I'm doing some research exploring modern textiles and the ecological impact. One issue that I can't seem to wrap my head around is which is better: all-cotton garments that will compost relatively quickly when they are no longer useful or polyester from recycled materials that survive much longer after their useful life? And I know there is a case for just using other fabrics such as hemp, bamboo, wool, etc, but what I'm really trying to explore the choice between the soil/water/land use impact of cotton vs recycling something that won't go away. What got me fixated on this topic is that it has become impossible to find a cheap 100% cotton hoodie the way it was 20 years ago.

So if you could only pick one, which would you prefer? Cotton or recycled plastic?

Hi everyone - I'm struggling with climate grief, and the posts I've found on here are mostly 2-3 years old, so opening up a new space.

I'm 54 and starting working on this when I was 17. For a lot of years, sustainability and climate in particular were the main focuses of my life. I lived in an ecovillage for 10 years, built my own strawbale off-grid house. I've done a fair bit of farming. I did a TEDx talk in 2013, and a national speaking tour in 2015, and have written books. I even ran for US Senate. All strongly motivated by being part of the climate justice movement. My current job is also related.

I'm still here in action, but emotionally, I'm fucking trashed.

The suggestion to "find something productive to do" is just making my anxiety and grief worse because the reality is, I've done a shit ton of that and I'm deeply angry that it feels like nothing is changing - at least at a rate that will matter. I have really caring scientist friends who have just completely checked out, and I'm one foot out that door myself.

My therapist says this is too much of a niche need for her to know what to do with it. So that sucks. But the grief is getting to me. I went to a workshop recently on climate grief, and while it was hard, hearing other people's stories DID help. So - what have you got? What are your stories with this? I desperately need to feel less alone with taking this really seriously and watching racialized capitalism and government bullshit run us over the collective cliff.

Any word on when these jobs are going to be announced? The White House released the logo for it last month, and said the jobs would be posted in April. Will somebody wake Joe up and let him know April is almost over?

My club serves as a sustainability club for Greek life at an SEC school. We have lots of event ideas and are pretty decent at executing them, but we struggle to gain visibility/gain momentum. We have about 40 active members (out of thousands of Greek students). Does anyone have any suggestions on how to bolster our club/any ideas to introduce in leadership (other than event ideas)? (such as tabling or partnering with our Greek life office). Thank you! Anything is appreciated.

Hi! I'm a teen and my family and friends are all pretty interested in living more sustainably. I do my best with the lack of autonomy (since I'm still living with my parents, I do all I can do) and I'm curious about something.

One big point we've been making is to stop overconsuming and buying things we don't really need. I'm a hobby collector of Tokidoki figurines, and I'm not sure whether this counts for anything. Most of my furniture is second-hand and I've had for years, or stuff that I or a family friend made. I'm not sure whether collecting these sorts of things is overconsuming because, yeah, I do have a good handful, but they're also usually a mindful decision. (I don't buy out a bulk of them when I see them I stick to lines that I know I like the characters in, and I don't buy them often either (usually one every one or two months).

I don't /want/ to stop collecting, but I don't want to make a decision that's affecting the planet more than it's affecting me. I like other things too haha, so I'm not losing my sole hobby if I stop either. Just looking for outside opinions :)

From the Center for Biodiversity: "Next week countries across the globe will meet in Canada to negotiate a global plastics treaty. People, wildlife and the planet deserve a plastic-free future — so we're calling for a treaty that slashes plastic production, bans toxic additives, and combats plastic pollution at every stage of its lifecycle.

Join Center supporters in telling the U.S. secretary of state: Take a stand at the negotiations table and push for bold action that will end the plastic era."

Take action today at this website: https://mbl.ms/kvC3qgrSTXW

If you were to buy second hand clothing from a fast fashion brand, is it bad? I can see that you're reusing the item, but are you supporting it if you buy from that brand? It's not like they're getting the money technically, but also it encourages the mentality of just buying more stuff in a way.

Hello everybody

My godson turns 1 in a few weeks and I would love to make a gesture towards my ongoing support to him and towards contributing towards a greener future for him.

To that end, I want to set up a lifetime subscription for him to a very reputable and transparent sustainability driven organisation. Perhaps an organisation that plants trees or an organisation that promotes biodiversity.

We are from Ireland, so ideally either a global outfit or an European outfit.

I'd love to hear suggestions. Thanks.

Where I live, there is an Aldi 1 block away and I can easily walk down there and buy groceries whenever I want. 2.4 miles away, there is a MOM's Organic Market that we can reach in 8 minutes if I drive our 2009 Toyota Prius. At Aldi, the produce usually comes packaged in plastic bags or containers, whereas MOM's sells produce without packaging. Generally speaking, is it worth burning gasoline to buy unpackaged vegetables at MOM's or is it better to simply walk to Aldi and buy vegetables packaged in plastic bags? In either case, I am using reusable bags to carry groceries home.

Just read an article about the possible food shortages in UK due to wet weather and I wanted to pop down some possible solutions. I would love to see more people using business to tackle these issues.

• An imperfect produce food box for direct to customers
• A B2B that sells imperfect produce to packaged food companies or cafes to be utilised in recipes
• A food producer that dices and freezes or cans imperfect produce into soups and recipes
• Aquaponi/Aeroponic farming solutions
• Seaweed food company that makes new products readily accessible (it doesn't require water or soil to grow)

Anyway, just wanted to share because maybe someone out there finds it interesting enough to pursue or invest in

Every few months, I come across posts about consulting within the broad sustainability topic. However, I have yet to find the companies I’m looking for.

I am currently seeking a long-term internship (or companies that I can contact) that are active within the sustainability sector, preferably focused on the transition towards becoming a more sustainable enterprise. For example, the reduction of waste or CO2 emissions serves as a broad illustration.

I hold a degree in Environmental and Sustainability Management and a master's in Corporate Finance. I am about to graduate, but because I want to learn more about the industry I will hopefully be a part of, I’m seeking a long-term internship within the sustainability topic. This can be anything from consulting to an internal role.

My question is, do you know any companies that engage in similar activities located in the EU that I can reach out to? If you think I should look in a different direction to broaden my view, please let me know.

Thank you in advance!

I was reading an interesting study called "E-fuels study" (https://nordicelectrofuel.no/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Dena-The-potential-of-electricity-based-fuels-for-low-emission-transport-in-the-EU-NOV-2017.pdf) about how will the energy transition affect industries and modes of transport, including aviation.

The authors say that in the future it is very likley that the majority of electricity from renewable sources may be consumed by aviation and maritime transport (mainly in form of e-fuels for both). 

However, it is not clear to me which one of this will have the highest demand. Will be aviation? Or shipping? If shipping will be the one with the highest demand, would it be the same in the passenger-domain, i.e. transportation of people (where aviation is clearly more used than maritime)? 

And finally, can these results be extrapolated to the rest of the world? Or these results will be EU-exclusively?

​

PS: I would contact the authors themselves, but they don't seem able to reply. Perhaps someone here could help me with these questions instead...

I’m looking to shift my career into sustainability, especially sustainability reporting. I have a bachelor in Industrial Engineering and 3 years of combined work experiences in SAP consulting and supply chain management.

The reason I decided to shift career is because I believe sustainability in corporate world will be the next big thing in the corporate world, if not a present and ongoing big thing. My believe is based on these facts:

1. More and more regulations require companies to implement and report sustainability.
   1. In the EU, companies that met criteria will have to report on their sustainability performance under CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive). Companies under previous NFRD regulation will be the first to report in 2025 on fiscal year 2024.
   2. On April 2024, Japan Releases Proposed IFRS-Based Sustainability Reporting Standards. The Sustainability Standards Board of Japan (SSBJ) has previously indicated that it aims to publish finalized sustainability reporting standards by the end of March 2025. The new exposure drafts were developed under the assumption that reporting according to the sustainability-related disclosure standards will eventually become mandatory in Japan.
   3. Thailand and Singapore require sustainability reporting on a ‘comply or explain’ basis for the time being
2. More and more companies are joining sustainability commitments and initiatives. It’s common now to see companies aiming to be a carbon neutral by 2050 or 2060.
3. More and more scrutinise from stakeholders. Consumers, investors, and regulators are demanding more action from businesses. Many investors are integrating ESG factors into their investment decision
4. COP28’s the UAE Consensus signaling the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era. The stocktake urges parties to cut 43% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. Furthermore, triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency globally by 2030.

Based on those facts, I assume that:

1. Sustainability will infiltrate into corporate consciousness. It’s just rational to “meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" put simply “being sustainable”
2. Carbon accounting will be treated as important as financial accounting
3. Sustainability will gain more significance. It will be embedded in every business process (sourcing, producing, distributing, selling, disposing). It will shift from merely a PR tool to the way company operates
4. These movements will drive sustainability-related services
   1. Strategy: on how to cut emissions and maintain growth (what tech to invest, what process to change, what business to divest, what area to invest, which partner to hire, what financing best to pursue)
   2. Implementation: on actually cutting emission and integrate sustainability in every business process (Put in practice carbon accounting, KPIs integration, sustainable sourcing, new tech/process adoption, waste reduction, sustainability measurement, sustainability reporting)

What do you think? Do you think this is a best move for me?

I am mainly talking about in the grocery store. I want to limit my micro plastic intake and limit plastic usage in general.

I understand that it is unreasonable to eliminate all plastic from daily use but everything in the grocery store has at least a little bit of plastic something. Even healthy items (which is my main concern) are wrapped or packaged with some type of plastic. Meat is in shitty styrofoam with plastic wrap or rotisserie chickens in plastic packaging, Salads come in plastic tubs, dressings come with plastic over them or in plastic bottles, all bottles are mainly plastic, and bars and (most) bread come in plastic wrap. Virtually everything I saw in the store had some type of plastic on it with the exception of whole fruits and vegetables and some others (which probably were packaged with plastic at some point).

How does one eliminate this sustainably. I don’t have a large enough yard to grow crops unfortunately, only a few types of vegetables but not enough to supply for even a couple months and it gets too cold to grow year around.

I’m really just looking for suggestions. I’m trying to eat less processed garbage and I relize even though I’m eating healthier my plastic usage is still virtually the same maybe slightly better.

Also this is an interesting link about plastic in our food:

https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/the-plastic-chemicals-hiding-in-your-food-a7358224781/#:~:text=Quite%20a%20lot.,remain%20widespread%20in%20our%20food.&text=The%20findings%20on%20phthalates%20are,tested%2C%20often%20at%20high%20levels.

What's good!

I wanted to share some cautionary words about Student Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) especially for those considering joining or working with them as interns, volunteers, or organizers.

Student PIRGs will give you high expectations for such low pay. If you're considering taking up an organizing position with Student PIRGs, brace yourself for shockingly low salaries. They'll push you to your limits, overworking you, and then expect the world from you in return. It's a tough grind for little reward. I get that it's expected that you will be making less compared to the private sector. However, paying 32K for a job you'd be working 50-60 hour weeks for is absurd. Many organizers I know personally have had to deplete their savings and go into credit card debt just to live at least a decent life. It makes it worse knowing that Doug Phelps promoted union busting across the PIRGs when workers wanted to stand up for themselves. It's a liberal sweatshop people.

Here's the real kicker, some schools every two years hold a reaffirmation vote for that specific PIRG group to be funded by the school. Your paycheck as an organizer is wagered on this vote. That's right, your financial stability could be on the line based on a vote. It's a stressful situation that's far from ideal. Even with some states bringing in as much as $400K-$800K off these votes, they still can't afford to pay the people with boots on the ground a proper wage. Even 45K would be miles better compared to 32K. You'd still be making more than a cashier working at a McDonalds.

Lastly, Student PIRGs have this unrealistic notion that student volunteers and interns can dedicate a whopping 10-15 hours a week of unpaid work. Seriously? Expecting students, who are already juggling classes, part-time jobs, and other commitments, to work for free at such a demanding level is simply unreasonable in this day and age. Gone are the days when you could pay for college with a summer's worth of work. Expecting so much from student interns/volunteers creates a barrier to entry for people who want to get into activism.

Before applying to be a Coordinator/Associate/Organizer with Student PIRGs, take a step back and consider if it's truly worth it. While I have gained great opportunities as a Coordinator, I feel that I definitely resent my experience because it has taken up so much of my time. There are plenty of other opportunities out there that value your time, effort, and well-being more than this. Stay informed, stay cautious, and prioritize yourself above all.

I’m a 26y marketing professional with an under graduate degree specialising in marketing and currently working and residing in Dubai.

I’m seeking advice on a good MBA program in Sustainable Marketing on campus preferably in Europe.

Any thoughts?

I recently found a busted cheap little gas bike thing (like the kind that look like fancy motorcycles but are much less powerful and much easier to sit on) for 20 bucks on Craigslist. I knew exactly what was wrong with it and was able to fix it with ease (spark plug and battery, installed LED bulbs everywhere i could for better visibility to others) and I now have a small "motorcycle".

Here's the important part. This bike, while gas powered, get 132 miles to the gallon. Yes you read that correct, one hundred and thirty two miles. It's not fast, but it's insanely efficient. Should I take close range low capacity trips with this instead of a car? Like if I'm going to the store for one stupid tiny thing should I take this instead? Was buying this a good idea even? Should I have just bought an electric one, or is it better to fix a broken gas one than buy a new electric one?

As there are multiple domains in the context of sustainability (ecological, economical and social, …) what do you think is the sweet spot in the context of these domains? Economically sustainable practices can for example contradict ecological ones. Fast fashion, for example, is economically sustainable in the context of production - but it’s far from being sustainable in the context of ecological sustainability. What about repair instead of replace? What about products with a longer lifecycle? And how does social sustainability correlate with the “perception” of economical sustainability?