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Nowadays, sustainability plays a huge role in deciding vacation spots, hotels, restaurants, and packages. Many businesses advertise themselves as eco-friendly or sustainable, and it can be tough to determine whether they comply with the requirements. The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) developed a certification that can help tourists identify those businesses that are, in fact, […] The post <strong>Costa Rica’s Certification of Sustainable Tourism&lt;/strong> appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

MIT alumnus-founded FarmWise uses autonomous machines to snip weeds while preserving crops, eliminating the need for herbicides.

Past Presentation | This episode looks at a range of sustainable practices young Edmontonians are engaged in to bring local, healthy and delicious food to local tables. Host Paula Humby plants an apple tree.

Now Playing | A day in the life of Patrick Lang living a sustainable life in Malibu… filmed before his home and community were consumed by fire in the fall of 2018.

Growers are using images taken from space to quantify how much carbon is stored in their soil and validate the credits they’re selling.

Costa Rica is often referred to as the poster child for environmental conservation. The country has achieved a remarkable feat of reversing deforestation that had once threatened its rich biodiversity. With nearly 52% of its landmass covered in forests, the country has become a model for reforestation efforts globally. However, as the world grapples with […] The post Costa Rica’s Reforestation Victory: Contemplating Sustainable Preservation appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Bitcoin has a carbon emissions problem due to the vast energy consumption of mining. In fact, bans on cryptomining have popped up around the world...

Virtuous proclamations and campaigns from clothing brands can often amount to greenwashing, or in some cases, “clearwashing,” where the information doesn’t tell consumers much.

Both approval and ranked choice voting put fire under the feet of elected officials to do the right thing for the environment — or risk being voted out. The post Reform Our Elections to Secure a Sustainable Future appeared first on The Revelator.

Canary Media thanks Sense for its support of the Home of the Future series. In East New York, a residential area in the outer reaches of Brooklyn, a 14-story apartment building rises from the site of a demolished water pumping facility. With airtight insulation and advanced ventilation, the new brick-clad…

Safely growing seafood in federal waters could help stabilize supply for consumers, drive job creation and meet the demand for sustainably sourced, nutritious protein.

Past Presentation | 20 years ago, a young group of social entrepreneurs started a company to sustainably harvest acai in the Brazilian rainforest. Along the way, they joined a movement of purpose-driven companies looking to change the world through an alternative economic model. These "triple bottom line" businesses measure success not only financially but also socially and environmentally. Their practice of "conscious commerce" addresses some of today’s most challenging issues. This award-winning documentary empowers viewers to be part of the solution by "voting with their dollars" and supporting brands and products that make positive change for the planet.

At this year's RE:WIRED Green event, food scientists and environmental justice activists mapped out how we can end world hunger and preserve our planet.

Costa Rica is known for being an eco-friendly destination, a place to be one with nature and enjoy the ‘Pura Vida’ life. The country is powered by renewable energy and has a vast number of national parks, wildlife reserves, and conservation areas. Many hotels and businesses have consciously decided to immerse into this lifestyle and […] The post 3 Sustainable Hotels in Costa Rica that Put the Planet First appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

In an ever warming world, the health benefits of stadium air-conditioning may not outweigh the climate risks

There are fears the Northern Territory government will allow gas and other industries to extract substantially more water from the environment than is currently allowed.

Research demonstrates a pathway to sustainably produce biojet fuel domestically and meet the country’s growing aviation fuel demand. Every day in the United States, 45,000...

The teams will work toward sustainable microchips and topological materials as well as socioresilient materials design.

Now Playing | Joep van Dijk is a passionate climate scientist. He likes to search for extreme examples that show how life can be lived sustainably. This documentary follows Joep on his CO2-neutral journey from Amsterdam to the United States of America and shows how this choice inspires himself and others to live a climate conscious life.

Up to now we have had fine-sounding but ultimately ineffectual words. New National Environmental Standards hold the key to finally delivering effective protection for the environment.

The chef of Silo, London's lauded closed-loop, zero-waste restaurant, shares best practices for food service in L.A. and beyond

Republicans this week opened a new front in their war on “woke capital.” Attorneys general from 13 states filed a protest at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to keep Vanguard—one of the world’s largest asset managers—from purchasing shares in U.S. utility companies. The officials cited the company’s involvement in the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative—which aims to reduce emissions—as well as the sustainability-focused Ceres Investor Network. Vanguard, the attorneys general argued, aims “to shift global electricity production from natural gas and coal from approximately 67% of global electricity to approximately 0%.” Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron told S&P Global that his office would “oppose any effort that will undermine Kentucky’s economy, destroy good paying jobs, and make it harder for Kentuckians to heat their homes and feed their families.” The timing on this would be comical if the news itself weren’t so disturbing: As an interview with the CEO of the largest asset manager in the world made clear on Wednesday, his ilk pose much less of a threat to the fossil fuel economy than Cameron and his comrades in the battle against so-called environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) would seem to believe. Speaking to The New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin this week, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink was resolute about his commitment to fossil fuels. “I actually believe we’re going to need hydrocarbons for 70 years,” he said when asked about Republican opposition to ESG and to him, personally. “I’m not happy with the narrative [that asset managers are hostile to fossil fuels] because it fills the airwaves,” he also said. He added that the company now spends considerable time defending itself against attacks from the right that are “not based on facts.”While Republicans have articulated their crusade against ESG as a defense of America’s hardworking energy producers, oil drillers and Fink have plenty in common. Neither see a contradiction between theoretical commitments to decarbonization and continuing prolific fossil fuel production indefinitely. Since Republicans began introducing so-called “Energy Discrimination Elimination” bills into statehouses, BlackRock has repeatedly emphasized their sizable investments in fossil fuels at home and abroad. “We expect to remain long-term investors in carbon-intensive companies, because they play crucial roles in the economy and in a successful transition,” the company wrote in a statement released this spring on achieving net-zero emissions by 2030. Even its ESG-themed investment products can still contain fossil fuel investments. Together, Blackrock and Vanguard have $60 billion invested in coal expansion. As of March, the biggest 30 asset managers have a combined $468 billion invested in 12 major private and state-owned oil and gas companies, including ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco. For Fink, at least, this isn’t in any sort of contradiction with his company’s high-minded, pragmatic commitment to a longer term vision: They can continue to reap returns from fossil fuels and decarbonization alike. As he told the New York Times, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed by Democrats in August will be an especially important part of that. As the economy transitions away from an era of asset price inflation and flashy unicorns, Fink envisions government subsidies for green technologies as a key frontier for investment in the years to come. “Those types of subsidies that are coming from the government to invest in decarbonization, it’s going to produce 12, 13, 14 percent returns very easily,” he said. “Now you’re able to more safely invest in other things that provide you a coupon to get to your returns. Despite all the doom and gloom there are more opportunities to invest in the market today than there was a year ago,” he told Sorkin. Investments in carbon capture and sequestration and less greenhouse-gas-intensive farming methods, he added, can deliver returns—provided the government throws in enough sweeteners. They’ll also, at least theoretically, make it possible to keep digging fossil fuels out of the ground and selling them. Fossil fuel executives have said about as much, praising the IRA’s expansion of tax credits for carbon capture and storage. On ExxonMobil’s most recent earnings call, CEO Darren Woods said the bill “contributed to the value proposition” for carbon capture and storage, adding that it “opens the aperture in terms of the CO2 that can be cost effectively captured or avoided.” Occidental Petroleum CEO Vicki Hollub similarly told her investors that the IRA will allow them to develop further carbon capture and storage and direct air capture projects. On Chevron’s most recent earnings call, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth was especially enthused that the Inflation Reduction Act had clarified their ability to snap up new leases on federal land for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, saying that Chevron was “kind of encouraged by the Inflation Reduction Act.” All announced surging profits.For BlackRock and fossil fuel companies alike, the climate policies that can pass muster in Congress don’t cut into their existing business so much as create exciting new asset classes and investment opportunities, since the state will now step in to backstop what might otherwise be risky investments. What the Republicans railing against ESG don’t seem to grasp is that the banks and asset managers they’re targeting are principally looking to cash in. So long as returns are flowing from both they’ll keep investing in fossil fuels right alongside the new technologies meant to erase their greenhouse gas emissions. What’s not clear—or relevant to companies solely interested in profits—is whether the technologies now being rendered more attractive investments by the IRA will actually work. Whether espoused by asset managers, fossil fuel executives, or the Biden administration, the win-win, all-of-the-above approach to energy policy is a massive gamble from a decarbonization perspective. The bet is that new, clean stuff will make the old, dirty stuff harmless or irrelevant. That’s not guaranteed. The irony of the GOP’s war on woke capital is just how much credit it gives the financial sector for speeding along the end of fossil fuels. Unfortunately, financiers have no such thing in mind.

Now Playing | When we talk about Sustainability, we tend to focus on the sustainable solutions based on physical resources. However, very frequently we overlook a key part for creating a successful sustainable society: Cultural Sustainability.

Now Playing | In May 2010, Rulindo, Rwanda launched an ambitious plan to bring access to water and sanitation services to the entire district population. This film explores the story, challenges and ultimate success for reaching over 330,000 people with safe water in the rural and mountainous Rulindo District, and how this project is inspiring sustainable water (infrastructure and sanitation) models around the world.

Now Playing | In 2008, a sustainable development project began in the middle of the Kenai Fjords of Alaska, 3 hours by boat from the nearest port of civilization. Told from the points of view of crew members, project coordinators and the Native Alaskan corporation that owns the land itself, the film is both a celebration of and a blueprint for sustainable construction, as well as an exciting battle against time and the elements deep within wild Alaska.

Iata director general Willie Walsh calls for greater production of sustainable aviation fuelAirline passengers face higher ticket prices as the industry moves towards its target of reducing emissions to net zero by 2050, the head of a global trade association said on Tuesday.Willie Walsh, the director general of the International Air Transport Association, which includes most of the world’s big airlines, called for swifter action in Europe to drive up scarce production of greener sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Continue reading...

Past Presentation | From Farm To Table is an Eco-documentary film showcasing a school's commitment to integrating stewardship of our earth's resources into its curriculum. The film follows students working in their school garden and sustainable organic farm from planting to harvesting and demonstrates the link between fresh locally grown sustainable products and healthier eating while simultaneously building community and promoting the stewardship of our earth's resources. The important issues of conservation, preservation, biodiversity and animal welfare are addressed. In conclusion, as a call to action we are encouraged to learn more, ask questions and take action by growing our own food and buying local food.

The minister for mines, Irene Vélez, told world leaders the country will shift away from fossil fuels to begin a sustainable chapterColombia’s leftwing government has announced that it will not approve any new oil and gas exploration projects as it seeks to shift away from fossil fuels and toward a new sustainable economy.Irene Vélez, the minister for mines told world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the time had come for the Andean nation to move away from its reliance on oil and gas and begin a new, greener chapter in the country’s history. Continue reading...

Report sponsored by some of the largest food and farming businesses finds pace of shift to sustainable practices too slowFood companies and governments must come together immediately to change the world’s agricultural practices or risk “destroying the planet”, according to the sponsors of a report by some of the largest food and farming businesses released on Thursday.The report, from a task force within the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), a network of global CEOs focused on climate issues established by King Charles III, is being released days before the start of the United Nation’s Cop27 climate summit in Egypt. Continue reading...

The MIT Office of Sustainability gathers students, staff, faculty, and researchers for annual Sustainability Connect.

Past Presentation | People are increasingly aware of the origins of their food and the effects of chemicals in agriculture. Numen brings the same analysis to our healthcare system, providing both a sobering view and a vision of safe, elective and sustainable medicine.

Are some really more sustainable than others?

Sustainable fishing exists, but it can be complicated

Now Playing | We pollute the environment upon which we depend. An exploration of the paradox of sustainable skiing and how we can protect the places we love.

Past Presentation | ETHYL PART TWO takes us on a journey to Santa Fe Community College to see how Ethyl is educating surrounding communities to bring awareness to the impacts of plastic use and solutions for a sustainable future.

Past Presentation | Explores solutions to the global crises we face today – solutions any one of us can be part of – through the inspiring stories of people pioneering change in their own lives and in their communities in order to live in a sustainable and regenerative way.

A Nobel Prize was awarded for creating an efficient and sustainable way to bind chemicals

Recycling can only get us so far to a sustainable plastic future. The real solution to transforming the plastic economy lies in making less in the first place

New modeling estimates that food production could add a degree Celsius to global warming. But it also points to powerful ways to make diets more sustainable.

These legislative measures address economic and environmental concerns by providing a market-driven solution that is politically expedient and sustainable.

Past Presentation | The Sea of Cortez is one of the most lush, bio-diverse seas on this planet. Or at least it was. Located between mainland Mexico and the California Baja Peninsula, the Sea of Cortez has been called the “Aquarium of the World” being home to over 950 varieties of fish and 30 species of marine mammals. But this maritime treasure and the creatures that call it home are in danger.

The keto and paleo diets were discovered to be the least sustainable and received the lowest diet quality scores among the six popular diets that...

Past Presentation | For 30 years New Mexico-based Reynolds and his green disciples have devoted their time to advancing the art of “Earthship Biotecture” by building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities where design and function converge in eco-harmony. Frustrated by antiquated legislation, Reynolds lobbies for the right to create a sustainable living test site. Shot over three years and in four countries, Garbage Warrior is a timely portrait of a determined visionary, a hero of the 21st century.

To create a sustainable economy, we need to revamp how we reduce, reuse and recycle products to create less waste

Here’s how companies and other organizations are trying to make plastics more sustainable

Past Presentation | A meditation on urban green spaces and the post-industrial cityscape that explores a 1-acre rooftop organic farm in New York City. Connecting the built and natural environments, this film documents an imaginative experiment in green urban redevelopment attempting to transform the roof of a century-old former factory into a sustainable, pastoral haven.

Sustainability and cybersecurity are rarely mentioned in the same sentence. And yet, the infrastructure needed to enable our sustainable future requires far greater levels of cybersecurity than previously managed.

Scientists from Japan and Germany have devised a novel, sustainable method for converting blue LED light into UVB. An international team from Japan and Germany...

Several of the projections for energy systems consistent with the 1.5° C climate target feature a doubling of global hydropower capacity. Because hydropower can cause major negative impacts on communities and ecosystem, hydropower expansion merits particularly careful planning and decision making.

NASA announced Wednesday it has issued an award to The Boeing Company for the agency’s Sustainable Flight Demonstrator project, which seeks to inform a potential...

But when it comes to their diet, the little maggots aren’t fussy. They crunch through any and all food waste, consuming twice their body mass daily. When they’re satiated, they crawl up the sides of their rearing bins toward a high, clean place, a behavior insect researchers enthusiastically refer to as “self-harvesting.” What insect farmers […] The post Insect Farms are Scaling Up—and Crossing the Atlantic—in a Play for Sustainable Protein appeared first on Civil Eats.

Past Presentation | A group of people attempt the impossible: Change the opinion of a town and eventually the nation to remove two dams. The community comes to consensus, launches the largest dam removal in history, and in the process shows the way to a more sustainable future. Infused with hope, the film explores an unlikely victory for environmental justice and restoration that led to the demolition of dams on the Elwha River in Washington State in August 2014.

Past Presentation | This significant documentary explains the spectacular financialization of environmental conservation. If nature had a price, wouldn’t corporations and governments be less likely to destroy it? Wouldn’t putting a price on nature overturn what economist Pavan Sukhdev calls “the economic invisibility of nature”? Reality, of course, turns out to be rather more complex. What guarantees do we have that our natural inheritance will be protected? Should our ecological heritage be for sale? Is the best way to protect nature to put a price on it? Wouldn’t putting a price on nature overturn what economist Pavan Sukhdev calls “the economic invisibility of nature?”

Ben Okri, Simon Schama, Helen Pankhurst and AL Kennedy among those saying they ‘stand with’ protestersBen Okri, Simon Schama, Helen Pankhurst and AL Kennedy are among more than 100 writers who have signed a letter in solidarity with UK climate protest prisoners.“That the UK now has political prisoners, incarcerated for defending sustainable life on Earth is yet another national disgrace,” Kennedy said. Continue reading...

Now Playing | In part one, filmed near Qingdao in 2015, Tang Guanhua and Xingzhen experiment with a self-sustainable lifestyle. They describe their rationale for pursuing such a life and introduce their dream of building an intentional community. Is this an important new direction for Chinese society, or a self-indulgent escape for a privileged few?

Major environmental auditing firms ignore or fail to recognize glaring environmental damage caused by loggers and other clients whose practices they certify as sustainable, undercutting an elaborate global system meant to fight forest destruction and climate change. With alarming frequency, the auditors and so-called certification firms validate products linked to deforestation, logging in conflict zones […]

Past Presentation | This film highlights the Danish non-profit, INDEX: Design to Improve Life ® (INDEX) and the film explores its history as an international design competition and highlights the most innovative INDEX award winners. Showcased is how design can be used to plan and build affordable housing, to prevent blindness, to destroy landmines, to deliver vaccines and blood in remote areas, to clean up the oceans and to help prevent infant and mother mortality, among others. Sustainable designs/inventions that embrace the principles of social, economic, and ecological sustainability are examined.

Plan would provide fresh locally grown food, promote sustainable agriculture and cut carbon emissionsPlans have been submitted to create a first-of-its-kind urban farm on top of a multi-storey car park in Birmingham as part of a vision to “turn grey space to green productive space”.Slow Food Birmingham, a grassroots organisation that promotes hyperlocal food production, has sent proposals to the council to build a farm, glasshouses, community space and garden, as well as an education hub and cafe on the site. Continue reading...

Past Presentation | “We Still Here / Nos Tenemos” introduces the incredible youth of Comerío, Puerto Rico navigating the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, a disaster that brought an unprecedented level of devastation to an island already in economic and political crisis. In the lush mountains in the center of Puerto Rico, 24-year-old Mariangelie Ortiz leads a group of young residents who never thought they would become the leaders of their community, nonetheless find themselves traveling to Washington D.C. to protest in the halls of Congress. Follow them in this coming of age story to find their power and begin creating a sustainable future for themselves and their community.