• Sustainability

New Report Finds “Eco-Awakening” By Consumers Globally

• #30x30
• biodiversity
• nature
• sustainability
• World Economic Forum
• World Wildlife Fund
• WWF

A new report by the Economist Intelligence Unit found that overwhelmingly people around the world are seeking out sustainable goods and companies that operate that way — there has been a 71% increase in the popularity of web searches for sustainable goods over the past five years, and the percentage grew even during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Why This Matters:  When the G7’s big economic powers meet next month in the United Kingdom, both the climate and the biodiversity crisis will be on the agenda.

• Sustainability

Damaged Bridge Halts 1,000 Barges Carrying Agricultural Exports

• #unitedforinfrastructure
• bridge
• Infrastructure
• pipeline
• ports
• traffic

In another sign of America’s aging and vulnerable infrastructure, last Thursday a crack in a bridge over the Mississippi river halted hundreds of cargo ships along the nation’s most significant route for agricultural exports, not to mention that the bridge was shut down to auto traffic causing huge backups on I-40 in Tennessee. 

Why This Matters: First the Colonial pipeline and now this — our nation’s infrastructure is in need of bolstering.

• Sustainability

Tesla Stops Accepting Bitcoin Transactions Due To Environmental Impact of Cryptocurrencies

• Bitcoin
• blockchain
• carbon footprint
• climate change
• cryptocurrency
• Elon Musk
• energy
• Tesla

Tesla will no longer accept payments in Bitcoin because of its effects on the environment. On Wednesday the company’s CEO Elon Musk  tweeted that Tesla has concerns about the “rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining.”  He emphasized that Tesla won’t sell its $2.5 billion worth of Bitcoin.

Why this Matters:  Musk’s statement has proven controversial, as it has affected cryptocurrency markets, which have shed as much as $365.85 billion in value since his tweet.

• Sustainability

Mattel Introduces New Toy Recycling Program for Barbies, Matchbox Cars, and More

• #BreakFreeFromPlastic
• Barbie
• circular economy
• plastic recycling

by Amy Lupica, ODP Staff Writer Come on, Barbie! Let’s go…recycle? You read that right; Mattel has introduced a new program called “Mattel PlayBack,” where kids of all ages can send in their old toys to be recycled into new ones. While the pilot program will only be available in the U.S. and Canada, Mattel hopes to have programs […]

• Sustainability

Managing Corporate Risk Must Include Understanding Climate Risk

• corporate sustainability
• ESG
• nature based solutions

by David Kuhn, Lead, Corporate Resilience, World Wildlife Fund A growing number of companies have responded to the climate change threat by championing sustainable solutions like deforestation-free production and clean energy. But as laudable and essential as these efforts are, climate change has progressed to the point where sustainability alone is no longer a sufficient […]

• Sustainability

Diamonds No Longer In the Rough: Pandora Announces Transition to Lab-Made Diamonds 

• diamonds
• mining. blood diamonds
• Pandora
• sustainable

The largest jewelry company in the world, Pandora, announced that it will no longer use mined diamonds in its wares. Instead, the company opted to use lab-created diamonds, that have the same “optical, chemical, thermal and physical characteristics.” The collection, Pandora Brilliance, is the company’s first created only with diamonds manufactured in labs. 

Why this Matters:  These lab-made diamonds are made more sustainably than their mined counterparts.