 Air
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U.N. Now Monitoring Progress Toward Access To Clean Cooking Tech
Five international organizations including the World Bank and the World Health Organization earlier this month issued a comprehensive look at the world’s progress towards the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 7) on access to electricity, clean cooking, renewable energy, and energy efficiency. Of those, rudimentary cookstoves in homes are by far the biggest contributor to black carbon emissions. If all households were to switch to stoves using liquefied natural gas by 2030, projected global black carbon emissions in the residential sector would decrease by 71 percent. If all households switched to higher efficiency wood-burning stoves, Asia could reduce residential black carbon emissions by approximately 60 percent. In addition to lowering black carbon emissions drastically, such measures would improve public health; the World Health Organization has estimated that smoke inhalation caused by indoor traditional stoves causes over two million deaths a year.
According to the report, three billion people – or more than 40% of the world’s population – do not have access to clean cooking fuels and technologies.
If the current trajectory continues, 2.3 billion people will continue to use traditional cooking methods in 2030. According to the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves' CEO, “This is unacceptable. It’s also further evidence that business as usual is not an option. Given the magnitude of the problem, there has not been enough attention nor enough investment in clean cooking."
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 Water
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Major Flooding in Ellicott City, Maryland For the Second Time in 2 Years
This past holiday weekend turned into a disaster for many residents of Ellicott City, MD, a Baltimore suburb. On Sunday the town was pounded by almost eight inches of rain causing devastating flash flooding which ravaged the downtown area. Emergency responders conducted 30 rescues Monday morning as they continued their search for a missing man, identified as Sgt. Eddison Hermond of the Maryland Army National Guard. The disaster was similar to a flash flood two years ago that killed two people and heavily damaged and destroyed two dozen buildings. Some business owners had just recovered from the 2016 storm as Sunday's deluge came.
Jeff Halverson, professor of meteorology at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a contributor to the Capital Weather Gang, said the storm pattern had essentially stalled over Ellicott City, the same phenomenon that caused massive flooding in the city of Frederick two weeks ago. “To say lightning strikes twice is basically what’s happening,” Halverson said.
Why This Matters: This is the third major flood in Ellicott City since 2011 and because of its location in a valley, where the river converges with two major creeks, the city is particularly susceptible to flooding. Since climate change unfolds over decades and over very large regions it didn't necessarily "cause" this storm, BUT climate change has likely altered the broader environment where these types of storms develop by increasing the water vapor content of the atmosphere as a whole. Studies have shown a statistically meaningful uptick in the frequency of extreme rain events over the eastern United States because of this increase. Because of climate change, these types of flash floods will become increasingly more likely in areas that are already rainy.
How To Help Victims: The Howard County Food Bank is accepting donations in partnership with Ellicott City Partnership. Donations can be sent electronically through their website or mailed to Ellicott City Partnership, P.O. Box 92, Ellicott City, Maryland. The nonprofit is also accruing donations through AmazonSmile.
The Howard County Community Relief Fund is accepting donations as well through their website. Click on the donation button at the bottom of the page.
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 People
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Look For the Plastic Free Label or Someday the Plastic Free Shop
Plastic is everywhere -- it is omnipresent in our world. Today, 300 million metric tons of plastic are produced globally every year, of which 50% is for disposable applications such as packaging. Until now, consumers had no idea whether a product they purchased contained plastic -- it is often hidden or goes unnoticed in consumer goods. But now, the environmental group A Plastic Planet debuted the world's first "Plastic Free Trust Mark" to help shoppers know that their products are packaged entirely without the non-biodegradable material, which harms marine life and has entered the larger food chain. "Our Trust Mark cuts through the confusion of symbols and labels and tells you just one thing—this packaging is plastic-free and therefore guilt-free. Finally, shoppers can be part of the solution, not the problem," said A Plastic Planet co-founder Sian Sutherland.
In February of this year, the world's first plastic-free supermarket aisle was unveiled in Amsterdam as pressure to curb the world's plastic binge continues to grow. With nearly 700 plastic-free goods to select from at one of the branches of Ekoplaza, a Dutch supermarket chain, the aisle gives shoppers the opportunity to buy their groceries in "new compostable bio-materials as well as traditional materials" such as glass, metal, and cardboard.
Why This Matters: We need to break our addiction to plastics -- in these quantities, it is not good for us or our planet. Approximately 9.2 billion tons of plastic exist currently and the vast majority of that -- 6.9 billion tons are waste, and of that 6.3 billion tons have not been recycled or burned. The plastic explosion is increasing -- more than half of the plastic that exists has been produced in the last 15 years. Our ODP poll showed that consumers, and in particular millennials, are increasingly concerned about plastic and want to purchase less. We all as consumers should have more plastic free options.
To Go Deeper: You can learn more about the planet's plastic problems and about the solutions and things you can do by going to A Plastic Planet's website here.
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 Food
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World Central Kitchen Activates #ChefsForHawaii
We've been including updates about Kilauea in ODP and sadly the Big Island's residents are still not in the clear. The USGS is warning of new ground cracking, and possible new outbreaks of lava flows. This past weekend, lava from Hawaii’s erupting Kilauea volcano reached the Puna Geothermal Venture plant, covering a well and threatening another.
In response to the eruption of Kilauea, which forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes, World Central Kitchen has activated a kitchen in Pahoa to serve hundreds of evacuees hot meals daily. Chef Tim Kilconyne, who helped to lead relief efforts in California following the Ventura wildfires, has led the team in preparing breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the chefs and volunteers have already prepared hearty dishes like Vietnamese beef stew, roasted vegetable sandwiches, and coconut lentil curry.
Why This Matters: A hot meal can go a long way in providing comfort and easing the anxiety of people who have been indefinitely evacuated or have lost everything. These operations, however, require many hands to make them work. World Central Kitchen is in need of volunteers to help prepare, serve, and deliver meals – sign up to volunteer here! If you can’t volunteer, donations to purchase ingredients to prepare meals are needed – donate here.
Don't Forget: To enter the giveaway all you have to do is be a current subscriber and get a friend to sign up for ODP. Then shoot us an email with your name and your referred friend's name and you're both entered! *
We'll pick a winner on Friday. Good luck!!!
(transportation/lodging are not covered so make sure you live in DC or can get yourself here June 6th)
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 Sustainability
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A New Twist Takes Food Waste From Table to Farm
Food waste is a huge global problem, with the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization reporting that approximately one-third of all food produced is thrown away, which in total is estimated to be about 1.3 billion tons of food annually. This waste or loss occurs throughout the food supply chain. One of the most important things that people can do is find beneficial uses for food that otherwise would be wasted. And now, there is a farm in England that does just that. The farm, Indie Ecology, collects leftovers from a few of London's best restaurants and uses it to make compost that it then uses to grow produce that is more sustainable, which is then used by the very same chefs from which the original scraps were collected. Using a combination of fermented molasses and naturally occurring microorganisms -- a Japanese method known as "bokashi," Indie Ecology turns the food scraps into a super-rich compost material. This process has two advantages over ordinary composting -- it is not smelly or attract bugs, and meat, fish and dairly can be composted.
Why This Matters: There are many ways that individuals can reduce food waste, and composting is only one of them. But for restaurants, that have large quantities of food waste to deal with, farms like Indie Ecology provide a great way to do something beneficial with the food they throw away and to get wholesome food products in return.
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 Animals
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One Cool Thing: Bee and Woman Strike a Friendship After a Garden Rescue
Tuesdays back from a long weekend are always rough but check out this heartwarming video of a woman who rescued and befriended a geriatric bumblebee in her garden (sounds ridiculous but just watch!). Fiona Presly emphasized that even the smallest creatures sometimes need our help and that humans should do what they can to help pollinators. Bee a friend, lend a hand!
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