In the US, approximately 30-40% of all food is wasted according to the USDA. Generally, on this topic the discussion focuses on how to reduce this number with strategies for every stage of the chain from farm and manufacturing to the consumer. But Saba and colleagues (2023) have taken a different approach. Focusing specifically on … Continue reading
I do my best to make purchases from more sustainable companies, but I can’t do all the research myself. I rely on choosing retailers that I hope, based on their statements, are doing their own investigation into their supply chains; however, research by Fraser and van der Ven (2022) indicates that fast fashion supply chains … Continue reading
Last week I got part way into my bike commute when I was hit by the weight of the smog. We had an air quality warning in the city for a number of days, but in some areas it was painful to breathe and in others it wasn’t noticeable. Urban air pollution is one of … Continue reading
I wrote before about things that are too nice to use. At the time, I searched for research on this idea and came up dry. But a recent study has started to fill the gap. Kowalski and Yoon (2022) looked at how the reasons that people are attached to different products impact whether those products … Continue reading
I found a recent article by O’Connor, Evers, Glenney, and Willings (2022) that proposed placing skateboarding as a grey activity. This is proposed as different from leisure activities that take place in green spaces and are often seen as promoting sustainability. Grey activities, on the other hand, exist in the space in between. They require … Continue reading
I’ve looked into research on food sustainability and to say it’s complex is an understatement. Local good but meat bad; what if it’s local meat? Fruits and veggies good; what if they’re grown with lots of fertilizer and pesticides? What about farming practices and transportation distances and water use? I have a good background to … Continue reading
If you aren’t vegetarian or vegan do you look at the vegetarian section of a restaurant menu? Would you be more likely to choose vegetarian or vegan if those items are mixed in with similar meat based dishes? How about choosing an item from a section called “Environmentally friendly main courses for a happy planet”? … Continue reading
I was a happy three season bike commuter. I was branching out into winter commuting as well. Then I got run off my bike at an intersection when I was riding on a separated bike path. Five surgeries later I was happily a transit commuter. Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. I’m now a four season … Continue reading
For a project in university I once looked at all the things in health care that used oil based products, it’s a lot. I talked in that project about how important it is to prioritize where we use oil as we will inevitably have to phase out its use. Nobody wants to stop important health … Continue reading
A report from the University of Cambridge (2022) caught my eye as I went through recent sustainability related research. The report found that a third of church buildings in a particular diocese in the UK cost more money to maintain than they are able to raise in a year. The reason this caught my attention … Continue reading