Sustainability Today -- Winter 2021

SUSTAINABLE BRANDS GOES LIVE IN SAN DIEGO | WHY ARE MY GOODS SITTING ON A SHIP?

Gathering of the Nations for Climate Change

PLUS: Jason Walsmith: The Ultimate Unplugged Music An Infrastructure Bill with a Sustainable Twist Going Green at the Olympics

FROM THE EDITOR

Robert Yehling Executive Editor

“...roll into 2022 with our eyes wide open to any sustainable practice we can either integrate into or increase in our lives or businesses.”

During the shutdown portion of the pandemic, we watched something wonderful on the planet: it began to heal on its own from the damage caused by the non-sustainable aspects of our industrial and automated economies, pollution, and climate change. Air became clean again. Waters began to clear. Birds and fish repopulated areas in which they hadn’t been seen in decades. City pollution screeched to a halt, without cars on the streets.

Now we’re a year out of the shutdown, and we’re seeing the same sustainability challenges we saw before the pandemic. It’s as if many never learned. However, there are those businesses, individuals and groups that have learned a lot — and they, along with longtime leaders in sustainable business practices, are moving us forward.

In many ways, this issue of Sustainability Today looks at some of the shining moments from our ability to adapt during a shutdown, as well as the challenges ahead of us and the efforts of organizations large and small to buttress our efforts on sustainability, climate change, sea level rise and other critical issues. A quick sneak preview reveals: • How long-time musician Jason Walsmith and his wife, Emma, resurrected Jason’s bookings for 2020 — with the direct assistance of lithium-ion power plant manufacturer Volta Power Systems; • Some of the behind-the-scenes reasons why our supply chain is so disrupted, focusing on the backup of cargo ships and containers in Los Angeles Harbor; • The biggest wins (and losses) from the global COP 26 conference, in which nations gathered to come up with some common plan to deal with emissions control, planetary warming and other issues critical to business and our future alike; • The return of SB’21, the conference hosted by Sustainable Brands, featuring hundreds of companies looking ahead to next-gen sustainable living and business practices while touting some of today’s hottest new technologies and programs; • A drill-down into the sustainability and renewable energy provisions of the Infrastructure Bill that President Joe Biden signed into law in November; and • In a story that will thrill the many conscientious hunters in our reading sphere, Destiny Nolan’s first-person account of the practice of sustainable hunting.

In these and other stories lies our message for the holidays — that we can roll into 2022 with our eyes wide open to any sustainable practice we can either integrate into or increase in our lives or businesses. As the shutdown of Spring and early Summer 2020 showed, when we give the planet a chance to breathe, the planet instantly responds and nature begins healing itself. What if that can happen daily, side by side with a thriving economy?

Truth is, it can — but we need to take bold steps to get there. As bold as the Earth did once we were forced to shut down.

On behalf of our entire family at Innovative Properties Worldwide, the parent company of Sustainability Today, we wish all of you Happy and Sustainable Holidays.

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SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2021

PUBLISHER/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Charles Warner cwarner@goipw.com CREATIVE DIRECTOR Shane Brisson shane@goipw.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR MANAGING EDITORS

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Robert Yehling Patricia Miller Corey Noles Erin James

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Beth Covington Destiny Nolan Karin Yehling Jessica McKiel

LEAD DESIGNER CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER V.P. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT V.P. EAST COAST OPERATIONS ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

VIDEO/PODCAST PRODUCER EDITORIAL AND PR COORDINATOR SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR

Open Look Design Team Mary Roche Steven Higgins Dave Van Niel Justin Jaffe James Smith Dalton Brown Taylor McLamb Crystal Segovia Gomez

Special Thanks: Caitlan Caviness – Technical Communications Dustin Clendenen – Master Fluid Solutions Sustainable Brands

Member, Society of Environmental Journalists

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SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2021

Manchester was at the heart of the Industrial Revolution and continues to be a driving force of innovation through the realisation of Atomic Theory, In Vitro Fertilisation, and Graphene.

As the UK’s top digital tech city, a leading location for foreign direct investment and recently voted as the UK’s most entrepreneurial city, Manchester offers pioneering companies the perfect environment to commercialise fresh ideas, with access to:

– – – –

World class science and research institutes Expert talent A collaborative and integrated ecosystem Up to 40% lower operating costs than London – Leading international connectivity – Access to finance and funding

Find out more investinmanchester.com/powering-innovation @MIDAS_MCR | #CityToScaleMCR

contents

2 From the Editor 8 ENVIROBITS $400 Billion Desert City… Food Waste…JW Aluminum Green Circle Award… Responsible Business Awards…

Rex the Scrubbing Robot…Zero Emissions Ship COLUMNS 16 NextGen 18 Sustainability & Media 20 Sustainable Practices COVER STORY 22 Gathering of the Nations — for Climate Change The COP26 conference was unlike any other, as officials and heads of state from more than 130 countries gathered in Scotland to deal with the climate change crisis at planet-critical stage — and make pledges with modest success.

INTERVIEWS 54 Sustainability and Excellence: A Conversation with Dean Froney, CEO of Master Fluid Solutions FEATURES 26 Sustainable Brands Goes LIVE in San Diego 28 Why Are My Goods Sitting on a Ship?

The supply chain crisis has bottlenecked harbors, logistics and trucking services all year long, just as retail and manufacturing imports hit an all-time high. How do we solve this “perfect storm”?

32 The Ultimate Unplugged Music.

Longtime traveling musician-storyteller Jason Walsmith and his wife, Emma, got around the pandemic shutdown by playing shows anywhere they could set up — which is to say, everywhere. The secret? A van power system unlike any other 36 An Infrastructure Bill with a Sustainable Twist When Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, they also ushered in something new — a major commitment to a clean energy future STORIES 14 Aster Farms: A Champion of Sustainable Cannabis Farming 42 Going Green at the Olympics 44 Converting CO2 to Sugar: Air Company’s Winning Plan 46 Powering the Future of New Mexico Communities 48 Robotic Food Delivery? It’s Coming 50 Going Vertical: A New Way of Farming 52 What Do 10,000 Companies’ Climate Plans Reveal?

58 Green Sports Alliance Comes to Kansas City 60 Product Revolution 62 Coming Next Issue

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SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | SUMMER 2021

envirobits Compiled by Destiny Nolan

Zero-Emissions Shipping Arrives Yara International is in the works of making the world a more sustainable place. They have created a one-of-a-kind zero-emissions, autonomous cargo ship. The ship was created in partnership with technology firm Kongsberg Maritime and shipbuilder Vard. The Yara Birkeland is designed to decrease toxic pollutants, greenhouse gases, and carbon dioxide. It can carry up to 103 containers, go up to 13 knots and it will use a 7 MWh battery, with “about a thousand times the capacity of one electrical car,” according to Jon Sletten, plant manager for Yara’s factory in Porsgrunn, Norway. He says it will be charged at the quayside “before sailing to container harbors along the coast and then back again, replacing 40,000 truck journeys a year.”

There will be three monitoring data control centers where the ship’s movements will be watched because this ship will not have a crew on board. With no crew to keep things in check, Yara has built-in selfdiagnosing systems to address any problems and can even call for human assistance. Also, with no crew to do the loading and unloading, they will need other autonomous technologies such as cranes, vehicles and straddle carriers which is going to be quite costly.

The ship was originally going to set sail last year but with the timing of the pandemic and logistic challenges, it did not. Everything went as planned this year and the Yara Birkeland finally set sail in November 2021 and completed an initial voyage to Oslo. The ship is still currently under construction.

Maine to Make Companies Pay for Recycling How well has recycling worked? So well that the United States reached its capacity for intake several years ago, which is causing a pain for local and municipal governments. Five years ago, China decided to quit buying most of America’s recycling. That resulted in many of the U.S. recycling programs becoming weakened or even suspended. For example, Oregon quit collecting plastics like polypropylene.

Now Maine has taken matters into its own hands. They will make companies pay for recycling, rather than taxpayers. This law is being considered by several other states as well; Oregon has announced it will jump on board in early 2022.

Maine’s law “is transformative,” said Sarah Nichols, who leads the sustainability program at the Natural Resources Council of Maine. More

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SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2021

fundamentally, “it’s going to be the difference between having a recycling program or not.”

Recycling over the years has become very pricey for municipal governments. The plan with this new law makes it more likely that items that go to landfills and incinerators can be recycled instead. Essentially, these programs work by charging producers a fee based on a number of factors, including the tonnage of packaging they put on the market. They pay into a producer responsibility organization, a nonprofit group contracted and audited by the state. It reimburses municipal governments for their recycling operations with the fees collected from producers.

envirobits

What To Do With 1 Billion Tons of Wasted Crops?

Farms are wasting 1 billion tons of food. That’s a disaster for the climate.

Each year, about 2.5 billion metric tons of food are wasted around the world — half of that on farms in the U.S and in Europe. The richer Asian, European and North American countries only have 37 percent of the population, yet they contribute 58 percent of wasted harvests. And 931 million metric tons are being wasted by retailers and consumers. We lose the rest during processing, manufacturing, storage, and transit.

Add it up, and 40 percent of food being produced is never eaten by humans or livestock. “We have known for years that food loss and waste is a huge problem that can be minimized, which in turn could reduce the impact of food systems on nature and climate,” said Pete Pearson, global food loss and waste initiative lead at WWF. “This report shows us the problem is likely bigger than we had thought.”

Dreaming a $400 Billion Clean-Energy Desert Oasis Billionaire and former Walmart executive Marc Lore has set out on a most ambitious vision and mission for a sustainable 5-millionperson city in the Nevada’s Great Basin Desert.

Lore already has a world-famous architect on board; now he’s raising the $400 billion in necessary funding for his future city, Telosa. Estimates are that if he spread 50,000 residents over the 1,500 acres with which he’s working, that would cost $25 billion.

However, his goal is to have 5 million residents in 40 years.

Out of the national carbon plans submitted to the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement by 192 signatories, only 11 focused on the impact of food loss and waste. With that being said, the recent report calls upon food industries and governments to set goals and targets to meet, and come up with strategies.

Funding will come from various sources, project organizers said, including private investors, philanthropists, federal and state grants, and economic development subsidies. Planners plan to approach state officials in 2022, with a view to welcoming the first residents by 2030.

Tesco CEO Ken Murphy said that several of the retailer’s suppliers will report on their own farm food loss and waste, “helping us to tackle waste in the earliest parts of our supply chain.” The company has been working with 71 of its largest global suppliers to reduce food waste, reporting a reduction of more than 40% when compared to a 2016-2017 baseline, Murphy added.

Telosa will be built on an entirely eco-friendly architecture, with a drought-resistant water system and sustainable energy production.

Also, the city will feature transparent governance (isn’t that nice for a change!) that allows residents to “participate in the decision-making and budgeting process,” Lore said in a promotional video. He also described his proposal as the “most open, most fair and most inclusive city in the world.”

Wasted food accounts for 10 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, 2 percent more than the prior estimate. That’s almost twice the annual emissions made by every car in the U.S and Europe combined. “Producing food uses a huge amount of land, water, and energy, so wasted food significantly impacts climate change,” the report said.

During the announcement, the architect firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) showed several artists renderings of Telosa and its structures — buildings covered with greenery, people enjoying the open space, and 100 percent green energy and autonomous cars driving down the streets. He also shared a skyscraper that features water storage, aeroponic farms, and an energy-producing photovoltaic roof that allows it to “share and distribute all it produces.”

WINTER 2020 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY

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envirobits 2021 Responsible Business Awards

JW Aluminum Gets GreenCircle Certification JW Aluminum has found a way to make aluminum more sustainable.

They have created an infinitely recyclable aluminum sheet and foil, and in so doing, become the first aluminum rolled products supplier to achieve GreenCircle’s Certified Environmental Facts multi-attribute certification.

“Sustainability is elemental to what we do – the aluminum we produce is 100% recyclable,” said Ryan Roush, Chief Commercial Officer at JW Aluminum, “Obtaining these unique, user-friendly Certified Environmental Facts labels from GreenCircle is a natural extension of our commitment to monitoring and reducing our environmental impact and being transparent with our customer base.”

To obtain the prestigious certification, months of diligent internal and external data verification audits were conducted. These audits included on-site inspections with suppliers at the JW Aluminum plant in Russellville, AR. As a result of their efforts, nutrition labels were formed, giving their customers an efficient tool to understand and evaluate the company’s environmental status and progress.

“We commend JW Aluminum for achieving GreenCircle Certified Environmental Facts labels for their aluminum rolled products,” said Tad Radzinski, Certification Officer at GreenCircle.

Added JW Aluminum’s Roush, “Our Russellville location has been supplying high-quality aluminum rolled products for nearly two decades and remains core to our overall market and sustainability objectives. We’ve demonstrated and plan to amplify the ability to work together throughout the value chain to contribute to a more circular economy. It’s our shared mission to secure a safe, sustainable, and successful future for generations to come.”

Sustainability Today is proud to announce the shortlist for the 2021 Reuters Events: Responsible Business Awards. Out of 500 entries, 116 made the shortlist. Each of these finalists has shown great innovation and a commitment to healing and making the world better. This is part one of the list; we will present part 2 in our Spring 2022 issue. The first half of the shortlist:

Business Transformation Award • Chiesi Group – Creating a Corporate Governance Structure Based on “Shared Value” • WSP Global Inc – Accelerating Meaningful Action: We are Future Ready® • DPD – Vision 2025 • En+ Group – From Industry Leader to Climate Leader • Natura – IP&L (Integrated Profit & Loss): Innovative Tool for Monetary Valuation Regarding the Environmental, Social and Human Aspects of The Business • NRG Energy – Strategic Pivot to the Customer: A Decarbonization Plan • Berkeley Group – Our Vision, An Ambitious Strategy for The Business • Suzano – Committed to Renewing Life Inspired by Trees • Trane Technologies – Transforming the Industry Standard to Enable A Low-Carbon Society • Mercado Libre – Transforming the Lives of Millions of Latin American Entrepreneurs During The Pandemic Product or Service Innovation Award • Abbott – Addressing the Pandemic Through COVID-19 Rapid Testing • Chipotle Mexican Grill – Chipotle Real Foodprint • Cloudflare – Helping Build a Zero-Emissions Internet • Nexii Building Solutions – High Performance Buildings and Retrofits Rapidly Assembled On-Site Using Nexii’s Revolutionary Green Building Products • Dow and Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd – Improving the Energy Efficiency of Home Appliances • Moody’s – Moody’s ESG Solutions • Robert Walters Group – Opening Doors for Job Seekers from Diverse Backgrounds • Ping An Healthcare and Technology Company Limited – Ping An Good Doctor • Russell Reynolds – RRA Sustainable Leadership Advisory • Walgreens – ‘Find Care’ Platform Innovates to Bridge Health Care Gaps Continue on page 12…

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SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2021

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envirobits

Rex the Scrubbing Robot For those kids who are now a certain age, The Jetsons was must-see cartoon TV. One of the futuristic space-age show’s many memorable characters was Rosie the robot maid, who adopted the consciousness of George Jetson’s late 124-year-old mother.

Well, like so many themes and concepts in The Jetsons, Rosie has evolved from the imaginative to the real world. Meet Rex, the world’s first large-sized autonomous scrubbing robot.

Designed by LionsBot, an award-winning Singapore-headquartered smart robotics company founded in 2018 by Dylan Ng Terntzer, Michelle Seow, and Dr. Mohan Rajesh Elara, Rex is designed to clean large spaces such as warehouses, airports and convention centers. The robot is completely controlled by its owner through the LionsClean app, or by touching the screen on the body of the robot and manually with its handlebar.

Dylan Ng Terntzer, CEO and Co-Founder of LionsBot, said: “We are thrilled to unveil the Rex to the world. It is jam-packed with technical prowess and we are confident that every operator will love to have a Rex as their day-to-day work companion.”

Rex comes with many different features to ensure the best cleaning possible, including a 3D LiDAR sensor and auto docking mechanics.

The 3D LiDAR sensors can scan up to 200 meters, has 32 lasers, 3 sonar sensors and 4 depth cameras. With auto docking mechanics, the robot docks itself, where it will be charged and cleaned. Rex can hold up to 140 liters of liquid and has a 140-liter wastewater tank.

LionBot designs robots for the commercial cleaning industry. They currently deploy robots in 22 counties across Europe and Asia. They were awarded the prestigious Amsterdam Innovation Award in 2020 for another design, the LeoBot. The first Rex robot was scheduled to be deployed at National Gallery Singapore in December 2021.

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Courtesy of UC Riverside

Cleaning Oil Spills with Soft Robotic Film University of California-Riverside chemistry professor Yadong Yin and chemist Zhiwei Li have been working on a wonderful new project to help clean the ocean environment for future generations.

Dr. Yin has designed a floating robotic film designed to remove oil spills in the ocean. It even works on the contaminants from the water we drink. In order to achieve this, the film will need to be fueled by water and powered by light.

“Our motivation was to make soft robots sustainable and able to adapt on their own to changes in the environment. If sunlight is used for power, this machine is sustainable, and won’t require additional energy sources,” said Dr. Li. “The film is also re-usable.”

“There aren’t many methods to achieve this controllable movement using light. We solved the problem with a tri-layer film that behaves like a steam engine,” Dr. Li explained.

As of today, the so-called “Neusbot” only features three layers.

Layer one is the power source, light (think of it in the way steam powers trains). The second layer is porous, holding water as well as iron oxide and copper nanorods. The nanorods convert light energy into heat, vaporizing the water and powering pulsed motion across the water’s surface. And the third layer is hydrophobic, so when ocean currents push the film around, it will always float back up.

Additionally, salt water will not be a problem. “I’m confident about their stability in high salt situations,” Dr. Li said.

The research team is going to keep testing and hopefully have a fourth layer that will allow the Neusbot to absorb chemicals and oil. “Normally, people send ships to the scene of an oil spill to clean by hand. Neusbot could do this work like a robot vacuum, but on the water’s surface,” Dr. Li added.

envirobits 2021 Responsible Business Awards Sustainability Trailblazer Award • Audrey Choi – Chief Sustainability Officer, Morgan Stanley • Peter Simpson – CEO, Anglian Water and co-Chair, Corporate Leaders Group UK • Lucie Basch – Co-founder and Chief Expansion Officer, Too Good to Go • Ezgi Barcenas – Chief Sustainability Officer, AB InBev • Ivan Frishberg – Director of Impact Policy, Amalgamated Bank • Jose Villalon – Corporate Sustainability Director, Nutreco • Richard Ellis – Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility, Walgreens Boots Alliance • Saker Nusseibeh, CBE – CEO, International at Federated Hermes • Sumant Sinha – Chairman and Managing Director, ReNew Power • Martha Patricia Herrera – Global Director of Social Impact and Director, CEMEX Partnership of the Year

Deriving Nanomaterial From the Sea Researchers at the University of Central Florida have developed a nanoscale material that can split seawater into oxygen and hydrogen. This process is called electrolysis.

“This development will open a new window for efficiently producing clean hydrogen fuel from seawater,” says Yang Yang, an associate professor in UCF’s NanoScience Technology Center and study co-author.

Hydrogen is a form of renewable energy that can have a major role in combating climate change, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. It comes down to cost and efficiency. Hydrogen could be converted into electricity to use in fuel cell technology that generates water as product and makes an overall sustainable energy cycle, Yang says.

To create this material, researchers developed a thin-film material with nanostructures on the surface made of nickel selenide with added, or “doped,” iron and phosphor. This combination offers the high performance and stability needed for industrial-scale electrolysis.

“The new material balances the competing reactions in a way that is low-cost and high-performance.” Yang says. “The seawater electrolysis performance achieved by the dualdoped film far surpasses those of the most recently reported, state-of-the-art electrolysis catalysts and meets the demanding requirements needed for practical application in the industries.”

The researchers will continue to find ways to improve this development and will look for ways to get the funding to achieve this.

• Cargill and CARE – A Decade of Impact in Cocoa Communities • Australia Post and Australian Red Cross – Helping Communities Prepare For, Respond To, And Recover from Disaster • Aviva and the British Red Cross – Building Stronger Communities • Twinings & Save the Children – Great Beginnings, Bright Futures • Boots UK-Macmillan Cancer Support – Partnership Provides Unique Support for People Living with Cancer • Barclays Unreasonable Impact Programme • ADM – Supporting Sustainable Soy Farming in India • Lonely Whale – NextWave Plastics • Olam India, International Finance Corporation (World Bank Organisation) and Government of India’s National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) – Pragatisheel Kisan Desh Ki Muskaan (PKDM) Net Zero Transition Award • Apple Inc. – Apple’s Plan for Achieving Carbon Neutrality By 2030 • Amazon – The Climate Pledge, A Commitment to Achieve NetZero Carbon Emissions By 2040, 10 Year Ahead of The Paris Agreement • Aviva – Net Zero Ambition: Taking Climate Action for A Better Tomorrow • Burberry – Climate Positive Luxury Plan • Chiesi Group – #Actionoverwords: Chiesi’s Road to Carbon Neutrality • Formula E – ABB FIA Formula E World Championship • Nestlé – Nestlé’s Net Zero Roadmap Circular Transition Award • Danone – Poços de Caldas Plant - Triple Environmental Certification • Morgan Stanley – Plastic Waste Resolution • AB InBev – EverGrain, Realising the Potential in Everything • Dow – Circulate Capital and Lucro Plastecycle • Rio Tinto – To Expand Responsible Aluminium Offering with Closed Loop Recycling • Samsung Electronics – Galaxy Upcycling at Home Program Gives Old Phones New Life • Sterlite Technologies Limited – Zero Waste to Landfills

WINTER 2021 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY

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Sustainability

Aster Farm’s Sustainability Report 2020 The First of Its Kind

By Jessica McKiel It may be green, but the modern cannabis industry is by no means environmentally friendly. The commercialization of cannabis and the continued expansion into new markets means this supposedly green sector is gobbling up an increasing number of resources.

With the release of its Sustainability Report 2020, Aster Farms is one cannabis company choosing to tackle the industry’s sustainability issues head-on. Inspired by the likes of other eco-pioneers Patagonia and All Birds, CEO and Co-Founder Julia Jacobson is seeking to build a transparent, eco-friendly cannabis brand in Northern California.

Aster Farms is the first cultivator to publish details on the environmental impact of its cultivation and production activities. Digging into the data on water consumption, energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and more, Jacobson and the team have learned a lot about their sustainability wins as well as areas for improvement.

Sustainability is a Long-Term Project for Aster Farms Building a truly sustainable cannabis brand is an all-encompassing and neverending goal.

Every aspect of cannabis cultivation requires careful consideration from the point of view of its environmental impact. Every choice, from soil to transportation to packaging, contributes to the final carbon emissions and waste produced, and the energy consumed.

The complexities of sustainability are why Aster Farms started with the basics. They grow the majority of their canopy outdoors under the sun, meaning no grow lights and no HVAC. They currently have 33,000 square feet of outdoor canopy and counting.

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According to a 2012 study on the sector’s energy consumption, indoor and mixed-light cannabis cultivation in the US produced a whopping 15,000,000 metric tons of CO2 annually — equal to the output of three million American cars. Aster’s seemingly simple initial choice to grow outdoors has had an immediate impact on the farm’s carbon intensity per pound of flower grown.

In 2020, one pound of flower from Aster’s mixed outdoor and greenhouse canopy produced 9kg of CO2 emissions per their report. This is a remarkable feat, especially compared to an industry average of 1,000 kg of CO2 from indoor and 580 kilograms from greenhouse operations.

Another factor making Aster Farms a leader in the green cannabis movement is its dedication to living soil, no-till agriculture, and other regenerative farming practices. On the Aster Farms CEO and Co-Founder Julia Jacobson ground, that means planting directly in the field and focusing on living soil, which requires far fewer amendments Jacobson hopes to have their own soil than traditional potting soil preparations. production and composting up and running As Jacobson details, this isn’t the industry soon. However, as “that actually takes years to standard for outdoor farms. “A lot of outdoor physically develop” from the organic waste growers are growing above ground in pots,” produced by their cultivation, this is a long-term he said. “And that means, for the most part, project requiring a bit of patience. not necessarily developing living soil. Which A final impressive tidbit gleaned from the means they are importing soil, pumping it with amendments, and oftentimes disposing Sustainability Report is the farm’s commitment of that soil.” to conserving water. As per the report, indoor At the moment, compost and potting soil for Aster comes from local facilities within a 40mile radius and is delivered in bulk, not in bags.

cannabis typically uses 198 gallons of water per square foot of cultivation, greenhouse uses 80 gallons, and outdoor, 11 gallons.

When Aster crunched the numbers, their outdoor and greenhouse mixed canopy pulled 22 gallons per square foot of cultivation. In an effort to reduce water consumption, the farm is adapting to the local conditions, which are higher and dryer than similar farms in their region. One such adaptation is a 400,000-gallon agricultural pond, which captures spring rain for use during the dryer months.

More Than a Few Surprises on the Sustainability Report Jacobson is the first to admit that the 2020 report captured a few surprises about their approach. One of the biggest shockers was the primary cause of the farm’s carbon footprint.

When they started compiling the data, employee commuting mileage became a clear issue. “It accounts for the majority of our greenhouse gas emissions, and I am the biggest offender,” Jacobson said. Roughly 90 percent of the CO2 produced from the farm comes from employee mileage commuting to and from work.

Another surprise was the role current regulations now play in the development of solid waste. As highlighted in the report, “The millions of track and trace tags issued to cultivators, the millions of zip ties needed to secure the tags to the plants, and the need for child-resistant packaging are all flagrant offenders when working towards sustainability.”

Yet, Jacobson isn’t deterred by these surprises. This report has given Aster the tools they need to learn, adapt, and plan. Jacobson said, “That was one of the things our sustainability report did for us. Helping us to focus on what are our quick wins and what are the bigger things that we want to do in the future.”

The farm is planning on making more than a few adjustments in response to the discoveries in their first report. Jacobson has already signed up for a carbon offsetting program, made plans to expand solar energy on the farm, and will begin experimenting with biodegradable zip ties.

Sustainability: A New Conversation for the Cannabis Industry Even for a company launched on the premise of eco-friendly cannabis, Aster’s first Sustainability Report was a wake-up call. As Jacobson stated, “It’s the only industry where we are getting a clean slate, and we are building from scratch. We have an opportunity to really address these things from the get-go and build the foundations of the legal industry on a better trajectory.” She wants this report to inspire other companies to dig into their environmental impact. ■

Aster Farms is the first cultivator to publish details on the environmental impact of its cultivation and production activities. Co-Founders Julia Jacobson and Sam Ludwig hope their sustainability report will inspire other companies to examine their own environmental impact.

WINTER 2021 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY

15

NextGen

Sustainability in

Hunting and Fishing

By Destiny Nolan

(Editor’s Note: Welcome to NextGen, a regular column in Sustainability Today dedicated to sustainability as seen through the eyes of the under-25 crowd. They carry the future of our society — and a critical voice as we set practices and policy.)

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Every year hunting seasons roll around all over the world.

Some may ask how hunting can be sustainable and some already know why. Even though there are ways that it could not be sustainable. I’m going to speak from my generation’s point of view on why I think hunting can be sustainable. And how it can be beneficial to our environment.

There are many ways hunting is sustainable, for example, being only allowed to hunt at specific times a year helps control and manage the population. The ecosystem needs to be balanced to help it be sustainable, or it can lead to several different problems. The environment would suffer if there is an uncontrolled growth of species and affecting the environment affects all of us.

For many people hunting is a way of life, from the people who depend on it for food, the taxidermist, and game processors. There are many advantages to hunting your own meat and it is far more sustainable than buying it from the grocery store. It is cheaper, healthier, and more humane.

Hunters know exactly what their eating and where it came from unlike what you buy in the stores. Hunting close to home and not having to travel helps

with the decrease in fossil fuels.

Also, there is no extra energy needed to raise wild animals.

You don’t have to spend money or grow anything for them.

They have everything they need in the wild and they help out our environment.

Also, I want to bring in how fishing can be sustainable. For thousands of years, people have relied on what they kill to feed their families or even communities. If you’ve ever been fishing you know we mainly use rods and reels here in the states.

This is actually a sustainable way to fish because you only catch one fish at a time, preventing overfishing and you can release what you catch immediately.

Using a spear is more efficient in some states such as Florida and Hawaii. Spears are used more in other countries. This method of fishing is also sustainable. You’re only targeting one fish at a time, choosing species and size. While purse seining and longlining are

efficient fishing methods this can cause issues with overfishing.

Overfishing can have a negative effect on the water-based ecosystem which is difficult to recover. It will also affect the species. Right now more and more people are getting into the groove of sustainable fishing. As sustainable fishing assures there will be populations of ocean and freshwater wildlife for the future.

Whether fishing or hunting is sustainable really relies on us and how we do it. Hunting and fishing have become professionally managed.

Wildlife biologists will monitor populations and set quotas for the amount of animals allowed to be harvested in a season.

The money you spend on tags, stamps and hunting/fishing licenses go back into the conservation system. The taxes on guns and ammo proved millions for the wildlands every year. ■

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Sustainability & Media

Environmental Shows Take Center Stage

By Destiny Nolan We’ve noticed a sharp increase in documentaries concerning sustainability in recent months. It reflects the growing concern among people and businesses about the planet, sustainable practices, and climate change.

Regardless of who we are, where we live, and what we do, we all have a moral obligation to each other, our future generations, and other species to sustain the planet.

The best news: the documentaries are running across all platforms. We took a look at some of the documentaries available today, and found quite a few enticing shows: Chasing Coral (Netflix) In this documentary, divers, scientists and photographers around the world go on an epic underwater adventure to document the disappearance of coral reefs. The film took more than three years to shoot and is the result of 500+ hours of underwater footage, coral bleaching submissions from volunteers in 30 countries, as well as support from more than 500 people in various locations around the world. They started in the Florida Keys, where, 30 years ago, the Florida Straits were filled with living reefs. Now they’re all gone. We’ve lost 80 to 90% of corals in Florida and in the last 30 years, we have lost 50% of the world’s corals.

A Plastic Ocean (YouTube) In 2011, journalist Craig Leeson set out on an expedition to film a documentary about blue whales. He started off in Sri Lanka with Dr. Lindsey Porter and Ben Fogle looking for the whales. They were in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Sri Lanka, where the beaches have been closed for up to 30 years and there isn’t any commercial fishing, which they thought would be a very pristine environment. Turned out to be full of oil, nets, etc. That came from the river.

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Hostile Planet (Disney+/NatGeo) In this documentary, extreme adventure superstar Bear Grylls travels to six different regions of the globe to watch as the wildlife struggles to survive on a daily basis in many different harsh conditions. From shorter winters, harsher summers, erratic weather patterns, and competition for food. It’s like a wildlife warzone. Bear spends the better part of each hour exploring one particular region, the challenges facing wildlife there, and how the Earth’s changing climate isn’t making things any easier.

Kiss the Ground (Netflix): Narrated by Woody Harrelson, Kiss The Ground sheds light on regenerative agriculture, which has the potential to balance our climate, replenish our water supplies, and feed the world.

Filmmakers follow a group of activists, politicians, farmers, and scientists exploring how the regeneration of our soil might hold the key to a more sustainable future. Also, Ray Archuleta, a conservation agronomist, travels from state to state talking with people about the importance of soil.

The Ivory Game (Netflix): The film opens in Tanzania, where Elisifa Ngowi, the head of intelligence for the Task Force, along with his officers, are conducting a nighttime sting operation in an attempt to arrest Shetani, one of the most notorious poachers in the region. Shetani is responsible for the deaths of 10,000 elephants alone.

Over the past five years, more than 150,000 elephants have been killed for their ivory.

Directors Kief Davidson and Richard Ladkani, their crew and various subjects went undercover

for 16 months putting their lives on the line to infiltrate and document the deep-rooted corruption at the heart of the global ivory trafficking crisis. In hopes to stop the poachers and to keep the elephants safe.

Look for our preview of the top 2022 documentaries coming up, as well as a complete breakdown of the finest sustainability docs available, in the Spring 2022 issue of Sustainability Today. ■

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Sustainable Practices

The Lingering Impacts of the Pandemic What have been the social and environmental impacts of the pandemic — and how they are impacting development agendas and sustainable practices?

By Robert Yehling

This has been a burning question the past several months, as governments, businesses and consumers attempt to navigate an economy that is hot in some places, cold in others, and dealing with logistics, shipping, packaging, material supplies and labor issues.

During the fall, a Sustainability Leaders Survey was published, focusing on the attitudes of nearly 700 experts from 70 countries on the impact of the pandemic for sustainable social and environmental development agendas. New research from GlobeScan and the SustainAbility Institute by ERM that, while the pandemic has already succeeded in drawing more attention to environmental issues (as the recent COP26 summit in Scotland proved), it is also deepening socioeconomic challenges such as poverty and inequality.

According to the survey, experts are generally more optimistic today than a year ago that sustainable development will move forward at an accelerated pace. Events like the moderate list of agreements and pledges 130 nations made at COP26, and the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill with its $500

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billion of baked-in environmentally positive measures, certainly reflect that.

But just a year ago, almost half of sustainability professionals (49 percent) predicted that corporate sustainability agendas would be de-emphasized over the coming decade due to the coronavirus.

Today, however, just one in four experts (24 percent) believe that is still the case.

In other words, we are getting back on track with global sustainable practices. In some cases, organizations are being forced to do so by conditions on the ground, such as the supply chain crisis and shortage of materials like building products and microchips.

However, according to the survey, COVID-19 is perceived to be exacerbating socioeconomic challenges. Of the surveyed experts, almost 40% see increased poverty and inequality as a likely effect of the pandemic — which is easy to see, since it’s already happening in many poor African, Asian and Latin and South American countries. The busy cycle of damaging storms is not helping, either.

Speaking of which, the experts named climate change as the most pressing sustainable development issue. Others in the top five were access to energy, food security, diversity, and discrimination.

“What we’re seeing as a result of the pandemic is a triple whammy of interconnected social, economic and environmental challenges,” said Mark Lee, Director at the SustainAbility Institute by ERM (Lee was featured in the Fall 2018 issue of Sustainability Today). “None of these can be tackled in isolation, which requires organizations to have more comprehensive sustainability strategies integrated into their business and operating models. Leading businesses are showing the way as we enter the decade of action.”

Who is leading the way in sustainability leadership during these challenging times with their models and practices, as we try to slow climate change, ramp up the global economy and do it sustainably at the same time? The two top companies should be no surprise: Unilever ranks first for the 11th consecutive year, with Patagonia second for the fifth straight year. Ranking third is Brazil’s Natura & Co, followed by IKEA and Interface. Rounding out the top 10 are Danone, Microsoft, Nestle, Tesla, and Orsted. Among US companies, Google is 11th and Walmart 15th.

The bottom line: Companies will likely spend 2022 continuing to navigate effects of the pandemic but will do so while also upgrading their sustainable business practices. ■

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Cover Story

Gathering of the Nations — for Climate Change The COP26 conference was unlike any other, as officials and heads of state from more than 130 countries gathered in Scotland to deal with the climate change crisis at planet-critical stage — and make pledges with modest success.

By Robert Yehling Conferences don’t usually start buzzing with anticipation until a couple of weeks before the event. Momentum for the recently completed COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland began in August, though, when the United Nations and other climate scientist organizations issued the most alarming news yet for the planet’s overheating future.

In case any of the officials and diplomats wondered what the fuss was about, all they had to do was go outside or turn on the news: this past year broke records across the board, from storms to weather extremes, wind and sea level rise, damage to the tornadic bombshell that leveled parts of Kentucky and five other states in early December.

From the economy to our daily lives, from our health to our home locations, we are in trouble. And without any concrete plan for flipping the script and moving onto a regenerative, clean energy and net-zero emission track, we’re going to sail right past the temperature risk marker of 1.5 degrees C from pre-industrial (about 2.7 degrees F) that scientists call the proverbial “point of no return.” Rather than hitting it by 2050, they’ve revised the estimate to state we now have until 2030. That’s eight years from now. And we already know what the 1.25-degree C climb at which we now stand can do. We’ve suffered through a seemingly endless succession of storms, droughts, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, and other natural calamities over the past decade. How worse can worse be? Seems we find out every day.

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So, with plenty of urgency at hand, along with thousands of protestors led by teenage activist Greta Thunberg, COP26 carried a weight that needed the shoulders of the world to hold it.

The Conference of the Parties (COP) refers to 197 nations who ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992.

Thirty years ago. The common wording of the treaty? To minimize or do away with “dangerous human interference with the climate system”, and to stabilize levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Three years later, the first official COP conference was held in Berlin. It did not go well, with the U.S. among those rejecting the accord that was created for a simple reason — while the U.S. verbally committed to reduce greenhouse gases, it would not sign because China and India, the world’s greatest creators of carbon emissions, were not asked to.

For COP26 in Glasgow, more than 130 heads of state and government, along with thousands of diplomats and staff, met over two weeks in late October and November. Among them were President Biden, and event cohosts Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain and Nicola Ferguson Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland. Notably, Presidents Xi Jinping of China, Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and Vladimir V. Putin of Russia did not attend.

They were sometimes met at the daily sessions by protestors, the most notable of which was Greta Thunberg, who has stirred the world with her

call-to-attention to climate change. The goals of states and governments?

To find an agreeable, but also aggressive, set of new targets for cutting emissions from burning coal, oil and gas. The protests reached their high mark on November 6, the Global Day for Climate Justice, when more than 100,000 people turned up.

While the United Nations-sponsored conference is annual, it took on heightened importance in 2021 because of increasingly catastrophic impacts felt around the world. Plus, the governments were asked to confront something many would rather forget: their own previously issued promises, many of which were left in the “unmet pledge” line. The U.S. was one of those, owing to its withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement (President Biden reinstated the U.S. position as a signatory after taking office.) We continue to see more and more energized wildfires, storms, sea level rise, and heat extremes, such as the 120-degree day in British Columbia last summer that killed hundreds of people and billions of fish and crustaceans in Western Canada.

With every meeting, they felt the clock ticking: the vast majority of scientific experts agree that, if we haven’t flattened the curve and turned it downward by 2030 to 2035, the latest “line in the sand” — we’re in for a world that makes today’s harrowing climate picture look like a watereddown preview. After the last two years of reports and peer-reviewed findings, some scientists believe we need to make the turn by 2030 — or we will never get another chance.

“The pathway is extremely narrow,” said Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency. “We really don’t have much time left to shift course.”

The singular solution on everyone’s mind was combining the reduction of fossil fuel energy, the increase in clean energy production and distribution, and aggressively changing policies and sometimes entire economic priorities to rein in the runaway climate train. But how much reduction?

How much more clean energy development? Who to pay for all of it? And how far would one government be willing to go if another balked or downgraded their commitments? How will these critical decisions play out among neighboring nations sharing common water sources, pipelines and other critical life-sustaining resources?

The challenges start with five of the most influential and largest energy consumers and producers besides the United States — China, Australia, Russia, India and Brazil. The first three have yet to announce strong, specific targets for cutting carbon emissions in the 2020s. China, the world’s largest climate polluter, refused to modify its plan to peak emissions “before” 2030 — a target scientists say is not adequate to keep the planet on a 1.5 degree pathway.

On top of that, India pledged to ramp up its renewable energy production — but not to reduce its usage of coal, which provides most of the electricity

WINTER 2021 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY

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for the nation of 1.3 billion. The effective commitment would be to sharply ramp down coal use, as the U.S. has done in the last 20 years, but that would sideline up to 270,000 miners with no real future prospect for jobs. In Brazil, the problem isn’t the commitment — 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 — but the administration tasked with executing it, starting now. The President is Jair Bolsonaro, already under scrutiny for his decision to burn and clear-cut millions of acres of the Amazon rainforest in 2019 and 2020, effectively torching the natural world’s lungs. Will he keep the pledge?

What about the United States? President Biden committed America to cut emissions 50 to 52 percent below 2005 levels in the next decade (as did the European Union). Along with that, he pledged to create a 100% carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035, just 13 years from now, and achieve a net-zero economy by 2050. “Together,” the Biden Administration stated, “these once-in-a-generation investments will unlock the full potential of a clean energy economy that combats climate change, advances environmental justice, and creates good-paying, union jobs.”

The challenge? The recently passed infrastructure bill contains several billions in provisions for clean and renewable energy, and will accelerate development of our electric vehicle industry and the road infrastructure to support it. However, haggling from climate-deniers and those in Congress and the Senate beholden to the fossil fuel industry forced the President to strip down his more ambitious plans to fundamentally remake much of the U.S. economy for a clean energy future.

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Now, imagine all 130 nations carrying in specific earmarks, exceptions and qualifications to their stated pledges. It made COP26 seem at times more like the working of a multi-level jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces than a summit of nations ready to sign agreements.

As COP26 got underway, the participating nations issued a number of press releases and reports concerning their views, anticipated risks and action steps. One daunting statistic points to the enormity of the challenge around climate change and energy use. Climate Action Tracker decreased its prediction of total global warming from 4 degrees C (about 7 degrees F) to 3 degrees C, due to actions taken by nations to create more clean energy.

While this is good news on the surface, the problem is that, even if we only warm by 2 degrees C from pre-industrial levels, we are facing catastrophic results to our lives and economy. As of late 2021, the planet had warmed by 1.25 degrees C — enough to cause the ongoing, increasing series of calamitous weather events.

Among the nations making announcements, the United States came into COP after the Biden Administration found that the adverse impacts of many nations to climate change will likely affect the U.S. directly. In the Middle East, Algeria, Iran and other oil-producing nations will see a decrease in fossil fuel production and sales as more people switch to clean energy options — which is predicted to further destabilize the region.

Closer to home, countries like Guatemala and Haiti are among 11 nations identified as particularly exposed to climate change — in part because of recent devastating hurricanes in both places, and the two tragic earthquakes in Haiti over the past decade, from which it has never recovered.

Another big segment of COP26 concerned sustainability and promoting sustainable living among nations. Within that was a discussion on helping the poorest nations come to grips with their various environmental and economic issues, which would require substantial resource infusion from the wealthiest countries. Again, high intentions sometimes hit the brick wall of reality: only a few wealthy countries have allocated money to help these nations deal with disasters that came to them, rather than being created by them. Think of the U.S. Marshall Islands, a chain of hundreds of islands, and strategically important to the Navy. Marshallese islanders are watching their shorelines disappear beneath rising seas, but thus far, their pleas for assistance have fallen on deaf ears.

Besides the climate change piece, the other concern is maintaining healthy natural resource levels, and also making sure that food can be grown and clean water provided. While the Gates Foundation and other charitable organizations have pumped hundreds of millions into the effort to help thirdworld nations with food production and greater supplies of clean water, economic experts estimated that it will cost up to hundreds of billions in cash, equipment and seed to make the countries fully sustainable.

In the end, the nations settled on the joint commitment to accelerate action in the 2020s, but by just how much — actual concrete numbers — were hard to come by. A few of the pledges: • The UN Environmental Programme announced steps to reduce the climate impact of the cooling industry. It comes as an estimated 2.3 billion people are expected to be vulnerable to heat waves in coming years if the temperature rise hits 1.5 degrees C.

• In the Global Methane Pledge, more than 100 countries committed to reducing methane emissions 30 percent by 2030.

• Germany announced it would add $12 million to the Global EbA Fund, which supports nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation. This is a solution that we saw play out with our own eyes in Spring and Summer 2020, when nature began to regenerate itself during the four months the world was locked down from COVID-19. This might be the best and most continuously regenerative step to be taken, though it’s slow to catch on. The UN asked for up to 50 percent of total climate finance be spent on naturebased solutions, a tenfold increase from the current 5 percent.

• More than 1,000 universities from 68 countries pledged to reach net-zero by 2050 and reduce the impact on nature, signing on to the U.N.’s “Race to Zero” campaign.

• More than 100 leaders, representing countries covered by 85 percent of the world’s forests, pledged $19.2 billion towards ending deforestation by 2030. They also promised to focus on restoration of peatlands and tundra, which when thawed and overheated releases enormous amounts of methane.

All in all, COP26 brought all of the issues threatening our planet to the forefront, with meetings that covered everyone affected — businesses, nations and governments, private citizens, farmers, miners and third-world countries alike. Now, once again, the rubber meets the road: can we turn this runaway train around before it’s too late.

The clock is ticking. ■ WINTER 2021 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY

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Featured

Sustainable Brands Goes LIVE in San Diego After 18 months of navigating the most prestigious brand-driven sustainability association in the world by Zoom and Microsoft Teams, Sustainable Brands finally was able to go live again. They did it with a splash at one of the conference’s favorite locations, San Diego’s Mission Bay, with a hybrid event that focused on the next phase in sustainable practices — regeneration.

One of the keynote speakers, Net Positive author Andrew Winston (who was interviewed in our sister publication, InnoTech Today, in Fall 2014), said of our current position on sustainability, “We are now at the end of the beginning.” Added Patagonia conservationist Rick Ridgeway in a wonderful speech, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Regeneration is a hot new term for something that the planet does quite naturally when given a chance: continually regenerating itself. We saw this in droves during the time the world was shut down in 2020. Carbon emissions plunged.

Fish and animals returned to habitats they’d long since vacated due to human action. People in Delhi, India saw the distant Himalayas for the first time in 30 years, due to the notoriously polluted air cleaning out. Nestle CEO Aude Gandon coined a term for the times we’re in: “Generation Regeneration”. “Nature doesn’t just bounce back,” she said, “it bounces forward.”

Throughout the week, experts and innovators across industries seemed to agree on three key drivers necessary for the regenerative leadership our world needs: authenticity, purpose and egalitarianism — in work, as well as society.

Below are some highlights from the four-day event, which brought together hundreds of organizations, entrepreneurs and thought leaders, with thousands more joining in virtually: It Takes All of Us Not only are we in the pandemic and shifting of the global economy together, but we need to find solutions together. This was the central message after Biomimicry 3.8 co-founder Janine Benyus cited an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report that stated humanity is

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It was a festive and productive week in San Diego as SB’21 went live again.

in Code Red. It’s time to move much more aggressively and quickly to arrive at better solutions, which also was the spirit of many nations at COP26 a couple weeks later in Scotland. “We don’t have time for everyone to figure it out on their own,” Benyus said in a plenary session.

Storytelling Makes a Difference Throughout the conference, plenary participants and speakers kept returning to a favorite long-term theme of Sustainable Brands — the importance of storytelling. Driving sustainable policies and practices with clear, concrete stories that illustrate the before and after of particular issues always lands well; we are wired to tell and listen to stories. Heidi Hackemer, the Executive Creative Director at Oatly, put it this way: “It’s about putting out a vibe that people actually want to interact with.”

Oatly is coming off a Super Bowl commercial campaign that resulted in people talking about plant-based products for days after one of the most meat-and-potatoes sports events in the world — all due to effective storytelling.

Embedding Sustainability Strategies Within Businesses One of the big highlights of SB ’21 was the outstanding question-and-answer conversation on the keynote stage with Katie Decker, Global President of Essential Health and Sustainability at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health, and Nancy Mahon, SVP of Global Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability at The Estee Lauder Companies. Decker was also at the conference to discuss J&J’s 10-year, $800 million Healthy Lives Mission pledge to

improve the sustainability and impact of its products and brands.

Among their remarks that impressed us during our virtual drop-in: Katie Decker: “Johnson & Johnson has been running as a business for over 130 years and had environmental goals for more than 40 years. We asked: ‘What do we need to do to remain relevant and drive this change across our organization so we can start operating differently? What is it that unites all Johnson & Johnson people?’ The answer is a passion for health. Everything we do is in service of positively changing the trajectory of health for humanity… Social impact and environmental sustainability have clear and proven connections to human health, which has helped focus our priorities and give extra meaning to our work in enhancing the sustainability of our products and practices. You can’t have healthy people without a healthy planet for them to live, work and thrive.”

Nancy Mahon: “In order for me to integrate into the business, I have to have enormous empathy and understanding for the people in each piece of the value chain. The secret to getting stuff done is to focus on empathy, on understanding, and on where you can drive value. Consider how you show up and how you drive value, which will be very different for the HR department versus R&D. So, partner, empathize, and then really understand the levers of change in your organization. For our organization, we are very strategy-focused. So, we needed to have a very clear strategy that everybody accepts. And lastly, you need to focus and prioritize.”

Biomimickry was one of the major topics of discussion at SB’21 San Diego, forwarded by an illustrious group of presenters including (L-R) Aude Gandon of Nestle, who coined the term “Regeneration Generation”; biomimickry expert Nicole Miller; and Heidi Hackemer of Oatly.

Generation Regeneration Welcome to Generation Regeneration — the next step in sustainability. As we work to regenerate our resources, grass and farmlands, forests and waterways, we’re also working to embed more natural processes into daily business practices. Noted Sustainable Brands founder and CEO Koann Skrzyniarz in her welcoming speech, “there can’t be a return to the pre-pandemic ‘normal.’” She also urged attendees to forge new paths ahead for a better future for businesses, individuals and the planet.

Of the various regeneration strategies discussed at SB ’21, the one receiving the most

attention is already growing in its application — biomimicry. The object of biomimicry is to imitate natural processes, patterns and flows as much as possible when manufacturing, building, and growing. The world is already sprouting up with impressive buildings that use plants and grasses to beautify and insulate, with a big benefit: those plants and grasses are also pulling carbon dioxide from congested cities.

More and more homes are either being built in natural settings, or featuring nature within their construction, making some houses look like they can be dropped into a rainforest and being right at… well, home.

Biomimicry 3.8 Managing Director Nicole Miller spoke about her team’s efforts to build modern design inspired by nature, building the next generation of sustainable structures and infrastructure. The examples she cited were surprising in that they are located in areas not typically associated with strong sustainable practices: the new Ford EV plant in Tennessee, a water filtration system in urban Atlanta, and a popular bat refuge bridge in Austin, TX. The latter example points to another aspect of biomimicry — protecting native species. “We want to build what it looks like to move beyond zero,” Miller said. ■ WINTER 2021 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY

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Featured

Photo: iStockphoto.com/Jorge Villalba

Why Are My Goods Sitting on a Ship?

Photo courtesy of the Port of Los Angeles

The Port of Los Angeles has been packed with shipping containers since the pandemic began — and we’re just now distributing cargo faster than it arrives.

The supply chain crisis has bottlenecked harbors, logistics, and trucking services all year long, just as retail imports hit an all-time high. How do we solve this “perfect storm”?

By Beth Covington At one point in fall 2021, idle container ships lined up for 75 miles off the Southern California coast.

Sometimes, doesn’t the supply chain crisis feel like the chokehold that won’t let go? Whether our packages arrive weeks or months late, manufacturers cannot get vital parts to keep product lines and operations running, or the 75mile line of cargo ships outside Los Angeles Harbor, we’re seeing what happens when rising consumer and business demand meets our strapped capacity to get the products there. Not to mention the restrictions and hardships of a pandemic that is still raging.

When you look at our supply chain crisis in the United States and the world, the first thought that comes to mind is “perfect storm.”

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The 1991 movie, based on Sebastian Junger’s book, focuses on an endangered fishing boat and crew when they’re caught off the Newfoundland coast when a hurricane and a land-based storm collide to create one of the worst storms ever. It’s a great metaphor to describe the supply chain today: 2021 saw a decreased delivery rate for goods, while at the same time, consumer product demands and online orders skyrocketed to an all-time record.

The National Retail Foundation (NRF) noted that an estimated 26 million TEU, or TwentyFoot Equivalent Units, were cargoed and shipped — a record-setting 18.3% increase from 2020

levels. Feeding more energy into a constricted system tends to clog up the system further.

“This has been an unprecedented year,” said NRF Vice President for Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold in a statement.

“We’ve seen more disruption than ever before because of issues along every step of the supply chain and continued strong consumer demand, but we’re also seeing more cargo and faster growth than ever before. There are still ships to be unloaded and containers to be delivered, but everyone in the supply chain has worked overtime this year to try to overcome these challenges.”

There are numerous factors impacting the supply chain. The first is the reality of the pandemic: forced to stay at home, and aided by the various stimulus packages that Congress passed in 2020 and 2021, people are simply buying more goods. Because of the pandemic, they’re buying online more than at their local retailer — creating the need to ship. “We’re all at home, ordering stuff on Amazon, and that caused a huge spike in demand for products, particularly coming from China,” said global trade expert Rosemary Coates of Blue Silk Consulting.

On the receiving end, cargo ships are coming in to port completely loaded with containers, many filled with long-ago back-ordered goods — but who is there to unload them?

Dockworkers at L.A. Harbor, for instance, are working double shifts at times, but the pandemic also wiped away a good part of the labor force. Rehiring, never a problem in the past with dockworkers, is now an issue because of an invisible threat every dockworker in L.A. senses — the coming rollout of automated systems, a.k.a. robots, to potentially displace human employees.

That’s one factor. Another is the pandemic that won’t end and how it is impacting critical services workers around the world. “We still have the issue of COVID popping up in countries and potentially shutting down factories,” said Simone Peinkofer, assistant professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University. “Vietnam, Malaysia, and Thailand have all dealt with labor shortages related to the pandemic.”

What about truck drivers? Right now, the trucking industry is maxed out, trying to get freshly unloaded cargo to destinations as quickly

as possible. Amazon built out a huge Prime fleet using Sprinter vans during the pandemic but can only haul as much as its trucks can carry. FedEx and UPS have also bolstered their fleets in a major way… yet some trucks remained idle, even during the holiday shopping season. This leads to an even bigger problem in trucking and logistics: Drivers have been slow to return after the darkest days of the pandemic, with multistate travel and the COVID risks that entail a principal concern.

Then there’s the U.S. Postal Service and its controversial director, Louis DeJoy. Once again, DeJoy deliberately slowed down the delivery of mail and packages over the holiday season despite hiring more employees, for reasons apparently known only to him. Overnight packages now take 3-4 days to arrive — while we pay overnight charges. Priority Mail often takes 4-5 days, rather than two. And first-class shipping and mailing? It’s a crapshoot as to when it will arrive.

The next area of supply chain bottleneck is happening in warehouses and in factories making and shipping the goods. Warehouses are filling up with products again, but they’re having difficulty hiring workers to replace those whose jobs disappeared in the Spring and Summer of 2020. In the factories, it’s hard to ship goods when you don’t have packaging, and the world is currently in a cardboard box supply shortage when it most needs to be in surplus. “It’s a little bit of whack-a-mole,” Coates said. “You fix one problem, and another problem pops up.”

Consequently, whether it’s Nike shoes we ordered, to books, toys, automotive parts, computer chips, or countless other goods, many

Photo: iStockphoto.com/Jorge Villalba

What is causing all of this supply chain disruption? Why are ships literally lined up parallel to the California coastline from Laguna Beach to Malibu’s Point Dume — a distance of 75 nautical miles? Why are the nation’s highways so filled with trucks that overnight rest stops from coast to coast look more like arena parking lots filled with equipment trucks than… rest stops? And yet it’s not enough?

Once the cargo is unloaded, why is it taking so long to get orders to manufacturers, retailers, and consumers alike — at great cost to our economy?

are finding themselves scrambling to get what they ordered — and what they need.

On the business side, the single biggest product issue in the world is a major computer chip shortage. Not only does it impact our computers, TVs, devices, home appliances, residential technology, video games, and tablets, but also the entire auto industry. Without a computer chip, today’s electronics-laden cars just won’t run.

Historically, chipmakers were usually able to keep pace with the growing demand for chips in products like automobiles and home electronics. But the pandemic interrupted that rhythm by causing consumers to behave in unpredictable ways, with manufacturers struggling to correctly foresee how many chips they would need for everything from Volkswagens to Playstations. Because the supply chains are so complicated, this made it easier for problems to arise that delayed production or transportation.

Worse, the industry has a lot of bottlenecks. Only a handful of foundries account for most of the world’s chip fabrication; more than 90% of all contracts are built out in Asia. Countries like the United States, the world’s largest user of microchips, are then vulnerable to production disruptions either in those distant lands or at any step along the way.

Other companies in the United States, Japan, the Netherlands, and elsewhere have also found ways to make themselves indispensable to the global manufacturing of microchips.

Consequently, microchips are especially vulnerable to shortages when there are unexpected alterations to consumer demand.

COVID-19 has stemmed the flow of cargo through roadways as well as waterways.

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Featured “We’ve seen more disruption than ever before because of issues along every step of the supply chain and continued strong consumer demand, but we’re also seeing more cargo and faster growth than ever before. There are still ships to be unloaded and containers to be delivered.” - Jonathan Gold, National Retail Federation Photo: iStockphoto.com/Tryaging

Photo courtesy of the Port of Los Angeles

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While we tend to look at individual impacts of the supply chain crisis in our own lives or businesses, isolating one cause or another that affects us most, a wider-lens view offers many more answers. The supply chain is not a collection of sectors that needs to be cobbled together, but a complex interactive network. Seemingly unrelated things can have an effect on each other, sometimes far down the supply food chain. For instance, if 100 Vietnamese factory workers come down with COVID, their factory will shut down. When they finally return, it might result in a onemonth delay in filling those orders. When that container is added to a cargo ship, it now enters into an already bottlenecked situation — which the recipient of the products, say a good-sized business in the Midwest — have no idea what is happening as they wring their hands over supplies they won’t be getting.

Photo: iStockphoto.com/shaunl

“This will clearly lead to delays in the distribution of microchips and will presumably have an adverse impact on the semiconductor and computer industries,” noted a recent report by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

What solutions can manufacturers arrive at to either mitigate the impact of a bottlenecked supply chain or to create their own? Christopher K. Ober, a professor of materials engineering at Cornell University, cited the example of Toyota, one of the most resilient organizations in the world when it comes to supply chain issues. Ober noted that Toyota keeps little to nothing in warehouses — a practice known as lean manufacturing.

Essentially, parts arrive by truck and are immediately put into cars. According to Ober, Toyota made this switch after being temporarily crippled by the Fukushima earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Meantime, there is good news on the horizon: the cargo situation is finally loosening up a little in our ports, and more and more drivers are slowly returning to trucking and logistics companies. Active manufacturing is up in key sectors – computer chips, automotive parts, packaging materials, etc. Major retailers like WalMart, Target, and Best Buy planned well ahead when ordering, so they weren’t as strapped by product shortages as others during the 2021 Holiday shopping season.

Experts believe it will take all of 2022 before the supply chain fully readjusts to all of the changes, always mindful of two events humans cannot control — the intense storms now wreaking havoc; and whatever impact the Omnicron variant of COVID will cause globally.

However, we’ve turned the corner from the worst, and can finally see a few rays of sun after a very dark last 20 months in the supply chain. ■

Photo: iStockphoto.com/lucmena

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Featured

The Ultimate Unplugged Music

Longtime traveling musician-storyteller Jason Walsmith and his wife, Emma, got around the pandemic shutdown by playing shows anywhere they could set up — which is to say, everywhere. The secret? A van power system unlike any other.

By Robert Yehling Like many touring and recording musicians, Jason Walsmith found himself suddenly sidelined by the Coronavirus shutdown in Spring 2020. He and his wife, Emma, stared at a daunting near future: 60-plus shows, none of which he could play; and bills that would not keep coming just because, oh, the economy and their livelihood was waylaid.

For a musician who has spent the past three decades touring the band he founded in college, The Nadas, sitting at home without any gigs was particularly daunting. As was sitting at home for any long period of time.

“We had booked a whole tour – 60 or 70 dates on the books, ready to go on a usual tour for us,” Jason said. “We have a lot of annual shows, annual trips. Then we got locked down. I sat home the first couple months, the longest I’d ever been at home in my adult life. I started to get a little antsy. Also, I didn’t know how we could pay the bills.”

Months later, they found an answer that solved many of their challenges and saved a good part of their Summer and Fall 2020 bookings — a

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Storyteller Overland van powered by Volta Power Systems with a lithium-ion source that speaks to the Michigan company’s position as a forerunner in next-gen energy systems. With it, they played before socially distanced turnouts in places like the Moab Desert of Utah, mountains of Colorado, and backyards and small-venue gigs from “coast to coast and corner to corner,” as Jason puts it.

The story of how they went from being confined in their Iowa home to driving 45,000 miles across 32 states and playing 72 shows from a Storyteller Overland MODE van is fascinating and fortuitous.

It began with uploaded daily content — which became a passion for many during the lockdown months. Jason, who has released 14 albums with The Nadas as well as several solo efforts, decided to cheer his fans up by dropping a song per day on social media. He did it for two straight months. He skipped just one day — and heard all about it. That’s when Emma Walsmith realized they were onto something.

“He was doing these daily videos. It kind of

energized him and illustrated the sort of good it did for people,” Emma said, “as well as the desire people had to connect through music. The one day Jason took off from doing that, the amount of people that texted, called, or posted on social media saying ‘Where’s the morning song?

Where’s the music?’ was huge. It wasn’t just a self-serving endeavor to keep our presence relevant. It was doing some good and serving a purpose during a very weird time.

“With that, Jason started looking at booking shows. My response was, ‘OK, how you going to do that in a COVID-aware way?’”

Thus began the search for a band van that could allow them to play in remote locations or places where people could socially distance.

“We started searching for ideas on how we could travel self-contained, play in people’s homes and backyards, socially distanced, make sure we weren’t the cause for someone getting COVID,” Emma explained. “We looked at a couple options, one was a band van. We could buy the band van, strap down some bungee cords, put chairs in it. The day we were going to

buy that van — a Transit — somebody offered the full asking price before us. Then we looked at a Chambermaid we found on Craig’s List, a truck camper… different ways we could travel self-contained. But whenever we found something, it was sold before we could even offer.”

Their break came while visiting a friend in Steamboat Springs, CO. The friend suggested they look into the Storyteller Overland van, in particular its biggest feature — a power system that could keep them comfortable, but also had the capacity to power up music systems.

Whether pulling up in the desolate Utah desert, backyard concerts or other remote sites, long-time recording artist Jason Walsmith and his wife, Emma, revolutionized live performance during the pandemic with 72 concerts from their Storyteller Overland van, Volta Power Systems lithium-ion power pack, and desire to keep music alive in our hearts.

“It had a Volta Power System that would keep the equipment air conditioned all day, and our dogs as well when we’re outside playing gigs, away from the van,” Jason said. “That was the big selling point — that it would work for us and our dogs. We could keep our dogs cool, power all the devices we use to tell our stories and create our content and power our musical instruments.”

They jumped onto the Storyteller Overland website, researched the Volta Power System — and realized they’d found the perfect solution. They muted their excitement long enough to learn there was one such van — one — available in the entire U.S. By luck, it was just a day’s drive away, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“We decided to do it, pulled the pieces together, got the approval and financing in three days, drove down, and had our Storyteller Overland van,” Emma said. “For us, it’s very much a fairy tale situation. We needed a solution with these dates approaching for Jason to get on the road.

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Featured

driving it home? That’s our fairy tale. Nowadays, you put your deposit down and wait eight months.”

The other part of the equation was Volta’s lithium-ion power plant, which is fed by a solar system atop the roof of the van. Jason and Emma quickly realized that not only did they have a van that could handle Jason’s one-man shows, but also full-band concerts – with a small stage presence to boot.

“We have been blown away by the amount of access and opportunity the system gives us. We

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feel spoiled, even, compared to some of our friends who travel in other types of vans and say, ‘oh, this that and the other blew out when I tried to plug it in,’” Emma said. “We went to a campsite with no power and no amenities, and I felt totally comfortable with that because our multiple power system was going to keep our dogs, devices and refrigerator good.

“Most places we played had power, or at least I assumed that, especially for backyard gigs, but because of our van and the Volta Power System, the band came to the rescue of those places that didn’t have power,” Jason added. “Because that

worked so well, it became our go-to, we could use the van as a stage/backstage and run our equipment through it.”

One such show, in Erie, Colorado, led the Walsmiths to decide that all remote or socially distanced concerts would run through the van.

They’ve since played before as many as 300 people while feeding everything off the power system. “I’m not a technician, so my system for testing capacity was to say, ‘I’ll try and add this.

I’ll try and add that. OK, that worked’, Jason said. “Then we actually visited the Volta people and plug the full system in, have them monitor

it for the draw we put on the system… and there was lots of headroom left.”

The concert at Volta headquarters in Michigan couldn’t have been better received. Volta employees were not only treated to an afternoon of stories and music from Jason’s massive repertoire of folk, country, rock and blues, but also to the two people behind the company’s pronounced social media boost among audiences not ordinarily reading posts from lithium-ion power plant manufacturers.

“Certainly, what the Walsmiths are doing has generated a nice social media buzz, both for them and for Volta. People have noticed that,” Volta Power Systems VP of Sales Buck Lewis-Mathieu said. “This has driven quite a bit of conversation in social media and driven some business both for us and the folks at Storyteller Overland.”

The Walsmiths also shared a story with their Volta partners that Emma was very hesitant to publicize when it happened: the fact they basically powered their home, van and lives on the power system for a week after a derecho (long-lasting, hurricane-strength windstorm) ransacked Iowa and five other Midwestern states in Summer 2020.

“We lost power, like everyone else, and ended up plugging both our home refrigerator and deep freezer into the Volta Power System in

our van,” Emma recalled. “And we ran the AC unit in our van when we slept in it. It saved us.

So many people lost a ton of food. I was terrified Volta would find out and we’d be in trouble, so I didn’t put up any photos, but when we told them, they said, ‘Absolutely perfect use of the power system.’

music, to experience the venue, the mood

“They’re super supportive, we have this mutual admiration society thing going on.

We’re fascinated by all the other stuff they’re doing. Because their power system has enabled us to get on the road and play music and pay our bills, we’re pretty jazzed about seeing the continuation of their business. And they’re super cool about supporting us. When Jason’s new solo album came out in September and we released the single, ‘Camper Van’ – an ode to our camper van – Volta shared it on their social,” she added.

miles from anywhere unnecessary, the

While expounding on the technology and benefits of the power system for vans and the van life, Lewis-Mathieu pointed out another advantage that will be familiar to many who have seen gigs in fields, backyards, outdoor venues and the like — background noise. “People experiencing a Walsmith performance first notice, ‘No background noise,’” he said. “Then they put up some mood lights or whatever, and the way they power up suddenly is not what’s on people’s minds. They get to enjoy the

or ambiance without the disruption of energy being generated and creating noise in the background.”

Now that society is largely open, bands are playing live and setting up a gig a hundred Walsmiths are again touring their regular stops, along with new bookings. However, they will always play pop-up or remote venue concerts as part of their future touring plan, which enables them to reach their audience in more places than ever. For a lifelong traveling musician like Jason, that is critical as he eyes a highly creative upcoming period of playing and writing. Most importantly, he gets to keep doing what he loves, in the way he loves it — performing as an independent musician.

“Here we are, almost 29 years later, with the same band — and we recently put out our 14th record,” he said. “We always toured as an independent band. There’s not a lot of people who have found success as independent musicians, but they will agree that business is done in a different way. You’re making your own way, making your own opportunities, meeting and actually getting to know some of your audience. It’s a hard life, but a really great life.” ■

Imagine living the van life, parked with friends in the Moab Desert - and up pulls Jason and Emma Walsmith for a night of fine live music. They entertained listeners in 32 states while music venues were shut down.

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Featured

An Infrastructure Bill with a

Sustainable Twist

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When Congress passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, they also ushered in something new — a major commitment to a clean energy future

By Beth Covington For the past decade, we’ve experienced quite a few unsettling things, including crumbling roads and bridges, highways that badly need expansion to alleviate city traffic, and the terrible ways in which climate change events have twisted and destroyed our infrastructure.

Through this time, very little has been done because Congress is locked in partisanship and gridlock.

In November, at long last, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle delivered a long-awaited Infrastructure Bill. The $1.2 trillion bill includes $550 billion in federal investments over the next five years, which will enhance everything from roads and bridges to water and

energy systems, broadband expansion, and railway and airport improvements.

But it’s what the bill emphasizes that makes it one of the most significant pieces of legislation signed in decades: the future. And a future powered increasingly by clean and renewable energy, at that.

When President Biden sat down at the White House on November 15th to sign the bill into law, he was fresh off his appearance at the COP 26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

With the country struggling to keep roads safe, and reeling from yet another horrific year of wildfires, hurricanes, floods, drought, and

sea level rise, he presented a strong argument that cut through some of the intransigence in Congress — and set the nation on a wellthought-out future course while pinning down one of the key cornerstones of his economic agenda.

“I believe there’s an incredible opportunity, not just for the United States but for all of us,” President Biden said in his November 1 speech to participants at COP26. “We’re standing at an inflection point in world history.”

“We have the ability to invest in ourselves and build an equitable clean-energy future and in

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the process create millions of good-paying jobs and opportunities around the world — cleaner air for our children, where bountiful oceans, healthier forests and ecosystems for our planet. We can create an environment that raises the standard of living around the world. And this is a moral imperative, but it’s also an economic imperative — if we fuel greater growth, new jobs, and better opportunities for all our people,” the President added.

With infrastructure damage from calamitous climate and weather events alone now averaging $100 billion a year, and communities everywhere in the country affected, much of the focus of the bill deals with manufacturing and innovation — and solutions that better withstand the increased forces of nature.

However, this bill is historic for its specific focus on clean and renewable energy solutions for our infrastructure and transportation needs of the future. It also gets the ball rolling now on the solutions we need; the sense of urgency Biden has felt for 15 years finally coming to bear on Congress. The President alluded to this urgent need when he told the COP26 gathering, “This is the decade that will determine the answer. This decade. The science is clear: We only have a brief window left before us to raise our ambitions and to raise — to meet the task that’s rapidly narrowing… we have an opportunity to prove ourselves.”

The bill takes the first steps towards the Biden Administration’s stated climate change commitments, laid out at COP26: Reduce U.S. emissions by 50-52% from 2005 levels in 2030; create a 100% carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035; and achieve a netzero economy by 2050. Together, they unlock the full potential of a clean energy economy that combats climate change, advances environmental justice, and creates good-paying jobs.

Let’s take a further look at the major sustainability and clean energy-related provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal:

After decades of inadequate funding and crumbling roads and bridges, America’s infrastructure, clean energy initiatives and transportation corridor received the mighty boost it needed with passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal.

Public Transit The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal makes the largest investment in passenger rail since the creation of Amtrak fifty years ago– helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions by repairing, upgrading, and modernizing the nation’s transit infrastructure. The deal will invest $66 billion to provide healthy, sustainable transportation options for millions of Americans by modernizing and expanding transit and rail networks across the country. It will replace thousands of transit vehicles, including buses, with clean, zero emission vehicles. And, it will benefit communities of color who are twice as likely to take public transportation and often lack sufficient public transit options.

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Electric and hybrid vehicles and EV power stations are a big part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal. The clean energy buildout will be a major public works project throughout the decade.

Electric Vehicle Infrastructure The bill calls for $7.5 billion to build out the first-ever national network of EV chargers in the United States. The plan is to accelerate the adoption of EVs to address the climate crisis and support domestic manufacturing jobs. The deal will provide funding for deployment of EV chargers along highway corridors to facilitate

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long-distance travel and within communities to provide convenient charging where people live, work, and shop – and funding will have a particular focus on rural, disadvantaged, and hard-to-reach communities.

Clean School Buses The bill will deliver thousands of electric school buses nationwide, including in rural

communities, to help school districts across the country buy clean, American-made, zero emission buses and replace the yellow school bus fleet for America’s children. The deal invests in zero- and low-emission school buses, in addition to more than $5 billion in funding for public transit agencies to adopt low- and noemissions buses.

Every aspect of transportation is touched by the infrastructure bill — including railways and tunnels.

Modern Infrastructure The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal invests $17 billion in port infrastructure and $25 billion in airports to address repairs and maintenance backlogs, reduce congestion and emissions near ports and airports, and drive electrification and other low-carbon technologies.

billion to expand access to clean drinking water for households, businesses, schools, and child care centers all across the country. From rural towns to struggling cities, the deal will invest in water infrastructure and eliminate lead service pipes, including in Tribal Nations and disadvantaged communities that need it most.

Climate Change Resilience The deal is the largest investment in the resilience of physical and natural systems in American history. The deal makes our communities safer and our infrastructure more resilient to the impacts of climate change and cyber-attacks, with an investment of over $50 billion to protect against droughts, heat, and floods – in addition to a major investment in the weatherization of American homes.

Legacy Pollution The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal delivers the largest investment in tackling legacy pollution ever, $21 billion, to clean up Superfund and brownfield sites, reclaiming abandoned mines, and capping orphaned oil and gas wells. These projects will remediate environmental harms, address the legacy pollution that harms the public health of communities, create good-paying, union jobs, and advance long overdue environmental justice.

Clean Drinking Water Access to clean drinking water will now expand to all American families, eliminate the nation’s lead service lines and help to clean up the dangerous chemical PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl). The Deal will invest $55

Clean Energy Transmission The Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal’s more than $65 billion investment is the largest investment in clean energy transmission and the electric grid in American history. It upgrades our power infrastructure, including by building thousands of

miles of new, resilient transmission lines to facilitate the expansion of renewable energy. It creates a new Grid Deployment Authority, invests in research and development for advanced transmission and electricity distribution technologies, and promotes smart grid technologies that deliver flexibility and resilience.

It also invests in demonstration projects and research hubs for next generation technologies like advanced nuclear reactors, carbon capture, and clean hydrogen.

With the bill now law, the wheels are turning quickly to activate all aspects of the legislation, especially knowing that at any time, another catastrophic storm or event can hit anywhere — as the early December tornado tragedies in Kentucky and five other states made clear. Also, we can now look to the future we’ve really been headed towards, anyway, one where clean and renewable energy, and their vehicles and products, are more than an alternative to our fossil fuel-fed national lifestyle.

Now, thanks to the bill, they are missioncritical — driven by a team hell-bent on making the 2020s the decade America became a bastion of infrastructure again. ■ WINTER 2021 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY

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Going Green at the Olympics

By Destiny Nolan and Robert Yehling When it finally arrived a year late, the Tokyo Summer Olympics proved to be an amazing two weeks of world and Olympic record-setting performances, a number of huge surprises, one great feat after another. As Olympics should be.

But these Games also featured something even more lasting — a green technology footprint never seen before in an Olympiad.

Put simply, the 12,000 athletes from 206 nations and 38 different sports took part in the most sustainable Olympics yet. We took a deep dive into the technology, processes, products and even vehicles that contributed to this historic event: • The Japanese hosts built 25 new venues and 10 temporary facilities to go with 18 older venues, creating a hive of state-of-the-art facilities. The new venues were constructed to reduce energy consumption, while the temporary buildings minimize construction cost along with energy use.

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• All told, the Tokyo Organizing Committee estimated the event would generate 2.73 million tons of carbon. That figure was later adjusted down by 340,000 carbon tons due to the exclusion of spectators because of the pandemic.

On top of that, they used carbon credits to offset the resulting 1.93 million tons. “We were able to create and collect enough (carbon) credits from Japanese businesses to offset and actually go beyond carbon neutrality,” Tokyo 2020 international communication manager Eduardo Martinez said.

• 95% percent of all goods needed and used for the Games were recycled or reused. In one example, timber donated by more than 60 municipalities for Operation BATON (Building Athletes Village with Timber Of the Nation) for the Olympic Village Plaza was dismantled after the Games and reused in those same communities. The hosts also repurposed or returned 65,000 computers, 19,000 office desks,

plus chairs, tablets, electrical appliances and other materials.

• The uber-modern Olympic Village was constructed on reclaimed land. It included a “relaxation house” in Harumi Port Park where athletes could rest and recharge. Electricity used by the facility was generated with pure hydrogen fuel cells. After the Games, the village literally became become Japan’s first hydrogen-powered community and a model for future hydrogenbased societies. The repurposed Olympic Village now features residential apartments, shops and stores for necessities.

• Of course, transportation was brought into the plan. Olympians were transported around the Olympic Village by electric-powered vehicles.

• Athletes used a total of 18,000 beds made from recycled cardboard and mattresses that are also recyclable. While these may not sound too sturdy, they can hold up to 200 kilograms (440 pounds), with frames nearly seven feet long.

Green and autonomous vehicles transported Olympic athletes and officials around the Olympic Village, now the world’s first hydrogen-powered community.

• The medal awards ceremony podiums were the first Olympic materials ever to be 3-D printed; the podiums originated from plastic waste.

• As for the medals themselves, they were manufactured out of recycled smartphones and other electronics equipment donations from the Japanese public, a collection effort that began in 2017. From this gathered material came more than 5,000 medals.

• Finally, the symbol of the beginning and end of all Olympiads, the Olympic torch, was fueled by clean hydrogen. The beautiful cauldrons were made from aluminum gathered from the twisted wreckage left behind by the catastrophic Fukushima earthquake that leveled northern Japan, caused a massive tsunami and led to a nuclear reactor meltdown in 2011. Even the torchbearers’ outfits were green, made of recycled materials from plastic bottles.

These games also reflected diversity and gender equality like no others. In the venues, the most genderbalanced collection of athletes ever gathered, with 51 percent men and 49 percent female. Under the leadership of Tokyo 2020 President Hashimoto Seiko, Tokyo 2020 appointed 12 additional women to its Executive Board, boosting its female representation from 20 to 42 percent.

The model of using recycled materials, sticking to clean-burning fuel, and repurposing materials and even the entire Olympic village for greater community use set a sustainability standard that bodes well for all future Olympics, and their host cities. It also is a model for how many nations can come together and arrive at true game-changing solutions for the planet.

The two charts above show all the different uses of green technology and fuel at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, and how they worked together to create a uniquely sustainbale experience.

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Sustainable Practices

Converting C02 to Sugar: Air Company’s Winning Plan The Air Company in New York has won first place in NASA’s CO2 Conversion Challenge. The competition was for competitors to come up with a way that CO2 conversion could allow future inhabitants of the planet to manufacture products using Mars’ atmospheric carbon dioxide and water as resources. In hopes that someday we can sustain life on Mars. And the project they presented and won with was, being able to convert CO2 into sugars to bring new resources to Mars.

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“We are thrilled to have received this incredible recognition from NASA,” Gregory Constantine, CEO and co-founder of Air Company says, “The possibilities and applications for our technology are vast and we are thrilled to be able to continue to use innovation to push boundaries. From consumer goods that actively help mitigate climate change to sustaining people during space travel, our ambition is to help further humanity both on Earth and beyond.”

What led to the Air Company’s victory was the design of an efficient and reliable non-biological process that was able to operate without the help of a human. The carbon dioxide system can be deployed as miniaturized units sized to fit inside a Mars Exploration Rover or deployed at massive scales for more widespread operation. The system is split into three phases, phase one is CO2 and hydrogen using water electrolysis, and they are passed over a catalyst to produce water and alcohol. In phase two, alcohols are converted into aldehydes. In phase three, the resulting mixture is transformed into sugars using a novel catalyst designed

by Air Company for the system.

hospitals, police stations, doctor’s offices, and many more other places. They also created the world’s first carbon-negative vodka.

Air Company’s goal is to make the planet a better place. Even when the pandemic hit, Air Company knew they could help and they did. They started making hand sanitizer with a technology that converts carbon dioxide into ethanol. They then donated it to

They went on to lend out the CO2 conversion technology to many industries. And the company was championed by TIME for 100 Best Inventions of 2020 and Fast Company for the Best World Changing Idea North America. - D.N. ■

“It is great to hear about a team participating in a NASA challenge using their technology to help their local area during this crisis,” said Walt Engelund, deputy associate administrator for programs within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). “This is one example of how NASA challenges spur innovation to help life on Earth and beyond. We catalyze a culture of change makers and problem solvers, many of whom go on to apply their technology and creativity to make a difference in their own communities and around the world.”

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Sustainable Practices

Powering the Future of New Mexico Communities

New Mexico is currently home to 192 megawatts of solar energy serving our Southwest customers.

It’s a time of change and opportunity when it comes to powering New Mexico.

In 2020, an impressive 34% of the electricity serving New Mexico customers came from carbon-free resources. The state’s 192 megawatts of solar played a critical part.

Looking ahead, premier energy provider Xcel Energy recognizes the need to embrace more advanced power technologies to meet its final goal. “ We are transforming the choices and expanding the services available to

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customers,” said David Hudson, President of Xcel Energy – New Mexico. “This year, we proposed plans to modernize the grid, which will give customers more information and control over their energy use. We also are exploring technologies that will serve our customers better and meet our carbon-free goals.”

Xcel Energy is partnering with industry, government and its customers to drive innovation further, from wind and solar and zero-carbon fuels such as hydrogen, to

advanced nuclear energy and carbon capture.

The company was the first to file a comprehensive transportation electrification plan in New Mexico, putting incentives and infrastructure to work with education, choice and competition. Further, their electric vehicle plan incentivizes lower peak demand, putting downward pressure on electricity rates, with the backdrop of an increasingly more efficient and less carbon-intensive electric grid.

Energy costs directly impact companies’ bottom lines, so businesses, many with their

Sagamore Wind Project, one of the largest wind farms ever built in New Mexico, is expected to save customers $110 million annually in generating fuel costs. The facility sits on more than 100,000 acres of crop and rangeland in east central Roosevelt County south of Portales.

own corporate sustainability goals, look closely at energy options when deciding where to locate.

“We’ve been a partner in New Mexico’s growth going back 117 years and we’re excited to play a key role in the current expansion of business and industry, investing in the facilities and sources of energy that will continue to power development well into the future,” Hudson said. “Plentiful, reliable and clean sources of electricity are the foundation of job creation in New Mexico.”

Since 2005, Xcel Energy has reduced carbon-dioxide emissions 47% and project the electricity serving Southwest customers will be 72% carbon-free by 2030, surpassing New Mexico’s Energy Transition Act provisions.

The roots of Xcel Energy go back to 1904, when the Roswell City Council authorized the establishment of the Roswell Electric

Light Company to serve the community’s 2,000 residents. Initial operations comprised a small high-speed engine with a 24-kilowatt Edison spool-type direct-current generator, and two small low-pressure boilers carrying 85 pounds of steam pressure.

Today, Xcel Energy has over 100,000 times the renewable kilowatts serving New Mexico customers. And they’ve invested heavily in continuing to deliver reliable, clean power.

This ranges from presenting plans to convert and retire two coal plants, to investing more than $3 billion over the past decade in 1,500 miles of transmission, to the building or upgrading of 85 substations. And the boldest move: Xcel Energy was the first major U.S. power company to announce a vision to provide customers with 100% carbon-free electricity within three decades.

While Xcel Energy is wrapping up major multi-year projects that upgrade local power

grids, enhancing reliability for New Mexico’s vibrant communities, its real estate programs also help communities attract capital investment and create new, high-paying jobs.

“We streamline the process by coordinating with municipalities and local economic development organizations,” said Tom Bailey, senior director of corporate economic development at Xcel Energy. “Equipped with the knowledge gathered during our due diligence process, businesses can move faster as they evaluate available real estate and locating in New Mexico.”

A robust and credible certification protocol results in a broad inventory of sites and buildings. Currently, that includes the Clovis Industrial Park, Hobbs Energy Plex Parks 1 and 2, and a 420,000-square-foot building in Roswell.

There’s no doubt: New Mexico’s future is bright. Xcel Energy is proud to power it. ■

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Solutions

Robotic Food Delivery?

It’s Coming Imagine ordering out from your favorite short-order restaurant half-asleep, pining for that first cup of coffee. The delivery arrives, you look up — and find a robot with your order.

And these robotics don’t have arms … “Make that five cups of coffee,” you probably want to say — just to drive this surreal dream out of your mind.

Except it’s not a dream. Wings, an ecosystem of services and products from Letsbutterfly, has just announced their new on-the-go robotics system, Nectar, powered by HiveRobotics.

“Nectar is more than just a revolution in retail.

It represents a fundamental rethinking and reengineering of how we as people go about our lives interacting with food services,” says Haitham Al-Beik, CEO of Wings. “Nectar redefines retail while preserving an essential aspect of people’s lives—time.”

Nectar will bring a new way of Autonomous Sustainable Retail (ASR) to life. This is a first of its kind in so many ways. First, short-order, on-the-go food service is one of the most people-heavy industries; businesses often rely on strong customer service to keep long-term customers. Second, while most artisan robotics have arms, Nectar is made without them, allowing owners to cut both energy and space in half.

“Nectar ushers in a new way of experiencing on-the-go food service,” says Hari Rao, Chief Manufacturing & Robotics Officer of Wings.

“The hardware and software combined define a new and novel integrated singular design using

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fifty percent less energy for a fifty percent efficiency in utility and space, while increasing profit margins by a factor of ten.”

Nectar is designed to bring a safer and easier way to the food service industry. It provides many different services such as food, drinks, and merchandise without having to come into contact with people. It can deliver up to four items in one trip efficiently. Nectar will be one of the first locally driven micro-factories for one-on-one service. It also has built in packaging, recycling, inventory, and delivery features.

Wings’ goal is to have Nectar up and running late 2023.

Customers who decide to utilize Nectar will only have to download an app for placing orders and paying through it. In the app, you can also specify if you have any food allergies, if you are vegan, vegetarian, or on a gluten- or dairy-free diet. All deliveries will be driven by a robotic shuttle within the Nectar. Your goodies will be in a robotic basket that extends right to its designated drop off location. This is perfect if you have busy schedules, or are in more healthconscious areas. Nectar will deliver to airports, schools, apartment complexes, office buildings, malls, and many other places.

“The COVID-19 pandemic revealed what has been right in front of us for years… retail and the services industry is in dire need of innovation and invention,” says Jim McDermet, Wings’ advisor. “Get ready for a seismic shift in retail that puts you in the driver’s seat.” - D.N. ■

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Solutions

Going Vertical: A New Way of Farming

By Destiny Nolan German ingenuity has struck again, this time when it comes to growing food sustainably.

Imagine a farm that rises into the sky, rather than sprawling across acreage. It not only saves on premium land space, but everything about it is sustainable, from watering methods to cultivation to use of the technology for growing beneficial insects and even raising fish.

Vertical farming has actually gathered steam on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as in Asia.

It is part of the movement toward restorative and regenerative agriculture that focuses not only on growing healthy food, but strengthening and regenerating the environment and local ecosystems by doing so.

Sounds like some kind of sci-fi creation they left out of the Dune movie? Maybe so, but German business-to-business trade exhibitor Messe Dortmund has added the all-new VertiFarm exhibition to its varied portfolio.

VertiFarm recently debuted as a trade fair.

“Vertical farming is one of the up-and-coming topics of our time,” said Sabine Loos, Managing Director of the Westfalenhallen group of companies. “The new VertiFarm trade show, giving tomorrow’s agriculture model an important B2B platform whose audience includes decision-makers at home and abroad.”

The vertical farm team is initially focusing on developments in the cultivation of crops, CBD, herb production equipment, sustainable fish, insects, medical plants and plant recirculation systems. “In the coming decades, as overpopulation and severe planetary changes challenge our current way of living, vertical farming will be a much-needed solution for global food production,” said Christine Zimmermann-Loessl, Chief Executive of the Association for Vertical Farming. “In Dortmund, we have the opportunity to establish VertiFarm, not just in the populous state of North-Rhine Westphalia, but right in the very center of Europe. With its experience in national and international trade shows, Messe Dortmund is an ideal partner for AVF.”

Urbanisation and consumption of raw materials are advancing and growing. With the population growing by the day, growing food and distributing food will always be a challenge but the food industry, supply chains, NGOs and the scientific community will all help do their parts to make sure this sustainable food production process continues. While putting all the focus on technological developments like vertical farming, scientific research will be done to develop plant-life/insect systems, sustainable fish, fast-growing crops, new production models and processes enabling more efficient farming with a smaller footprint.

With vertical farming indoors, it can already guarantee safe, fresh and enough food supplies regardless of the location and climate.

VertiFarm joins an already rich portfolio of Messe Dortmund trade shows addressing sustainability, food and nutrition. Germany has risen as a global leader in sustainability and in the promotion of B2B relationships among companies seeking solutions to carry us out of our agricultural land and food quality crises. Germany also hosts Fair Friends, one of the largest sustainability shows in the world.

“With the experience gained from our other formats, we’re also working with the AVF on developing a specific framework and conference program. It is crucial to sensitize politicians to new developments, and to bring together all decision-makers in business, industry, the supply chain and the scientific community,” Loos added. ■

Whether dotting the urban landscape green in this 9-story, 215,000 square-foot Tokyo office building, or an indoor vertical rice farm, vertical farming and biomimickry-based agricultural design is becoming big worldwide.

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WINTER 2021 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY

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Solutions

What Do 10,000 Companies’ Climate Plans Reveal?

By Erin James A group of researchers seeking data have assisted 10,000 different companies, which are backed by some of the world’s largest investment firms. What are they assisting with? Navigating and understanding businesses’ climate change plans.

The Transition Pathway Initiative and London School of Economics are teaming up to open the TPI Global Transition Centre that will publish the findings of the assessments. The research center will be located at the London School of Economics. TPI will expand their work through the initiative that compares companies on their own environmental performances. TPI is currently giving scores to approximately 400 companies on their climate change management skills.

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hard to assess those in a consistent way” said David Harris, head of sustainable finance products at London Stock Exchange Group PLC, who also works with TPI.

two parts: a review of the company’s “management quality” and it’s “carbon performance” with hopes of helping each company reach net-zero on emissions.

Investors constructing portfolios are the target of TPI’s assessments, but TPI stated that the assessments is also freely available to the public.

Mr. Harris also said that making the data public will build momentum among investors and help companies understand how they are being reviewed. “In order for companies to improve their assessments, it’s really important that you have a very high level of transparency,” he added.

Companies are scored in “management-quality” on a 19-question survey that grades on a scale of 0 to 4. This includes whether the company has a committee or board member managing the climate change policy; and if each company records and reports Scope 3 emissions.

Companies are also scored in “carbonperformance”, which compares the company’s emission progress to the industry in which it is related. The survey also tests a company’s current and future target goals to stay within reach of the Paris Agreement that with reduce the earth’s warming by the end of the 2000’s.

The group is supported by over 100 large investment firms managing a total of $40 trillion in assets. A few of the world largest money management firms on TPI current backer list are BlackRock Inc., abrdn PLC, BNP Paribas Asset Management, and Legal & General Investment Management.

A couple non-profit groups such as DataDriven Envirolab and the NewClimate Institute have said that more than 1,500 companies have plans to reach net-zero on emissions, but that approach will vary among companies — and their industries. Scope 3, or greenhouse emissions, may prove to be some companies’ biggest struggles to get to net-zero. It is the biggest portion of a company’s emissions and not always taken into account.

“There’s a whole variety of ways companies set net-zero targets and commitments and it’s very

TPI’s solution to this is that in their assessments to the company they with conduct an appraisal in

SUSTAINABILITY TODAY | WINTER 2021

TPI’s current source of information and data comes from websites, disclosures and annual reports, which are all available to the public in the not-for-profit environmental reporting platform CDP. TPI’s current stock-index operator is FTSE Russell, part of London Stock Exchange Group that provides the data for the management-quality assessments. FTSE Russell already uses TPI’s climate change data in its assessment. ■

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Solutions

Sustainability and Excellence A Conversation with Dean Froney, CEO of Master Fluid Solutions

By Beth Covington This year, Master Fluid Solutions has been celebrating its 70th anniversary as one of the world’s top developers and marketers of environmentally responsible products. That’s quite a claim, but from the day Clyde Sluhan founded the company, he was deeply uncomfortable with the manufacturing industry’s waste dumping practices — and the ingredients inside the products.

It’s quite a feat to spend 70 years engaging in sustainable practices, when many global businesses are just now coming around to it. It’s quite another when the products being manufactured include cutting and grinding fluids, straight oils, parts cleaners, corrosion control fluids, and other products for the automotive and aviation industries. But that’s part of the reason Master Fluid Solutions continues to win Top Workplace and environmental standard awards.

In honor of the company’s 70th anniversary, Ohio Congressman Bob Latta introduced a proclamation congratulating and commending Master Fluid Solutions for their leadership in scientific research and commitment to sustainability. The Mayor of Perrysburg, OH, the company’s home base, issued an additional proclamation recognizing MFS’ commitment to workers, safety, and quality.

Clyde Sluhan’s early concerns resonate deeply with CEO Dean Froney, who is making it his mission to continue the sustainability legacy while continually making Master Fluids operations, productions and services safer and less toxic, thus enhancing their leadership position in the manufacturing world.

We had the opportunity to speak with Dean recently: Sustainability Today: First of all, Dean, can you tell us a little about your manufacturing client and customer base?

Dean Froney: This is a difficult question to answer as most of our customers are protective of their competitive advantage. We work with all of the major aerospace manufacturers and their tier suppliers and our products boast 100+ aerospace OEM approvals such as Boeing, Airbus, GE Aviation, United Technologies, Safran and Lockheed to name a few. Our R&D team expertly develops new products that meet the ever-stringent regulatory restrictions while exceeding the performance that is desired by our most demanding customers.

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ST: How far out in front was Master Fluid Solutions in developing sustainability and pollution-control practices?

DF: We started at the beginning, when Clyde A. Sluman founded the company in 1921. Eliminating waste became such a core value, through Mr. Sluman’s leadership, that we invented the first XYBEX commercial coolant recycling system and released it to the market in 1971. Right off the bat, it helped our customers eliminate their coolant waste by up to 80%, enough to lower our sales volume. However, the XYBEX systems became an industry standard, and we continued to improve the technology and expand recycling products over time. Today, XYBEX conservation equipment is as much of a core product line for our company as our TRIM cutting fluids.

ST: Tell us about the neo-synthetic technology in HyperSol888 NXT: DF: With HyperSol, we set out from the very beginning to create an ecofriendly cutting fluid using plant-based, renewable resources, and it took several years of research and testing to get it right. HyperSol is made with 54% biobased ingredients, virtually eliminating petroleum derived components and reducing the environmental impact of producing it.

ST: How is HyperSol creating more versatility for the products incorporating it?

DF: HyperSol’s unique capabilities allow metalworking machine operators to do a few things. The first is that they can run their machines at higher speeds without affecting the quality of the parts they’re making. The second is that HyperSol can do this at much lower concentrations than the

other products on the market, so they’re using much less fluid to accomplish more. The third is that the high lubricity of HyperSol protects the tools much better resulting in fewer tools used per operation.

ST: And it’s eco-friendly, of course.

DF: HyperSol is part of the USDA’s Bio-Preferred Catalog, which signals that a company using those products is working to be eco-friendly.

This designation has also introduced our customers to the Bio-Preferred Catalog as well, putting other eco-friendly products outside of cutting fluids on their radar.

ST: In aerospace technology and manufacturing, what are some of the most harmful chemicals and byproducts that your products overcome or alleviate?

DF: The biggest metric we’re helping to improve is carbon emissions reduction. HyperSol is entirely free of petroleum, so emissions related to petroleum extraction and use are eliminated. But the impact is more nuanced than that. Since customers can get by using less fluid, that means they order less of it, which means we’re sending out fewer shipments via plane, train, and trucks, so there’s also carbon emissions reduction in the entire logistic chain. Since the product has high performance, customers also use fewer tools. And with its long sump life, customers use less fluid throughout the lifecycle.

When HyperSol finally does need disposal, there’s also less fluid for customers to get rid of. And if anything does get improperly handled, the product will biodegrade safely in the environment in a fraction of the time of a normal coolant, so the actual harm to the environment is much less.

ST: You also produce WEDOLiT forming fluids and corrosion inhibitors. How do these greatly reduce environmental waste? And what type of waste reduction have manufacturers reported to you from their use of these products?

DF: We take a very broad view of sustainability and recognize that every little change to be more eco-friendly adds up to something substantial, especially in manufacturing. WEDOLiT forming fluids are designed to fulfill multiple functions in fewer products, so there is less consumption and waste. They also allow for deeper draws than more conventional fluids so there are fewer parts getting scrapped.

ST: Switching subjects, the aerospace industry is a very busy place right now, with a lot of energy about the Moon, Mars, and also more and more satellites going up and astronomers making new discoveries left and right. Can you tell us what it’s been like to be a part of all this momentum the past years?

DF: First of all, it’s just amazing to be part (even a small one) of the aerospace industry. It is energizing to interact with an industry that is constantly pushing the boundaries. The space segment has also seen massive investment in technology and an order of magnitude increase in speed of innovation. We are thrilled to be contributing to this segment’s success. Looking ahead, we see a significant number of companies developing EV aircraft both autonomous and pilot flown that bodes well for the long-term sustainability of the industry. ■

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Solutions

Bringing Paper and Pulp Products Full Circle

Today’s consumers are eco-conscious in their expectations of brands. The long-used manufacturing model of producing, using, and discarding packaging and products is now unacceptable.

The majority of Millennials (71%) and Gen Zers (67%) say that addressing climate change should be a top issue. However, 60% of Millennials and Gen Zers worry that businesses’ commitment to protecting the environment is a lesser priority. Brands must make a concerted effort, now, to show consumers they are working to have a positive impact. They can do so by creating a circular economy – which requires sustainable innovation.

The circular economy is built on the principle that the life cycles of materials and resources can be preserved, extended, and given back to the supply chain when the original intended purpose ends. Partnering with companies like Sustana is one-way brands can achieve their sustainability goals and gain consumer trust.

Sustana has built its business on recycling and recyclability, working with municipalities and global corporations on

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innovative partnerships and solutions to create a circular economy. The company processes 2.2 million pounds of wastepaper daily to extract fiber for paper manufacturing, amounting to enough paper annually to reduce landfill space by over 1 million cubic yards.

Being a steward of the environment requires innovation. Sustana Fiber’s EnviroLife® food-grade packaging fibers product is one of the first 100% recycled fiber compliant with FDA standards for the food, beverage, paper, and packaging industries and has a much lower environmental footprint compared to nonrecycled fiber, using 9 times less water.

Compared to the average virgin pulp, the impact of EnviroLife® on climate change is 26% lower, demonstrating exactly how much recycled fiber can help mitigate effects on the environment. This process has been successful with recycling Starbucks coffee cups and containers for global fast food sandwich chains. The right partner can make a tremendous difference in a global company becoming more eco-friendly.

Rolland Paper also has history of investing in circular innovations, using biogas energy

and water treatment systems that reuse water to minimize waste. The biogas energy powers 93% of the paper mill’s energy needs, reducing annual carbon dioxide emissions by 70,000 tons. Compared to the average virgin paper, the impact of the Enviro® line on the climate change is 62% lower, showing Rolland’s commitment to sustainable practices.

Increasing partnerships with external organizations to assist in diverting paper waste from landfills and evaluating new recycling streams is critical to enhancing the circular economy and making an impact that addresses today’s environmental challenges. Brands should be setting goals to increase the recycled content used in products and seek out suppliers who prioritize recycled content and recyclability to ensure materials are reused. It’s clear that meeting the demands of eco-conscious consumers is an ever-evolving journey; but, by staying up to date with recycling trends and industry successes, paper and packaging companies can bring their products full circle with sustainable innovation and promote the circular economy. ■

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Green Sports Alliance comes to Kansas City

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The greening of sports facilities and events to become more sustainable has gone from being a fringy luxury to a central way that cities, franchises and sports events operate – and all in just the past five years.

With that kind of momentum and energy, The Kansas City Sports & Sustainability Symposium, hosted by the Green Sports Alliance, took place in August. Hosted by the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, the event was GSA’s first in-person event of 2021. Organizers were able to safely convene regional professional sports teams, venues, concessionaires, business representatives, and public leaders to explore how the sports industry can make plays to advance healthier, more sustainable communities.

The event featured a plethora of speakers, keynotes and special guests who addressed a variety of issues surrounding sustainability in sports and its adjacent industries. Programming included the establishment of sustainability partnerships, efficiency within our built environment, and local action across environmental and social fronts. Plenty of discussion also centered on three recent or brand-new facilities that are crowned jewels of sustainable architecture, technology, and detailing right down to the types of cups in which concession beverages are served: the San Francisco 49ers Levi Stadium, the Los Angeles Rams’ and Chargers’ $5 billion SoFi Stadium, and the Seattle Kraken’s Climate Pledge – the “greenest” major sports arena in the world.

Besides scheduled events, the day also focused on networking opportunities, during which participants engaged with each other. They

also took in the Vendor Showcase, presented by event sponsors, which featured various products and displays.

For those who took the option, the evening entertainment was perfect for the occasion: the Kansas City Royals facing the eventual American League champion Houston Astros.

All of it served as a highly successful prelude to the GSA Sports Summit 2022, which will take place in June. Location and other details were yet to be confirmed as of Sustainability Today’s deadline.

Sustainability Today and our parent magazine, Innovation & Tech Today, are media partners of Green Sports Alliance. ■ WINTER 2021 | SUSTAINABILITY TODAY

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Product Revolution and committed. For every watch sold, Solios funds one acre of rainforest restoration in partnership with the Rainforest Trust. For the 2021 holidays, they also donated $50 from every watch sold to the Make-a-Wish Foundation with a limited-edition sale of the Make-A-Wish Foundation Watch. The watch was a big hit at LA Vegan Fashion Week in October.

Watches fall in the general suggested retail price range of $275 to $295. Buyers can choose from two timepiece sizes, and also a variety of straps. For more information, check out https://www.solioswatches.com

Solios Watches Solios is the finest luxury sustainable solar watch brand on the market. Luxury and sustainability don’t often go hand-inhand, but Solios blends form and function to produce a solar-powered watch that makes you look good and feel good while wearing it.

Details on Solios’ environment, sustainable, and community service efforts reflect their commitment to a fully sustainable product. The watch is powered by clean, renewable energy. With just two hours of sun exposure, they receive six months of energy reserve. Imagine how many batteries are saved from landfill disposal with such a long reserve life.

The watches are made of certified recycled stainless-steel casing, recycled plastic, cork inlay vs. rubber inlay in the ecovegan strap, silicone leather strap (free of PU and PVC) and conscious mesh. The packaging is also 100% recyclable.

Solios also is very much socially conscious

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HeadPeace HeadPeace offers stylish, ethically-made headwear, designed to fit your active lifestyle! Our mission is to provide quality, stylish headwear that is ethically made-helping to make the world a better place, one piece at a time. The company and the headbands are the creation of Lindsay Theken, while the manufacturer is located in Nepal.

But the best part? HeadPeace is a sociallyethical, fair trade company that helps women coming out of slavery and trafficking situations get back on their feet.

“I love headbands, and because I couldn’t find the perfect one in the marketplace, I decided to create one by combining design elements from a few of my favorites-producing one that is comfortable, stylish,

and functional,” Theken says. “Since the headbands were such a hit, we have since expanded our product line to include lightweight hats, neck gaiters, tie bands and kids bands.”

Suggested retail prices range from $14.50 for headbands to $58.00 for full head wraps.

To learn more, go to https:// headpeaceheadbands.com

LHS Pour Over Coffee Dripper As easy as paper filters are to use, the only way to dispose of them in a sustainable way is to compost it with the grounds. Most people won’t do that, but instead, toss filters and grounds out. Once you factor in the resources used to make and transport those filters, it makes more sense to get a reusable one. If you’re a pour over coffee fan, this stainless steel filter can be used on its own on top of a mug or in conjunction with your existing setup. This model comes with its own cleaning brush, and it’s also dishwasher safe.

The LHS Pour Over Coffee Dripper also comes at a great suggested retail price – just $13. For more information, go to https:// reviewmycafe.com. ■

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COMING NEXT ISSUE: SPECIAL ISSUE: GENERATION REGENERATION What is the next step beyond establishing sustainability in our lives, homes and businesses?

Regenerating the planet and its resources. In our special Spring 2022 issue of Sustainability Today, we focus on the many efforts underway in business, industry and agriculture, and interview several forerunners behind this vital work. We also look into the many ways in which biomimicry is directly contributing to regeneration in cities and countryside alike. Our entire Sustainability Today editorial team will provide full coverage.

TRANSITIONS: TURNING OLDER TOWNS AND CITIES INTO SMART CITIES We’ve seen the impressive stories about smart cities created from scratch, potential megacities rising from the desert, and other installations of this new technology onto freshly built infrastructure. But the conversion of older towns and cities into smart cities may be most impressive of all. We look at the efforts in several major U.S. cities and rural towns to retrofit and build out smart city features — and the energy savings and connectivity boost it brings.

THE GREENING OF AUTO SHOWS What new trends, models and latest news came out of the 2021-22 auto show season? We find out in our special report on new clean energy rides from our all-star automotive team of Michael Coates and John Faulkner. In a separate story, we break down further details of how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill will impact the auto industry for the rest of the decade.

MOST INFLUENTIAL SMART PROJECTS We look at the 50 most influential Smart projects underway or just completed, how they have impacted their area communities and economies, and

ACTIVEWEAR THAT SUSTAINS As Spring approaches, it’s time to get outdoors more and work out, exercise and feel good in our new activewear. What can we wear that is made with earth-friendly materials and manufactured using sustainable practices and resource management? Our sustainable fashion writer, Destiny Nolan, looks into the styles to rock in 2022.

We look forward to presenting all of these stories, Envirobits, Product Revolution, the latest in sustainable practices and much more in the Spring issue of Sustainability Today.

100%

Rolland Enviro family grade contains 100% post-consumer fiber and is manufactured using renewable energy – Biogas and processed chlorine-free.

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