In today’s Electrek Green Energy Brief (EGEB):  

• Clean electricity has exceeded coal in OECD countries.
• What’s wishcycling? It’s a bad habit we all have.
• UK’s chief environment scientist: Everyone needs to make big changes to cut harmful emissions.
• 10 ways to achieve Zero Waste.

  EGEB: A daily technical, financial, and political review/analysis of important green energy news.   Some good news to start your weekend: The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that “clean electricity has exceeded the amount produced by coal across the countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),” according to Country Life.   The OECD is a 36-country intergovernmental economic organization founded to stimulate trade and economic advancement. So who’s the green energy leader?   The greenest country in the OECD … is Iceland (pictured above), where virtually all electricity came from renewable sources — primarily hydro power and geothermal — both in 2018 and in the first five months of 2019.   The World Economic Forum calls the IEA’s news a green energy production milestone. The WEF sums up the current situation nicely:   Coal is in rapid decline across the OECD, while renewable sources of energy are surging. Gas is now the most common source of fuel for energy production across the OECD. It’s cleaner than coal but still a fossil fuel that contributes to global warming.   But there’s still plenty of room for improvement: Coal increased by 3% in 2018, mainly in China and India. “Coal is still the largest fuel source for generating electricity, accounting for 38% of total global production,” says the WEF. But India and China are canceling and delaying plans for new coal facilities. And “investment in coal-fired power plants declined by nearly 3%, however, to the lowest level since 2004.”  

Our terrible recycling habit

  The perpetual waste question: Is this or is this not recyclable? You look at the guide sticker on your recycling bin, and the thing you’re holding isn’t on the list. So you take your chances and put it in the recycling bin anyway.   As Mother Jones explains, the waste management industry calls this wishcycling.   According to Marian Chertow, director of the Solid Waste Policy program at Yale University, ‘a wishcycler wants to do the right thing and feels that the more that he or she can recycle, the better.’   Currently, 25% of the items Americans put into their recycling bins aren’t supposed to be in there, like dirty items or things that just can’t be recycled. The result of this is rising costs and reduced productivity at recycling facilities.   So what to do? Mother Jones suggests we reduce and reuse, in addition to recycling. And here’s their guide (maybe copy and paste it somewhere that’s easily accessible) to what can and cannot be recycled:   When you do recycle, you should know what belongs in the bin: Rinsed plastic containers and glass bottles, cardboard, and beverage and food cans are almost always acceptable. Plastic bags, electronics, and paper covered with food generally are not. Neither are insulated coffee cups and toothpaste tubes, in most cases. And if you’ve checked your local guidelines to see if an item is recyclable and you still aren’t sure, it’s best to ignore your wishful instincts and throw it in the trash.   (I didn’t know about toothpaste tubes not being able to go in the recycling bin. Huh. We learn something new every day.)  

It’s everyone’s responsibility to cut emissions

  The UK’s chief environment scientist, Professor Sir Ian Boyd, told the BBC in an interview that in order to halt greenhouse gas emissions, everyone is going to have to do their part. He also said that strong political leadership is needed to get the message through to the general public.   Boyd says we all have to do these three things: use less transportation, eat less red meat, and buy fewer clothes.   In other words, walk or bike more (or take public transport, buy an electric vehicle, or carpool), go vegetarian, and keep wearing your 10-year-old favorite sweater  — or hit the thrift stores if you really need to replace a clothing item.  

10 ways to go Zero Waste

  Waste is a big problem in the US. We sent 137.7 million tons of it to landfill in 2015, according to the EPA. It needs to be dealt with effectively, alongside implementing green energy, so we don’t end up looking like the Earth in WALL-E.   We need to keep the momentum going on big action on a global level, but just as importantly, it starts with every single one of us. If we all change our habits, we’ll make a difference.   Real Simple spoke to experts and compiled a list of 10 ways to achieve Zero Waste. Their list is below, and check out their article for further details.  

1. Use what you already have: If you’ve got a plastic item that works, don’t replace it with something more eco-friendly. Because then you have two of the same thing.
2. Refuse first: Don’t take samples and flyers.
3. Rearrange the trash: Make it harder to automatically throw things away. It forces you to think.
4. Pack reusable necessities: You know — coffee cups, straws. Keep them in your car.
5. Borrow before buying: Share things with your neighbors. It keeps down on all the consumption of stuff.
6. Do a trash audit: Check to see what you throw away the most, and make a change to reduce that waste.
7. Don’t feel like you have to make everything yourself: Only make it yourself if you enjoy it. You don’t have to be Martha Stewart.
8. Green your period: Reusable menstrual cups not only save money, they cut down on some serious waste.
9. Raise tiny tree huggers: Teach your kids about green energy and how to take care of the planet. Help them set good habits early. Then they’ll nag you. In a good way.
10. Invest in a TerraCycle bin: “The company TerraCycle accepts many items that can’t always be recycled locally, like coffee capsules, toothpaste tubes, and potato chip bags. It partners with brands … to offer free recycling of their products. Or you can buy a bin or pouch for a specific need.” (Oh, so that’s what I do with my toothpaste tube!)

   

It’s called “wishcycling,” and pretty much all of us do it.

Despite being a certified millennial, I am late to the bandwagon on many trends — listening to podcasts being one of them. Though I have dipped a toe into the vast sea of podcast programming this year, I spend a lot of my “listening hours” on the podcasts of yesteryear — vintage radio programming. These shows are fun to listen to not only for the classic comedy routines or noir-style whodunnits, but also because of the commercials. You can learn a lot from advertising. Case in point: I recently binge-listened to several seasons of “Casey, Crime Photographer,” sponsored by the Anchor Hocking Glass Co. — “the most famous name in glass.” Of all Anchor Hocking’s advertised products, what I found most interesting were spots promoting glass jars for baby food or fruits and vegetables, and others introducing the “revolutionary new one-way no-deposit bottle” — not because I’m fascinated by glass, but because of the insight they give on packaging trends throughout the decades. Glass was promoted as a clean, safe, convenient vehicle for baby food that allowed concerned mothers to examine the quality of the product within as well as easily store any leftovers for baby’s next meal. Glass, according to Anchor Hocking, enabled America’s food producers to preserve summer’s bounty of fruits and vegetables at “the peak of freshness” for consumption in the winter months, especially during a world food shortage. And the one-way no-deposit bottle meant you didn’t have to haul all your empty beer bottles back to the store — you could simply toss them into the garbage pail with everything else. In the post-WWII era when rationing and materials conservation were no longer necessities, throwing a single-use glass container away probably felt like a small luxury. Today, however, we’re on the other end of throw-away culture, and the global conversation on packaging has shifted back to reuse as sustainability becomes more important. Kroger, for example, is piloting products in reuseable glass or metal containers through a partnership with Loop and TerraCycle. Since glass isn’t really practical where fresh is concerned, produce companies are seeking to reduce the amount of plastic in packaging or make it easier for consumers to recycle paper and plastic packaging elements. At the same time, a recent study shows 72% of consumers either don’t mind buying produce in plastic or prefer to do so, compared with 17% who say they try to avoid it as much as possible. Since consumers today — just like those of the 1940s — put a high value on convenience, my guess is plastic packaging isn’t going to go away anytime soon. However, if both e-commerce and sustainability efforts continue to reshape how people buy things and how companies do business, I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the future, we hear advertisements on podcasts for the revolutionary new returnable, reuseable, refillable strawberry clamshell or pear pouch bag — “simply consume the fruit, send the packaging back to the shipper, and receive a refilled container, all with the click of a button.”  

Target and Walmart are offering dueling incentives to keep car seats out of landfills. In September, which is National Baby Safety Month, the two retailers are holding in-store trade-in events to recycle the old car seats. Target’s trade-in event returns Sept. 3 and through Sept. 13. Get a 20% coupon on select baby gear in exchange for an old car seat. On Sept. 16, Walmart kicks off its first car seat recycling event at nearly 4,000 stores. For the two-week period through Sept. 30, for trading in a used car seat, get a $30 gift card that "can be used on any item in stores or on Walmart.com," the company told USA TODAY in a statement.

Parents looking to get rid of their children’s outgrown car seats can trade them in from Sept. 16 to Sept. 30 at Walmarts across the country for a $30 gift card.   In honor of National Baby Safety Month, customers can trade in up to two car seats each. All collected car seats will then be recycled through Trenton-based TerraCycle, and each component will be diverted from the landfill.   “Safety – especially car seat safety – is a top priority for Walmart’s Baby department, so we wanted to use our size and scale to create an event that offered unprecedented access to trade in an outgrown car seat for a gift card, perfect for using on your baby’s next car seat,” said Walmart Baby Vice President Melody Richards in a prepared statement. “Sustainability is of equal importance to Walmart, so we’re happy to work with TerraCycle who will recycle every component of the car seats.”   Through the event, TerraCycle Chief Executive Officer Tom Szaky said he expected to divert the plastic equivalent of approximately 35 million water bottles from landfills.

- by Anne Finlay-Stewart, Editor     A city councillor remarked at Monday's meeting that the cigarette butt situation in another municipality councillors recently visited is far worse than Owen Sound. Presumably the councillor was referring to Ottawa, where councillors attended the AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) annual conference.   Of course this is not surprising as the population of Ottawa is 45 times larger than Owen Sound, and it attracts 11 million visitors a year.   But the comment struck me because the councillor seemed to assume that the recent local concern about cigarette butts is aesthetics.   An attractive downtown is certainly a positive thing. The placement of butt recycling containers in our downtown core is absolutely a laudable step. We look forward to hearing the details of this pilot project – what are the goals, how long will it last and how will we measure success?   But the real worry about cigarette butts is their contamination of our soil, air and water, and the subsequent effect on fish, wildlife and children.   The Owen Sound Waste Watchers have been focussing most of their attention on the river and harbour edges, because those butts do not even go through the storm sewers and interceptors - they blow or wash directly into the bay. Although there are more butts when we hold special events like Harbourfest, Summerfolk, the Salmon Spectacular and the upcoming Riverside Reunion, most of the year the harbour sees plenty of visitors. Strollers, dog walkers, boat launchers, and ship watchers – statistics say 16% percent of those are smokers. We need to keep as many of their cigarette butts as we can out of the water.   Parking lots and gutters are the #1 source of butts – an unintended consequence of removing ashtrays from cars and banning smoking in buildings. Because smoking is also prohibited near entrances of many buildings, butt disposal containers have been removed, or never placed there, to discourage smoking around the door. A Catch-22, for sure.   As research for this piece, more than 500 butts were picked up in less than twenty minutes on the sidewalk and gutter in front of a few of the big stores on Owen Sound's eastern edge. It could have been done much more quickly with a broom and pan, but then the butts could not be sent to Terracycle for recycling.   So the butt of the smoker catching a quick drag to meet their need 'twixt car and destination? Into the gutter (or a planter, or sidewalk) it goes. And from there, after a good rain or stiff breeze, into the storm sewer and then to the bay.   The Waste Watchers have kept the toxins and plastic of over 60,000 cigarette butts out of Owen Sound's water over the past four months. If our smokers smoke at the average Canadian rate, that means a little more than 1.24 days worth of our butts have been recycled so far.   Like most of the complex issues that involve human beings, there are no single, simple solutions to smoking or its by-products. We'll find the variety of approaches needed only by identifying the real priorities, facing them head on and admitting that they need addressing.   Special thanks to those who have inspired our inspirers, and led our leaders.

THIS IS A TRUE STORY. It is 1998, I am at a production of Cabaret at Studio 54, and Madonna is at the next table. At some point during the show, she whips out a mirror to check her hair—I think it is braided—and I am close enough to see that she is holding a dull silver T. LeClerc Poudre compact, an item I have long coveted for its chic, Paris between-the-wars aura, but that I am too thrifty, too bohemian to break down and purchase. Suddenly a surge of lust and desire sweeps through me—this fairy dust should not merely reside in a rock star’s palm! As soon as the show ends, I run out and buy it, and I have been swearing by it ever since.   Which means that over the past 21 years I have bought—and discarded—roughly 100 of these things, which is something that until now, I am ashamed to say, I haven’t given much thought. I know that the planet is boiling, we are being buried alive by an avalanche of plastic, the polar ice cap is melting—things are really dire! But alter my beauty routine, the carefully culled roster of products that has worked so hard for me over the decades, and make a “clean” break from my faithful friends? Kill me now! After all, when it comes to cosmetics, who can deny the magical melding of efficacy and presentation they offer—the promise that lies inside those seductive boxes, those elegant bottles so charming on a boudoir shelf?   Still, even selfish me is taken aback by the stark statistics. According to Euromonitor International, a staggering 152.1 billion units of beauty and personal-care packaging was sold globally in 2018, and very little of the resulting waste, including plastic items, will actually be recycled for a number of reasons, which include variations on access to recycling programs, and a lack of uniform recycling procedures that can lead to sorting confusion among consumers. So they end up in landfills, or burned, or they find their way into oceans and waterways. Worst of all, most of these items are actually designed to be disposable, destined to fester atop a repulsive mountain of refuse.   Big beauty is finally meeting the crisis head-on, and it’s about time. L’Oréal says that by next year, 100 percent of its products will have an improved environmental or social profile, including updated formulations that incorporate renewable raw materials that are sustainably sourced or derived from green chemistry; not to be outdone, the Estée Lauder Companies has pledged that by 2025, 75 to 100 percent of their packaging will be recyclable, refillable, reusable, or recoverable. And as a founding company of TerraCycle’s ambitious new Loop initiative—an environmentally friendly shopping platform being piloted in select states that includes eight of Procter & Gamble’s household brands—P&G says that their offerings, which range from Pantene to Tide, can now be dropped off and picked up from your home in 100 percent refillable and recyclable and/or reusable packages, with the click of a button. If these corporate behemoths can be the change, why can’t I take a few baby steps in the right direction?   With this in mind, I assemble a collection of products, all vying for the winning ticket in my ethical/sustainable sweepstakes. Like you, I have tried really expensive shampoos over the years—because if it costs more it must be better, right? —but I always return to Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, which I am delighted to learn is now part of a new How2Recycle initiative that aims to overcome the challenges around proper recycling with clear, specific, and standardized labeling. (Who knew?) But in the interest of science, I investigate a trio of other contenders. First up is California Baby Calendula Shampoo & Body Wash, which features a cartoon smiley face on the bottle. The Los Angeles–based company that uses a solar-powered production facility and sustainably grown, certified-organic calendula from its own farm in Santa Barbara County is so cutting edge, it even funnels condensation from air-conditioning and rainwater off the roof of its headquarters into barrels for landscaping. The next contestant is L’Oréal Professional Source Essentielle shampoo, which has a lovely beachy smell, flaunts a vegan, silicone-, paraben-, and sulfate-free formula, and arrives in a stylish cube that is refillable up to three times. (A quick visit to its website reveals a list of participating salon refill stations nationwide.) The third entrant is a murumuru butter–and–rose shampoo “bar”—no plastic in the packaging!—from Love Beauty and Planet. It is a heart-shaped cake of soap and thus unlike any shampoo I have ever used. Though it doesn’t lather up very much (maybe that’s better for the planet?), its sentimental shape and rosy aroma look—and smell—like it belongs in a 1950s country cottage. (Not a bad thing.)   All three of these perform perfectly well, but in truth it is difficult for me to judge, since before I blow-dry my hair, I always coat it with an iron-clad gel, superstrong enough to turn my wavy-not-in-a-cute-way tresses into a semblance of the stick-straight bob I crave. The 98 percent–naturally derived Garnier Fructis Pure Clean Styling Gel, a very pleasant product with a TerraCycle partnership (you send in your empty tube; they repurpose it to make new recyclable products), is not up to the task, nor is the 100 percent–vegan Yarok Feed Your Hold Hair Spray able to conquer my limp locks. So I hightail it back to my reliable göt2b Ultra Glued Invincible Styling Gel, which is so tough it boasts a picture of a scary guy with a mohawk on the box.   The next morning, I scrub myself with Ren Clean Skincare Atlantic Kelp and Magnesium Anti-Fatigue Body Wash—the bottle is made from 100 percent–recycled plastic, 20 percent of which is culled from the ocean—but is this really waking me up, or is the shower just doing its thing? Then I give Vapour Soft Focus Foundation a spin. The Taos-based company has a serious commitment to renewable energy and a goal of using 100 percent Day Light Solar by 2022 at its headquarters and production facility, and—nice surprise!—I love this and would gladly use it when this research project ends. For the trademark dots on my cheeks, meant to make me look like a cross between a Victorian doll and a 1920s flapper, I have—editorial secret—long relied on mere lipstick, and Guerlain Rouge G in Deep Plum is sustainable because its tube is refillable. Not only does it look like a tiny chrome cocktail shaker, it is quite capable of giving me an unnatural blush. But just when it seems like it will be easy for me to do my part in saving the planet, there is trouble brewing for my lips. Admittedly, not everyone wants to look as if she has just bitten into a poison apple—but I need a lip pencil so dark, it’s almost black and capable of creating the upper-lip points my Cupid’s bow depends on. I try the darkest shades from both Dr. Hauschka (the antibacterial witch hazel in their liners is grown in their own herb garden!) and 100 percent Pure (their pigments come from fruit, vegetables, and tea! They even print their recyclable boxes with nontoxic soy ink at their 100 percent–solar-powered San Jose production facility!). Alas, they both are very pretty but too gentle, too sweet, for my kisser, and I am forced to return to my beloved MAC Cosmetics Nightmoth, which—just saying—is made of wood, not plastic.   Now for the most fraught part of the experiment: Will I be able to relinquish my precious T. LeClerc compact, even for a day? If I can bear the thought of it, there are refillable alternatives that include a delightfully petite Golden Alligator Slim Compact from Estée Lauder, so chic it could nestle cheerfully in a golden alligator Birkin. Or I might consider Antonym Cosmetics, which claims that their products contain 98 percent (or higher) natural ingredients; the packaging is made from what I think is wood (sustainable!) but turns out to be bamboo (even more sustainable!). If I ever decide I want to channel Stevie Nicks instead of Sally Bowles, Antonym is the powder for me.   In the end, even if I am not ready to abandon my T. LeClerc anytime soon (I wonder if Madonna is still using it?), it is nice to know that there are plenty of laudable goods out there, striving to help us look beautiful while at least attempting to keep the Earth beautiful, too. And I guess that’s really the heart of the matter: We want products to make us feel cool and gorgeous and transform us into the person we always wanted to be—a fantasy version of ourselves, no less powerful for being so elusive. And if these powders and potions, these shampoos and sprays can also do no harm—and guide us toward a saner, smarter future—won’t they literally become the sustainable stuff that dreams are made of?

Walmart is launching what the company's calling "the nation's largest" car seat recycling effort next month. Customers will be able to trade in used car seats at the service desk at more than four thousand Walmart stores across the country. Customers will receive a $30 Walmart gift card to use in store or online. The car seats collected will be recycled through the company "Terracycle", with components divered from landfills. The event will run from September 16th through 30th.  

Parents looking to get rid of their children’s outgrown car seats can trade them in from Sept. 16 to Sept. 30 at Walmarts across the country for a $30 gift card.   In honor of National Baby Safety Month, customers can trade in up to two car seats each. All collected car seats will then be recycled through Trenton-based TerraCycle, and each component will be diverted from the landfill.   “Safety – especially car seat safety – is a top priority for Walmart’s Baby department, so we wanted to use our size and scale to create an event that offered unprecedented access to trade in an outgrown car seat for a gift card, perfect for using on your baby’s next car seat,” said Walmart Baby Vice President Melody Richards in a prepared statement. “Sustainability is of equal importance to Walmart, so we’re happy to work with TerraCycle who will recycle every component of the car seats.”   Through the event, TerraCycle Chief Executive Officer Tom Szaky said he expected to divert the plastic equivalent of approximately 35 million water bottles from landfills.    

When you order or buy something new for your home — from Target, let's say, or even just your local grocery store — how much do you stop and think about the waste your purchase will produce? You've probably seen the videos of marine animals trapped in plastic or heard the statistics. In 2017, a study published in Science Advancesfound that — on a global scale — only 9% of all plastic waste produced since 2015 had been recycled. Or, as the Royal Statistical Society puts it, 90.5% of plastic hasn't been recycled. In 2016, CNN wrote about Lauren Singer, a proponent of the zero waste lifestyle. She managed to create only a 16-ounce mason jar's worth of waste over four years. Yup, everything else she recycled or found another use for.