Sustainability and Society – Page 2

Good News Friday 4/1/22

Welcome to another edition of Good News Friday! Today, we’re covering changes to car emission rules in California, a new threat to the invasive Burmese python in Florida, and the rediscovery of a “lost” bat species.

Image credit: Life of Pix via pexels.com

California regains right to set auto pollution rules: The Biden administration recently “restored California’s legal authority to set auto pollution and mileage rules that are tighter than federal standards, a potent climate policy that had been stripped away by former President Donald J. Trump,” according to the New York Times. Under California’s rules, car mileage will have to be continuously improved and tailpipe emissions cut at a rate faster than the federal standard. In 2019, transportation accounted for 41% (or approximately 171.5 million metric tons) of the state’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Image credit: Joshua Santos via pexels.com

2. Florida bobcat targets invasive python: Motion sensor cameras deployed by ecologists in Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve recently captured a bobcat eating Burmese python eggs, a possible sign of natural competition to combat the invasive python’s population growth. The python predator species is suspected of causing significant population declines of local species like marsh rabbits, leading to the formation of efforts like the Python Elimination Program to limit their damage.

Image credit: Tsvetoslav Hristov via pexels.com

3. Experts rediscover critically endangered bat species: According to Bat Conservation International, a team of experts has recently rediscovered the Hill’s horseshoe bat, a critically endangered “lost” species not been observed for decades. As insectivores–i.e., insect eaters–bats are frequently viewed as keystone species, or “organisms that play a key role in and have a disproportionate impact on their surrounding ecosystem.” The rediscovery of such animals therefore provides some hope about the future of their native ecosystem.

That’s all for this week! Check back next week for more positive environmental news. In the meantime, if you’d like to share some Good News with us, please feel free to get in touch!

Good News Friday 3/18/22

Author: Camellia Moors ’22

Welcome to another edition of Good News Friday! Today, we’re covering

China completes first “Vertical Forest City”: In Huanggang, China, the city’s first Vertical Forest City Complex has recently been completed. Essentially a vertical greenspace, the approximately 500-person residential complex features balconies and plant installments containing over 5,000 shrubs and trees. This building joins a growing trend in urban planning of incorporating green spaces into building projects, which are touted as reducing energy consumption and removing carbon dioxide from the air. Like many other vertical forest projects around the world, Huanggang’s example is the product of architect Stefano Boeri’s designs. (For other examples of his work, see his website).

Image Credit: Carlo Martin Alcordo via pexels.com

2. UK grocery stores aim for refillable groceries: Five grocery stores and suppliers in the UK (Waitrose, Ocado, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer, and CHEP) have joined the Refill Coalition (run by Unpackaged) and pledged to “roll out unpackaged options in-store as well as letting people fill containers with essentials during home deliveries” by the end of this year. This comes as the UK Government last year announced plans to phase out single-use plastics (it is estimated the UK uses 2.5 million metric tons of single-use plastic packaging annually).

Image Credit: Magda Ehlers via pexels.com

3. World leaders to develop plastic treaty: At an UN environment assembly in Nairobi, Kenya late last month, representatives from 173 countries agreed to develop treaty on plastics to be developed over the next two years. The ultimate goal of the treaty will be to eliminate plastic pollution. Approximately 300 million metric tons of plastic waste are produced each year, and of all 7 billion metric tons of plastic waste produced to date, only 10% has been recycled.

That’s all for this week! Check back next week for more positive environmental news. In the meantime, if you’d like to share some Good News with us, please feel free to get in touch!

Why Earth is my history

By: Tecla Mafa ’24

This poem is inspired by the complex historical and present relationship between blackness and the environment. It follows the journey and ancestral experiences from the continent of Africa (my Shona ancestors) onto the mid-Atlantic passage to the plantations relaying, a spiritual carrying of the black soul, as well its conflict with nature which was used against it. The poem ends with a hope for healing of both the black soul and the earth which were and are both oppressed by imperialist capitalism.

Why Earth is my history

The black water licked your skin cold, salting and healing the deep cuts from the chains, rusty seaweed

Blindfolded on a march to splintering vessels, losing gravity, losing your name

*Living Bulwark,* *Swordofthespirit.net*

Your grandfather told you that the soil on the earth held treasures and golden insects

And that our hearts also carried treasures and golden insects

Your healer cut the purple flesh of your chest with a hot stone to protect you

A hot stone wrapped in herbs and the earth – the earth carried your faith

Housed your ancestors in the trunks of her trees, and sang to you each night in the passing waters

Mvura hupenyu, but that very same water carried you away through dark depths where death was

The ocean’s water is bitter with our brother’s blood, scarlet ribbons lacing the blue

Those who chose to swim with Yemaya¹

To be buried in Olokun’s sediments²

Omio Yemaya, https://artelaguna.world/paintings/omio-yemaya.25840/

Arriving on alien earth that did not beat with your ancestor’s loud booming breaths

Being cut to bleed by strange herbs, strange plants that are foreign to you

Soft cotton, murdered your spine, peeled your palms red

Your blood watered the earth, your blood gave the ground life

bearing strange fruit, the earth stole away your breaths and locked them away deep beneath

where they buried your souls and those of your ancestors to be

When your relationship with the earth is converted into oppressive turmoil and toil in the heat

When they broke your back so you could break the ground to bear them broken fruit

When your God is turned against you by a man in khaki trousers and black polished leather shoes

Forced to cut down the trees you worship, miti hupenyu³

Your estrangement from your faith becomes your desolation, your death

They ask you why you look disturbed in nature?

Why are you not a vocal environmentalist?

Explain to me how the oppressed becomes the oppressor

*Kazmaleje https://www.pinterest.com/pin/595741856932294580/*

How will I learn to heal? How will the earth heal?

Little did they know that by wounding me they were wounding the earth.

By killing me, they were killing the earth

A complex relationship- is not a pretty relationship

When you have been at war with something you’ve loved for years

When your love bleeds black crude oil beneath the earth

When they turned you against each other then condemned you for it

Why it’s hard to forget, to not remember

Why it’s hard to connect to the roots that feed your ancestors

I want my rest unbroken in the fields of southern earth;⁴

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/15/opinion/sunday/black-bodies-green-spaces.html

A history buried beneath the ice, heavy sedimented rock

Pain unknown, entangled with heavy vines of life green

A history that has travelled with the water, with the soil and the grey winds

Water has memory, the fingerprints of those lost at sea, the scent of the living dead

We shall plant justice, seeds of remembrance, seeds that become heirlooms

To carry a heritage lost and suppressed

And those seeds will bloom flowers

The sweet-smelling, night-blooming cereus flower⁵

Notes

^[1] Goddess of the ocean in Orishi tradition, dwells on the surface waters

^[2] Her twin, dwells in the depths of the ocean

^[3] Trees are life

^[4] Excerpt from Southern song Poem by Margaret Walker

^[5] From Southern song poem by Margaret Walker

Sources

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/15/opinion/sunday/black-bodies-green-spaces.html

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/25/drexciya-how-afrofuturism-inspired-calls-for-an-ocean-memorial-to-slavery

Demystifying Public Transportation in Princeton: Local Buses

Author: Adam Wickham ’22

“Have A Nice Day” by Joe Shlabotnik is licensed under the Creative Commons

Welcome to Princeton, NJ! Most of the time, it can feel like the University provides everything you may need without even having to leave campus or Nassau Street. Yet, sometimes you may need to go off campus for whatever reason. Your first step may be to call an Uber or rent a car, but there’s a way that’s better for the environment and your wallet: the bus!

The bus is not a luxury experience, but public transportation is an effective way to reduce greenhouse emissions. According to Princeton’s Sustainability Action Plan, transportation emissions are one of the largest sources of carbon emissions along with electricity usage in both New Jersey and the United States as a whole. Public transportation in the United States is underdeveloped and does not have a great reputation. But it is safe, clean and affordable if you learn how to use it to get around Princeton and beyond.

What services are available?

Within walking distance of main campus are three different bus services available to use: Tiger Transit, NJ Transit and Princeton Municipal Transit. TigerTransit is operated by the University, while NJ Transit and Princeton Municipal Transit are operated by the government. Most undergraduate Princeton students are probably most familiar with TigerTransit’s Weekend Shopper (Route W-S), but there are more options if you don’t need to go to Route 1 on a weekend.

Here is a helpful chart with clickable links to guide you to your next public transit journey!

	TigerTransit	NJ Transit	Princeton Municipal Transit
Fare	Free	$1.60*	Free
Relevant Routes	Route 4: Princeton Junction to EQuad Route W-S: Weekend Shopper	Route 605Route 606	One route only
When does it run?	Route 4: Monday – Friday Route W-S: Saturday – Sunday	Daily	Monday – Friday 7:30 AM – 8:50 PM except holidays
Relevant Stops	Route 4: Princeton Junction Rail Station, Princeton Rail Station, E-Quad Route W-S: Princeton Station, Whole Foods, Wegmans/Target, Trader Joes	605: Princeton Shopping Center, Princeton Station, MarketFair, Whole Foods, Wegmans/Target, Quaker Bridge Mall, Trader Joes 606: Princeton Shopping Center, Palmer Square, Trenton Transit Center	Princeton Shopping Center, Palmer Square, Firestone Library
Official Apps	TripShot	NJTransit Mobile App MyBus Plan Your Trip	TripShot
Routes and Schedules	TigerTransit Routes & Schedules	Route 605 Route 606	Schedule
Compatible with *Google Maps*?	No	Yes	No

*Note: NJ Transit fares can be paid using the NJTransit Mobile App or cash. You need exact change for the bus, but you can use $1 bills and coins.

All this information may seem overwhelming, but the most important thing is to give you options. If you don’t know where a bus is going, first check the sign or ask the driver, and they’ll help you out.

Good News Friday 12/10/21

Author: Camellia Moors ’22

Happy first post-classes Good News Friday! We hope you’ve had the chance to destress a bit before the semester fully wraps up. In the spirit of motivating you through the end of the semester, here is some more positive environmental news! Today, we’re covering India’s solar power expansion, Colombia’s efforts to confront environmental crimes, and McDonald’s Canada’s project to reduce single-use plastic waste.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledges to increase solar power: India’s leader recently pledged that his country would move away from its current dependence on coal to instead produce more energy via solar power and other renewables than its entire grid produces now by 2030. This comes after he made a pledge at the recent COP26 conference that India would aim to achieve net zero by 2070. As one of the largest energy consumers in the world, the majority of India’s electricity is sourced from coal, meaning this new goal could have a profound global impact on international efforts to fight climate change.

2. Colombian police will expand investigations of environmental crimes: Earlier this week, Colombia’s government announced that its national police would be deploying 100 criminal intelligence and investigation officers to target environmental crimes. These crimes include things like illegal mining, animal trafficking, and the targeting of environmental activists. As Colombia faces increasing environmental degradation, this new effort might provide some hope for the success of environmental initiatives there.

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3. McDonald’s Canada aims to cut single-use plastics: By the end of this month, “McDonald’s Canada… will introduce wooden cutlery, wooden stir sticks, and paper straws at more than 1,400 of its restaurants across [Canada],” which will eliminate 840 tons of plastic waste. This could serve as a model for the almost 13,700 McDonald’s across the United States and nearly 40,000 McDonald’s restaurants around the world

That’s all for now! Check back next week for more positive environmental news, and until then, feel free to get in touch if you have environmental news to share and best of luck with the end of the semester!

Good News Friday 12/3/21

Author: Grace Liu ‘23

Hello and welcome back! We hope that your Thanksgiving break was restful and filled with good food. If you’re anxious about the elevated campus risk status, new covid variant, finals and projects, etc., that’s totally understandable. However, we hope that this article about potty training cows, plastic-free veggies, and coral reef recovery will boost your mood a bit.

Image Credit: BorgMattison via pixabay.com

Potty trained cows help fight pollution: It is an unfortunate phenomenon that cow urine produces a pollutant called ammonia which is harmful if inhaled and an indirect greenhouse gas. However, researchers have found that potty training cows to pee in a latrine called the “MooLoo” could lead to a 56% reduction in ammonia emissions. The cows trained using a combination of treats and spritzes of water show a success rate on par with children.

Image credit: Jerzygorecki via pixabay.com

France frees fruits of plastic: There are a growing number of grocery stores and supermarkets in Paris that sell produce without single-use plastic containers. Recently, the government announced that, starting next year, plastic packaging for produce under 1.5 kg will be banned. The plastic waste savings from this policy are estimated at over a billion units.

Image credit: visavietnam via pixabay.com

Nobel Prize-winning economic theory helps save coral reefs: Researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia are applying modern portfolio theory (MPT) to identify coral reefs with the most potential to repopulate other damaged reefs. The stock market theory was developed by the economist Harry Markowitz in the 1950s to help investors maximize returns while minimizing risk.

Thanks for reading, and we hope that these news snippets have brightened your day a little! Please check back in next week for more positive environmental news and in the meantime, feel free to take a look at previous posts or share some good news with us!

Good News Friday 11/19/21

Author: Camellia Moors ’22

Welcome to another edition of Good News Friday! To get you in a good mood for Thanksgiving break, we’re covering some positive news about emissions in the travel industry, the halting of oil leases on Indigenous lands, and the “right to repair” Apple devices.

Travel industry makes climate change commitments: In the wake of the COP26 negotiations, more than 300 global travel stakeholders signed the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism. This requires all signatories to submit a concrete plan to halve their emissions by 2030 and become net zero by 2050 within 12 months. According to one study, worldwide tourism accounted for 8% of global emissions between 2009 and 2013, meaning these commitments to cuts have the potential to make a large—and needed—dent in global emissions.

2. Biden administration halts oil drilling leases: Early this week, the Biden administration announced it intends to “block new federal oil and gas leasing within a 10-mile radius around Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, one of the nation’s oldest and most culturally significant Native American sites.” While the move was not universally popular—the Navajo Nation, for example, said it prefers a smaller, 5-mile radius—it does reflect an (admittedly halting) trend of limiting oil leases.

3. Apple to expand customers’ ability to self-repair iPhones: This week, Apple announced it will soon sell the parts, tools, and instructions for people to perform their own iPhone repairs. Proponents of the “right to repair” argue that limits on consumers’ abilities to fix their electronic devices force them to throw them out, contributing to the massive global “e-waste” problem. With Apple selling more than 217 million iPhones in 2018 and 100-120 million phones being discarded each year, the move by the tech company represents a potentially huge, untapped means of reducing global waste.

That’s all for this week! Tune in next time for more environmental news, and until then, we hope you have a relaxing Thanksgiving break and feel free to get in touch if you have environmental news to share!

Good News Friday 11/12/21

Author: Grace Liu ‘23

Welcome back to another Good News Friday! There’s been a lot happening in the climate sphere as the COP26 draws to a close. The snippets below highlight clean energy funding, carbon-neutral aviation goals, and indigenous forest conservation projects.

Expansion of clean energy: World leaders, representing more than 35 countries and large firms, have pledged $400 billion to the expansion of clean and renewable energy. The commitments also aim to provide reliable energy to developing countries. The targets include cutting the number of people without access to electricity in half by 2025, achieving universal energy access by 2030, quickly transitioning to clean energy sources, and minimizing disparities in power access.

Image credit: Lars_Nissen via pexels.com

US targets net-zero aviation by 2030: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated during the COP26 climate talks that the US aims to have all air travel be carbon neutral by 2050. The goal was supported by an analysis by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Given the fact that the aviation industry accounts for 2.5% of all CO2 emissions, this pledge could have significant implications for climate change mitigation.

Indigenous forest conservation: During COP26, the Peoples Forest Partnership announced that the US aims to contribute $20 billion in funding by 2030 to support Indigenous community-driven forest conservation and restoration projects. According to the group’s estimates, this initiative could lead to a carbon emission reduction of at least 2 billion tons per year as well as protect approximately 500 million hectares of biodiverse tropical forests.

There were a lot of good news articles to choose from this week. Here’s to hoping these wonderful initiatives will be successful! Check back next week for more encouraging environmental news. If you’d like to share some Good News with us, please feel free to get in touch!

Good News Friday 11/5/21

Author: Camellia Moors ’22

Hello and welcome to another edition of Good News Friday! In the midst of ongoing COP26 talks, we’re discussing some recent major climate announcements, including a fund for renewable energy projects in developing economies, financing for a clean energy transition in South Africa, and an international pledge to phase out coal-fired power plants.

A new fund for clean energy investments is formed: Several philanthropic organizations and international development banks joined forces this week to announce the formation of a $10.5 billion fund intended to “help emerging economies with growing energy needs make the switch from fossil fuels to renewable sources.” Known as the Global Energy Alliance, the group’s commitment comes because several large and/or developing nations recently called for the investment of $100 billion annually by developed countries for the purpose of furthering international climate goals.

2. South Africa to receive financing to phase out nonrenewable energy: In the wake of requests for international financial aid to achieve climate goals mentioned above, this week South Africa announced Britain, France, Germany, the U.S., and the EU will dedicate $8.5 billion towards South Africa’s efforts to “install more clean energy, accelerate the country’s transition away from coal power and cushion the blow for workers who may be affected by the shift.” Currently, South Africa accounts for approximately 17.8% of the world’s coal consumption, meaning this decision could have a significant impact on global carbon emissions.

Image Credit: Markus Spiske via Pexels.com

3. International coalition to pledge to phase out coal: The British government announced that it has brokered a deal between 18 unnamed countries at COP26 to phase out the use of domestic coal-fired power plants and eliminate funding for international coal projects. Coal as a fuel source emits a relatively large amount of carbon dioxide per kWh of electricity generated, making this commitment an important first step in the energy transition.

That’s all for this week! Tune in next time for more positive environmental news. In the meantime, if you have any good news you would like to share, please contact us!

Good News Friday 10/15/21

Author: Camellia Moors ’22

Welcome to a post-midterm edition of Good News Friday! We hope some happy environmental news can help you destress after a hectic week. With the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) coming up later this month in Glasgow, we’re covering some recent big commitments by nations towards fighting climate change.

Image Credit: Gary Norton via U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. to expand offshore wind: Department of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced that her agency will “begin to identify, demarcate and hope to eventually lease federal waters… to wind power developers” in the Gulf of Mexico and along both coasts by 2025. This came several months after the Biden administration approved the nation’s first large-scale offshore wind farm in May. This development is particularly promising due to the massive potential of American offshore wind: according to the Department of Energy, “U.S. offshore wind has a technical resource potential of more than 2,000 GW of capacity, or 7,200 TWh of generation per year… nearly double the nation’s current electricity use.”

2. France invests in decarbonization: French President Emmanuel Macron announced his country will invest approximately $34.6 billion over the next five years into nuclear reactors and other decarbonizing technologies. French law currently aims for a 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050.

3. Global commitments to reducing methane emissions: In a sign that political leaders around the globe are increasingly targeting the nuances of climate change, 33 countries (including the U.S.) pledged to cut their methane emissions by 30% by 2030. The move constitutes an acknowledgement of a United Nations report on how cutting methane emissions–in addition to carbon emissions–is critical to climate change mitigation efforts.

That’s all for this week! Enjoy your fall break, and as always, we welcome you to check out our previous editions of Good News Friday and to contact us if you have any positive environmental news to share!