By Sustainable Brands Focusing on the material footprint of the upcoming summer Games, Paris 2024 is leaning heavily into recycled materials and plans for reuse of all temporary infrastructure, furniture and equipment. This week, Paris 2024 unveiled the first results of its circular economy strategy for this summer’s Olympic Games. Integrated into every …
EPA issues new auto rules aimed at cutting carbon emissions, boosting electric vehicles and hybrids
By Matthew Daly and Tom Krisher, AP News WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced new automobile emissions standards Wednesday that officials called the most ambitious plan ever to cut planet-warming emissions from passenger vehicles. The new rules relax initial tailpipe limits proposed last year but eventually get close to …
Swept away: $500,000 sand dune built to protect US homes disappears in days
By Erum Salam, The Guardian Property owners dumped 15,000 tons of sand in a Massachusetts town to fend off dangerous tides, but it was swept away in 72 hours. A sand dune that cost homeowners on a Massachusetts beach more than half a million dollars to construct has washed away …
Argentine court in key lithium region halts new permits over environmental concerns
By Lucila Sigal, Reuters BUENOS AIRES, March 14 (Reuters) – An Argentine court in the northwestern province of Catamarca has suspended the issuance of new mining permits, demanding fresh environmental impact studies be carried out looking at local lithium projects, a judgment seen by Reuters showed. The ruling involves the …
This Phoenix Recycling Plant Will Give New Life to Old Plastic Items From Goodwill
By Aimee Rawlins, Fast Company Arizona State University and Phoenix hope the the ‘microfactory’ will be offer a new way to think about plastic recycling. PHOENIX—Dozens gathered in an industrial area of the nation’s fifth-largest city in early February to tour a recycling facility billed as a potential solution to …
Earth’s Fountain of Life Is Vanishing Beneath Our Feet
By Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics With each passing year, the world’s groundwater reserves shrink. Groundwater aquifers provide vital freshwater to homes, farms, and industries, but decades of mismanagement and political action are draining this resource around the world. A new study from an international team of scientists concluded that depleted …
‘Every Package Carries a Hidden Cost’: is it Better For the Environment to Shop Online or In-Store?
By Lucianne Tonti, The Guardian When it comes to reducing your clothes shopping’s carbon footprint, it might be tempting to abandon ecommerce for bricks-and-mortar retail. But the solution is not so simple. Packages arrive at my house more than I’d like to admit. Whether they contain cosmetics, swimwear, T-shirts or …
In Wyoming, Sheep May Safely Graze Under Solar Panels in One of the State’s First “Agrivoltaic” Projects
By Jake Bolster, Inside Climate News The elevated photovoltaic panels can actually improve grazing conditions, a novelty that could help make solar projects more land-efficient and accepted in the ranching-heavy state. Converse County is one of the most welcoming areas in Wyoming when it comes to clean energy. For roughly …
Please Don’t Store Nuclear Waste in our Precious Oil Fields, Says Fossil Fuel Industry
By Jon Christian, Futurism Not in my backyard! Spent Fuel In many ways, nuclear power remains a perfectly reasonable stopgap as the world attempts to wean itself off environmentally harmful fossil fuels: it’s pretty safe overall, it generates a steady supply of power around the clock, and it’s well understood. …
How Canada Can Climate-Proof More Than Half a Million Homes
By Gaye Taylor, Corporate Knights A report from Pembina Institute says weak regulations and a skilled labour shortage are creating a retrofit bottleneck. Weak regulations, low demand, and a lack of skilled labour are blocking service providers along Canada’s deep retrofit supply chain from scaling up operations to make homes …