environment – Karma

Miner Threats: Industry Not Addressing Global Warming, While Flooding, Drought Risks Rise, McKinsey Says

Mark Shenk — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 01:39:09 +0000

The world’s mining industry is doing little to curb greenhouse gases and combat global warming, raising the possibility of a backlash from governments and society, McKinsey says. At the same time, physical challenges to the industry, exacerbated by climate change, threaten mining operations around the world, the consultant said. McKinsey’s new report warns that the […]

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Cash Chases Trash as Investors Pour Money Into Startups Looking to End Plastic Waste

Mark Shenk — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 19:33:48 +0000

Trash and cash go hand-in-hand, from John Waters films to garbage hauling. Sustainable trash is also drawing interest, as investors pour funds into startups seeking to make earth-friendlier waste. Record sums have been raised by firms developing alternatives to plastic bags and other environmentally-damaging packaging. More than $850 million has been invested in 20 firms […]

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Fast Fashion, Textiles, Seen Wreaking Environmental Havoc, While Opportunities for Startups Open

Edmund Newton — Thu, 09 Jan 2020 20:03:10 +0000

As governments, startups and activists wrestle with Sargasso Seas of floating shopping bags, disposable water bottles and plastic packaging, a new front has opened up — mountain ranges of unwanted, non-biodegradable clothing and textiles. The 2020 agenda for environmentally conscious consumer groups and investors, as well as national policy makers and media, is likely to […]

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Our Love of Data May Be “Unsustainable,” as Surging Power Demand Takes Environmental Toll, Researcher Warns

Bruce Rule — Mon, 06 Jan 2020 19:19:44 +0000

Artificial intelligence, higher-speed 5G cellular networks, and streaming services like Netflix may be making our lives easier, but there’s a cost: skyrocketing demand for energy that will have a huge impact on the environment. As the world depends more on smart devices that use data, tech companies are building immense facilities housing stacks and stacks […]

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Global Quest for ‘Green’ Concrete Goes On, As Researchers Ask if It Can Be Done

Zoë Beery — Fri, 13 Dec 2019 20:11:59 +0000

Key Takeaway: As the global demand for concrete rises, a sustainable, environmentally sound solution is still decades away. Concrete, the most widely used material on Earth, is poised to become even more plentiful as the world continues to urbanize. Global use of concrete is expected to rise by as much as 23% by 2050. That […]

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Saatva is Bringing Eco-Friendly Luxury Mattresses to the Masses

Meg Massey — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 20:31:13 +0000

Ever since Casper’s bed-in-a-box mattress model launched in 2014 with a VC-fueled growth engine, the direct-to-consumer market for something we all use nightly has exploded. Today there are about 175 direct-to-consumer mattress brands, accounting for 12% of the $16.5 billion mattress industry. In 2018, a whopping 45% of mattresses were bought online. Despite such a […]

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That Tesla Won’t Cost the Same as a Kia Anytime Soon, MIT Study Finds

Ron Day — Wed, 20 Nov 2019 14:30:04 +0000

Electric vehicles may never be the environmental savior that consumers hope for. EV costs — driven by expensive batteries — are prevented by a number of factors from ever falling to a range where they would be widely affordable, according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study written up in MIT Technology Review. Lithium-ion batteries […]

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How TUSHY’s Bidets Are Cleaning Up Both Backsides and the Environment

Meg Massey — Mon, 18 Nov 2019 20:12:03 +0000

What has long been considered a luxury item in the West — especially in the U.S. — may finally be going mainstream, with implications for both the environment and sanitation around the world. Bidets, which project a stream of water in lieu of wiping with toilet paper, are common in Asia and Southern Europe, but, […]

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The Mission to Monetize Trash: How Plastic Bank Is Aiming to Turn Trash into Treasure

David Wilson — Wed, 13 Nov 2019 22:29:47 +0000

Key Takeaway: Entrepreneur David Katz is on a mission to wipe out poverty and clean up the planet by monetizing trash. Plastic Bank is a Vancouver-based social enterprise with a Blockchain twist on recycling. Founded in 2013, Plastic Bank is now inching into profit. It pays the extreme poor in Haiti, the Philippines, and Indonesia […]

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Align17’s Georgie Benardete on Investing in the Invisible

Georgie Bernardete — Thu, 31 Oct 2019 19:30:47 +0000

“Is mining the sky a better investment than mining the earth?” This might not seem like an obvious question in the fight against climate change. Landfills, cars groaning out exhaust, and rivers red with pollutants are far more visible than the air we breathe. But if we are going to meet the challenges of the […]

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