Petition · SOS from Auroville: The City of Dawn needs your help urgently! · Change.org

I showed the wonderful documentary Ever Slow Green: https://youtu.be/51npNzfj2zY at Siena Heights University last year documenting one of the most successful reforestations in India - and now it is in dire danger. Please get informed, sign and share! 

Petition · SOS from Auroville: The City of Dawn needs your help urgently! · Change.org

Petition · SOS from Auroville: The City of Dawn needs your help urgently! · Change.org

Omicron variant made $10 billion in a week for top Moderna and Pfizer shareholders - Global Justice Now Global Justice Now

Moderna CEO personally made more than $800 million in week after variant announcement

Companies “have made more than enough money from the pandemic”, campaigners say

Big pharma executives and shareholders saw their wealth skyrocket in the week after the Omicron variant was discovered, with just 8 top Pfizer and Moderna shareholders adding a combined $10.31 billion to their fortunes.

Campaigners have accused pharma executives of “making a killing from a crisis they helped to create”, blaming “grotesque” levels of vaccine inequality for creating the conditions for the Omicron variant to emerge.

Read full story at: Omicron variant made $10 billion in a week for top Moderna and Pfizer shareholders - Global Justice Now Global Justice Now

Nobel Prize Laureates and Other Experts Issue Urgent Call for Action After ‘Our Planet, Our Future’ Summit | National Academies

Nobel Prize Laureates and Other Experts Issue Urgent Call for Action After ‘Our Planet, Our Future’ Summit | National Academies

River Raisin Abused by Factory Farms and Faulty Private Sewers

The warm weather and frequent strong rainfalls make it obvious what otherwise can only be detected by water tests - our River Raisin is used as a garbage disposal by upstream industrial dairy farms whose cows produce as much feces as all people within the City of Boston. Rainstorms and flash flooding flush the massive amounts of liquid manure that are sprayed on fields through the soil, greatly assisted by drainage tiles and drain them through ditches and tributaries into the River Raisin. Manure lagoons on the farms are often filled to the rim and are easily overflowing in such weather conditions and follow the same path. Compared to this industrial onslaught, failing private sewers are only contributing miniscule to the problem. The hot weather and high nutrient concentrations in the river are now allowing coliform bacteria from the guts of the cows and bowels of people to grow exponentially in this water causing such awful sights as shown below.

Large foam beds on Wolf Creek as seen from the Kiwanis Trail bridge on June 21 2021.

Siena Heights professor proposes Lenawee County form environmental affairs commission

ADRIAN — A resident of Lenawee County and associate professor of biology at Siena Heights University is proposing that the county commission form an environmental affairs commission to deal with the effects of climate change. 

Thomas Wassmer sent his request to the county commission several weeks ago. It read: “As several other Michigan counties, Lenawee County should instate an Environmental Affairs Commission to coordinate the mitigation and adaptation of environmental affairs including air, water and soil pollution, effects of the climate crisis: heat waves, drought, flooding, erratic and unseasonal weather, increase of tropical diseases and disease vectors, climate-driven migration etc.” 

Read the whole story here: https://www.lenconnect.com/story/news/local/2021/06/25/professor-proposes-environmental-affairs-commission/5319209001/ 

It’s literally raining PFAS around the Great Lakes, say researchers - mlive.com

Forever chemicals are now even in the rain.

A late evening storm rolled through Cleveland on Wednesday night, May 26, 2021, and left a spectacular sunset behind.David Petkiewicz, cleveland.com

Full story: It’s literally raining PFAS around the Great Lakes, say researchers - mlive.com

Switzerland could ban all pesticides

In 14 days, Switzerland could become the first country in the world to ban ALL pesticides.

Swiss voters to cast ballots on pesticide-free farming | DW | 11.05.2021

Lifesaving tips on reopening the US (Opinion) - CNN

(CNN) Widespread vaccine coverage in the US is rapidly reducing new infections, illnesses and deaths from Covid-19. States and cities are quickly removing restrictions on business and leisure activities. Yet, while the public enjoys the return to normalcy, governments behind the scenes should be ramping up public health systems to guard against another possible wave and to build more competency for the inevitable next epidemic, whenever it may arise.

First, a note of warning. Newly confirmed cases in the US are now below 40,000 per day. This is down from the peak in January, when new cases reached over 300,000 per day. And daily cases continue to decline, even more rapidly. Yet, just before India's recent surge to over 400,000 cases per day, that country had reported just over 10,000 cases per day as recently as early March. It's a reminder that the Covid-19 epidemic can spread from very few cases to a devastating surge at a terrifying rate, in just a few weeks.

Full article: Lifesaving tips on reopening the US (Opinion) - CNN

Air pollution from animal-based food production is linked to 12,700 deaths each year, study says

(CNN)Air pollution from food production in the United States is linked to an estimated 15,900 premature deaths each year, according to a new study published Monday in the Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Full CNN article: https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/10/us/air-pollution-deaths-farming-agriculture/index.html

Tomorrow's Film at the Environmental Documentary Series: Kiss the Ground

Tomorrow, 5-May, The 11^th Environmental Documentary Series will show the documentary Kiss the Ground: https://kissthegroundmovie.com/ with a running time of about 80 minutes.

About the film: Narrated and featuring Woody Harrelson, Kiss the Ground is an inspiring and groundbreaking film that reveals the first viable solution to our climate crisis. Kiss the Ground reveals that, by regenerating the world’s soils, we can completely and rapidly stabilize Earth’s climate, restore lost ecosystems and create abundant food supplies. Using compelling graphics and visuals, along with striking NASA and NOAA footage, the film artfully illustrates how, by drawing down atmospheric carbon, soil is the missing piece of the climate puzzle. This movie is positioned to catalyze a movement to accomplish the impossible – to solve humanity’s greatest challenge, to balance the climate and secure our species future.

We will connect at 6:30 PM via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83391076365?pwd=djZQa3hvQklncDlTdTdjbnBPdDcxdz09) and everybody will start the films soon after. After the films we will hold a discussion on Zoom.

Entire Schedule: Environmental Documentaries - SHU Sustainability

Speed at which world’s glaciers are melting has doubled in 20 years | Glaciers | The Guardian

Hope we get our acts together soon!

Glacier melt contributing more to sea-level rise than loss of Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, say experts

Portage glacier in Chugach National Forest in Alaska. The US state accounted for 25% of global glacier loss Photograph: Yereth Rosen/Reuters

Jonathan Watts and Niko Kommenda

Wed 28 Apr 2021 11.00 EDT

1100

The melting of the world’s glaciers has nearly doubled in speed over the past 20 years and contributes more to sea-level rise than either the Greenland or Antarctic ice sheets, according to the most comprehensive global study of ice rivers ever undertaken.

Scientists say human-driven global heating is behind the accelerating loss of high-altitude and high-latitude glaciers, which will affect coastal regions across the planet and create boom-and-bust flows of meltwater for the hundreds of millions of people who live downstream of these “natural water towers”.

Between 2000 and 2019, glaciers lost 267 gigatonnes (Gt) of ice per year, equivalent to 21% of sea-level rise, reveals a paper published in Nature. The authors said the mass loss was equivalent to submerging the surface of England under 2 metres of water every year.

This was 47% higher than the contribution of the melting ice sheet in Greenland and more than twice that from the ice sheet in Antarctica. As a cause of sea-level rise, glacier loss was second only to thermal expansion, which is prompted by higher ocean temperatures.

Continue reading at: Speed at which world’s glaciers are melting has doubled in 20 years | Glaciers | The Guardian

Tomorrow: Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University to speak on Sustainable Development at Siena Heights University

This is a brief reminder that the Sustainable College Committee of Siena Heights University is delighted to present Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University as our Winter 2021 William Issa Endowment Speaker on the Environment. Dr. Sachs’ talk is scheduled for April 28, 7:00 PM Eastern Daylight-Saving Time as a ZOOM meeting and is titled "Universities and the Sustainable Development Goals: Lessons from the Pandemic”. Dr. Sachs’ talk is free for the public. Please click the following link to join the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81278864571

The above poster can be downloaded in full resolution using the below link:

http://wassmer.org/SHU/Sachs_Design2_opt.pdf

Please feel free to forward this announcement to anybody who might be interested. Thank you in advance – and I hope to meet you virtually at Siena Heights University!

Full announcement: Jeffrey Sachs - SHU Sustainability

Tomorrow's Films - Environmental Documentary Series - Free Exclusive Screening & Filmmaker from India will attend

Tomorrow, 21-Apr, The 11^th Environmental Documentary Series will show the free documentary Ever Slow Green: https://www.brainfever.in/ever-slow-green/ whose filmmaker will join us life from India for Q&A and 3 short Youtube videos on The Green New Deal: https://berniesanders.com/issues/green-new-deal/ accessible through a playlist together all 4 videos last about 80 minutes.

About the films:

• EVER SLOW GREEN: 50 years ago, a unique afforestation project took root on an eroded desert plateau in Tamil Nadu, South India, when people from diverse countries came together to establish the international experimental township of Auroville. Initially driven by the necessity to make the harsh conditions more liveable, the idealism of some early residents lead them to develop expertise in cultivating the Tropical Dry Evergreen Forest, a rare forest type native to the coastal belt of Tamil Nadu. Today, the lush Auroville forest is an outstanding example of eco-restoration that recreates and preserves a type of tropical forest that is on the verge of extinction. The filmmaker granted us exclusive free access through https://vimeo.com/407553297 , password will be provided via Zoom before the session

• The Green New Deal: Transform our energy system to 100 percent renewable energy and create 20 million jobs needed to solve the climate crisis. Ensure a just transition for communities and workers, including fossil fuel workers. Ensure justice for frontline communities, especially under-resourced groups, communities of color, Native Americans, people with disabilities, children and the elderly. Save American families money with investments in weatherization, public transportation, modern infrastructure and high-speed broadband. Commit to reducing emissions throughout the world, including providing $200 billion to the Green Climate Fund, rejoining the Paris Agreement, and reasserting the United States’ leadership in the global fight against climate change. Invest in conservation and public lands to heal our soils, forests, and prairie lands. End the greed of the fossil fuel industry and hold them accountable. Playlist on Youtube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcSYAU1r19GS-2lK7di-NWlYjtDiNcL-r

We will connect at 6:30 PM via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83391076365?pwd=djZQa3hvQklncDlTdTdjbnBPdDcxdz09) and everybody will start the films soon after. After the films we will hold a discussion with the filmmaker on Zoom.

Full Program: Environmental Documentaries - SHU Sustainability

Tomorrow, 14-Apr, The 11th Environmental Documentary Series will show two free short documentaries and the filmmakers and/or directors will join us for Q&A:

Tomorrow, 14-Apr, The 11^th Environmental Documentary Series will show two free short documentaries and the filmmakers and/or directors will join us for Q&A: Peace with Nature and Solar For All, together 75 minutes.

About the films:

• Peace with Nature: Oak Alley’s documentary tells of the story of the restoration of Costa’s Rica’s rainforests from a low of 21% forest cover in the 1980s back to 52% cover in 2010. Costa Rica is also implementing policies to protect its biodiversity and become a carbon neutral economy.

  Peace with Nature in Costa Rica from Oak Alley Productions on Vimeo.

• Solar For All: Solar for All celebrates the successes and documents the challenges of the first two years of implementing Solar For All, Mayor Muriel Bowser's initiative to provide 100,000 low-to-moderate income families with the benefits of locally generated clean energy. One of the most progressive solar mandates in the U.S., #DCSolarStories exhibits how the District is using innovation and the concept of equity or "equal access" to local, clean energy to slash resident's utility burdens and protect underserved communities in the face of the changing climate.

  Solar For All from Pendragwn Productions on Vimeo.

The films is available for free on Vimeo: Peace with Nature and Solar For All. We will connect at 6:30 PM via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83391076365?pwd=djZQa3hvQklncDlTdTdjbnBPdDcxdz09) and everybody will start the films soon after. After the films we will hold a discussion with the filmmakers on Zoom.

55 Corporations Paid $0 in Federal Taxes on 2020 Profits

55 Corporations Paid $0 in Federal Taxes on 2020 Profits

The silver bullet to finance infrastructure and the Green New Deal

Florida faces 'imminent' pollution catastrophe from phosphate mine pond | Florida | The Guardian

“Regular” nutrient input is degrading Florida’s Everglades and coral reefs for decades and causes “red tides” but this is even worse… "When will they ever learn" "that you cannot eat money"?

Full Story at: Florida faces 'imminent' pollution catastrophe from phosphate mine pond | Florida | The Guardian

Tomorrow, 24-Mar, The 11th Environmental Documentary Series will show: Public Trust

Tomorrow, 24-Mar, The 11^th Environmental Documentary Series will show: Public Trust, 98 minutes: https://www.patagonia.com/films/public-trust/

About the film: A Film about the Fight for America’s Public Lands, from Executive Producers Robert Redford & Yvon Chouinard. Our public lands and waters are under threat. As an extinction crisis looms and climate change continues to be one of the greatest threats our planet has ever faced, America’s 640 million acres of public lands support biodiversity and carbon sequestration. It’s essential that we fight for their protection by preventing the slashing of the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, fighting the potential permanent destruction of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota, and stopping the de facto sale of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge—one of the last wild places in America.

The film is available for free on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGjnIG7puzY. We will connect at 6:30 PM via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83391076365?pwd=djZQa3hvQklncDlTdTdjbnBPdDcxdz09) and everybody will start the films soon after. After the films we will hold a discussion on Zoom.

Schedule: Environmental Documentaries - SHU Sustainability

Nobel Prize Summit ‘Our Planet, Our Future’ To Be Held April 26-28 - Registration Now Open | National Academies

News Release | March 17, 2021

WASHINGTON — The first Nobel Prize Summit “Our Planet, Our Future” will bring together Nobel Prize laureates and other esteemed leaders in the sciences, policy, business, the youth movement, and the arts to explore actions that can be achieved this decade to put the world on a path to a more sustainable, more prosperous future for all. Registration is now open for the April 26-28 virtual summit, which is free and open to the public. 

Hosted by the Nobel Foundation and organized by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in partnership with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Stockholm Resilience Centre, and the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, the summit will draw upon lessons learned in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic to mobilize action on:

• fighting climate change and biodiversity loss
• reducing inequality
• advancing technologies with the power to transform the way we live and work
• Summit highlights will include:

an address by Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former U.S. vice president

an interview with the Dalai Lama, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Tibetan spiritual leader

remarks from Xiye Bastida, climate activist and youth leader

dialogues and conversations with other laureates, esteemed researchers, and policy leaders, including:

-        Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to the U.S. president and director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

-        Jennifer Doudna, Nobel Prize laureate and professor of biochemistry and biophysics, University of California, Berkeley

-        Peter Doherty, Nobel Prize laureate and patron of the Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne

-        Sandra Diaz, professor of ecosystems, Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina

-        Tom Lovejoy, professor of ecosystems, George Mason University

Full announcement: Nobel Prize Summit ‘Our Planet, Our Future’ To Be Held April 26-28 - Registration Now Open | National Academies

Pesticide information database is now available to the public

PROVIDED BY: PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK

Newly updated, more intuitive, and easier-to-use pesticide information database is now available to the public, accessible at PesticideInfo | Home

Environmental Documentaries - SHU Sustainability - Tomorrow, 10-Mar

For tomorrow, 10-Mar, the organizer of The 11^th Environmental Documentary Series encourages everybody to attend the free 2021 Wege Lecture presented by the renowned writer and GLORIA STEINEMENDOWED CHAIR IN MEDIA, CULTURE AND FEMINIST STUDIES at Rutgers University Naomi Klein. The event is scheduled for 7:00 PM. Register for free at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/18th-peter-m-wege-lecture-featuring-naomi-klein-tickets-133344333491

The organizer still recommends the planned feature Why we cycle , 56:19 minutes that can be watched independently.

Why we cycle from Nieuw & Verbeterd on Vimeo.

About the film: To the Dutch, cycling is as normal as breathing. We don’t think about it, we just do it. Perhaps the fact that we don’t think about it, is the key to the bicycle’s success in this country. But because we do not give cycling a second thought, we don’t really know what the deeper needs of cyclists are. In the documentary ‘Why we cycle’ we take a ride with ordinary cyclists and specialists from a variety of disciplines. These conversations uncover some obvious, but even more hidden effects of cycling on people, on societies, and on the organization of cities.The film is available on Amazon and free for Prime subscribers.Full schedule via below link:
Environmental Documentaries - SHU Sustainability

Tomorrow, 3-Mar, The 11th Environmental Documentary Series will show: Jane Goodall: The Hope

Tomorrow, 3-Mar, The 11^th Environmental Documentary Series will show: Jane Goodall: The Hope, 89 minutes: https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/jane-goodall-the-hope/d33qOTxh4qHB

About the film: Jane Goodall: The Hope is a two-hour special following Goodall throughout her never-ending travels, capturing her relentless commitment and determination to spread a message of hope. The film offers an intimate perspective of Goodall’s pivotal transformation from scientist to inspirational activist and leader and how she is galvanizing a future generation to create lasting change.

The film is available for subscribers of Disney Plus and also on Amazon for $1.99: https://www.amazon.com/Jane-Goodall-Hope-Season-1/dp/B087N4GJK5. We will connect at 6:30 PM via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83391076365?pwd=djZQa3hvQklncDlTdTdjbnBPdDcxdz09) and everybody will start the films soon after. After the films we will hold a discussion on Zoom.

Entire schedule: Environmental Documentaries - SHU Sustainability

Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach 1975

“People were to be happy not to the extent they dominated their fellow creatures on the earth, but to the extent they lived in balance with them.” Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach 1975

Continue reading at: Ecotopia - Wikipedia

Tomorrow, 24-Feb, The 11th Environmental Documentary Series is presenting: Modern Nature and Sprayed

Tomorrow, 24-Feb, The 11^th Environmental Documentary Series will show: Modern Nature and Sprayed, 87 minutes: https://www.futurehistoryfilms.com/documentaries

About the films: Modern Nature: Do we need a genetic revolution and biotechnological solutions to feed 10 billion people by 2050? Or is organic farming the answer? The viewer decides. Sprayed: As Miami residents worry about being sprayed with chemicals in the War on Zika, a journey to Brazil and Vietnam reveals new insights. Perspectives of doctors, scientists, and politicians are balanced with voices of ordinary citizens and victims to explore concerns about the potential consequences of disease control.

SPRAYED - a documentary by Craig Leon (Trailer) from Craig Leon on Vimeo.

The films will be provided for free by the film maker Craig Leon, who will be attending the screening. We will connect at 6:30 PM via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83391076365?pwd=djZQa3hvQklncDlTdTdjbnBPdDcxdz09) and everybody will start the films soon after. After the films we will hold a discussion on Zoom with the film maker Craig Leon.

Schedule: Environmental Documentaries - SHU Sustainability

Environmental Documentaries - SHU Sustainability: Tomorrow, 17-Feb, The 11th Environmental Documentary Series will show: Watson

Tomorrow, 17-Feb, The 11^th Environmental Documentary Series will show: Watson, 100:14 minutes: 

https://participant.com/2019/09/animal-planet-acquires-worldwide-tv-rights-documentary-watson 

About the film: Captain Watson and his crews have confronted whaling vessels from Europe to the Southern Ocean, seal hunters in Canada, and shark finners in Central America. WATSON blends revealing contemporary interviews with Captain Watson, archival clips of Sea Shepherd’s dramatic encounters, and spectacular underwater nature footage, as award-winning documentarian Lesley Chilcott (An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for “Superman”) paints a fascinating portrait of a man willing to put his own life at risk in a relentless quest to protect the oceans and the marine life within.

Attendees will have to provide themselves for the film which is available for $2.99 e.g. on Amazon, iTunes. We will connect at 6:30 PM via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83391076365?pwd=djZQa3hvQklncDlTdTdjbnBPdDcxdz09) and everybody will start the film soon after. After the film we will hold a discussion on Zoom.

Full schedule for this semester: Environmental Documentaries - SHU Sustainability

Tomorrow, 10-Feb, The 11th Environmental Documentary Series will show: Mossville: When Great Trees Fall

Tomorrow, 10-Feb, The 11^th Environmental Documentary Series will show: Mossville: When Great Trees Fall, 76:16 minutes: http://www.mossvilleproject.com/

About the film: Mossville, Louisiana: A once-thriving community founded by formerly enslaved and free people of color, and an economically flourishing safe haven for generations of African American families. Today it’s a breeding ground for petrochemical plants and their toxic black clouds.  Many residents are forced from their homes, and those that stay suffer from prolonged exposure to contamination and pollution. Amid this chaos and injustice stands one man who refuses to abandon his family’s land - and his community.

Attendees will have to provide themselves for the film which is available for $3.99 e.g. on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play. We will connect at 6:30 PM via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83391076365?pwd=djZQa3hvQklncDlTdTdjbnBPdDcxdz09) and everybody will start the film soon after. After the film we will hold a discussion on Zoom.

Full schedule: Environmental Documentaries - SHU Sustainability

Tomorrow, 3-Feb, The 11th Environmental Documentary Series will show: The Social Dilemma

Tomorrow, 3-Feb, The 11th Environmental Documentary Series will show: The Social Dilemma, 94:30 minutes: https://www.thesocialdilemma.com

About the film: Never before have a handful of tech designers had such control over the way billions of us think, act, and live our lives. The technology that connects us – Also manipulates us, Also polarizes us, Also distracts us, Also monetizes us, Also divides us, Also controls us.

Attendees will have to provide themselves for the film which is available on Netflix. We will connect at 6:30 PM via Zoom
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83391076365?pwd=djZQa3hvQklncDlTdTdjbnBPdDcxdz09 and everybody will start the film soon after. After the film we will hold a discussion on Zoom.

Full schedule: https://sustainability.sienaheights.edu/environmental-documentaries.html

Tomorrow, 27-Jan, The 11th Environmental Documentary Series will show: The Story of Plastic

 Tomorrow, 27-Jan, The 11^th Environmental Documentary Series will show: The Story of Plastic, 83:49 minutes: https://www.storyofplastic.org 

Attendees will have to provide themselves for the film but it is available for little money: Amazon $2.99 also on Apple TV, Xfinity video-on-demand. We will connect at 6:30 PM via Zoom (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83391076365?pwd=djZQa3hvQklncDlTdTdjbnBPdDcxdz09) and everybody will start the film soon after. After the film we will hold a discussion on Zoom.

Environmental Documentaries - SHU Sustainability showing Entangled

20-Jan Entangled, runtime 75:07 Topics: Species extinction, oceans, policy

Vimeo free access link will be provided at 6:30 PM via Zoom

David Abel, filmmaker and Boston Globe reporter will attend the discussion

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/408553571

ENTANGLED is an award-winning, feature-length film about how climate change has accelerated a collision between the nation’s most valuable fishery, one of the world's most endangered species, and a federal agency mandated to protect both. The film chronicles the efforts to protect North Atlantic right whales from extinction, the impacts of those efforts on the lobster industry, and how the National Marine Fisheries Service has struggled to balance the vying interests. Entangled, from the makers of Lobster War and Sacred Cod, won a 2020 Jackson Wild award, known as the Oscars of nature films. It also won Best Conservation Film at the Mystic Film Festival.

Learn more at http://Entangled-Film.com 

Zoom Link on: Environmental Documentaries - SHU Sustainability

State issues consumption warning for Lake Superior smelt over PFAS contamination | Science & Environment | madison.com

Poison everywhere - and who pays for the cleanup? Hint: Not those who profited from it.

State issues consumption warning for Lake Superior smelt over PFAS contamination | Science & Environment | madison.com

Step up climate change adaptation or face serious human and economic damage – UN report

• Almost three-quarters of nations have some adaptation plans in place, but financing and implementation fall far short of what is needed
• Annual adaptation costs in developing countries are estimated at USD 70 billion. This figure is expected to reach USD 140-300 billion in 2030 and USD 280-500 billion in 2050.
• Nature-based solutions, critical for adaptation, need to receive more attention

                                https://pixabay.com/photos/hintersee-bergsee-mountains-ramsau-3601004/ 

Nairobi, 14 January 2021 – As temperatures rise and climate change impacts intensify, nations must urgently step up action to adapt to the new climate reality or face serious costs, damages and losses, a new UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report finds.

Adaptation – reducing countries’ and communities’ vulnerability to climate change by increasing their ability to absorb impacts – is a key pillar of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The agreement requires its signatories to implement adaptation measures through national plans, climate information systems, early warning, protective measures and investments in a green future.

The UNEP Adaptation Gap Report 2020 finds that while nations have advanced in planning, huge gaps remain in finance for developing countries and bringing adaptation projects to the stage where they bring real protection against climate impacts such as droughts, floods and sea-level rise.

Public and private finance for adaptation must be stepped up urgently, along with faster implementation. Nature-based solutions – locally appropriate actions that address societal challenges, such as climate change, and provide human well-being and biodiversity benefits by protecting, sustainably managing and restoring natural or modified ecosystems – must also become a priority.

Continue reading at: Step up climate change adaptation or face serious human and economic damage – UN report

Details about Recycling in Adrian provided by Stevens Disposal & Recycling Service, Inc.

I asked our local recycling provider Stevens Disposal & Recycling Service, Inc. for clarification about the recycling of plastics 1 and 2 and how they deal with plastics 3-7 that should not be included into their recycling bins but probably ends there quite often. I also inquired about glass that should also not be included into the Stevens' residential recycling collection but most probably also ends up in the totes:

Q: As I am diligently separating type 1 and 2 plastics from other types and bring those plastics and my glass bottles to the county recycling center, I am wondering how many of the 600 subscribing residents in Adrian do this – and how much contaminated recycling you must get. Judging for myself, I did not know about these changes through direct communication by your company – or through the Daily Telegram and only heard of it when I contacted you – it is on the online flyer – but how many customers will actively look for them. So I am sure you get a lot of contamination – can you assure me that you can still recycle paper and cardboard although you probably get a lot of contamination by glass shreds – and that you can effectively recycle metals and type 1 and 2 plastics - due to an effective manual or automatic sorting process? Also, do you recycle plastics 1 and 2 via Clean Tech in Dundee, who does bottle recycling of these valuable resources?
A: Stevens Disposal & Recycling Service, Inc.'s single stream recycling is taken directly to the recycling centers from route.  They are currently using Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority and Hamtramck Recycling. Loads from commercial cardboard only dumpsters are taken directly to Gateway Recycling.

I inquired with both residential recycling centers that Stevens serves, but only Marc Williams, the manager of the Western Washtenaw Recycling Authority responded. Below are his responses:

Q: How do you recycle plastics 1 and 2? A: WWRA sorts the commingled plastic into three different types HDPE NAT, HDPE MC AND PET. (these are the most common 1&2) we send it to cleanTech in Dundee MI.

Q: Are these plastics physically recycled (bottle to bottle) or liquified? A: Once at Cleantech the plastic is washed shredded then melted back into pellets and used in making new bottles like Absopure and Tide, Another use is clothing like North Face and Patagonia.

Q: What happens to plastics 3-7? A: 3-7 plastic has become much more difficult to move in the recent years.  Most of the time we have to pay to make sure this commodity is recycled. It becomes very expensive once you add in labor trucking etc..

Q: What about glass? A: Our system isn't set up to have glass meet the quality that is needed to have put back to market.  We have drop off stations located on our webpage that accept glass. This glass separate from the Single-Stream can meet the standard required for further processing. This year alone we recycled 241 tons by this collection method. The glass that is mixed with our Single-Stream is crushed as it goes through our sorting system and ejects from the recyclable along with anything else that is smaller than 1.5 inches . All that material  consequently goes to a landfill. This system removes the glass from the paper and cardboard making them still recyclable. 

In most cases of contamination WWRA would prefer for it to be disposed of with the trash.