Author Archives: mjhowarth

Why, How and What – the three questions of Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle. If you haven’t heard of it or seen it yet, here is a short clip from the full talk that gives an overview of what the Golden Circle is:

https://youtu.be/l5Tw0PGcyN0

As Simon talks about in his Ted Talk, everyone knows what they do, most people know how they do it, but few know WHY they do it. Most people determine what they want to do before they figure out why they want to do it, but it is important to know your purpose and the reason you get out of bed in the morning.

This topic comes at a prime time as I am a soon-to-be graduate of Sauder and will be looking for my first full-time job in a field I am (hopefully) interested in. I want to portray to employers who I am and what my passions are in explicit statements versus how they are currently, which is just vague ideas in my head. Personal branding is a way I can work this out. I am working on developing my personal brand and my WHY alongside my goals and vision for my fu

ture. The following video gives a good overview of personal branding if you have the time to watch it:

One statement that really stuck out for me from this video is: “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” I believe this ties back really well to the Golden Circle and further emphasizes the importance of knowing your why. If you can show how passionate about a topic you are (your why), people are way more likely to listen to what you have to say (your what).

Although I don’t have explicit statements about my why, I know that sustainability is one of the most important aspects of it. The reason I am doing a job in the future is going to be because I want to create change and make an impact in society in regards to sustainability. I realize that sustainability isn’t just a topic of interest anymore, it is a pressing issue that needs to be at the core of everything that we and companies do. I look forward to discovery how and what I will do to implement my why!

“Diets with low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to healthy life for present and future generations.”

This is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation’s definition of what a sustainable diet is. The food we buy and eat every day has impacts across many different aspects. Watch the following video about the limitations of our food system and the different aspects of our lives and the Earth that it impacts:

One thing from this video that stood out to me the most was the third limitation of our food system. One-third of food being wasted is an insane amount, this amounts to about 1.3 billion tonnes of food every year being either thrown away or lost. This statistic baffles my mind because of the fact that there are so many countries who have issues with malnutrition. The amount of food being wasted every year could potentially reduce malnutrition in developing countries and solve one of the world’s biggest problems. I came across the following statistic on the FAO website:

“Even if just one-fourth of the food currently lost or wasted globally could be saved, it would be enough to feed 870 million hungry people in the world.”

This amount would be enough to feed the 795 million people in the world who are suffering from chronic undernourishment. If we as a society starting making adjustments in the way we buy our food and the way we eat it, we can start making an impact now. This impact can be on ourselves to reduce health risks as well as on the planet by preserving the supplies we have and creating a sustainable future for many generations to come. You don’t necessarily have to become vegan or vegetarian to make an impact, just small adjustments to your current diet can make a difference:

In addition, ensuring you are creating as little food waste as possible by following these tips will help contribute to a more sustainable future for yourself and the planet.

I challenge each of you reading this to make a shift in your diet and food purchasing, I know I am going to after writing this!

“At UBC, sustainability is not just a word to define – it’s a word that defines us. Through teaching, learning and research, and our operational and community efforts, we are advancing sustainability on campus and beyond.” 

Sustainability and UBC seem to go hand in hand these days. UBC has committed a great deal to becoming a sustainable campus. One of these commitments is present in UBC’s Strategic Plan and details the ways the university will explore and epitomize sustainability in social, economic, and environmental aspects. In addition to the strategic plan, UBC also created a 20-year sustainability strategy in 2014 that outlines its goals to achieve by 2035. It has goals that fall under three different segments: teaching, learning and research; operations and infrastructure; and UBC community. Along with the goals, UBC has set specific targets to achieve by specific years. One example of this is a 67% greenhouse gas emission reduction by 2020 (from 2007 levels), and by 2050 a 100% reduction. The following video, although it was made in 2010, highlights some of the ways UBC is redefining sustainability at both the Vancouver campus as well as the Okanagan campus:

Along with all of the goals and plans UBC has set out to achieve, there are several programs, campus initiatives and courses students can take that contribute to sustainability on campus as well as education about sustainability. The following are just two examples:

UBC Farm – The UBC Farm is located near Wesbrook Village on 24 hectares of land. The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems is located here and is a research centre that aims to understand and transform both local and global food systems to becoming more sustainable. The UBC Farm is also certified organic and grows over 200 varieties of vegetables, fruits, and herbs.

LEED Certification – As of 2008, all new building construction and major renovations for buildings at UBC are required to be LEED Gold certified. There are now 10 LEED certified buildings on campus with 15 more pending certification. The building leading the pack is the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability which is platinum certified, however the new SUB building (the Nest) is pending certification to be platinum certified as well.

CIRS Building

I think it is amazing that UBC is so committed to a sustainable future and I feel so fortunate that I am able to be a part of that. I look forward to pursuing a career in sustainability and putting my business degree to good use to create positive change!

If you haven’t heard already, Gregor Robertson and the City of Vancouver have decided to set 10 goals to help the city become the greenest in the world by 2020. These goals fall under three different areas of focus and as you can see some of the goals fall under more than one area of focus. Each of these goals has a measurable target to achieve by 2020.

1. Zero Carbon
   • Eliminate Vancouver’s dependence on fossil fuels
   • Lead the world in green building design and construction
   • Make walking, cycling, and public transport preferred transportation options
   • Secure Vancouver’s international reputation as a mecca of green enterprise
   • Achieve a “one-planet” ecological footprint
2. Zero Waste
   • Eliminate Vancouver’s dependence on fossil fuels
   • Create zero waste
   • Secure Vancouver’s international reputation as a mecca of green enterprise
   • Achieve a “one-planet” ecological footprint
3. Healthy Ecosystems
   • Vancouver will enjoy incomparable access to green spaces, including the world’s most spectacular urban forest
   • Vancouver will have the best drinking water of any city in the world
   • Vancouver will become a global leader in urban food systems
   • Vancouverites will breathe the cleanest air of any major city in the world
   • Secure Vancouver’s international reputation as a mecca of green enterprise
   • Achieve a “one-planet” ecological footprint

One of the goals that caught my eye was creating zero waste. By 2020, Vancouver hopes to reduce solid waste going to the landfill and incinerator by 50% from 2008. By 2040, Vancouver hopes to be completely waste free. 

This video further explains the zero waste goal:

I believe that this path Vancouver is taking itself down is extremely important and that more cities in the world should follow. Vancouver will definitely be setting a precedent for how to become a green city and hopefully other cities will use Vancouver as an example and implement similar strategies and goals maybe even using a framework that Vancouver creates. By making specific, measurable goals for 2020 (which is only just over 2 years from now) Vancouver demonstrates its commitment to pursuing this plan. They have laid out a very detailed framework for themselves and are being very open and transparent with the public as to how far along they are in achieving their goals. I am definitely very excited to see what the city is like in a few years from now and am grateful to live somewhere that is actively pursuing a more sustainable plan.

~100 billion sachets are used in a year of which the majority get thrown into the waste.

If you are questioning what exactly a sachet is, think about that ketchup packet you used last week at the fast-food restaurant you went to, or that soy sauce packet you opened and threw out for lunch today with your sushi, or maybe that mini shampoo bottle you used at the hotel you stayed in on your last holiday. Sachets are generally single use, disposable packages most often used for food or beauty items and rarely does this packaging get recycled (only 9% is recycled). This means that it is adding to the enormous amount of plastic waste we already have on our planet – which contrary to popular belief, doesn’t just disappear into thin air. Plastics take hundreds of years to biodegrade if they are not recycled, some may even take thousands!

“At least 8 millions tonnes of plastic leak into the ocean each year, which is equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute. If no action is taken the ocean is expected to contain more plastics than fish by 2050.”- Ellen Macarthur Foundation

How crazy is it to think that we might end up with more plastic in our oceans than fish? This fact blows my mind and makes me really want to do something about this growing issue. Obviously we can’t just get rid of all packaging together as it is a necessary part of our lives as well as makes the products we buy a lot more hygienic and clean. However, there is a massive opportunity for innovation in the field of packaging and a few companies have started coming up with ways to solve this issue.

Delta, a company from the UK, has designed a way for restaurants to dispense their bulk sauces into edible and compostable sachets. These sachets are made from seaweed and are designed to either be eaten once the contents have been used or composted. If thrown in the garbage, they will decompose in only 4-6 weeks meaning they are reducing the amount of plastic out there! This company is just one of a few who are reinventing the way we have done things with plastics in the past. So along with my planned overall reduced use of plastics as well as plastic recycling, I will start looking into businesses that are supporting companies who are innovating in the world of plastics.

Over 2.6 million coffee cups are thrown in Vancouver’s garbage EVERY WEEK. That is approximately 135 million cups per year! This number only represents Vancouver which is only one city amongst thousands of others that also use an alarming number of disposable coffee cups. The UK throws away 49 million cups every week, and Australians throw away around 19 million cups every week. These numbers add up so quickly and there is such an easy solution that could vastly decrease the waste that coffee sales generate – use a reusable cup! However, the number of people that would actually be on board with bring a reusable cup for their morning/afternoon/anytime coffee is a very minuscule number in the grand scheme. Most people don’t know about how many cups are being used or just don’t care, so I believe cities need to think of creative ways to combat this issue.

If you didn’t know already, a paper coffee cup (although most people assume is recyclable) is not actually recyclable as a whole cup because of a plastic or wax lining on the inside. Most cities separate their paper and plastics recycling making it hard for them to deal with coffee cups. “What about the coffee cup recycling bin I see in coffee shops then?” is something you may ask, however many companies end up throwing these into the garbage because they don’t want to deal with it (as can be seen in the following video). However, coffee cups CAN be recycled at speciality recycling facilities that provide an extra step to separate the plastic from the paper.

A few ways that cities around the world are dealing with coffee cups include:

• Vancouver – putting a deposit on coffee cups to solve not only the problem of waste, but also poverty as many individuals in Vancouver make an income purely based on bottle deposits
• Melbourne – created an awareness campaign for the city by filling a tram with disposable cups and encouraging people to instead bring their own cups

• London – CupClub is the world’s first reusable, shared coffee cup system (think Mobi bikes but for coffee) launching in January 2018

There are several other cities that are also doing their part in working to reduce the waste that is generated from many people’s beloved pastime – coffee. I think the future definitely holds a lot of room for innovation in this field and I am intrigued to find out what will be happening down the road.

Do you like to travel? I know I do. Growing up internationally gave me the opportunity to travel to many different places with my family and I think that instilled the so-called ‘travel bug’ in me. I have already been to ~27 countries in the world, and have many more on my list. Through these travels and through research, I have realized how much of an impact foreigners can have on a local economy – and it isn’t always positive. For example, the elephant riding industry in Thailand is huge and is supported by tourists. These elephants are extremely mistreated and abused, however so many of the locals now rely on making a living from this industry because of the tourist support. We need to find a way to create more sustainable and ethical methods for locals to make a living and improve their economies. I want to continue traveling to the beautiful places we have in the world and see them for what they really are and not what tourists have done to them. I researched more into this and came upon the term ‘sustainable tourism’.

In 2015, ~1 in 7 people travelled internationally. This is a huge number and if these people are uneducated about the impacts of traveling, the world may degrade at an even faster rate. The UN has declared 2017 the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development to raise awareness of how sustainable tourism impacts economies as well as to mobilize everyone involved in the tourism industry to work together to create a positive change.

They will be promoting tourism in the following five areas:

(1) Inclusive and sustainable economic growth

(2) Social inclusiveness, employment and poverty reduction

(3) Resource efficiency, environmental protection and climate change

(4) Cultural values, diversity and heritage

(5) Mutual understanding, peace and security.

In my future travels I know I will utilize the many resources available on the Internet these days in regards to sustainable and eco-friendly travel. I will definitely research more about the countries I intend to visit including their economy, environment and social history. In addition, I will aim to do small things such as when I book my flight I will choose to pay the little bit extra to offset my carbon emissions. There are so many small ways we can create positive change in the tourism industry, so I urge you to make even one change next time you are booking a trip somewhere!

Everyone loves chocolate right? Well I definitely do so when I saw that Mars (Twix bars are one of my favourites) was launching a new sustainability plan as well as creating an M&Ms campaign focused on renewable energy I was intrigued. These initiatives seem to be as a result of the Paris climate deal and somewhat in backlash to Trump pulling the USA out of it.

I’m not going to lie, when I go to the store to buy chocolate, I don’t think about the company and whether its sustainably manufactured so I don’t really have a good background of the whole chocolate industry in terms of sustainability. However, upon further research into Mars, they appear to definitely have vastly increased their interest in sustainability and renewable resources in the last year or so. CEO, Grant F. Reid, said in an interview by The Guardian: “Mars has been in business for four generations and intends to be for the next four generations. The only way that will happen is if we do things differently to ensure that the planet is healthy and all people in our extended supply chains have the opportunity to thrive.” He clearly understands that in order to remain in business in the future, sustainability needs to be at the forefront of Mars’ mission, vision and values.

Mars’ plan is to invest $1bn into cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 67% by 2050, generating poverty reduction and sustainability programme for farmers and suppliers, as well as increasing their efforts surrounding food safety and security. I was also surprised to find out that they use 100% renewable electricity for their operations in Belgium, Brazil, Lithuania, the United Kingdom and the United States.  This is definitely an amazing step in the right direction and I think if they continue to meet their goals they have set up for themselves they will definitely be around four decades from now.

Here are some video links for their initiatives that do well to summarize a lot of the information:

https://youtu.be/02D3O2EHw2A

https://youtu.be/LHkZz2nay04

I definitely recommend looking further into their website as they have so much information and transparency regarding their plans and current/future initiatives. Next time I go to buy a Twix bar it will make me feel even better because I know I am supporting a corporation that has sustainability at the forefront of its mind.