Daily Archives: November 23, 2021

Widespread Movement

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Many people have been fighting for years to reduce the pollution in the oceans and in the environment in general. These efforts were appreciated by the world, but there was not much done by larger figures in the media to help support these efforts. This is changing though. In a newly found movement called Team Seas, many large you tubers and social media influencers have come together to bring a larger awareness to the general public, especially younger kids who follow these influencers closely. The movement was started by Mr. Beast and Mark Rober and is similar to their movement they did a few years ago called Team Trees.

The pollution from plastics in the environment is ever increasing. The rising demand for plastics is causing a rising number of these plastics to end up in the oceans and other environmental locations. The demand also is causing the plastic manufacturing plants to be producing more plastics, in turn releasing more possibly harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. These rising pollutants in the environment are causing mass harm to the organisms that come into contact with said pollutants, and large faces in social media are realizing this. That is why the two people previously stated started this movement.

The movement was started on October 29 with one goal in mind. To clean the oceans and coastlines. The movement is based on a donation system, where one dollar is equal to one pound of trash that is promised to be removed from the oceans. The organization has a goal of at least 30 million pounds of trash removed by January 1st of 2022. This may seem like an unobtainable goal in such a small amount of time, money wise and man power wise, but the two founders of this organization have employed help to help clean the beaches. In just under a month, the organization has already raised $16,357,774, and the efforts to cleaning the beaches are already starting.

It is not just influencers that are bringing awareness to this movement as well. Other non-profit organizations, such as Ocean Conservancy, have already pledged to donate money and help participate in the cleanups all over the world. The movement has helped to bring attention to the problem, not just to older people who have lived with it, but to the younger generations who will have to live with the repercussions of this pollution if something is not done to change our habits and the demand and litter of plastics is not reduced.

This movement will hopefully be a huge step forward in conservation efforts. It will hopefully bring the negatives of pollution and plastics to the eyes of the whole world, and will create motivation in everyone to change their habits and help clean the world for generations to come. The two main organizations backing this movement are Ocean Conservancy and The Ocean Cleanup. These two organizations have much experience in the conservation of the oceans and will hopefully use this movement to pave the way for a brighter future.

Sustainability in Beer

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Green business features have been gaining popularity recently. Firstly, let’s start off by explaining what a green business feature is; a company that embraces sustainable operations, products and materials, labor, and shipping methods. The business I chose to focus my blog on is New Belgium Brewing Company. 

In 1998, a young couple biked through Belgium. This trip sparked inspiration to bring Belgium brewing tradition to their home town in Colorado. They opened the first wind powered brewing company in Colorado. Their brewing company expanded and grew. By the summer of 2003, they decided to be a part of the change. They created an in -house sustainability department, becoming a Certified B-Corp and 1% for the planet member. In their efforts, they installed solar panels, created electricity from waste water, and reused heat for brewing to reduce energy waste. In 2009, they created at the time the largest private solar array in their home state of Colorado. They focused on their product’s lifetime in order to choose their perfect packaging. They chose to use glass bottles rather than cans to cut down on emissions. They partnered with the Glass Recycling Coalition to make their bottles, further reducing their waste. After more years of trying to perfect sustainable brewing,their beer Fat Tire became the first American certified carbon neutral beer. 

Since the owners and founders discovered this type of brewing on bikes, they have supported biking through their whole career. They have donated over nine million dollars to bike advocacy groups across the United States, donated part of their land in Asheville to act as a biking trail, and host bike races in their Fort Collins brewing location. 

The owners and founders of New Belgium Brewing are members of the Business for Innovation Climate and Energy Policy, along with being on the board of the We Are Still In movement. I chose this business because of their values: we inspire social and environmental change. These values personally spoke to me. While doing our litter sweep, one of the most common items my group found was alcohol cans, bottles, and caps. I love that they incorporate both social and environmental values. Drinking is often found in social settings. By them producing as little waste as possible, it not only reduces waste but benefits people. 

Greenwashing can be seen in many different organizations. It provides a false sense about a company’s environmental standing. Throughout my research on New Belgium Brewing, I could not find any signs of greenwashing. I believe that the couple that started this company truly believes in their values.On their website, they have a section completely dedicated to their sustainability. They have different tabs based on each sustainable thing they have been a part of. From biking, packaging, distribution, heating, along with so much more. Their efforts are very wide scale. They have lost thousands of dollars of profit in order to reduce waste. If you are interested in this company, I highly recommend checking out their website. They have a ton of information on each process. I believe that this is one of the companies that is doing good for the world.