The Higg Index is on its way to becoming a de facto global standard. In Europe, policymakers this year are set to lay out rules on how brands must back up their environmental claims, and in New York, a bill seeks to hold fashion brands accountable for their role in climate change. Fashion-industry officials have said the Higg Index could be used as a benchmark in both.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/12/climate/vegan-leather-synthetics-fashion-industry.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes
Category Archives: manufacturing
Air Protein creates fake steak from CO2 that replicates taste and texture of meat
While beef generates 70 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions for every kilogram produced, while also causing widespread deforestation, Air Protein founder Lisa Dyson claims that its protein production emits far less carbon and doesn’t require land or animals.
“We look at the analysis from cradle to gate, prior to when the product is consumed,” she told Dezeen. “On this basis, our vision is to build the first carbon-negative meat company.”
https://www-dezeen-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.dezeen.com/2022/04/14/air-protein-meat-alternative-recycled-carbon-dioxide/amp/
Redefining ‘Sustainable Fashion’
“Sustainable,” implies “able to continue over a period of time,” according to the Cambridge Dictionary. “Fashion,” on the other hand, implies change over time. To reconcile the two is impossible. No wonder striving for net-zero emissions makes us all feel like Don Quixote, tilting at windmills.
Because there is no simple answer to solving fashion’s role in climate change. Even the obvious one — don’t make, or buy, any new stuff, and don’t throw away any old stuff — has negative implications for employment, know-how and self-definition. (After all, people have been adorning themselves to express themselves for pretty much as long as they have understood themselves as “selves.”) The crucial issue for each of us, no matter which side of the equation we are on, is thinking about and understanding the effects of the choices we make, so we can make better ones in the future.
Key minerals in an EV battery
Gen Z Has a Fast Fashion Problem. That’s Bad for the Climate and Equity
A 2020 survey by Vogue Business found that more than half of its Gen Z participants bought most of their clothes from fast-fashion brands, like H&M, Gap, Zara and Forever 21. Market research firm Mintel has reported that Gen Z, generally seen as those born between 1997 and 2010, also buys more clothes than older generations, with the average Gen-Zer owning hundreds of dollars worth of outfits that never get worn at all. It’s a trend that analysts say is fueled by a social media culture that pressures youth and young adults to never wear the same outfit twice, as well as an industry that has made impulse buying and returning items far easier.
https://insideclimatenews.org/todaysclimate/gen-z-has-a-fast-fashion-problem-thats-bad-for-the-climate-and-equity/
Coca-Cola turns to refillable glass bottles in fight against inflation
To prepare for the expected drop in consumer purchasing power, Coca-Cola said it was expanding the distribution of cheaper returnable or refillable glass bottles in emerging markets in Latin America and Africa.
https://www.reuters.com/business/coca-cola-beats-quarterly-revenue-expectations-2022-04-25/
Why Nike Is Making Shoes You Can Take Apart
The ISPA team tackled the disassembly challenge. “Designed in partnership with engineering, digital product creation and development, these shoes are completely informed by method of make — it really is a case of form following function,” says Darryl Matthews, VP, Catalyst Footwear Product Design. “Our hope is that these ideas and aesthetics become normalized, accelerating our ability to imagine how shoes will continue to evolve in the future.”
https://news.nike.com/news/nike-ispa-link-link-axis
Inside LVMH’s biggest sustainability plan yet
Capelli says LVMH is experimenting with new material innovations and dye technologies, and plans to soon showcase some “first experimentation” with Colorifix, a startup that uses synthetic biology to replace industrial chemical dyes with nature-friendly alternatives. Much of the other work that LVMH is doing is internal, he explains. The company plans to share sustainability details with consumers at the product level eventually; that will be a slow rollout, with a goal to share some level of information for all products by 2026 and for all products to be “regeneratively designed” by 2030.
https://www.voguebusiness.com/sustainability/inside-lvmhs-biggest-sustainability-plan-yet
The SEC proposed a landmark climate disclosure rule.
Environmentalists hailed the rule as a crucial first step in forcing the private sector to confront the economic risks of a warming world, even as some said the SEC should have gone further in requiring all businesses to disclose the emissions generated by their supply chain and customers.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/03/21/sec-climate-change-rule/
Robot Subscription Services Let Companies Automate on the Cheap
Society has long worried that the widespread adoption of robots will displace workers and eliminate jobs. But rather than fearing the arrival of automatons, Shakerria Grier, a 27-year-old quality auditor at Georgia-based Thomson Plastics Inc., is relieved to get the help.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-31/automation-comes-to-more-factories-with-robot-leasing
Analyzing Trends with Tim Stock 