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How to live a low waste, eco-friendlier lifestyle – and how you can do it

Posted on July 22, 2020 October 8, 2020 by Emma Jansen

For about a year now, I have become more aware of the huge impact that one family can have on the world, in terms of waste and carbon emissions, and I have been determined to reduce mine as much as possible. After my first year studying Biology at university, I suddenly thought to myself that things had to change.

Looking back on it, I feels as though I had an epiphany of some sorts which made me think about the items I threw “away”, and that my eating meat (which almost seems unreal to me now) was having a detrimental effect on the planet and the animals which I had deluded myself about. I slowly started introducing ideas of ways to be eco-friendlier to my family, which thankfully, they were happy to adopt after learning more about the problems we face.

Guided Tours as Cross-cultural Inspiration to Sustainable Living

Posted on July 21, 2020 October 8, 2020 by Emma Jansen

Guided tours are an integral part of visiting a new destination—especially so if the destination is a city. Many tourists use tours to see the main sights and get background information on the destination’s history and culture. The guided tour can, however, also be used to raise awareness on key issues such as sustainability.

Active Copenhagen is a network of experience creators who offer tours and experiences showing sustainable living in practice. The mode of transportation is green: on bikes, running, walking, in kayak or on solar-driven boats. Our common storyline often does not include the word “sustainability” in the title or description. Rather, we focus on “localhood”: showing the tourist what it is like to be a local in Copenhagen—integrating sustainability on a practical level.

San Francisco’s Answer to Fast Fashion: A Zero Textile Waste Initiative

Posted on July 20, 2020 October 7, 2020 by Emma Jansen

Fifteen years after the Zero Waste Textile initiative started in San Francisco in 2003, the city has diverted 80 percent of all waste generated in the city away from landfill disposal through source reduction, reuse, recycling and composting programs—the highest rate of any major U.S. city according the Environmental Protection Agency. Although there is still a lot to go before reaching the goal of zero waste by 2030, there are clothing companies closing the loop between the production and recycling of our clothes.

For those uninitiated in the idea of a circular economy, “closing the gap” refers to the practice of designing, sourcing, producing, and providing clothes, shoes or accessories “with the intention to be used and circulate responsibly and effectively in society for as long as possible in their most valuable form, and hereafter return safely to the biosphere when no longer of human use.” In other words, it is the well-known mantra of reuse-reduce-recycle, just applied to our clothing.

Happiness Needs to Be Financed Too – A New Generation of Conservation Finance in Bhutan

Posted on July 19, 2020 April 7, 2021 by Emma Jansen

Nestled among the peaks of the Himalayas between China and India — Bhutan is a land of remote mountain valleys, rich in natural wonders — and with a population less than one million, one of the most sparsely populated countries in Asia.

Contrary to the declines across the rest of the world, flora and fauna populations are showing a reverse trend. For a large number of species under threat in the region, the country has proven to be an important last refuge. Its mountain peaks host some of the few remaining populations of snow leopard and red pandas reside near bamboo stacks in the high mountain forests.

The Ripple Effect of Investing in Women and Tech

Posted on July 18, 2020 April 8, 2021 by Emma Jansen

Investing in women is an investment in the world, and fortunately, the majority of investors recognize the importance of investing in gender-balanced teams. But achieving gender equity calls for more than agreement. Less than 10 percent of these same investors build a strategy or set targets to fulfill this belief, and only 10 percent of women are in senior decision-making positions. In 2017, less than 3 percent of global venture funding went to female-led teams. However, at MIT Solve, we believe in putting women’s great ideas into action.

With 62 percent women-led startups, our 2018 Solver Class strikes more than balance. To highlight this impact, we’re featuring four of our women-led 2018 Solver teams who advance the UN Sustainable Development Goal #5 for gender equality, empowering women and girls worldwide.

From upskilling garment workers, to improving maternal healthcare, to documenting sexual violence, these four startups are using tech to change lives and empower women in innovative ways. Each drives us further toward reaching gender equality.

The US millenial hotspot pioneering a zero waste economy

Posted on July 17, 2020 October 8, 2020 by Emma Jansen

It is the US city that is a magnet for millenials and that is positioned at the forefront of a new kind of economy: one powered by startups developing creative ways to turn waste into valuable new products. No, we are not talking about the high-profile green innovators of San Francisco, Portland or Seattle, but the quiet achiever of Charlotte, North Carolina. The city, which in 2017 was ranked the top destination in the country for millenials to move to, has in recent years been undertaking a range of eco-friendly measures popular with younger Americans, including vast expansions of bike lane networks and public transport systems, not to mention the addition of swaths of parkland. Now city authorities are about to take things to a whole other level as Charlotte becomes the first American city to commit to the circular economy as a public sector strategy.

Can Science-based Targets Truly Guide Sustainable Development?

Posted on July 16, 2020 October 8, 2020 by Emma Jansen

What lines can we not afford to cross when it comes to our impact on the planet? As the world races to achieve the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, it is vital that the pursuit of sustainable development is undertaken within the absolute limits of what the earth can support.

For answers, many are turning to science-based targets, which are already being employed in the effort to reduce carbon emissions. A range of collaborators including the UN Global Compact are behind the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which has introduced quantifiable targets based on sound science. It has been adopted by 169 major corporations in order to tackle climate change. Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact has linked science-based targets to the realization of SDG 13 (Combatting Climate Change).

However, carbon emissions are just one of the many ways in which humans impact the environment. Genuine sustainable development thereby needs to avoid endangering other crucial planetary life support systems, such as biodiversity, soil nutrients, and freshwater. Where the SDGs can provide a vision of a world in which both the human and natural ecosystems thrive, science-based targets can quantify what this world looks like in practice.

When Dignity Transcends Human Behavior, We all Win

Posted on July 15, 2020 October 8, 2020 by Emma Jansen

Since publishing my first book seven year ago, I have spent much time speaking before a diversity of audiences on the subject of sustainability. Over the course of hundreds of conversations, people have opened up about the role of individual citizens and consumers in creating and manifesting a “better world” for themselves, their children, and future generations. I have found that a “sustainability generation” has been awakened and has mobilized as force for good, to better themselves and the world.

Increasingly, people have become more knowledgeable about the complex and interrelated dynamics of the communities in which they live. Although not all people define or validate sustainability the same way, there is a fundamental and advancing understanding that humans and our behaviors, represent the common denominator for a better future. The context of sustainability has deep roots in environmental conservation and management, however, people are now understanding and validating the entrenched realities for social equity and economic prosperity.