And why media doesn’t want you to be
Where are most of the conversations happening around the climate crisis? The media.
What is the tone of these pieces? Mostly negative.
My biggest criticism of media coverage is the need to use fear as a behavioral tool. No, not all media does this. I come across some great articles that are optimistic and informative. It just doesn’t happen as much as it needs to.
People are much smarter than we are often given credit for. We deserve transparency and actionable steps to enact real change, not doomsday fear tactics.
If we are going to tackle the climate crisis and move forward in a new, environmentally mindful way, our media needs to adopt a tone of enthusiasm and honesty. It also needs to provide readers with examples of innovative work happening in the sustainability space, because there are so many amazing strides being made.
We don’t want to become complacent, but we also don’t want people feeling like nothing they do will make a difference. We can make a huge difference by making small changes in our lives and supporting leaders designing the path toward climate harmony.
I wanted to highlight a couple of projects that gave me optimism in the climate fight. I hope they can do the same for you.
1. The Ocean Cleanup
Every year, millions of tons of plastic enter the oceans, primarily from rivers. This problem is twofold: plastic has accumulated in the oceans; and plastic continues to enter the oceans at alarming rates.
The Ocean Cleanup, a non-profit organization, is doing some of the most innovative and important work in the race to solve the ocean plastic pollution problem. Their goal is to take on the largest cleanup in history and reduce ocean plastic by 90%. Once that happens, the project will be finished and the company will dissolve.
How do they plan on achieving their lofty goal?
For accumulated plastic: The Ocean Cleanup is focusing its efforts on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the largest of the five ocean plastic accumulation zones located between California and Hawaii.
The team is using passive systems to create a moving coastline that concentrates the plastic before removing it from the ocean. The coastline takes advantage of natural oceanic forces like wind, waves, and currents while using a sea anchor (almost like a water parachute) to ensure slow enough speeds for collection.
Once the coastline is full, a “garbage truck of the seas” comes to collect the accumulated plastic. An estimated 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch could be removed in just five years.
And don’t worry, The Ocean Project is monitoring and revising their product to ensure marine life is left unharmed.
For new plastic: 80% of the plastic that enters the ocean stems from just 1000 rivers. The organization developed “The Interceptor” as the answer to preventing plastic in these rivers from entering the ocean. They believe this can be achieved in the next 5 years.
The interceptor is 100% solar-powered and autonomous in extracting plastic from the rivers. River waste flowing with the current is guided by the interceptor’s barrier, navigated up a conveyer belt, fed into a shuttle, and placed in attached dumpsters. Once the interceptor is almost full, it automatically sends an alert to local operators to collect the waste. Check out a video demonstration on how it works here.
The team currently has three interceptors deployed in the Cengkareng Drain in Indonesia, the Klang River in Malaysia, and Rio Ozama in the Dominican Republic. It is working with local governments to enter more rivers across the world.
What is The Ocean Cleanup doing with all this collected plastic? Sunglasses. 100% of the proceeds of the sale of this product go towards the continuation of the cleanup.
2. Powerhouse Brattørkaia
The energy sector and building industry account for over 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions. As the world population continues to increase and the severity of the climate crisis intensifies, the way we construct our living and workspaces needs to adapt.
Powerhouse Brattørkaia set out in 2012 to do just that. The office building, located in Norway, is an energy positive space developed by a climate-conscious property company called Powerhouse.
On an average day, Powerhouse Brattørkaia produces more than twice the amount of energy it uses, supplying excess renewable energy to neighboring buildings, electric buses, cars, and boats through a local micro-grid.
Its skewed, pentagonal roof contains almost 10,000 feet of solar panels, strategically located to harvest as much sun as possible.
The building essentially acts as a small power plant in the middle of the city, producing enough energy in the summer months to utilize in lower-daylight winter months.
The project took 8 years to conceive and construct, which shows that thoughtful design can lead to incredible climate innovation and provides a blueprint to future environmentally friendly property designs.
I have come across so many innovations in this space recently. I wanted to keep this article short so I only included two, but there will be another one in the near future highlighting more amazing work!
Hopefully, this list offers you a little hope and inspiration. Sustainability should not feel overwhelming. Even making small changes to your daily routines can have a huge impact. Choose whichever tips work for you and start there!
See you next time.
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