcliffe also spoke with frequent guest Newday Impact CEO Doug Heske about the firm's commitment to be the first to use EBF information to build investment products. EBF is not just about dollars and cents but about the positive ecological changes organizations and companies can deliver. The information will help investors and governments make environmental investments go further. Beyond the boardroom and investor circles, the implications of EBF resonate deeply. Picture a world where easily decipherable visual icons inform your online shopping or in-store purchase decisions. Icons that communicate a product's ecological benefits or drawbacks can foster decisions that improve environmental and human wellbeing.Model and activist Georgie Badiel also appeared at the event to discuss her foundation's effort to combat water scarcity in Burkina Faso. With the aid of the EBF, she believes the impact of the Georgie Badiel Foundation's women-built and managed community wells initiative will be vividly and transparently communicated to supporters.Whether you're an environmental enthusiast, an investor looking for sustainable opportunities, or someone eager to make informed decisions, this episode of Sustainability In Your Ear introduces an exciting vision for ecological impact transparency. Visit CanYouChangetheFuture.org to sign up for newsletter updates and track where the EBF will change your ability to make informed investing decisions.

Dams are more common than you think. Author Steven Hawley reports that 58,500 large dams worldwide have trapped 3,155 gigatons of sediment, meaning they are rapidly filling up and will eventually become useless for storing water or generating electricity. Steven's new book, Cracked: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World, was published by Patagonia. A wide-ranging study of the many impacts of damming rivers, Cracked explores the social displacement and economic harm dams do to people and the environment, including climate warming methane emissions and direct harm to wildlife, especially fish and migratory birds.In 2022, the Bonneville Power Administration, the largest dam management agency's electricity prices ranged between $0.0349 and $0.0788 per kilowatt hour. By comparison, the global average cost of the same kilowatt hour of solar power was $0.48, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency. When you add in the dire environmental consequence of dams, like the 99% decline in salmon runs over the past 100 years, the era of dams needs to end. Yet, dam projects are still being built in other countries, like China and Vietnam. Perhaps the United States can help other nations avoid the long-term consequences of dams by leading the dambusting movement.Cracked: The Future of Dams in a Hot, Chaotic World is available at Amazon, Powell's Books, and local bookstores.

Since it started measuring waste diversion from landfills in 2006, when it recycled only 4.6% of materials collected, Seattle's Lumen Field has increased its recycling, composting, and donations efforts to avoid sending 90% of the waste generated by fans to the dump. Meet Christy Briggs, Logistics and Sustainability Manager at First & Goal Incorporated, who leads Lumen Field's recycling and other sustainability programs. The stadium has a high bar to meet, as just across town, Climate Pledge Arena was the country's first LEED Platinum sports venue and has achieved similar waste diversion rates. Of course, sports thrive on competition, and Lumen Field has introduced innovative approaches to collection, sorting, and putting items into the right reuse stream. For example, after each major event, Lumen Field rolls out a portable materials recovery facility — a sorting system like the ones used at recycling transfer stations that separates packaging, food waste, and other items.Sports and concerts connect communities, bringing crowds together from around a city, state, or nation, and those fans toss massive volumes of cups, food service items, programs, and memorabilia. A football game or Taylor Swift concert could be among the most waste-creating events in our society. Many stadiums and sports venues are stepping up to the challenge. Lumen Field's sustainability efforts go back to its construction, when 35% of the concrete from the demolished Kingdome, the stadium that stood where it is today, was used in the new building. First & Goal Incorporated, which also manages the Seattle Seahawks, has developed programs to reduce environmental impacts that include recycling sod through donations to local parks, sourcing Green Seal-certified janitorial supplies, recycling thousands of gallons of cooking oil, and during a major renovation of the field the company donated 96.3% of the used furniture, carpet, and other materials collected. You can learn more about Lumen Field and its sustainability efforts at https://www.lumenfield.com/venue-info/sustainability

Owen Barrett, cofounder and president of Rayven, is working to make it easy for individuals to invest in apartment buildings to accelerate the pace of energy upgrades and renewable energy adoption. Electrification of the nation's apartment buildings, moving them away from heating and energy generated from fossil fuels, is critical to achieving national carbon emissions reduction goals for 2030. Raven lets people invest with as little as $250, identifying profitable buildings to acquire, then makes energy efficiency improvements and installs solar panels to increase the profitability of the building.About 40 million Americans lived in apartments as of 2019, and they must rely on their landlord to make investments to electrify the buildings they live in. Rents have been rising precipitously — the cost of a square foot of apartment space was up more than 100% between 2010 and 2020, according to the National Multifamily Housing Council, due to a shortage of apartments. If you've considered investing in apartment buildings, Rayven offers the opportunity to lower the nation's greenhouse gas emissions while earning a return on your money. You can learn about Rayven at https://joinrayven.com/

Supermodel Georgie Badiel Liberty, who has graced the covers of magazines and in advertising worldwide, turned her celebrity to solving water scarcity challenges in her native country, Burkina Faso. In 2015, she launched the Georgie Badiel Foundation to bring wells, sanitation, solar-generated electricity, and community gardens to 10 million Burkinabé who lack access to clean water. The wells are built and managed by women in the villages where they are intalled. As a child, Georgie carried water three hours a day, working alongside her grandmother and cousins to transfer water to her village for the family's use — she was the inspiration for the illustrated children's book The Water Princess. Georgie's story shows that positive changes are possible in dire circumstances. Our frequent guest, Newday Impact Investing CEO Doug Heske, also joins us. Georgie and Doug will host the 2023 Water Gala on Sept 29 at Second, an event venue on 6th Avenue in New York City. Building a new solar-powered well, which provides water, toilets, and community services such as a study center, costs $20,000 while repairing a well runs as little as $1,000. More than 341,000 people in Burkina Faso now have access to water. Just $10 million in funding could transform the country's water supply.The Georgie Badiel Foundation also offers resources to help schools across the United States do fundraising and provide awareness programs about water scarcity, sustainability, and women's empowerment. You can learn more about Georgie and her foundation at https://www.georgiebadielfoundation.org/Discover Newday Impact's exchange-traded ocean health fund and its other impact investing programs at https://newdayimpact.com

The founder of the national Green Amendments movement, Maya van Rossum, returns to discuss Held vs. Montana, a lawsuit brought by 16 teenagers demanding the enforcement by state agencies of regulations that ensure their right to a clean and healthy environment. Montana is one of three states that have a Green Amendment in its state constitution. She was in the courtroom during the testimonial phase of the case. Maya recently wrote: "The Held v. State of Montana litigation is the first time the right to a safe climate is getting a full and fair hearing in the courts with a state Green Amendment as a key foundation."Maya also recently contributed an article on Earth911, Industry & Big Greens Stomp on Frontline Communities & Environmental Justice... Yet Again. She pointed out a questionable alliance between national environmental groups and renewable energy companies fighting the addition of a Green Amendment to the New Mexico State constitution. In addition to Montana, Pennsylvania and New York have adopted Green Amendments. There is little or no evidence those constitutional changes have slowed the development of green energy services in those states. Despite the apparent agreement that we need a healthy environment, the clean energy industry and several prominent environmental advocacy groups, including Sierra Club Nation and Union of Concerned Scientists, have joined the Interwest Energy Alliance (IEA), a lobbying group opposing the Green Amendment in New Mexico. You can learn more about Maya and the Green Amendments movement at https://forthegenerations.org/

The UN's International Maritime Association reported in 2020 that the shipping industry — the ships moving freight between the continents — accounts for 2.89% of annual global CO2 emissions. Between 1990 and 2020, shipping volumes "more than doubled," according to Statista, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, shipping grew faster, at as much as 16.4% a year, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission. Meet Eric Leveridge, the Pacific Environment Lead at Ship It Zero, a nonprofit coalition of environmental, public health, and shipping experts. The organization reports that the shipping emissions of just 15 retail companies, including Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, Amazon, and Target, are responsible for 12.7 million tons of CO2 and as much particulate pollution as the entire U.S. mining industry.Eric also digs into recent news that Amazon reversed its Climate Pledge commitment that would have made half of its shipping emissions-free by 2030. As reported by Business Insider, Amazon's reason was, "We realized that it no longer made sense to have a separate and more narrow Shipment Zero goal that applied to only one part of our business, so we've decided to eliminate it." Ship It Zero called on Amazon to reinstate its 50% net-zero shipping goals. Shipping has many routes to lower emissions, including the use of hydrogen- or ammonia-based fuels, augmenting engines with wind power, and the addition of emissions scrubbing technology that captures and sequesters carbon, sulfur oxide, and nitrous oxide emissions instead of letting them escape into the atmosphere. Eric joins us to explore the challenge of lowering retailers' shipping-related emissions and tell us about Ship It Zero's recommendations.You can learn more at https://shipitzero.org/, which features several helpful ebooks for those who want to read up on shipping emissions and pollution.

SuperCircle, a textiles recycling startup, has cracked the circular economy code for fashion brands. Meet the cofounders, Chloe Songer and Start Ahlum, who cofounded SuperCircle, which provides clothing takeback and recycling services to leading clothing brands, including tentree, Reformation, Mate the Label, and the circular sneaker brand Thousand Fell, which they also cofounded in 2018. SuperCircle launched in 2022 to a massive problem, managing recycling logistics and textiles processing for the retail industry. The company recycled more than 700,000 garments last year using new sorting steps and technologies to separate organic and synthetic fabrics and identify items that can be resold. You can learn more about SuperCircle at https://supercircle.world/

Welcome to the hottest part of Summer, when the heat and smoke season may have you looking at your yard and thinking that it's time to upgrade from gas lawn equipment to electric, or to go back to manual tools. Tobie Stanger, a senior editor at Consumer Reports, joins the conversation to talk about the independent, nonprofit product review site's decision to endorse electric lawn equipment, especially for smaller lawns. According to the National Resources Defense Council, gas mowers, edgers, trimmers, and blowers are noisy, and their two-stroke engines pollute 20 to 300 times more than a car per hour of operation. A 2011 Environmental Protection Agency report concluded that gas lawn equipment emits large amounts of three volatile organic compounds that are known carcinogens, Benzene, 1,3 butadiene, and formaldehyde. The environment and our neighborhoods would be better off without gas-powered lawn equipment.Tobie has covered appliances, generators, lawnmowers, and much more for more than 30 years and is one of the most tuned-in observers of the electrification of consumer products. We'll find out why Consumer Reports concludes that gas yard equipment still has the advantage in some cases and explore the key features and functionality to look for when choosing electric alternatives to polluting gas equipment. Check out the electric yard equipment brands she discusses when shopping, including Ryobi, Kobalt, Stihl, Greenworks, Husquarvana, and eGo.To find a collection of Consumer Reports reviews of electric lawn tools, visit Gas Vs. Electric Lawn Mower: Which is Better? (membership is required to see product ratings).