policy

Ways to celebrate Earth Day

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 20:48:58 +0000

Ways to celebrate Earth Day Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 12/14/2023 - 13:48

Earth Day began in 1970 as more people in the United States and across the globe became aware of the environmental impact caused by humans. Before the 1970’s, many people considered air and water pollution a normal and expected part of life. Celebrating Earth Day each year is vital because it recognizes the harm caused to the environment while showing support across the globe for protecting the Earth. You can take steps this Earth Day to support sustainability through your own collective and individual actions.

How to contribute to Earth Day every day

You can be a part of Earth Day by coming together with the CU Boulder community to protect our planet. Whether you are on campus or not, you can get involved and make a difference in numerous ways. Here are some of the ways you can participate in Earth Day today and every day.

Participate in advocacy: One of the best ways to make a difference is through advocacy. You can sign petitions and participate in Earth Day events on campus and in your community. You can also write to your local, state and national officials. Ask them to support legislation that protects our planet.
Sustainable fashion: Fast fashion negatively impacts the environment by increasing clothing waste and pollution from textile production. Donate or sell your unwanted clothing instead of throwing items away to reduce waste and give your clothes a new life. You can also make an impact by shopping at thrift stores, buying fewer new clothing items and supporting brands that intentionally support sustainability in their production processes.
Take part in a community or global cleanup: The Environmental Center hosts events to support sustainability locally, like their Boulder Creek cleanup and the annual Campus Sustainability Summit. If you're not in Boulder, you can search for cleanup opportunities in your area or connect with a local organization to offer your support.
Make your next meal plant-based: Choosing more plant-based meals can help lower carbon emissions and reduce the impact of food production on the environment. Transition your breakfast, lunch or dinner to plant-based options and look for plant-based meals at the dining halls on campus. While you can opt for a fully vegan diet, choosing one plant-based meal a day can still have an impact.
Get inspired: Explore ways to take action and make a difference throughout the year. A few standout ideas include picking up trash while you run (hello, plogging), switching to reusable bags, meal prepping and growing a container garden on your patio.
Join the CU community via the AWorld App: The AWorld app supports the United Nations ActNow campaign, encouraging individual action on climate change. Once you download the app, you can join the CU community to track your sustainable actions. Actions include daily tasks like meditating, eating a vegetarian or vegan meal, carpooling or taking public transportation.

Remember, every small action adds up to make a significant impact. Let's work together to create a sustainable future for generations to come. These are just a few examples of how you can make a difference.

The impacts of Earth Day

Since its inception, Earth Day has continued to grow and increase awareness of environmental issues and the actions people can take to support sustainability.

Just one year after the first Earth Day, 25% of Americans believed protecting the environment was important.
In the years that followed, many national environmental policies passed, including:
The Clean Air Act
The Water Quality Improvement Act
The Endangered Species Act
The Toxic Substances Control Act
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act
The Environmental Protection Agency was established in 1970, following the first Earth Day marches.
Earth Day celebrations every April 22 continue to make an impact across the globe.

The importance of Earth Day

Earth Day is an annual reminder that climate change has a major impact on our planet, our lives and our future. It can also increase awareness and drives change. Earth Day continues to evolve and add value to sustainability movements across the globe.

Earth Day provides a day to focus on education about environmental issues affecting our planet.
Demonstrations on Earth Day help signal to government representatives the importance of environmental issues to their constituents.
Earth Day sets aside a day each year to reflect on the significance of the planet's health and what we can all do to positively impact our environment.
Earth Day has influenced major national policy in the past and will continue to do so.

The history of Earth Day

Author Rachel Caron released her book Silent Spring in 1962. The book brought attention to how the use of harmful chemicals, such as DDT, caused everlasting damage to wildlife, nature and people, and it called for humans to act responsibly as stewards of the living earth.

Caron’s book motivated Junior Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin to create Earth Day. He selected April 22 because it fell perfectly between spring break and final exams and would allow space for college students to get involved.

On April 22, 1970, an estimated 20 million people gathered at schools, universities and community centers across the U.S. to host inaugural events that brought awareness to the need for more environmental laws. These events also brought attention to a wide variety of environmental issues.

Denis Hayes, who helped organize the first Earth Day with Gaylord Nelson, went on to found the Earth Day Network, which spread Earth Day internationally, helping organize events in over 141 countries.

Earth Day Monumental Moments:

1970: First Earth Day celebrated.
1990: Twentieth anniversary, an estimated 200 million people in over 141 countries celebrate.
2010: Fortieth anniversary, an estimated 1 billion people worldwide gathered to celebrate.
2020: Fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day, in-person events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but people globally celebrated via social media.

Want to learn more? Check out the official Earth Day website for more information on the history of Earth Day, different projects you can participate in and simple ways to change the planet. You can also connect with the Environmental Center to learn ways to get involved.

April 22 is only one day each year, but you can treat every day like Earth Day!

Off

Traditional

White

How to identify greenwashing and make sustainable buying decisions

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 17:09:04 +0000

How to identify greenwashing and make sustainable buying decisions Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/27/2023 - 11:09

Lauren Mullen

As consumers focus more on the environmental impact of products, companies look to cash in by identifying their products as sustainable or environmentally friendly. However, not all brands follow the practices they claim. When businesses falsely promote their products' environmental or sustainable benefits, it is called greenwashing.

Some examples of greenwashing include a company saying their products are made entirely of recycled materials when they only use a portion of recycled materials. Or a company claims each purchased product leads to planting a tree, but the company doesn’t follow through with the accurate number of trees. Greenwashing usually includes exaggerations that mislead customers.

Are environmental claims regulated?

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) protects consumers by enforcing laws to ensure a fair marketplace. Here are some of the current guidelines put in place.

Packaging and advertising should explain the product’s green claims in easy-to-understand terms.
Environmental marketing claims should specify whether they refer to the product, packaging or both.
Marketing claims should not overstate, directly or indirectly, an environmental attribute or benefit.

How to avoid greenwashing

As a consumer, your best tool to combat greenwashing is research. Investigate the brand before purchasing products that claim to be sustainable to ensure their practices match their claims.

You can start by reading online product reviews or researching the resources a company uses to produce its products. Almost every product type has an environmental certification, like clothes, furniture and household goods. Cradle2Cradle is a popular certification that many consumers trust. In this case, you can search for certified products and review the level of sustainability.

Watch for these common greenwashing practices when researching products.

Unclear language or terms with no specific meaning or implication, like eco-friendly.
Suggestive images that give an unjustified green impression without providing specific data about the product or brand.
Irrelevant claims with a heavy emphasis on one small green attribute without mention of how the rest of the company works.
A claim that might be correct, but the company provides no evidence to support the claim.

Implementing sustainable buying habits

Becoming a conscious consumer can benefit the environment, your wallet and the quality of your products.

Try to borrow or reuse items and buy second-hand or local when you can. Also, take the time to find out what you’re purchasing before you spend your money. You may have to read between the lines to discover the truth about brands. The effort you make in the beginning will save time and benefit your future buying decisions.

Take a holistic approach to the process when making purchase decisions. If you find a sustainable brand that ships from across the world, then it may not make sense for you to make the purchase. Also, be aware that genuinely sustainable products may cost more. If the product is sustainable, it will likely be of a higher quality that lasts longer, making the extra money upfront worth it in the long run. For example, fast fashion is cheap but lower quality and wears out quicker.

The Bottom Line

As a consumer, voting with your dollar and buying sustainably sourced and durable products is important. However, be aware of companies trying to profit from your desire to live a sustainable lifestyle by researching the companies you support.

You can download the AWorld app from ActNow to track your sustainable actions, learn ways to implement sustainability into your daily life and participate in challenges with others in the CU community.

Off

Traditional

White

Why climate justice is important in climate action planning

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Apr 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Why climate justice is important in climate action planning Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 04/10/2023 - 00:00

Climate action planning is not just about saving the planet, it's about saving people too. The University of Colorado Boulder recognizes this, and with their 2022-2023 Climate Action Plan (CAP), they're taking a stand for climate justice. By incorporating principles such as Indigenous climate action, community resilience and equity throughout the planning process, they're ensuring that all voices are heard and that the benefits of climate action are distributed fairly. Join the conversation at the Climate Action Plan Town Hall at the Campus Sustainability Summit on April 20 to be a part of this crucial decision-making process.

Climate change is one of the most significant challenges facing the world today. The current trends in greenhouse gas emissions have already led to significant environmental, social and economic impacts. The University of Colorado Boulder acknowledges the urgent need to act and address the challenge of climate change, with an equity lens. As a leading institution of higher education, the university is committed to developing a climate action plan that incorporates the principles of climate justice such as Indigenous climate action, community resilience and adaptation and climate education and engagement. Rather than looking at climate change as solely an environmental concern, climate justice connects the crisis to deeply entangled social and racial issues. Climate justice looks at the whole picture; how social inequality and institutionalized racism enables the exploitation of land, people and resources. It works to mitigate how climate change affects low-income and BIPOC communities across the world disproportionally, and seeks to address these systemic root causes by advancing a just transition away from fossil fuels.

CU Boulder’s 2022-2023 CAP is the university’s roadmap towards decarbonization and advancing just, equitable climate solutions. Actionable steps toward climate justice will focus on building performance, energy, water, waste, food, transportation, grounds, procurement, equity and resilience. These strategies seek to address the root causes of climate change and simultaneously address social, racial and environmental injustices reflecting CU’s commitment to advancing DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion). Specifically, the incorporation of equity has been interwoven throughout the planning process to support climate justice goals, including using an equity conscious stakeholder engagement process and using equity criteria, metrics and rubrics. The University of Colorado Boulder is committed to promoting social justice and equity in all aspects of its operations. This includes working to ensure that all members of the university community have access to resources and opportunities, regardless of their background or identity.

The plan, started in Oct. 2022, will work toward achieving the institution-wide goal of 50% greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2030 and total carbon neutrality no later than 2050. The CAP builds on the chancellor’s Call to Climate Action, the 2009 Conceptual Plan for Carbon Neutrality and the most recent Campus Master Plan, Energy Master Plan, Transportation Master Plan and Housing Master Plan.

How decisions are made and by whom makes an enormous impact. To advance climate justice, we invite all to participate in this decision-making process to ensure all voices are heard and the benefits of climate action are equitably distributed. The purpose of this event is to present initial draft strategies being developed as a roadmap to a zero emissions target by no later than 2050. To ensure the final CAP is strongly supported during adoption and sets meaningful and realistic targets, we need input from both internal campus and external community stakeholders. Please join us to learn how the campus plans to further define its climate commitment. Find us at the Campus Sustainability Summit on April 20 from 1-4 p.m. at UMC 235 to give us your feedback on the first draft of the CAP and its climate justice components.

Join the conversation at the Climate Action Plan Town Hall at the Campus Sustainability Summit on April 20 to be a part of this crucial decision-making process.

Off

Traditional

White

CSAs: fresh food for communities and the environment

Anonymous — Wed, 06 Apr 2022 06:00:00 +0000

CSAs: fresh food for communities and the environment Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/06/2022 - 00:00

Kat Avedovech

What is community supported agriculture?

The term CSA, short for community supported agriculture, originated in Japan during the 1970s. Japanese philosopher Teruo Ichiraku started warning local communities that large scale farms were using dangerous pesticides. Around the same time, a local farmer named Yoshinori Kaneko experienced an abundant season of produce that led him to realize that his farm could feed more than just his family. Both men’s philosophies eventually intertwined, and the concept of community shares were introduced. The first trial of the CSA system happened when 10 Japanese families agreed to pay the farmer a sum of money to receive rice, wheat and vegetables. The definition of a CSA is outlined by the soil association as “a partnership between farmers and consumers where the responsibilities and rewards of farming are shared. CSA is a shared commitment to building a more local and equitable agricultural system, one that allows farmers to focus on good farming practices and still maintain productive and profitable farms.” Since established, CSAs have spread across the globe, appealing in many ways to both community members and farmers.

The problem with industrial agriculture

To further investigate the benefits of a CSA system, it is essential to address the most prominent food supplier in the United States, which is industrial agriculture. Industrial agriculture was promoted originally to decrease the number of farmers and increase the amount of factory workers after World War II. Today, these factory farms continue to operate under the two primary arguments that they are, one - cheaper from an economic standpoint, and two - the key to sustaining a growing population.

Industrial agriculture, while mass produced, still is not properly sustaining the entire United States population, let alone the world. One in nine people are malnourished worldwide and 12.7% of people in the US experience food insecurity.
The US participates in agricultural dumping, which is when cheaply produced grains are exported at a price cheaper than the price to produce. This practice not only puts farmers out of business in the United States but also disrupts other world agriculture markets. There is clear evidence that this practice raises poverty rates through unemployment and decreases crop diversity. Read more here.
In order to generate large yields of crops over a short period of time, pesticides are sprayed over thousands of acres of land. Pesticides are toxic to humans and animals; runoffs and biochemical buildups make them extremely dangerous to our health. Pesticides and herbicides create a dangerous feedback loop as they stop working over time, and then stronger pesticides are needed in order to be effective.
Due to government gifted tax breaks to large scale farms, local communities are suffering because the government is paying for pesticidal use. This damages any local communities' housing prices and physical health. They are paying taxes to have their community damaged. A study from 2005 found a loss of $10 billion in environmental and public health costs. This includes higher obesity rates, polluted drinking water and more.
There are also job shortages tied with industrial farming, as the need for human employment decreases with the advancement of large pesticide spraying machines.
Practices such as monocropping, when only one crop is grown across a vast area, are responsible for a decrease in biodiversity. Animals, plants and fungi cannot survive on one type of plant and thus are forced to relocate.

Ecological impact

A key part of a CSA is a diverse selection of crops. Plants with different root types increase the fertility of the soil in which they grow.
CSA members have lowered their ecological footprint. They are less reliant on fossil fuels, produce less pollution and cut back on chemical pesticidal use.
The localization of food also uses less water.
CSAs support biodiversity because farmers tend to cater to the ecosystem they are in. They grow crops suitable for the climate and organisms to flourish in. Local farmers respect the land.
Pest control is one worry that people have. Luckily, the best pest disposable systems are already in place in the ecosystem. Ecosystems naturally balance out - that's how they thrive. If a farmer grows produce suitable for the ecosystem, pests will not be a problem.

Advantages for farmers

Large scale factory farms receive tax breaks and permission from the government to use as many pesticides as that farm sees fit to produce optimal produce. In turn, these farms end up causing extreme damage to the local communities in terms of pollution and falling values of property.
As more of these factory farms have expanded, more have closed down. Being a part of a CSA helps farmers get the proper funds to expand their land while helping the community.
Local farmers already have to pay higher production costs, and sometimes farmers can’t even afford to pay themselves a salary. A CSA ensures farmer prosperity and helps them with the hefty taxes the US government implements.
Due to the rarity of farmers in the US, the few that are left form deep connections with each other and the land. Farmers that have a CSA system tend to communicate with other farmers around the area. They are all aware of each others' specific situation and grow crops with mindfulness of each other.

Advantages for the community

Consumers can be more aware of how their food is produced.
Community supported agriculture also saves money because shipping and processing costs are eliminated from the price of the produce. The food will also be at peak flavor and ripeness. There will also be a more diverse spread of crops each season.
Members enrich their cultural heritage by learning farming practices and techniques.
Locally grown food is more trustworthy than organic food which is oftentimes still used with pesticides.
The idea of “shared risk” is really what breeds a sense of community. When a crop does fail (a very rare occurrence) every person in the share is equally affected. The lack of disparities and inequalities ends up building the community up as people work together to find another alternative. The negative result becomes more manageable as people band together.
For the most part, when we go to a supermarket, most vegetables and fruits are available all season long. This is because produce items are grown all over the world and shipped to large supply chain grocery stores. The natural way of growing harvest is to work within the seasons by growing and harvesting at certain points of the year. When consumers unpack a CSA box, they get the luxury of naturally grown vegetables that helps consumers form a connection with the land and the seasons. It helps them appreciate the environment more.

Local CSA Options

Around the Boulder county area, there are many opportunities to buy a share of community agriculture stock. Here is a brief listing of family-owned farms that grow varieties of produce and goods:

Aspen Moon Farm LLC, Longmont

Seasonal vegetables, all USDA certified organic
Organic flower farms
Option to purchase seeds and plants and get instructions on how to grow them at home

Benevolence Orchard, Boulder

Picking vegetables “buffet style”
Mushroom shares
Honey harvested straight from the orchard

Bonavida Growers, Longmont

Arugula, broccoli, cabbage and turnips
Has single person, couple and family share options

Left Hand Wool Company, Niwot

Raises crossbred sheep and llamas that are grass fed
Wool is certified as naturally grown
Natural dyes made from plants

Ollin Farms, Longmont

Seasonal vegetables, fostering community and providing education

They have a weekly drop off at CU Graduate and Family Housing too!

Final Thoughts

On a global level, findings show that the close relationships between farmers and members of a CSA are organized around the values of food quality, locality and respect for the environment. The systems we have in place right now do not feed the world adequately yet still contribute to obesity rates. Feeding the world is a problem stemming from the need for power and control, not food availability. The food we grow right now is enough to feed a population of 10 billion, yet 1/9 people are starving in the world. Sustainable farming depends on working within the climate barriers and human-made barriers already set in place. Studies have found that within the right circumstances, crops grown on local farms can produce the same and sometimes even over the amount chemical crops produce. So as a community, let's all support our CSA farmers for a better future.

Check out this video of CSAs from PBS

Community supported agriculture can benefit individuals, farmers, the community and the land.

Off

Traditional

White

Crypto woes: cryptocurrency and climate change, from coal to e-waste

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Feb 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Crypto woes: cryptocurrency and climate change, from coal to e-waste Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/07/2022 - 00:00

Natasha Smith

At this point, most people have probably heard of Bitcoin. But unless you've purchased cryptocurrency yourself, you may have a lot of questions about how it all works.

What is cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency uses blockchain technology to verify transactions. A blockchain is a list of records linked together through cryptography. Because of the way that the blockchain works, the data and transaction records are resistant to tampering and therefore can function as verifiable currency. The same way that you can tell if a dollar is counterfeit by checking for the security thread, watermarks, color-shifting ink and microprinting, one can verify that a Bitcoin is legitimate through its blockchain records.

Bitcoins are created through a process known as mining. According to Bitcoin.com, “Bitcoin mining is an essential component of the network's system for arriving at consensus as to the current state of the ledger.” In order to mine Bitcoin, extreme computing power is required in order to create new blocks in the blockchain updating the state of the ledger. Bitcoin’s security protocols are what make the currency so secure.

Mining coins has extreme environmental impacts

Unfortunately, the computing power required to mine coins is astronomical. According to Investopedia, the network “uses 121 Terawatt-hours of electricity every year...more than the entire country of Argentina.” A recent study done by the University of Cambridge found that coal accounts for about 40% of miner power. According to NBC, a study in the 2019 Joule scientific journal found that “Bitcoin production is estimated to generate between 22 and 22.9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year.” That's equivalent to the output of 2.7 billion homes. The energy needs of mining Bitcoins will only increase over time because Bitcoin is a finite resource.

Until recently, most mining (over 60%) has taken place in China. However, China has recently attempted to dissuade Bitcoin mining because of its carbon footprint. Unfortunately, miners will likely try to move operations to other countries. More widespread mining regulations could prevent this from happening. The energy requirements of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are unsustainable and pose great threats to the future of the environment.

The hardware used on mining farms has its own environmental impacts: between 8,000 and 12,000 tons of unrecyclable circuits, or e-waste, is generated per year. On top of that, hardware within the mining farm needs to be cooled. According to Columbia Climate School, one plant in New York “draws up to 139 million gallons of fresh water...each day to cool the plant, and discharges it some 30 to 50° F hotter than the lake’s average temperature, endangering the lake’s wildlife and ecology.”

The shift towards environmentally friendly cryptocurrency

Tesla announced in May that they would no longer accept Bitcoin as payment, after purchasing in February a large amount of crypto to use for future projects. This represents a large shift in public awareness towards recognizing the various impacts of cryptocurrency on the environment.

Bitcoin’s biggest competitor, Ethereum, is “set to slash its energy consumption by 99.95% within months as it makes the transition to a new infrastructure model.” The switch to Ethereum 2.0 will be seamless and transformative. Ethereum will be able to cut its environmental impact as a result of a shift from Bitcoin’s “proof of work” mining model and towards a new innovative “proof of stake” validation process. According to The Ethereum Foundation, as of Nov. 29, 2021, the switch to Ethereum 2.0 is in the finalization stage.

Other eco-friendly cryptocurrency options

Many other lesser-known cryptocurrencies exist, and they hope to break into the ever-growing crypto market with an emphasis on sustainability that rivals Bitcoin and Ethereum. One of those is Cardano, created by the co-founder of Ethereum. Cardano has the ability to process 1,000 transactions per second, compared to Bitcoin’s 7. Cardano has the third-largest capitalization in the cryptocurrency market. It has slowly been adopted by a few other platforms, including NFT marketplaces, and with the growing popularity of NFT this could mean great things for the future of the currency. Cardano does all of this on the basis of sustainable, proof-of-stake technology, which makes it one of the most popular green cryptocurrencies today.

Other green cryptocurrencies include:

Nano (NANO): has one of the lowest carbon footprints
Stellar (XLM): used by IBM, Nigeria, France and India
SolarCoin (SLR): gives users SolarCoins in return for using solar energy

These coins are just the tip of the iceberg. The future of cryptocurrency looks promising, especially with increasing emphasis on sustainability.

At this point, most people have probably heard of Bitcoin. But unless you've purchased cryptocurrency yourself, you may have a lot of questions about how it all works.

Off

Traditional

White

Disability justice, coalition work and environmental futures: featuring Mia Ives-Rublee

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Disability justice, coalition work and environmental futures: featuring Mia Ives-Rublee Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/14/2022 - 00:00

Join us on Zoom from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Feb. 2, as Professor Phaedra C. Pezzullo interviews Mia Ives-Rublee about a number of topics, including disability justice with environmental organizations, institutions and coalitions; outdoor recreation access; her experience as a competitive athlete; plastic banning advocacy and the value of public protest and voting.

About Mia Ives-Rublee

Mia Ives-Rublee is the director for the Disability Justice Initiative at American Progress. Ives-Rublee holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in social work from UNC Chapel Hill. She is a leader in disability justice and inclusion, working with nonprofit organizations and businesses including Women’s March, Families Belong Together, DC Action Lab, Adoptees for Justice, Fair Fight, People’s Collective for Justice and Liberation, Lonely Whale and more.

Best known for founding the Women’s March Disability Caucus, Ives-Rublee helped organize the original Women’s March on Washington in 2017, pushing for better access to disability accommodations at progressive events and more policy platforms inclusive of the disability community. Ives-Rublee was named by Glamour magazine as one of 2017’s Women of the Year. She was also recognized by She the People as one of 20 Women of Color in Politics to Watch in 2020. Ives-Rublee also worked on several political campaigns during the 2020 cycles. As a North Carolina community regional organizing director for the Elizabeth Warren Campaign for President, she communicated policies and organized events around specific issues affecting the disability and Asian American communities. Ives-Rublee worked as the field director for Down Home NC to encourage rural residents to vote. She also worked with the Asian American Advocacy Fund and the Georgia Disability Vote Partnership to help elect Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and the Rev. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) during the 2021 election.

Hosted by: the Department of Environmental Studies.
Co-Sponsored by: the College of Media, Communication & Information, the Environmental Center, Ethnic Studies, & Disability Services.
On Access: The University of Colorado Boulder strives to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully.

To request an accommodation or for questions about accessibility, please contact Prof. Phaedra C. Pezzullo (phaedra.pezzullo@colorado.edu) at least seven days prior to the event start date. We will make all reasonable efforts to fulfill requests made by January 26, 2022.

*Live ASL Interpretation will be provided.

Off

Traditional

White

Environmental justice and waste in the Denver metro area

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Environmental justice and waste in the Denver metro area Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/01/2021 - 00:00

Kate Huun

The environmental justice movement seeks to achieve equal distribution of the environmental benefits and burdens of economic growth. This movement began in the 1980s, when Robert Bullard did research regarding race and pollution. He found “race to be the single most important factor (i.e., more important than income, homeownership rate and property values) in the location of abandoned toxic waste sites” and that “three of the five largest commercial hazardous waste landfills are located in predominately African American or Latino communities and accounts for 40 percent of the nation's total estimated landfill capacity (Bullard, 160)."

These findings are the result of redlining and zoning.

Redlining is a discriminatory practice that has denied loans and services to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Persons of Color) communities for centuries. This has pushed BIPOC communities out of neighborhoods with stricter environmental regulations, allowing them to be exposed to toxic landfills that negatively affect their health.
Zoning laws more often than not “shortchange” communities of color by labeling their neighborhoods as “industrial” areas where there are fewer environmental regulations. This allows companies to place dangerous sites such as municipal landfills in close proximity to their homes (Bullard, 161).

This article explores race in relation to landfill and superfund site locations in the Denver metro area.

What can we see?

When we compare these maps, we can see that solid municipal waste sites and superfund sites are more concentrated near neighborhoods that are predominantly Black or Hispanic.

What are the implications of living near a landfill/superfund site?

Environmental impacts of landfills

Air pollution
Water pollution
Soil pollution
Noise pollution

Health effects of pollution

There are many health costs to living in close proximity to landfills, including:

Cancer
Respiratory illnesses
Cardiovascular illness

Waste reduction helps communities targeted by pollution

By reducing your waste, you can help keep harmful pollutants out of these areas.
You can reduce your waste by refusing to use single-use plastics, composting food waste and paper products, re-using whenever you can, only buying what you need, and recycling correctly.
Make sure you’re disposing of your waste properly by taking our America Recycles Day quiz!

Sources

Bullard, Robert. “Environmental Justice in the 21st Century: Race Still Matters.” 2015. PDF file.

Off

Traditional

White

The Paris Fashion Week protestor

Anonymous — Wed, 20 Oct 2021 06:00:00 +0000

The Paris Fashion Week protestor Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/20/2021 - 00:00

Natasha Smith

The last day of Paris Fashion Week was Tuesday, Oct. 5. The week was full of impressive styles from Balenciaga, Miu Miu, Dior and more. But in a surprising move at the closing Louis Vuitton show, a protester invaded the runway holding a large cloth sign reading “Overconsumption = Extinction” before being tackled and taken away by security.

The protester cited the activist groups Les Amis de la Terre, Youth For Climate France and Extinction Rebellion France on the bottom of the banner. Meanwhile, other protesters set up shop outside of the Louvre with more signs and posters.

This is not new for Fashion Week

Other activist groups have been known to crash the runway in years prior, for exposure. Extinction Rebellion actually pulled a similar stunt back in spring 2021 at Dior’s show. The sign that time read, “We are all fashion victims.” Extinction Rebellion has been very vocal about their thoughts about the fashion industry: “Fashion Week is a week of shame; catwalks have no place in the climate emergency,” said one anonymous protester in spring 2021. This year, the group posted on Instagram: “The planet is burning, but fashion looks elsewhere.”

Extinction Rebellion protested in September 2019 with an even more subversive campaign where they completed “‘Die ins’ and a Funeral.”

Environmentalism in high fashion: faux or growing?

There is no doubt that there is an overconsumption issue in the fashion industry -- brands make countless numbers of clothes that are worn once and then thrown away. The amount of clothing in landfills and warehouses is shocking.

However, there seems to be at least some level of self-awareness happening. In 2019, Dior partnered with “Coloco, a collective of botanists and urban landscapers, to create a Paris Fashion Week garden, an ongoing sustainability project.” The parent company of Dior and Louis Vuitton, LVMH, appears to actually care substantially about the environment. In 2020, they published a 144-page Social and Environmental Report where they say they were able to reduce the emissions from their energy consumption by 36.5% in 2020. They have pledged to raise this number to 50% by 2026.

These initiatives don’t seem to present evidence of greenwashing. Indeed, it is clear that the company is trying to make a real change in their operations due to the climate crisis. The real question then becomes, is it enough?

Meanwhile, in a show at Palais Garnier Opera house on Monday, French brand Etam had models “‘Dance with Mother Earth’ in light colors and flower crowns to raise awareness of the company’s sustainability commitments.”

The good thing about high fashion

The best thing about high fashion is that it does not follow fast trends; these brands are committed to making limited edition and high quality pieces that last a lifetime. But most of that revenue isn’t going back into the environment; it’s going into the pockets of the wealthy.

All fashion needs to make a change to do good. LVMH has made great strides and set a good example for other brands to follow, but there is still room for many more improvements in the industry.

More articles:

Off

Traditional

White