Ramblings on a sustainable world

Reduce. Reuse. Grow.

Posted by TessDavies in Environment, Sustainability

A California startup has put a new spin on compostable packaging. Reduce. Reuse. Grow. began by planting 1 plant in your community for every compostable cup you served. A true soldier for sustainability the founder, Alex Henige, was continuously seeking improvements and is now designing the compostable cup to contain the plant seeds, removing the middleman entirely. This seed embedded technology is going to be area specific, encouraging local flora. Practical concerns about the functionality of the product aside, this product presents a troubling potential for encouraging littering. While it’s true…read more

Mar.03

Consume Less, Think More

Posted by TessDavies in Environment, Sustainability

Recently, while I was in the middle of reading one of my classmates posts about excessive packaging and sourcing information for my own post regarding a revolution in compostable takeaway cups (Reduce. Reuse. Grow.) I was hit with a terrifying realization. It is quite possible that, despite all the amazing new solutions and innovative new products that work hard to solve some of the problems humans have created since the industrial revolution, the only path forward will simply be to consume less. This is a terrifying realization. There are many…read more

Feb.25

Out of the ocean, into the landfill

Posted by TessDavies in Environment, Oceans, Sustainability

After talking with Brianne Miller, Co-founder of Zero Waste Market, a new no-packaging grocery store looking to open in Vancouver fall 2016, I decided to look further into the problem of ocean plastics. Immediately I was shocked to realize a) how large of a problem it was, and b) how little is being done to remove this plastic. Just as I was reaching some upsetting conclusions about humanity I ran across The Ocean Clean Up project. Founded by Boyan Slat (NLD) in 2013, they have designed a system that will be…read more

Feb.11

Keep the crowds, preserve the nature

Posted by TessDavies in Environment, Sustainability, Uncategorized

Since last weeks posting the Mother Canada Statue (pictured above) has been scrapped, seen as both infeasible by the architecture firm approached to construct it and a lack of funds available to complete the project. While this puts this particular issue to rest for the moment I have no doubt there will be similar projects proposed in the near future. After some reflection I have a few recommendations for Parks Canada to help them boost attendance without needing to resort to the “disneyfication” of their spaces. Create events, not monuments….read more

Feb.05

Sustainability as a pathway to equality

Posted by TessDavies in Equality, Sustainability

Thomas Friedman suggests in his article, “The First Law of Petropolitics”, that freedom and women’s rights are directly tied to the price of oil in oil dominated states in the developing world. His basic premise being that as leaders are have more money from the sale of their resources they are less beholden to the people and the motivation to seek power is much greater. If we follow this thought and take it one step further we see creating sustainable practices in business critical to bringing freedom and equality to…read more

Jan.21