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As climate change progresses, apocalyptic headlines about ravaging fires, rising temperatures, droughts and floods are becoming more and more common. In the last few years alone, the environmental crisis seems to have seeped into everything – the news, social media, and everyday conversation. For some of us, there are even tangible changes in our surroundings that make it difficult to look away.

Recently, the Supreme Court passed down a ruling that left the sustainability community in a tailspin. To understand why this ruling is important, we have to start with the Obama administration. 

The case West Virginia v. the EPA centered around Obama’s Clean Power Plan. This plan aimed to reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted by the coal industry by moving away from coal to renewable energy. Today, coal provides 21% of the electricity in the US, but makes up ½ the carbon dioxide emissions from all power productions. 

You may have seen an abbreviation that’s a mix of numbers and letters when scrolling through your social media over the last three weeks. We’re here to answer all your questions about COP26. If you’re looking for actionable next steps due to the conclusion of COP26, this blog is also for you. 

While the meeting in Glasgow didn't yield everything we hoped for, it did give us some promising moments. Yet, we have a lot of ground to cover to strive for better at COP27.

The ocean has always connected us humans – to each other, and to places and ideas beyond our reach. Seeing its cobalt surface calms us down, and the soothing sounds of waves make us relax. But for millions of people around the world, the ocean is more than just a view – it’s also a vital source of food and income. 

If you’re a person who believes in recycling plastic, we’d love to see a metaphorical show of hands. How many of you take apart your deodorant tube before recycling? Everyone knows that there are different plastics that make up a deodorant tube, right? Even if the container says it's recyclable, you know it’s still important to break down the tube and dispose of each of the pieces properly, correct?

Take a quick peek inside your wardrobe – what do you see? If you’re like most people, probably a whole lot of cotton. 

And no wonder – cotton is a massive industry, and each year we produce enough cotton to make 29 t-shirts for every person on the planet. It’s actually the biggest farmed non-food commodity in the world, and it’s a long-standing favorite – cotton was grown as far back as 7000 years ago, in Mexico as well as Ancient Egypt and Pakistan. 

It may surprise you that the coffee sock wasn’t originally an idea to help make our planet more sustainable. In fact, the CoffeeSock was born out of need. One day, a family in Austin had run out of coffee filters and needed coffee. They did what anyone else with a slight caffeine addiction would do (no judgement), and made a coffee filter out of tightly woven fabric. Thus, the CoffeeSock was born!

Since life first blossomed on earth, organisms have evolved complicated interdependencies in order to survive. When we look at these relationships, a very important one is between plants and the organisms that pollinate them. This is done by insects, birds, bats, and other animals by transferring pollen from one flower to the next, allowing them to reproduce.

Each year on April 22nd, we celebrate Earth Day as an opportunity to appreciate our world, but importantly, also to bring attention to the environmental challenges that we face. Since 1970 Americans and the global community have recognized Earth Day as an opportunity to spread awareness and mark the anniversary of what can be considered the modern environmental movement. 

While you may be unfamiliar with what palm oil is, where it comes from, and how it is produced, you certainly have come into contact with it - most likely very frequently. Palm oil is a type of edible vegetable oil that has become the most commonly used oil in packaged products. However, palm oil production has an enormous environmental cost, which makes it a deeply problematic commodity on a large scale.

For many of us, laundry is one of those household chores that simply needs to be done. It’s a mundane and unglamorous routine that most of us complete multiple times a week. One can be forgiven if spending a significant amount of time pondering our laundry routine’s environmental impact doesn’t rise to the top of the immediate concern list.

Our shower & bathing routines have have developed an enormous plastics problem. From shampoos, conditioners, soaps, face washes and scrubs, to even the majority of sponges - they are all packaged with or contain plastics. This was not always the case, but rising demand in the personal care market and changes in how we bathe have helped create this new plastic landscape.