In June, C&A, the international Dutch chain of retail clothing stores launched a line of T-shirts certified to the Cradle to Cradle standard, meaning that they were designed and manufactured in a way that is benign to the environment and human health, and whose materials can be recirculated safely back into industrial materials or composted into the soil. It represents, in no small measure, the future of product design and manufacturing. Creating a Cradle to Cradle (or C2C) T-shirt — at scale and at an affordable price to the consumer — was no small feat for C&A. It required a board-level commitment, close partnerships with contract manufacturers, an arduous search for replacements for problematic materials and some new messaging to customers.
Continue reading... →Many believe the fight to combat climate change hinges on the aligned interests of capital and state. Give the Elon Musks of the world enough time and resources and they will innovate us out of impending climate catastrophe. Get the G20 in a room and they will hammer out a deal and create regulations to enforce it. Or so the thinking in some circles goes. Yet throughout history, the interests of the state have slid into alignment with big oil and big profits rather than lining up with our rivers, our air, our wildlife and our people. But the first people of this land, who often live on the frontlines of our metastasizing climate disaster, remain resolute. It is our sacred responsibility to protect and preserve this planet for future generations.
Continue reading... →Back in January, millions of women marched en masse in the nation’s capital and beyond, one day after the inauguration of America’s 45th president, Donald Trump. Now, leaders behind the historic Women’s March have designated “Reclaiming Our Time” as the official theme of its forthcoming Women’s Convention next month in Detroit. The two-day confab, slated for October 27-29 at the Cobo Center in downtown Detroit, is expected to bring together thousands of women, femmes and allies of all backgrounds. The weekend is being billed as one of strategy sessions, workshops, forums and intersectional movement building ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, organizers said.
Continue reading... →After I graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in engineering, I went to work for a local energy company. There, I had the good fortune of working for this person who ended up being a lifelong mentor of mine. He asked me one day, “Geisha, what are your long-term career aspirations?” And I said, “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I’d like to be a manager or a supervisor someday.” He said, “No. I mean long-term.” Well, I was thinking long-term. At that time, women like me didn’t run corporations. Latinas didn’t run corporations. Immigrants didn’t run corporations. But he looked at me and said, “Geisha, somebody has to run this company some day. Why not you?”
Continue reading... →A former 107-acre public housing site in South Pittsburgh’s St. Clair neighborhood is being transformed into a massive urban farm. According to Next Pittsburgh, once construction of the Hilltop Urban Farm is complete, the site will be home to the largest urban farm in the U.S. The project will consist of 23 acres of farmland and about 70 hillside acres of walking trails, green spaces and conservation areas. The Urban Redevelopment Authority will set aside 14 acres for potential future housing. The farm will host a farmer’s market building, a three-acre Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, a one-acre fruit orchard, a three-acre farmer incubation program, a one-acre youth farm with an environmental education building, a community garden, an on-site compost processing facility, as well as an events facility.
Continue reading... →Heavily exposed to increasing incidence of extreme weather events, the Philippines is among one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change in the world. Losses in rural areas, especially where there’s ongoing armed conflict, are not just financial. Across the world, climate and conflict are deeply intertwined and their negative effects mutually reinforcing. In the Philippines, this relationship is evident in Mindanao, a farming community on the country’s southernmost island. Despite peace efforts to end over 40 years of social and ethnic conflict there, hostilities remain. According to research conducted by the University of Queensland and Oxfam, the violence has particularly marginalized women, from female farmers to the widows of those killed in combat. In parallel, the area has also seen an increase in both typhoons and droughts over the past decade.
Continue reading... →Renewable energy is very much in the limelight these days, as country after country experience how these sources can keep at par with fossil fuels. Various places have shown how renewables are capable of supplying a huge chunk of their electricity demand. Renewables do so much more, though, as a recent study published in the journal Nature Energy now shows. Analyzing the impact of solar and wind energy in the U.S, the paper’s authors focused on how these renewables have saved both lives and money during a nine-year period (from 2007 to 2015). By reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increased dependence in solar and wind energy sources have improved air quality in the U.S., at a rate that varies between region to region.
Continue reading... →In recent years, child development specialists have become increasingly concerned about how “screen time,” — where kids gaze at smartphones, tablets and TVs while the backlit screens cast glows on their youthful faces — is replacing time spent playing outside, where youngsters instead get their fill of a natural source of vitamin D thanks to the warmth and light from the sun. Outdoor learning environments, sometimes called “forest schools,” may be the answer to ensuring kids understand the importance of appreciating nature’s beauty and getting exposed to the elements. The first of these schools launched in Europe over five decades ago. Now, these learning options are springing up all over the world, including throughout the United States.
Continue reading... →Eko Nugroho, Indonesia’s leading visual artist, has collaborated with such iconic and recognizable brands as Louis Vuitton and IKEA – now, he has created a piece meant to highlight the issue of the plastic pollution of our planet. The piece, called Bouquet of Love, is a 30-by-20-foot installation created using 660 pounds of local plastic debris. It will be installed on a popular beach club in Bali.
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