December 2024 Good Newsletter
Oh, it's happening.
Does this email look a little different? Hello from Substack, where my newsletter content and archives are now in residence. Thanks for sticking around!
Making clothes out of recycled cotton may sound like a new idea, but Recover has been doing it for 75 years. In this episode, we dove into the importance of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws and why recycled materials just make sense.
And now for the good news…
BIG BRANDS THINK CIRCULAR
An AI-powered LEGO recycling startup nabbed $1 million for expansion and eBay just pegged $1.2 million for circular fashion startups. Sprouts is poised to lower its CO2 emissions by 600 metric tons in 12 months through a reusable packaging pilot, Alaska Airlines piloted reusable cups in flight, and Dr. Bronners refill is coming to a Whole Foods near you. Oh, and the US EPA released its first strategy on plastic pollution prevention, building on circular economy goals. Yes, please!
SECONDHAND FIRST
Let's normalize preloved gifts this holiday season: 64% of Europeans will shop secondhand for gifts this year (versus 32% in 2023) and in the U.S., 92% of people are open to receiving secondhand gifts, but only a third of people are comfortable buying them. You can register your heart's (secondhand) desire with Beni’s Resale Registry, learn how to score certified, pre-owned electronics at steep discounts, and (if you’re local) message me for the best secondhand spots in Los Angeles!
MONEY TALKS
The world's biggest businesses now see $5 trillion in potential gains related to combating climate change, an increase of 127 percent in the past six years, and companies that put workers first now outperform those that don't. When it comes to EV expansion, the U.S. auto industry wants to stick to the plan, not scrap it, investment portfolios without fossil fuels generally perform just as well as the broader market, and I'll just leave this here: “[The U.S.] election will slow, but not stop, international efforts to halt global warming, because most other countries recognize it’s in their own self-interest to cut emissions."
THINK GLOBAL
Experts are divided on whether China's CO2 peak happened either this year or will happen next (regardless, this is a win for the world), a new offshore solar farm there is projected to generated enough electricity to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 1.34 million tons annually, and what's afforestation, you ask? China's really good at it. Over the past three years, Vietnam added more than 20 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity and Indonesia announced plans to phase out coal in 15 years. The Swiss Alps are big enough to seriously scale solar and all large French parking lots must now include solar roofs. (Look at those cute tiny cars!) The EU's greenhouse gas emission fell by a "huge" 8 percent in 2023, while deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped 31 percent, year over year. EV batteries, which still retain 80 percent of original capacity when removed for replacement, will soon be repurposed into a Canadian energy "gigafactory.” And COP29 proved that the conversations connecting climate and food are moving, slowly but surely, towards action.
STATESIDE
Regardless of podium-thumping, voters enacted five out of six climate-change related ballot measures in states from Louisiana to California. With the potential to power 26 million homes, offshore wind development will continue regardless of campaign promises. And, given that Republican-leaning congressional districts have so far received 300 percent more IRA funding than Democratic, doesn’t it beg the question if a repeal is even possible? Community microgrids are often heralded as the future of resilience energy production: In Maine, they're the present. A new bill in Colorado centers outdoor recreation as a way to protect public lands, California is producing so much wind and solar that it might shut down one of the state's biggest fossil gas storage facility, and Texas just greenlit a ginormous virtual power plant powered by a dynamic energy grid.
FOOD MATTERS
Tony's Chocolonely is raising awareness about choosing fair-trade certified chocolate this sweet season, Too Good To Go connects consumers with restaurants to fight food waste and save money, and California just became the first state to ban some food dyes (meanwhile, look for products that are colored with beets, carrots, and other produce instead). A teen took the top prize for inventing a pesticide detector for produce, and these are great tips from a vegan chef on how to reduce food waste. (One you can start doing today? Compost!)
IN WHICH MY FRIENDS DO AMAZING THINGS
What an honor to join the friends and family screening of Hulu’s new smash hit “Interior Chinatown,” hosted by Charles Yu and Michelle Ju. Peripherally, I know how hard Charlie has worked — and he is probably the hardest working human I have ever met, seconded only by his wife, Michelle — to bring his incredible novel to life. It shows in every nuanced detail of the pilot, directed by Taika Waititi, and the whole series which is one wild, mind-bending, meta AF ride.
Once upon a time, artists populated the small hamlet of Venice, where they rented tiny bungalows for a few hundred dollars and existed on red wine and dreams. One was Kirston Mann, who last month debuted a show of paintings and stories that I hope to soon hold in my hands as a book. Since those long-ago days by the beach, Kirston has relentlessly pursued beauty and hilarity and honesty and truth, and these perfect snapshots of her life reflect all of these things. Congratulations, Kirston - you are the queen!
P.S. You start writing about something and all of a sudden it’s everywhere. Amiright?