The governments and the European Parliament need to agree on the Ecodesign Regulation before it can enter law. Under the initial March 2022 proposal by the European Commission, the Commission itself was to have determined at a later stage whether to put destruction bans in place.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-countries-back-ban-destruction-unsold-textiles-2023-05-22/
Category Archives: sustainability
Why generative AI is a raw material, not a finished product
Seeing generative AI as a raw material might be the perspective shift you’ve been looking for to get your thinking get unstuck and help you make sense of the rhetoric around you.
https://kozyrkov.medium.com/why-generative-ai-is-a-raw-material-not-a-finished-product-87b722292e70
Spain to pay national bus and train tickets for young people this summer
The offer applies to anyone aged 18-30 who is an EU citizen and a resident in Spain. It includes discounts of up to 90 percent on state-run buses and short-to-medium distance trains.
https://www.thelocal.es/20230510/spain-to-pay-national-bus-and-train-tickets-for-young-people-this-summer?tpcc=newsletter_subscriber&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=how_to_get_a_100_mortgage_in_spain_and_more_travel_discounts_for_young_people&utm_term=2023-05-10
Venture Capital Has a New Net-Zero Alliance
Putting together a band of interested firms is only the first step. Next, the investors plan to develop a methodology to reduce their emissions and reach net-zero and best practices to encourage their portfolio companies to do the same. VCA members have been consulting with Project Frame, an initiative of the nonprofit Prime Coalition, to develop a structured way for VCs to think about and quantify their emissions — and how to reduce them over time. That includes the role that carbon offsets — which have a spotty record — will play in ensuring their portfolios reach net-zero.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-25/venture-capital-focuses-on-climate-change-with-new-net-zero-alliance
What Fast Fashion Can And Should Learn From Fast Food’s Sustainable Evolution
Like the big fast food chains, fast fashion brands that deliver to your door – sometimes in less than a day – have rapidly became a habit for many around the world. Both offer an instant, affordable pick-me-up – a mini-treat for people who, in today’s economic climate, are likely time poor and financially stretched. But there is a cost, of course: the environment, and the conditions in which these products are made.
https://www-forbes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.forbes.com/sites/christophermarquis/2023/04/25/what-fast-fashion-can-and-should-learn-from-fast-foods-sustainable-evolution/amp/
Why are some urban Indians choosing to live in homes made out of mud, cow dung or sugar cane?
Many other middle and upper-middle class families who used to live in sprawling bungalows or big city flats are now choosing to live in smaller mud houses, largely on the outskirts of small towns, opting for simpler living while coping with climate change.
Designers, planners and architects are helping them to build minimalist homes with primarily mud, but also other locally-sourced materials including bamboo, recycled wood, lime, baked bricks, cow dung, wheat husks and stones.
https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3218042/why-are-some-urban-indians-choosing-live-homes-made-out-mud-cow-dung-or-sugar-cane
A City Is Not a Computer
Just as important as the data stored and accessed on city servers, in archival boxes, on library shelves and museum walls are the forms of urban intelligence that cannot be easily contained, framed, and catalogued. We need to ask: What place-based “information” doesn’t fit on a shelf or in a database?
https://placesjournal.org/article/a-city-is-not-a-computer/?gclid=CjwKCAjw9J2iBhBPEiwAErwpeQHVt79G7jzEW3h3qz-0x-OsBS7DzJEehv_ddOMjEX47sVfclHjTNRoCPG8QAvD_BwE&cn-reloaded=1
This popular Italian region is imposing restrictions on tourists
“We reached the limit of our resources, we had problems with traffic, and residents have difficulty finding places to live,” he said, adding that they want to “guarantee the quality [of life] for locals and tourists,” which has been growing harder over the past decade.
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/italy-tourist-restrictions-alto-adige/index.html
Freitag’s Sweat-Yourself-Shop is a tiny factory for making bags
Swiss brand Freitag has created a shop in Zurich, which is a “micro-factory” where customers can help make their own bag out of recycled tarpaulins.
Named Sweat-Yourself-Shop, the interactive retail space on Grüngasse was designed by Freitag to take their existing customisation options one step further.
https://www.dezeen.com/2020/10/31/sweat-yourself-shop-recycling-freitag-interiors-zurich/
Fashion can now report its plastic use. Will reduction follow?
Global non-profit CDP’s environmental disclosure system is open for reporting on plastics for the first time as of 19 April. For fashion, it’s an opportunity to get granular about how much plastic the industry uses and produces in packaging, production and materials, including plastic-based fibres such as polyester. The next step is to create strategies to reduce or eliminate plastic.
https://www.voguebusiness.com/sustainability/fashion-can-now-report-its-plastic-use-will-reduction-follow?utm_source=linkedIn&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=onsite-share&utm_brand=vogue-bz&utm_social-type=earned
Analyzing Trends with Tim Stock 