I am about 5 weeks in of carrying out my ecological footprint reduction goals. So far, so good.
My initial goal of reducing my beef intake to 2x per month has been achieved and surpassed. Since making this goal, I have not eaten any beef! I plan to continue on with not eating beef for the remainder of this school quarter.
My second goal of unplugging the extension cord that plugs my blow dryer and straightener in has been met about 90% of the time. Though I sometimes have forgotten to unplug the cord (and I get seriously upset with myself when I do), I have managed to turn the power button off on my straightener every time since forming this goal. That is quite the feat for me, coming from the girl who left a burned imprint of a straightener on a nice wooden dresser due to leaving the power on all day...my mom was not happy.
My third goal was to turn the water off while I am brushing my teeth, and similar to the above, I would say this has been achieved about 90% of the time. There have been a few instances of which I find myself brushing my teeth and just chilling with the water running full force, but I plan to get this goal to 100%!
Due to this Marketing and Sustainability class, I have recently been convicted of my elevator usage. I am USUALLY the girl who pokes fun at people who use the elevator, but now, thanks to the massive hill I walk up every day, I am one of those people who uses the elevator (I am not proud of this). I use the elevator in the Viking Union for going up AND for going down. The elevator makes sense in my route to class, it's convenient, it's easy, it prevents me from sweating as much when trekking up the hill...and it's also an unnecessary addition to my ecological footprint. So my new goal that I am adding to my EF reduction plan is that I will not be using the VU elevator anymore.
Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone by reducing my footprint and gaining some minor health benefits from the added hill to my commute : )
Monday, October 26, 2015
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Current Event: A Meat Alternative
One of my goals for this quarter in order to reduce my carbon footprint was to reduce my consumption of beef to only 2x per month. Since making the goal, I have decided to completely take beef out of my diet the reasons being (1) I don't eat beef that often anyways, so why not just kick it out of my diet? and (2) Livestock farming is one of the biggest contributors to a person's carbon footprint.
Impossible Foods, a sustainable food company in California, recently raised their funding by $108 million, and they are continuing to rise. They are focused on producing meat and dairy that are strictly made from plant ingredients. The greenhouse gas emissions that come from livestock farming are greater than cars, trains and airplanes combined, which is a huge reason why the shift to plant-based diets is important. Impossible Foods uses heme in their meat, a molecule found in hemoglobin and other proteins that gives blood its red pigment. Heme is considered the "secret" to meat flavor. Impossible Foods has raised enough money to bring their new product to market, and in the process, they are influencing other food companies to try producing alternatives to meat as well. These alternatives are both tasty and sustainable, giving an incentive to take the plunge and make the change.
Meat production will eventually have to change, and with that, so will meat consumption. Our meat consumption cannot be sustained forever. Impossible Foods is forward thinking and sustainably geared towards the future. It will take investing in more companies like Impossible Foods in order for the world of meat and dairy consumption to truly take a turn. We will be seeing burgers from Impossible Foods coming in 2016 across the U.S. I look forward to giving one a try : )
Source: http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/startups/hannah_furlong/investors_gave_sustainable_food_startup_108m_do_impossible
Impossible Foods, a sustainable food company in California, recently raised their funding by $108 million, and they are continuing to rise. They are focused on producing meat and dairy that are strictly made from plant ingredients. The greenhouse gas emissions that come from livestock farming are greater than cars, trains and airplanes combined, which is a huge reason why the shift to plant-based diets is important. Impossible Foods uses heme in their meat, a molecule found in hemoglobin and other proteins that gives blood its red pigment. Heme is considered the "secret" to meat flavor. Impossible Foods has raised enough money to bring their new product to market, and in the process, they are influencing other food companies to try producing alternatives to meat as well. These alternatives are both tasty and sustainable, giving an incentive to take the plunge and make the change.
Meat production will eventually have to change, and with that, so will meat consumption. Our meat consumption cannot be sustained forever. Impossible Foods is forward thinking and sustainably geared towards the future. It will take investing in more companies like Impossible Foods in order for the world of meat and dairy consumption to truly take a turn. We will be seeing burgers from Impossible Foods coming in 2016 across the U.S. I look forward to giving one a try : )
Source: http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/startups/hannah_furlong/investors_gave_sustainable_food_startup_108m_do_impossible
Thursday, October 15, 2015
Current Event: Education & Empowerment Will Lead to Sustainment
Moving towards a sustainable world starts with education, investment, and empowerment. It is crucial that businesses and individuals are not only moving towards sustainability, but that that they are pairing with others to create a network and movement towards it as well.
The Business Call to Action (BCtA) is a multilateral alliance that challenges companies to develop innovative business models that achieve commercial success and development outcomes. It is a UN-supported anti-poverty program that has a commitment to provide income-earning opportunities and expand access to services to disadvantaged populations in Africa and Asia.
A food-processing company called Equator Kenya recently joined the Business Call to Action in goal of improving their production process of the African Bird's Eyes Chilies, Equators primary crop. The Business Call to Action promises to provide climate-smart technologies, training and market linkages to 8,000 smallholder farms along the Kenyan coast.
The stimulator behind this partnership is the objective to reduce crop risks due to climate change. Reducing crop risks will in turn increase farmer incomes as well as their farm yields and quality. Currently there are about 7,000 smallholder farmers and in some areas nearly 80% of the farmers are women. Most have a low seasonal income and are illiterate.
Through the joining of BCtA, Equator Kenya has introduced a low-cost water-effiicient drip-irrigation kit to it's farmers. The results of the kit are huge:
Furthermore, Equator will distribute 8000 more kits that incorporate environmentally sustainable blended fertilizers and bio-pesticides. This movement will progress as Equator educates and trains their farmers on pest management, soil fertility management and erosion control to protect against the threats of climate control.
The results that come from this partnership benefit all parties involved: the business (Equator Kenya), BCtA, the farmers, and the greater scope of people and land surrounding them. The focus on education and empowerment is key to developing and progressing towards a sustainable world and BCtA is just the start.
Source:
http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/ict_big_data/mike_hower/climate_smart-tech_improving_livelihoods_kenyan_women_farmers
The Business Call to Action (BCtA) is a multilateral alliance that challenges companies to develop innovative business models that achieve commercial success and development outcomes. It is a UN-supported anti-poverty program that has a commitment to provide income-earning opportunities and expand access to services to disadvantaged populations in Africa and Asia.
The stimulator behind this partnership is the objective to reduce crop risks due to climate change. Reducing crop risks will in turn increase farmer incomes as well as their farm yields and quality. Currently there are about 7,000 smallholder farmers and in some areas nearly 80% of the farmers are women. Most have a low seasonal income and are illiterate.
Through the joining of BCtA, Equator Kenya has introduced a low-cost water-effiicient drip-irrigation kit to it's farmers. The results of the kit are huge:
- Production up 54% since the introduction of the kits in 2014
- Kits have created year-round income for farmers, allowing them to produce 10 months of the year (as opposed to 4-5 months)
Furthermore, Equator will distribute 8000 more kits that incorporate environmentally sustainable blended fertilizers and bio-pesticides. This movement will progress as Equator educates and trains their farmers on pest management, soil fertility management and erosion control to protect against the threats of climate control.
The results that come from this partnership benefit all parties involved: the business (Equator Kenya), BCtA, the farmers, and the greater scope of people and land surrounding them. The focus on education and empowerment is key to developing and progressing towards a sustainable world and BCtA is just the start.
Source:
http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/ict_big_data/mike_hower/climate_smart-tech_improving_livelihoods_kenyan_women_farmers
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
Current Event: Will Awareness Produce Results?
This picture symbolizes the 10 global food companies that recently pledged to accelerate business action on climate change. Amongst some of these companies are Mars, Ben & Jerry's, Kellogg and General Mills, Inc. Through this movement, they have written a letter and urged leaders of the U.S to take action on this movement of preventing global warming, as it greatly affects the food industry. Global warming has affected and will continue to affect crop yields, water availability and infrastructure integrity.
This letter goes further to spell out the efforts that these companies are making towards fighting global warming as well as exposing their best practices for the benefits of other companies. The letter finishes with:
"We are ready to meet the climate challenges that face our businesses. Please join us in meeting the climate challenges that face the world."
This movement and marketing of the awareness of climate change is just the place to start in moving towards a sustainable world, but I will be interested to see how much a simple pledge will actually do.
Source: http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/collaboration/hannah_furlong/food_companies_congress_step_bold_enforceable_climate_ag
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