Episode 70: 2022 Holiday Hodge-Podge

Tis the season for our annual Holiday Hodge-Podge episode! Join Scott and Jay as they share their favorite 2022 Sustainability Defined moments, interesting sustainability articles, work and personal updates, and sustainable gift ideas - PLUS our Instagram holiday gift giveaway and an opportunity for your donation to a certain charity to be matched by Jay and Scott.

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Episode Intro Notes

Outline

Podcast Year in Review
Personal Updates
Favorite Articles
Sustainable Gift Ideas
Thanks to folks

Podcast year in review

Favorite Episodes
- Jay
  - For obvious reasons, my favorite is our Sustainable Weddings episode with Gina Lett-Shrewsberry. It was really cool to use our research to better inform my own wedding, plus we’ve already heard from folks who have used the episode as a resource for their own nuptials!
  - My favorite fact from that episode: The average wedding produces 400 lbs of garbage and 63 tons of CO2, which is equivalent to the CO2 emissions of four people for an entire year.
- Scott
  - Personal sustainable investing. It’s something I’ve been trying to be better about, and it was fun to educate myself as well as our listeners. This may have been our longest intro ever, but it was important to go through all the different types of sustainable investing strategies and tools so listeners could consider how they want to go about it in their portfolios.
    - One thing that struck me from this episode was the lack of consistency among the ESG ratings that many investors rely on for guidance. Research published by MIT Sloan School of Management found correlation among ESG ratings was 0.61 on average. By comparison, credit ratings from Moody’s and S&P are correlated at 0.99.
    - The lack of third party validation (aka assurance) also stood out to me. 92 percent of S&P 500 companies published sustainability reports in 2020, while only 35 percent of reporting companies utilized external assurance (i.e., validation) for their sustainability disclosures.
  - Air pollution. This is a topic that’s essentially impacting everyone around the world, some more than others. Millions die each year and there’s trillions of dollars in cost each year due to air pollution. We honestly probably should have covered it earlier. It’s such an important topic.
    - I liked that we had two guests from Moms Clean Air Force, one leader there more focused on policy and another focused more on the equity dimension.
    - One important point made in there was that while air quality over time has gotten better in the U.S. due to the Clean Air Act, this also may be because the U.S. has had other countries take on the dirty practices to supply its goods. A 2017 study published in the journal Nature found that more than 50 percent of China’s air pollution at the time was “associated with goods and services consumed outside…the provinces where they were produced” and that “11 percent of Chinese air-pollution deaths” could be traced to “goods and services used in the United States and Western Europe.”
    - And this is your friendly podcast host reminder to check your Air Quality Index to make sure it’s ok to go outside and such today.

Podcast achievements

517,000 total downloads! What a milestone. That means we saw over 100,000 downloads since this time last year, an increase of 25%. We’re still averaging between 10-12,000 downloads per month, in line with where we were 12 months ago.
- We’ve received 222 iTunes reviews, up from 202 reviews this time last year. Keep em coming!
  - And as a reminder, we read one review at the end of every episode, and chances are good that if you write one, yours will get read! And you know what, let’s just read a good one right now rather than saving it until the end.
    - Techygirl97, 10/13/2022
    - Get Serious About Trying to Understand Sustainability and Have a Few Laughs While At It
    - Scott and Jay are doing an amazing job at explaining sustainability from a wide variety of perspectives, which often times are not so easy to understand but they condense it and explain it in very digestible and amusing ways. I am using this podcast to learn more about the field and gauge if I see myself pursuing a career involving sustainability. Thank you guys for taking the time to explain these important topics in such a fun manner!
- Our most popular episode remains our Careers in Sustainability episode featuring our friend Trish Kenlon of sustainablecareerpathways.com. There’s over 17,000 downloads for that episode alone! This had been a pretty heavily requested topic, and clearly definers were hungry for it (and continue to be). We hope this episode continues to help you guys navigate this wild and ever-changing world of sustainability and find fulfilling careers.
- Big year for the podcast organizationally, too.
  - Thanks to all those that applied for our Research and Operations Director role this fall. We’re still interviewing candidates but expect to have a new team member starting with us in January. Stay tuned for an update there!
  - You might’ve also noticed us doing additional atypical episodes earlier this year. We like to do these types of episodes because they’re easier to produce while still providing useful content. Definers will likely keep seeing more atypical episodes between our normal episodes. Just an FYI.

personal updates

Jay
- EQR
  - Back in May, the right opportunity arose for me to make the move from StoryBuilt over to Equity Residential. Equity Residential (EQR) is a publicly traded REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) that acquires, develops, and manages multifamily properties in dynamic cities across the country.
  - At EQR I’m on the Development team for the Western US, focusing on developing new multifamily properties in our expansion markets of Denver, Dallas, and Austin.
  - What really drew me to EQR was its long-term perspective. Every project I get my hands on is viewed as an investment for the long-haul. This means we pay special focus to sustainability and resilience, from achieving LEED status to adding extra waterproofing and on-site power generation to our projects.
  - I’m also starting to get more involved with sustainability efforts outside of new development projects, including energy retrofits for some of our existing buildings and a portfolio-wide resilience analysis to ensure we’re prepared for whatever conditions our properties might face.
- Personal
  - Marriage
    - On June 3rd of this year, Anna and I celebrated our wedding with the help of the greatest officiant in the game. The one, the only, Scott Breen.
    - Fun spin here was that Anna and I actually secretly eloped on May 26th, with the 26th of the month being a special date for us (birthdays, first date, Judy’s birthday).
  - Honeymoon
    - A few months after the wedding we took the trip of our lives to Zimbabwe, Zambia, and South Africa. We flirted with death at the edge of Victoria Falls, dove with sharks, and completed our first but certainly not our last safari. Truly an unforgettable trip.
    - I’ll talk more about some observations from the honeymoon in just a bit.
Scott
- Professional/CMI
  - Friendly reminder to the definers that I am the Vice President of Sustainability at the Can Manufacturers Institute, which represents U.S. metal can manufacturers and their suppliers. So my job is to promote and advance metal can recycling and sustainability. It’s nice to represent a packaging that is the most recycled food and beverage container in the U.S. as well as made of a material that can recycle forever. Consider that 75% of all aluminum and 75% of all steel ever produced is still in circulation today. RECYCLE YOUR CANS!
  - So last year on the hodge podge episode I mentioned that CMI had just published U.S. aluminum beverage can recycling rate targets including going from 45% in 2020 to 70% in 2030. Well earlier this year we published an Aluminum Beverage Can Recycling Primer and Roadmap. I wrote it, and I think the design of it turned out super well. To learn more about the targets and check out the primer and roadmap, go to cancentral.com/targets.
    - I mentioned last year some articles I helped write on beverage container deposit return systems. Well an update there is that we launched a new microsite focused on recycling refunds (recycling refunds is the same thing as beverage container deposit return systems, but we’re rebranding it since consumer research showed recycling refunds resonates more. Makes sense. People like recycling. People like refunds). The microsite is RecyclingRefundsWork.org. The heart of the microsite is a list of best practice principles for recycling refund programs that are endorsed by a dozen organizations and counting. The organizations come from across the political spectrum and include consumer groups, recycling groups, non-profits, industry groups, and advocacy groups.
  - But CMI doesn’t just represent aluminum beverage cans. It’s all metal cans.
    - On the food can front, I encourage definers to check out cannedgood.org where you can hear from our “spokescan” about how steel in cans is infinitely recyclable and how steel cans help reduce food waste.
    - Also, earlier this year I worked with Nicholas Georges and Molly Blessing at the Household and Commercial Products Association to launch the Aerosol Recycling Initiative with financial support from companies across the aerosol value chain. This initiative has two 2030 goals. One is to achieve at least an 85 percent recycling access rate for all aerosol cans. The other is to label at least 90 percent of all aerosols as recyclable with messaging on how to properly recycle them.
    - Remember to empty your aerosol cans before putting them in the recycling.
  - The last thing I’ll mention on the CMI front is that I had the privilege of organizing the Global Aluminium Can Sustainability Summit in Rome, Italy last September. There were more than 100 leaders from across the aluminum beverage can value chain in attendance. The focus areas of the summit were (1) discuss how to operationalize the decarbonization of aluminum produced for can sheet and (2) generate transparent information on recycling and circularity including how to measure recycled content.
    - Coming out of the Summit, CMI and other companies and organizations endorsed Mission Possible Partnership’s decarbonization roadmap for how the aluminum industry can operate in alignment with a 1.5 degree scenario. This won’t be easy, but it’s good to see what we need to do to get there and everyone agrees it’s important to go for it.
- Personal
  - I mentioned last year that I’m now an Uncle. Well I’m already an Uncle times two. Joining Charlotte Jo (Charlie Jo) is Eloise (LuLu). Pretty epic nicknames and the cutest nieces around.
  - Shannon is off at Harvard pursuing a one year masters in education. So I’m living alone for the first time ever. Well, Delta is around so I’m a single Cat dad. Prior to her studies we took an epic trip to Panama. Highly recommend, particularly the overnight sail adventure in San Blas.
  - I mentioned last year passing the Level 1 exam of the Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) certification. I took Level 2 and passed this year so I’m fully certified. Next up is taking the courses offered by The Center for Association Leadership (the association for associations!) to earn a Certificate of Association Management.

Favorite articles

Jay
- While Anna and I were on honeymoon in South Africa, we got accustomed to what locals there call “load shedding”, which is effectively planned, rolling blackouts across the country due to too much electric demand across an inadequate power grid. My favorite article from Reuters called “South Africa’s ‘Silent Revolution’ as those with Cash Go Solar” covers just that.
  - What’s interesting is that, despite abundant solar and wind resources, South Africa's government has proved reluctant to adopt renewable energy. Until its relaunch in 2021, pressure from mining unions had ensured a programme of private, utility-scale projects was frozen for years. But the decline of debt-crippled state power utility Eskom, which produces 80% of its power from coal, has increased the urgency of finding alternatives.
  - Even though the country’s president has promised to cut through red tape to South Africa's use of renewable energy, many South Africans aren’t waiting for government action and their impatience has driven a boom in small-scale solar installations.
  - In the first five months of this year alone, South Africa imported solar PV panels worth nearly 2.2 billion rand ($135 million). That amounts to over 500 megawatts of peak generating capacity
  - Once installed, the panels will increase the 2.1 gigawatts of estimated existing small-scale solar generating capacity by some 24%, surpassing what the government has managed to procure in a decade of its utility-scale solar strategy.
  - Overall, it hits home for an experience we had throughout our honeymoon and something that South Africans have completely gotten used to. Nice to see a promising development as folks realize they have the capacity to do this themselves.
- Human Composting
  - Colorado Legislature passed a law last year that made natural organic human reduction — composting — a legal after-death care option. This article comes from the Denver Post titled “Human composting facilities, the first since Colorado law change, offer unique burial option”
  - Now, human remains can be turned into soil and used for planting (as long as it won’t be used for food for human consumption) or be donated to conservation efforts. The company that began this method of after-death disposition in Washington called Recompose is now bringing its operations to Denver, growing the movement to make this a more common option for Coloradans.
  - Recompose’s system speeds up the after-death process, using plant materials, microbes and heat to turn a person into about a truck bed worth of soil in a month. The material is then screened to remove nonorganic materials and leftover bone fragments, and then it gets cured for two to four weeks and the soil dries.
  - Overall it’s a nice complement to our Green Burials episode and something I just find interesting. Plus, Anna and I just finished watching Dahmer and I think I can safely say that human remains are better composted than consumed.
- Some Landlords Hitting Pause On Sustainability Projects As Costs Skyrocket - Bisnow
  - Per BisNow, an increasingly tough financial environment is starting to crush property owners’ willingness to spend on environmental compliance and green improvements.
  - Since the onset of the pandemic, project costs have increased as supply chain hurdles, materials shortages and inflation put project feasibility under pressure. Those dynamics have been a headache for CRE investors, developers and owners alike, but have been disastrous for smaller investors and landlords. Now, with rising interest rates and the industry bracing for a recession, some are placing their environmental commitments on the chopping block.
  - The article cites a French company that has 200 manufacturing plants in the U.S. and is trying to meet its environmental target of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. The company maintained that sustainability-related improvements needed to pay for themselves within three years - “So even in the countries that are supposed to be more advanced, it still boils down to the money.”
  - Smaller building owners, without as much capital to deploy, are already struggling. Those difficulties will likely only increase as borrowing gets more expensive.
  - Overall, it can be discouraging to see sustainability projects dropped so quickly, though not without reasons for doing so of course. Goes back to my comments about being a long-term holder at EQR where we’re more willing to do these types of improvements,
Scott
- There was an interesting Washington Post article in the middle of the year about heat pumps. Maybe our listeners abroad are more familiar with these. First, let’s talk about how these work and then their impact.
  - Here’s how the most common type of heat pump works. In warm months, air-source heat pumps suck out hot air from a room, blow it over a coil and cycle it through a refrigerant so cold air comes back inside. In cold months, the pump captures heat energy from air outside and cycles it through the machine to warm it and blow it inside. These pumps are similar in size to central air conditioning units.
  - Heat pumps can heat homes up to 50% more efficiently than furnaces and water boilers. Here’s one estimate of the impact of that. If all U.S. houses installing central air conditioners over the remaining decade bought a subsidized heat pump instead, consumers would save approximately $27 billion on heating and cooling bills, while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions by 49 million tons of carbon dioxide by 2032. We’ve seen this play out elsewhere. In Japan, 90% of households use heat pumps to heat and cool homes, contributing to a 40% drop in the country’s electricity consumption over the past decade.
  - Addressing emissions from HVAC is key to the fight against climate change. Countries are providing some tax benefits to encourage purchase of heat pumps. In Italy, the government is essentially paying people to get them since it gives a tax credit equivalent to 110% of its cost. Hopefully this helps their spread. If there are listeners out there buying HVAC systems, consider buying a heat pump and look for a tax credit.
    - We found one that looks pretty nifty from a company called Gradient for $1,999.
- Another Washington Post article talked about septic tanks. According to U.S. EPA, 20% of U.S. households rely on septic tanks to treat raw domestic wastewater. Many of these homes are on the coast and were built with a certain level of groundwater assumed. That level of groundwater is changing in many places due to sea level rise. As the groundwater rises, there may not be enough separation between the septic tank and groundwater for the soil to filter pollutants. The result can be bacteria and parasites from human waste flowing into drinking water supplies or recreational waters, creating a public health problem.
  - Miami-Dade County found that more than half of the 120,000 septic tanks there fail to work properly at some point during the year, helping to fuel deadly algae blooms in Biscayne Bay, home to the nation’s only underwater national park. The cost to convert the Miami-Dade County septic tank households into ones serviced by a central sewer plant would be more than $4 billion, or about $5,000 to $20,000 per home. This is out of reach for many low and middle-income households.
  - But beyond conversion to a central sewer plant where it makes sense, another important step would be updating regulations around septic tanks so that when they are built and installed, they account for the likely changing conditions due to climate change.
  - For more on sea level rise, check out episode 63.
- The Washington Post killed it this year. Here’s another one from them this year; this one is on new technology making it possible to recycle the highly acidic and mineral-rich liquid coal waste known as acid mine drainage (AMD). It's important to address this waste as it threatens drinking water, corrodes infrastructure, and damages aquatic life. West Virginia alone has 184 sites with AMD with operating costs of $4 million a year. An Ohio River Valley Institute report found only a quarter of abandoned mines prior to federal regulations in 1977 taking effect had been reclaimed, and it would take $20 billion to clean up the remaining sites. Recycling AMD is not commercially viable yet but may be worthwhile from a public policy perspective. The infrastructure bill includes $11 billion in funding to clean up abandoned mines and affected waterways.
  - The rare earths in AMD are needed to power clean energy products like wind turbines. This could provide a domestic supply of rare earths, which is important considering 78% of U.S. supplies currently comes from China.
- The Associated Press did a nice piece this year on dam safety. There are about 92,000 dams in the United States, most of which are privately owned and regulated by states. An AP analysis found 2,200 high-hazard U.S. dams (those where lives could be lost if they fail) in poor or unsatisfactory condition. That's up substantially from a similar analysis conducted three years ago. The number may be even higher because of poor data tracking and release at the state and federal levels. The poor conditions make sense since the nation's dams are on average over a half century old; there's decades of deferred maintenance; and homes, businesses, and/or highways have sprung up beneath them since they were built. The heavier rainfall due to climate change could overwhelm aging dams. The good news is that states are starting to put more money into dam safety (particularly those that had recent incidents like Michigan and South Carolina), and the infrastructure bill includes $3 billion for dam-related projects including hundreds of millions for state dam safety programs and repairs. But that's a fraction of the $76 billion that's needed.
  - In other dam news, the Washington Post did an article on converting non-powered dams to ones that make hydroelectric power. This could happen without any change in the dam's operations and a much lower footprint than building a new dam. Out of those 92,000 U.S. dams, about 2,200 generate hydroelectric power, and these hydropower resources account for 7% of U.S. energy production.
  - Still, some say dams should just be removed in general since they can block fish passage and bodies of water naturally emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas, due to the decomposition of organic matter.

Sustainable Holiday gifts

Solar Powered Rechargeable Lantern

The SolarPuff solar-powered lantern is a handy accessory for any outdoor activity. It’s conveniently foldable and light, making it ideal for a backyard gathering or a campout in the woods.
The SolarPuff is water-resistant, emits 8-12 hours of light, and charges within 8 hours. SolarPuff is eco-friendly: made of recyclable, biodegradable fabric and needs no batteries or external power sources. It’s made of heavy-duty, recyclable PET, and utilizes minimal waste packaging for a low environmental impact. Best of all, SolarPuff donates 10% of its profits to charitable causes.
$38.20 via Amazon

Manduka Eko Series Yoga Mat
- The eKO mat has a naturally harvested rubber grip to prevent any slips. Mats can be recycled through Manduka’s partnership with The Renewal Workshop (shout out to Episode 18 on Sustainable Apparel with Jeff Denby, founder of Renewal Workshop).
- Manduka’s design approach is rooted in principles of conservancy — creating responsibly sourced products while minimizing environmental waste. Their products are made using sustainable business practices and environmentally responsible materials, including recycled polyester and organic cotton.
- $95 at manduka.com

Plantable Colored Pencils
- Write, draw, doodle and design until the pencils become too short to use. Then simply turn them upside down, plant the stub, and enjoy watching them grow into fragrant herbs, beautiful flowers or fresh vegetables!
- All Sprout pencils are non-toxic, biodegradable, made from sustainably sourced materials, and use sustainable production techniques. All pencils are made of PEFC (Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification) or FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified wood. They also ensure that every time a tree is harvested, another one is planted.
- $14 on Amazon

Furoshiki - Wrapping Paper Substitute
- A Furoshiki is a traditional Japanese wrapping cloth made of fabric containing cotton and recycled polyester. The Furoshiki can be used in several ways to wrap different products. Unlike wrapping paper, it is flexible and will adapt to any shape leaving you with a beautiful (and zero-waste) result. Gone are the days of single use wrapping paper! It’s reusable and machine washable. You can explain to who you give the gift to that they can use the wrapping for a future gift or you can take it back and reuse.
- $10 on Etsy

Sunski Sunglasses
- Their sunglasses are made with their process called SuperLight, a recycled polymer that transforms post-industrial scrap plastic into a material they use in all their sunglass frames.
- They also make accessories! The textiles SunSki uses in their accessories and carry products are made of recycled polyester. Their team adds color early in the production process as a way to reduce water use.
- All their packaging is completely plastic-free. They use innovative origami folds made from recycled cardboard to protect their frames during shipment in lieu of the typical plastic polybag used to protect eyewear.
- They’re also a member of 1% for the Planet (1% of sales, not profit to environmental charities each year) and are a Climate Neutral certified brand (All Climate Neutral Certified brands measure, reduce, and compensate for their emissions).
- Range of prices at sunski.com

Carbon Capture Soap
- Yes, this is real! Clean02, a company out of Canada, offers per their website “the world’s first carbon capture soap”.
- Behind each body bar is a new type of technology, CarbinX, that captures the greenhouse gas CO2. CarbinX converts the carbon from CO2 into pearl ash, which gives the soap a smooth lather.
- No part of the soap will ever “turn back” into CO2.
- Starting at $7 at cleano2.ca.

One: Pot, Pan, Planet Cookbook
- Subtitled “A greener way to cook for you and your family”, author Anna Jones makes cooking mouthwatering meals simple and green.
- With over 200 recipes for every occasion–from busy weeknight meals, to weekend feasts, to desserts that promise to delight –these inventive, deeply satisfying dishes will become your new go-to kitchen staples. Whether preparing the recipes vegetarian or vegan, you will also find information to help you reduce waste, use leftovers, make kitchens plastic-free, and become a more environmentally mindful shopper.
- $35 at penguinrandomhouse.com

Donate to the Uproot Project
- If you’re wanting more of a donation this year, consider donating to the Uproot Project, a newly launched network for journalists of color who cover environmental issues, as well as students and others aspiring to cover this beat.
- The Uproot Project will connect its member journalists with publications, offer training, and build community as they navigate the work ahead reporting on the environmental crises of our time.
- Send us a receipt for your donation via hosts@sustainabilitydefined.com and the podcast will MATCH up to the first $250 donated!

Holiday Instagram Giveaway for definers

We get a fair number of emails from companies saying hey, we have this cool product, will you feature them on your podcast? We only do episodes once a month so normally it’s a thanks but no thanks, but then we said wait, maybe these companies would be willing to make some product available that our loyal definers could win. And low and behold, some companies said yes!
So we’re going to tell you about the products involved in our giveaway and then we’ll tell you how you can win one.

Thanks

Square Peg Round Hole, Potions
Thanks to our sponsors from this year! Climate First Bank, Acuity Brands, Glad, Tide, and Repurpose.
Adrienne Breen
Amelia Kovacs
Keaton Butler
Thanks to the definers/listeners!