The latest sustainability news, fun, facts and reviews from the Green Elephant for 3rd February 2021.
Top stories:
01:04 – Electric Cars Are Coming, and Fast. Is the Nation’s Grid Up to It?
05:02 – Hydrogen fuel cells – good or bad for the environment?
16:34 – How to tell if a company’s ‘net zero’ goals are serious-or just greenwashing
08:35 Challenge update
Education’s what you need!
Global Warming
a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth’s atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, CFCs, and other pollutants.
Climate Change
the increase of the temperature of the atmosphere and oceans, causing changes in weather patterns around the world.
Carbon Footprint
If you walk in sand or soft soil you will leave a footprint. A sign that you leave behind showing that you’ve changed things. That footprint remains until something washes it away.
Pretty well everything that you do involves Carbon. When carbon is stored in the earth or trees or plants or… ourselves its locked away. However, when we burn wood and stuff dug up from the earth, like coal and oil, we release the locked up carbon in the form of Carbon Dioxide into the air – and that leaves a mark in the atmosphere, a footprint you could say… a Carbon Footprint.
Now the size and depth of your footprint in the sand depends on things like your size, weight, if you’re carrying something and how fast you’re moving. Similarly, each person’s Carbon Footprint is different and depends on factors such as, what you eat, how you travel around, what fuels you use and pretty well all the things you get up to really!
Net Zero
Net Zero is an indistinct target which countries and companies and even individuals are looking to achieve in regards to their greenhouse gas emissions. The idea is that you first reduce the size and depth of that carbon footprint and then follow up with other actions which fill in the much smaller footprint you couldn’t help but make. Achieving Net Zero means that you would tidy up your carbon footprint by doing things that take the same emissions out of the atmosphere that you put in. That will include planting trees but as speed is key things like the snappily named, carbon capture usage and storage and snazzy innovations which we’ve yet to see are needed.
Company News:
21:03 – World’s Largest McDonald’s Franchisee to Replace Plastic Food Tray with Sustainable Alternative
22:22 – Microsoft made a giant climate pledge one year ago – here’s where it’s at now
24:10 – Ocado opens a B Corp store containing products made by B Corporations
25:22 – G.M. Announcement Shakes Up U.S. Automakers’ Transition to Electric Cars
Government News:
26:55 – Biden to pause oil and gas sales on public lands
26:55 – Biden wants an all-electric federal fleet. The question is: How will he achieve it?
26:55 – How Biden’s new Civilian Climate Corps would work
26:55 – Biden’s new executive order cuts fossil fuel subsidies
28:50 – Norway’s trillion-dollar wealth fund sold the last of its investments in fossil fuel companies
30:16 – Saudi Arabia ‘leading the way’ in climate change fight
32:12 – Softening of environmental law paves way for big oil push into pristine Arctic lands
33:34 – Brazil guts agencies, ‘sabotaging environmental protection’ in Amazon
Sustainable Technology News:
35:20 – ESUB Tracks is a smart, solar-powered bicycle helmet concept
36:37 – Lab-grown wood could let us grow furniture in a lab instead of in a forest
37:55 – Groundbreaking biofuel rocket could be ‘Uber for space’
39:08 – Is It Time for an Emergency Rollout of Carbon-Eating Machines?
Other Sustainability News:
40:32 – Shark populations have decreased by 71% in the last 50 years
41:25 – Waste Not Want Not: Malaysia Moves to Become a Leader in Tackling Plastic Waste
43:18 – Home-Delivered Food Has a Huge Climate Cost. So Which Cuisine is the Worst Culprit?
45:08 – Now and then: Iceland’s vanishing glaciers
46:07 Interview with Emma Jones from Ethikal Lives
We welcome founder of Ethikal Lives, Emma Jones onto the show. Emma tells us about her interesting circular business model and how knowing your suppliers can lead to a more sustainable business.
Find Ethikal Lives: Instagram | Facebook | Website
Emma Jones recommends: Search Engine Journal
01:03:24 Eco Tips
Eco car tips:
- Remove any unneeded weight
- Inflate the tyres
- Stop the top up – that little bit extra escapes into the atmosphere – bypassing the emissions canister
- Leave the air conditioning off
- Drive smoothly
- Walk or Cycle
01:05:56 Behind the Scenes
01:07:07 Fact or Fake?
Skincare and Cork products – with Emma Jones from Ethikal Lives
- A cork tree that has it’s bark harvested will absorb 10x more CO2 than one that doesn’t
- The reason cork is so biodegradable is that it is 90% air
- The average person uses 5 different skin care products on his or her body everyday
- The average person absorbs 130 chemicals a day from the skin care products they use
- 70 percent of the 10,500 ingredients in cosmetics and skin care ingredients known to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) have not been tested for safety.
And finally:
01:13:08 – UK plans to reduce grey squirrel population via contraceptives
01:13:52 – Newly discovered “Nano Chameloen” – worlds smallest known reptile
01:14:27 – Cow dung to power buses in Karachi:
Thanks for listening to this weeks sustainability show!.
If you have any stories we should be discussing get in touch @greenelepod or studio@greenelephant.show
