The Top 5 Happy Eco News Stories for November 22, 2021
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For the past few weeks, my most frequent Google search has been “when is Black Friday” (the biggest shopping day in North America) because all I’ve been seeing over the past month are advertisements for sales and discounts at just about every store that exists.
Until just a few years ago, Black Friday was something that was really only popular in the United States. Living in Canada, we would simply hear about people lining up at the stores, pushing their way in just to get a television at a reduced price. Then (for whatever capitalist reason) we jumped on the bandwagon. Major stores across the country started their own version of Black Friday offering one day sales on select products. Over time these one day sales turned into one week sales, and then two weeks, to eventually starting the second the clock hit midnight on October 31st. Now everything from the ceiling to the floor is on sale and and quite frankly it’s become extremely overwhelming to see.
The truth of the matter is we are all consumers, we all buy things to survive and to maintain our standards of living, and I’m all for a good sale, but how much stuff do we really need? Environmentalists are trying to push Buy Nothing Day (which falls on the same day, and I guess month now, as Black Friday) to discourage extreme consumerism and to shift the way we think about our buying habits and who we are buying from. And that’s something I fully support.
This Friday, November 26 (I’ve finally got the date right), participate in Buy Nothing Day by literally buying nothing! If you can’t resist a good sale, shop at local stores, support local business, buy from places that are trying to mitigate their impacts by donating to a good cause. It’s a marathon not a sprint, and we won’t judge you if you end up at the mall this week, but if you stop and think about what this day really is about, it could be the start of a whole new you!
– Jamie D’Souza, Content Manager
This week we have two blog posts. The first is one is by Anders Reckendorff, CEO of Scandinavian Biolabs who tells us about his company’s initiatives to encourage their customers to consume mindfully on Black Friday. The second blog post is by Sally Giblin, the co-founder of Be The Future. She tells us the best ways we can inspire the next generation to be eco heroes. We also have stories about the EU’s record-breaking green bond sale, how India is paving the way to climate action, China’s climate action plan with the US, insights behind the climate documentary ‘They Say It Can’t Be Done’, the future of green hydrogen.
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Black Friday Is Bad For The Environment. Green Friday Is The Future
Guest post by: Anders Reckendorff, CEO of Scandinavian Biolabs
How To Inspire The Next Generation To Be Eco Heroes
Guest post by: Sally Giblin, co-founder of Be The Future
Here are 4 of the best ways to inspire children to care for the planet
Which of these narratives lights you up? And inspires you to take action?
Narrative 1: The climate emergency is growing by the day – from the extreme weather events breaking out around the world; to the terrifyingly dire “code red for humanity” IPCC report; to the greenwash, empty promises and token solutions of COP26. It’s up to the power of the people to fix this catastrophe.
Narrative 2: We’re at a pivotal moment in history, and must seize the opportunity to create a better, greener, fairer future, where humans thrive. The children and grandchildren we love deserve a liveable future.
You’ve picked narrative 2, right? Thought so. Me too.
A fear based climate narrative (like narrative 1) can paralyze you with fear – sending you into the fetal position (rather than inspiring you to do something)… [read more].
The Happy Eco News Weekly Top 5
The European Union’s green bonds (also known as sustainable investments) are off to a record start as their first sale raised $14 billion dollars. The money will be used to fund climate or environmental related initiatives. “This marks the largest green bond order book ever in global capital markets, and the largest green bond ever issued, not just in Europe but in the world,” Johannes Hahn, the EU budget commissioner told reporters.…[read more].
During COP26, India has proven to be a leader in climate action. Their adaptation efforts have included afforestation activities and wetland management. The country plans to expand the non-fossil capacity to 500 GW by 2030, encourage alternative technologies in energy and power, and plans to shift towards green e-mobility…[read more].
One of the world’s biggest polluters China, has announced at COP26 a deal to boost cooperation with the United States to combat climate change. “Both sides recognize that there is a gap between the current effort and the Paris Agreement goals, so we will jointly strengthen climate action,” Xie Zhenhua (China’s climate envoy) said.…[read more].
The award-winning documentary “They Say It Can’t Be Done” highlights the groundbreaking technology that can be used to change the world and to help viewers understand the best path forward. “We, like almost everyone, are concerned about the global challenges faced by our society. We wanted to make an optimistic film that looked at how practically these problems can be solved without arguing about politics and without fear-mongering, producers Patrick Reasonover and Andrea Fuller told EcoWatch… [read more].
Green hydrogen has been a topic of interest lately. But what is it exactly and what does the future of green hydrogen look like? Two experts who are looking into the future of hydrogen: Janice Lin (founder and CEO of Strategen) and Stephen Lamm (director of sustainability at Bloom Energy) tells us everything we need to know… [read more].
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