tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/green-16377/articles
Green – The Conversation
2024-02-13T19:06:27Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/221003
2024-02-13T19:06:27Z
2024-02-13T19:06:27Z
This Valentine’s Day, embrace green as the new colour of love
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569441/original/file-20240115-23-2z7vft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C2991%2C2326&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Thomas Wilmer Dewing, Summer, c. 1890.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/summer-6779">Smithsonian American Art Museum</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Valentine’s Day is associated with red and pink, representing passion and romance. But there’s another hue with a secret, sensual history longing for embrace: green.</p>
<p>The colour of nature and fertility, green is deeply connected to love in traditions throughout the world. In these times of conflict, 2024 is the year we should remember what connects rather than divides us, and embrace green as the colour of love.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-chaucer-to-chocolates-how-valentines-day-gifts-have-changed-over-the-centuries-198512">From Chaucer to chocolates: how Valentine’s Day gifts have changed over the centuries</a>
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<h2>Green is at the heart</h2>
<p>In the ancient Indian chakra tradition, green is the colour of the heart. The <a href="https://reporter.anu.edu.au/all-stories/at-the-heart-of-romance-why-a-vital-organ-is-linked-to-love">heart organ</a> has long been associated with love. A <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342562977_A_Brief_History_of_the_Chakras_in_Human_Body">chakra</a>, conceptualised as a wheel of whirling energy, balances particular emotions and the health of the body. The heart chakra at the centre of the chest represents loving-kindness, compassion and care.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569767/original/file-20240117-17-5q8l7v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569767/original/file-20240117-17-5q8l7v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569767/original/file-20240117-17-5q8l7v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569767/original/file-20240117-17-5q8l7v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569767/original/file-20240117-17-5q8l7v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=993&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569767/original/file-20240117-17-5q8l7v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569767/original/file-20240117-17-5q8l7v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569767/original/file-20240117-17-5q8l7v.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1248&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A Prince Receives a Water Jug from a Young Woman at a Well, c. 1745.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/303397">© President and Fellows of Harvard College</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>Green has a range of cross-cultural meanings to do with balance, peace and hope. <a href="https://www.amaliah.com/post/45896/symbolic-colour-green-islam-science-of-light-and-colour">Islam</a> associates heavenly paradise with the colour. It is important in the <a href="https://art.catholic.org.au/2021/12/15/colour-meanings/">Catholic</a> faith for hope and life, as in <a href="https://www.5tjt.com/the-color-green/">Judaism</a>, where it means renewal. In China, <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1088/jade-in-ancient-china/">jade</a> is considered powerful and fortunate, as is <a href="https://teara.govt.nz/en/pounamu-jade-or-greenstone">pounamu jade</a> in Maori culture. Scottish <a href="https://www.crystaldigest.com/crystals/serpentine/">serpentine</a> is still believed by some today to boost creativity. </p>
<p>In European <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0015587X.1997.9715937">mediaeval folklore</a>, the colour was associated with both being lucky or unlucky in love. It symbolised a young woman’s sexuality, and being “greensick” was a term for a youth in unrequited love. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.christies.com/lot/lot-jan-massys-antwerp-c-1509-1575-6297903/">Mary Magdalene</a> was depicted wearing green sleeves. Robin Hood and Maid Marian wore it in the greenwoods, the home of lovers. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569765/original/file-20240117-25-5q8l7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Middle Panel with Christ on the Cross, side wings with Saint Conrad and Saint Pelagius" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569765/original/file-20240117-25-5q8l7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569765/original/file-20240117-25-5q8l7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569765/original/file-20240117-25-5q8l7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569765/original/file-20240117-25-5q8l7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569765/original/file-20240117-25-5q8l7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569765/original/file-20240117-25-5q8l7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569765/original/file-20240117-25-5q8l7v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=611&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Michael Haider, Triptych with the Crucification Creator, c. 1500.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.kunsthalle-karlsruhe.de/kunstwerke/Michael-Haider/Hohenlandenberg-Altar-Heiliger-Konrad-mit-dem-Stifter-Bischof-Hugo-von-Hohenlandenberg-verso-Engel-der-Verk%C3%BCndigung/B33073B743C898563B9AA4AA201E3C8C/">Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>During the Renaissance, pastoral and woodland settings symbolised nature, pleasure, freedom and lack of convention, as Arden does in Shakespeare’s As You Like It and the forest in A Midsummer Night’s Dream: an alternative <a href="https://journals.openedition.org/erea/4445?lang=en">Green World</a>, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370731759_Shakespeare's_Erotic_Eden_Cultivating_Queer_Ecologies_in_As_You_Like_It's_Pleasurable_Forest_of_Arden">an erotic Eden</a>. </p>
<p>Bawdy <a href="https://brians.wsu.edu/2016/10/17/renaissance-love-songs/">Renaissance madrigals</a> such as Now is the Month of Maying included references to a “barley break” (a roll in the hay) and lads and lasses making merry upon the “greeny grass”.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569975/original/file-20240118-29-uh5p2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569975/original/file-20240118-29-uh5p2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569975/original/file-20240118-29-uh5p2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569975/original/file-20240118-29-uh5p2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569975/original/file-20240118-29-uh5p2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=850&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569975/original/file-20240118-29-uh5p2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569975/original/file-20240118-29-uh5p2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569975/original/file-20240118-29-uh5p2k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1069&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">‘And now they never meet in grove or green’ from act two, scene one of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, illustrated by Arthur Rackham, 1908.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1954.651">The Cleveland Museum of Art</a></span>
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<h2>Hidden greens</h2>
<p>Old songs give us some clues to the secret, erotic symbolism of the colour green and its fateful relationship to women’s sexuality. </p>
<p>The Tudor version of Greensleeves contains suggestive lyrics regarding crimson stockings with gold above the knee and pumps as white as milk, and a grassy-green gown. According to a <a href="https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/greensleeves-did-henry-viii-write-song/">romantic myth</a>, Henry VIII wrote Greensleeves to woo Anne Boleyn.</p>
<p>The lyrics go back to Celtic myths about the joining of the May Queen with the Oak King, also called the Green Man or “Jack in the Green”. Their union is consummated on May Day, also known as <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-46916-0_7">Beltane</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sagegoddess.com/blog/holidays/awakening-your-inner-fire-at-beltane/">Rituals</a> still practised today in magic and pagan communities connect May Day festivities to the hand-fasting or marriage of the god and goddess, encouraging desire to flame and convention to be cast aside outdoors.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569764/original/file-20240117-21-nk8mfb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569764/original/file-20240117-21-nk8mfb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569764/original/file-20240117-21-nk8mfb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569764/original/file-20240117-21-nk8mfb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569764/original/file-20240117-21-nk8mfb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=851&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569764/original/file-20240117-21-nk8mfb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569764/original/file-20240117-21-nk8mfb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569764/original/file-20240117-21-nk8mfb.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Moonrise: Soldier and Maiden, 1905.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://emuseum.mfah.org/objects/43841/moonrise-soldier-and-maiden#">The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston</a></span>
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<p>Green in mediaeval times was also a sign of <a href="https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/264783">female promiscuity</a> rather than free love. Wearing green reputedly signalled a woman’s willingness to make love, since it denoted <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1260708">fertility and the loss of virginity</a>. </p>
<p>Green got a downgrade during the Middle Ages and beyond. Dubbed the <a href="https://britishfairies.wordpress.com/2016/12/16/urchins-ouphs-and-fairies-green-and-white-fairy-clothing/">fairies’ colour</a>, who were associated with nature and said to be jealous of human good fortune, it became <a href="https://www.bustle.com/p/6-creepy-wedding-superstitions-from-history-8767277">unlucky for brides</a> and <a href="https://www.weddingbee.com/article/wedding-planning/ceremony-reception/12-common-wedding-superstitions/">even today is warned against</a> being worn at weddings. </p>
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<span class="caption">Follower of Hans Schilling, illuminator and from the Workshop of Diebold. Lauber Jupiter Gives Danae a Gift of Gold, 1469.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/105X32">Getty Museum</a></span>
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<p>In the Middle Ages, healers and wise-women who held vital medicinal plant and herb use, as well as some who may have practised folk magic for alluring charms and love potions, were persecuted for their knowledge as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10271903/">witches</a>. The female witch is so associated with green that in The Wizard of Oz she was given <a href="https://www.history.com/news/witch-hat-costume-origins">green skin</a>.</p>
<h2>A contradictory colour</h2>
<p>Green carries negative connotations such as poison, jealousy and envy: the green-eyed monster. </p>
<p>Greenwashing or green-sheening are terms for the promotion of dubious environmental products. In <a href="https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks2012/14/">Green Sense</a> a treatise that explores botanical aesthetics, cultural studies academic John Ryan argues the contradiction of green comes from it being the shade of growth and decomposition: both birth and death.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569238/original/file-20240115-23-bdw55f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C7%2C812%2C1015&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569238/original/file-20240115-23-bdw55f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C7%2C812%2C1015&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569238/original/file-20240115-23-bdw55f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569238/original/file-20240115-23-bdw55f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569238/original/file-20240115-23-bdw55f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569238/original/file-20240115-23-bdw55f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=947&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569238/original/file-20240115-23-bdw55f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=947&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569238/original/file-20240115-23-bdw55f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=947&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Maurice Denis, Love (Amour), 1892-1899.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://dac-collection.wesleyan.edu/objects-1/info/4494">Open Access Image from the Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University (photo: M. Johnston)</a></span>
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<p>In <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/K/bo5974153.html">The Key of Green</a> cultural historian Bruce Smith suggests green has the power to upset. It has no fixed meaning and encompasses vast mental territory. Part noun, part adjective, part adverb and part verb, we see green, and we can also shop, build, vote and think green. We can feel green: during the Renaissance, he writes, being possessed by the passions was likened to wearing green spectacles. Smith also contends that we can hear colours: to hear green would be to listen longingly, as we do to love songs.</p>
<p>Green flags possibility for growth and change. It revives bodies and souls. In the philosophy of mediaeval mystic Hildegard of Bingen, <a href="https://hildegarden.com/viriditas/">viriditas</a> – meaning greenness and vitality – signified the life force that makes all things fresh and new.</p>
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<span class="caption">Louis Jean François Lagrenée, Mars and Venus, Allegory of Peace (Mars et Vénus, allégorie sur la Paix) 1770.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/107VSS">Getty Museum</a></span>
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<p>Today greening power is being celebrated and revived. Across the globe, there are calls for the growth of love. Whether we celebrate our relationships in pastel or Barbie pink, passionate red, or all the colours of the rainbow, perhaps, this Valentine’s Day, we can widen our arms to embrace a little green.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/freshly-cut-grass-or-bile-infused-exorcist-vomit-how-crime-books-embraced-lurid-green-132763">'Freshly cut grass – or bile-infused Exorcist vomit?': how crime books embraced lurid green</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Reid Boyd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The colour of nature and fertility, green is deeply connected to love in traditions throughout the world.
Elizabeth Reid Boyd, Senior Lecturer School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/202586
2023-04-11T12:06:47Z
2023-04-11T12:06:47Z
Why more and more Americans are painting their lawns
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519945/original/file-20230407-24-ap7wd8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=417%2C17%2C2573%2C1764&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Americans – especially those living in areas affected by drought – are turning to paint to give their grass that perfect green sheen.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/green-canary-president-shawn-sahbari-sprays-green-water-news-photo/452491090?adppopup=true">Justin Sullivan/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>To paint or not to paint?</p>
<p>That is the question that many homeowners are facing as their dreams for perfect turf are battered – whether it’s from inflation pushing pricier lawn care options out of reach, or <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/05/09/california-drought-lawns-climate-change/">droughts leading to water shortages</a>.</p>
<p>Increasingly, many are turning in the spreader for the paint can, opting, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/lawns-paint-green-landscaping-neighbors-6f54f61">a report in The Wall Street Journal</a>, for shades of green with names like “Fairway” and “Perennial Rye.” </p>
<p>Where does this yen for turning the outside of the house into a trim green carpet come from? </p>
<p>Some years ago, I decided to investigate and the result was my book “<a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/American_Green.html?id=vtbGHAAACAAJ">American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn</a>.” </p>
<p>What I found was that lawns extend far back in American history. Former presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson had lawns, but these were not perfect greenswards. It turns out that the ideal of perfect turf – a weed-free, supergreen monoculture – is a recent phenomenon. </p>
<h2>The not-so-perfect lawns of Levittown</h2>
<p>Its beginnings can largely be traced to the post–World War II era when suburban developments such as the iconic <a href="https://untappedcities.com/2020/07/31/the-controversial-history-of-levittown-americas-first-suburb/">Levittown, New York</a>, had its start. </p>
<p>Levittown was the brainchild of the Levitt family, which viewed landscaping – a word that only entered the English language in the 1930s – as a form of “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Green_The_Obsessive_Quest_for_t/C3wEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=american+green+steinberg&printsec=frontcover">neighborhood stabilization</a>,” or a way of bolstering property values. The Levitts, who built 17,000 homes between 1947 and 1951, thus insisted that homeowners mow the yard once a week between April and November and included the stricture in covenants accompanying their deeds.</p>
<p>But the Levitts took the obsession with the lawn only so far. “I don’t believe in being a slave to the lawn,” <a href="https://longreads.com/2019/07/18/american-green/">wrote Abraham Levitt</a>. Clover was, to him, “just as nice” as grass. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of woman standing outside her suburban home with a perfectly manicured lawn." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519948/original/file-20230407-951-px6n81.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=603&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The developers of Levittown required homeowners to mow their yards once a week between April and November.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/1950s-woman-standing-at-front-door-of-frame-house-in-news-photo/1175266594?adppopup=true">ClassicStock/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Engineering perfection</h2>
<p>All of which is to say that the quest for the perfect lawn did not come naturally. It had to be engineered, and one of the greatest influencers in this regard was the Scotts Co. of Marysville, Ohio, which took agricultural chemicals and created concoctions that homeowners could spread over their yards. </p>
<p>Formulators like Scotts had one great advantage: <a href="https://pesticidetruths.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Reference-Turf-Ornamentals-1998-03-00-The-Origins-of-Turfgrass-Species-Beard-GCM.pdf">Turfgrass is not native to North America</a>, and growing it on the continent is, for the most part, an uphill ecological battle. Homeowners thus needed a lot of help in the quest for perfection.</p>
<p>But first Scotts had to help lodge the idea of perfect turf in the American imagination. Scotts was able to tap into <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/As_Seen_on_TV/kvADAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=marling+as+seen+on+tv&printsec=frontcover">postwar trends in brightly colored consumer products</a>. From yellow slacks to blue Jell-O, colored products became status symbols and a sign that the consumer had rejected the drab black-and-white world of urban life for the modern suburb and its kaleidoscopic colors – which included, of course, the vibrant green lawn.</p>
<p>Architectural trends also helped the perfect turf aesthetic take root. A <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_American_House_Today/NNKqzgEACAAJ?hl=en">blurring of indoor and outdoor space</a> occurred in the postwar era as patios and eventually sliding glass doors invited homeowners to treat the yard as an extension of their family room. What better way to achieve a comfy outdoor living space than to carpet the yard in a nice greensward. </p>
<p>In 1948, the perfect lawn took a giant step forward when the Scotts Co. began selling its “Weed and Feed” lawn care product, which allowed homeowners to eliminate weeds and fertilize simultaneously. </p>
<p>The development was probably one of the worst things ever to happen, ecologically speaking, to the American yard. Now homeowners were spreading the toxic herbicide 2,4-D – which has since been <a href="https://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/documents/pesticides/factsheets/2-4-D.pdf">linked to cancer, reproductive harm and neurological impairment</a> – on their lawns as a matter of course, whether they were having an issue with weeds or not.</p>
<p>Selective herbicides like 2,4-D killed broadleaf “weeds” like clover and left the grass intact. Clover and bluegrass, a desirable turf species, <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Green_The_Obsessive_Quest_for_t/C3wEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=clover%20and%20bluegrass%20evolved%20together">evolved together</a>, with the former capturing nitrogen from the air and adding it to the soil as fertilizer. Killing it off sent homeowners back to the store for more artificial fertilizer to make up for the deficit. </p>
<p>That was bad news for homeowners, but a good business model for those companies selling lawn care products who, on the one hand, handicapped homeowners by killing off the clover and, on the other hand, sold them more chemical inputs to recreate what could have occurred naturally. </p>
<p>The “perfect” lawn had come of age.</p>
<h2>The meaning of grass painting</h2>
<p>By the early 1960s, homeowners were already looking for ways of achieving perfect turf on the cheap. </p>
<p>A 1964 article in Newsweek pointed out that green grass paint was being sold in 35 states. <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Green_The_Obsessive_Quest_for_t/C3wEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=american+green+steinberg&printsec=frontcover">The magazine opined</a> that because a homeowner “needs a Bachelor of Chemistry to comprehend the bewildering variety of weed and bug destroyers now fogging the market,” paint was becoming an attractive alternative. </p>
<p>So the interest in grass painting is not entirely new.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A bird's eye view of suburban houses with green lawns." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520042/original/file-20230410-26-l74rcc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Suburban tract houses in Centerville, Md.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/ticky-tack-royalty-free-image/627412695?phrase=bird's%20eye%20view%20suburbia&adppopup=true">Edwin Remsberg/The Image Bank via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What is new, however, is that the recent interest in painting the lawn is taking place in a context in which a more pluralistic vision of the yard has taken root. </p>
<p>People fed up with corporate-dominated lawn care are turning back the clock and <a href="https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/clover-lawns-37181185">cultivating their yards with clover</a>, a plant that is resistant to drought and provides nutrients to the lawn, to boot. And so the clover lawn has been making a comeback, with videos on TikTok tagged #cloverlawn <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/cloverlawn">boasting 78 million views</a>.</p>
<p>Together, the return of grass painting with the resurgent interest in clover lawns suggests that the ideal of the resource-intensive perfect lawn is an ecological conceit that the country may no longer be able to afford.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202586/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ted Steinberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The ideal of perfect turf – a weed-free, supergreen monoculture – is a relatively recent phenomenon.
Ted Steinberg, Professor of History, Case Western Reserve University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/197867
2023-03-21T18:10:22Z
2023-03-21T18:10:22Z
Calls for a ‘green’ Ramadan revive Islam’s long tradition of sustainability and care for the planet
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516673/original/file-20230321-1318-95p970.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3244%2C2096&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Plastic, yes. But at least the bottles are being reused.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supporters-of-ousted-egyptian-president-mohamed-morsi-news-photo/173359900?phrase=ramadan%20water%20bottles&adppopup=true">Marwan Naamani/AFP via Getty Images)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For many Muslims <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291?gclid=CjwKCAjwq-WgBhBMEiwAzKSH6EHWHNIK_vqp0nBD80s8rfAzTeyRZZqwcNUZV97ifh7Mhdw17AcPPBoC8KQQAvD_BwE">breaking fast in mosques around the world this Ramadan</a>, something will be missing: plastics.</p>
<p>The communal experience of iftars – the after-sunset meal that brings people of the faith together during the holy month – often necessitates the use of utensils designed for mass events, such as plastic knives and forks, along with bottles of water.</p>
<p>But to encourage Muslims to be more mindful of the impact of Ramadan on the environment, mosques are increasingly <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/mosque-plastic-bottle-ban-1.5152210">dispensing of single-use items</a>, with some <a href="https://aboutislam.net/muslim-issues/europe/uk-mosques-to-ditch-plastic-cutlery-ahead-of-ramadan/">banning the use of plastics</a> altogether.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://history.umbc.edu/facultystaff/full-time/noor-zaidi/">historian of Islam</a>, I see this “greening” of Ramadan as entirely in keeping with the traditions of the faith, and in particular the observance of Ramadan.</p>
<p>The month – during which observant <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ramadan-is-called-ramadan-6-questions-answered-77291">Muslims must abstain</a> from even a sip of water or food from sun up to sun down – is a time for members of the faith to focus on purifying themselves as individuals against excess and materialism.</p>
<p>But in recent years, Muslim communities around the world have used the period to <a href="https://www.ciogc.org/the-fasting-of-ramadan-a-time-for-thought-action-and-change/">rally around themes of social awareness</a>. And this includes understanding the perils of wastefulness and embracing the link between Ramadan and environmental consciousness.</p>
<p>The ban on plastics – a move <a href="https://mcb.org.uk/plastic-ban-for-ramadan-urged-as-british-mosques-go-green/">encouraged by the Muslim Council of Britain</a> as a way for Muslims “to be mindful of [God’s] creation and care for the environment” – is just one example.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People clearing plastic from a beach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516451/original/file-20230320-26-o9zpiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516451/original/file-20230320-26-o9zpiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516451/original/file-20230320-26-o9zpiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516451/original/file-20230320-26-o9zpiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516451/original/file-20230320-26-o9zpiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516451/original/file-20230320-26-o9zpiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516451/original/file-20230320-26-o9zpiz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Environmental consciousness has gained traction in Muslim communities over recent years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/mother-and-daughter-cleaning-up-a-beach-royalty-free-image/1432295674?phrase=islam%20ecology&adppopup=true">Yasser Chalid via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many other mosques and centers are discouraging large or extravagant evening meals altogether. The fear is such communal events <a href="https://www.islamichelp.org.uk/green-ramadan">generate food waste and overconsumption</a> and often rely on <a href="https://isna.net/greenramadan/">nonbiodegradable materials</a> for cutlery, plates and serving platters.</p>
<h2>Quranic environmentalism</h2>
<p>While the move toward environmental consciousness has gained traction in Muslim communities in recent years, the links between Islam and sustainability can be found in the faith’s foundational texts.</p>
<p>Scholars have long emphasized principles outlined in the Quran that highlight <a href="https://quran.com/en/al-anam/141">conservation</a>, reverence for <a href="https://quran.com/6/99?translations=131">living creatures</a> and the diversity of living things as <a href="https://quran.com/50?startingVerse=7">a reminder of God’s creation</a>. </p>
<p>The Quran repeatedly emphasizes the idea of “<a href="https://ansari.nd.edu/assets/342769/chapter3_a_qur_anic_environment.pdf">mizan</a>,” a kind of cosmic and natural balance, and the <a href="http://www.khaleafa.com/khaleafacom/caretakers-of-the-earth-an-islamic-perspective">role of humans as stewards and khalifa, or “viceregents,” on Earth</a> – terms that also carry an environmental interpretation.</p>
<p>Recently, Islamic <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ImUzOeIsCQdCGgi2y554jbFrV4g_SgxR/view">environmental activists have highlighted</a> the numerous hadith – sayings of the Prophet Muhammad that provide guidance to followers of the faith – that emphasize that Muslims should avoid excess, respect resources and living things, and consume in moderation. </p>
<p>Although present from the outset of the faith, Islam’s ties to environmentalism received major visibility with the works of Iranian philosopher Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and a series of lectures he delivered at the University of Chicago in 1966. The <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/de/title/man-and-nature-the-spiritual-crisis-in-modern-man/oclc/963433660">lectures and a subsequent book</a>, “Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis in Modern Man,” warned that humans had broken their relationship with nature and thus placed themselves in grave ecological danger.</p>
<p>Nasr blamed modern and Western science for being <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26899432?seq=3">materialistic, utilitarian and inhuman</a>, claiming it had destroyed traditional views of nature. Nasr <a href="https://www.academia.edu/35023936/The_Contemporary_Islamic_World_and_the_Environmental_Crisis">argued</a> that Islamic philosophy, metaphysics, scientific tradition, arts and literature emphasize the spiritual significance of nature. But he noted that numerous contemporary factors, such as mass rural-to-urban migration and poor and autocratic leadership, had prevented the Muslim world from realizing and implementing the Islamic view of the natural environment.</p>
<p>Scholars and activists expanded on Nasr’s work through the 1980s and 1990s, among them Fazlun Khalid, one of the world’s leading voices on Islam and environmentalism. In 1994, Khalid founded the <a href="https://www.ifees.org.uk/">Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences</a>, an organization dedicated to the maintenance of the planet as a healthy habitat for all living beings. Khalid and other Muslim environmentalists suggest that Islam’s nearly 2 billion adherents can participate in the tasks of environmental sustainability and equity not through Western models and ideologies but from <a href="https://crcc.usc.edu/fazlun-khalid-environmentalism-is-intrinsic-to-islam/">within their own traditions</a>.</p>
<p>Partnering with the United Nations Environment Program, Khalid and other <a href="https://www.unep.org/al-mizan-covenant-earth#:%7E:text=Al%2DMizan%3A%20A%20Covenant%20for%20the%20Earth%20presents%20an%20Islamic,other%20threats%20to%20the%20planet.">leading scholars</a> crafted <a href="https://www.unep.org/al-mizan-covenant-earth#:%7E:text=Al%2DMizan%3A%20A%20Covenant%20for%20the%20Earth%20presents%20an%20Islamic,other%20threats%20to%20the%20planet.">Al-Mizan</a>, a worldwide project for Muslim leaders interested in Muslims’ religious commitments to nature. “The ethos of Islam is that it integrates belief with a code of conduct which pays heed to the essence of the natural world,” Khalid wrote in “<a href="https://www.iucn.org/news/commission-environmental-economic-and-social-policy/201901/signs-earth-islam-modernity-and-climate-crisis#:%7E:text=This%20book%2C%20by%20one%20of,faces%20today%2C%20namely%20climate%20change.">Signs on the Earth: Islam, Modernity, and the Climate Crisis</a>.”</p>
<h2>Going beyond an eco-Ramadan</h2>
<p>Environmental crises <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.702">disproportionately affect the world’s poorest populations</a>, and academics have highlighted
the particular <a href="https://had-int.org/blog/how-is-climate-change-affecting-muslim-communities/">vulnerabilities of Muslim communities</a> around the world, such as the victims of <a href="https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/climate-change-likely-increased-extreme-monsoon-rainfall-flooding-highly-vulnerable-communities-in-pakistan/">devastating floods in Pakistan</a> in 2022.</p>
<p>By highlighting <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780945454397">Islamic principles</a>, <a href="https://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/alwaleed/outreach-and-projects/cop26">policies</a> and <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Islamic-Environmentalism-Activism-in-the-United-States-and-Great-Britain/Hancock/p/book/9780367878092">community approaches</a>, academics have shown how Islam <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/how-islam-can-represent-model-environmental-stewardship">can represent a model for environmental stewardship</a>.</p>
<p>This push for environmental consciousness extends beyond Ramadan. In recent years, Muslims have tried to introduce green practices into the shrine cities in Iraq during pilgrimage seasons in <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-ashura-how-this-shiite-muslim-holiday-inspires-millions-122610">Ashura</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-largest-contemporary-muslim-pilgrimage-isnt-the-hajj-to-mecca-its-the-shiite-pilgrimage-to-karbala-in-iraq-144542">Arbaeen</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Thousands of people gather in front of a shrine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516457/original/file-20230320-26-nhqapa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516457/original/file-20230320-26-nhqapa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516457/original/file-20230320-26-nhqapa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516457/original/file-20230320-26-nhqapa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516457/original/file-20230320-26-nhqapa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516457/original/file-20230320-26-nhqapa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516457/original/file-20230320-26-nhqapa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pilgrims at the Holy Shrine in Karbala, Iraq.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/millions-of-pilgrims-in-karbala-shrine-iraq-royalty-free-image/893864662?phrase=arbaeen&adppopup=true">Jasmin Merdan via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This has included <a href="https://thegreenpilgrim.org">awareness campaigns</a> encouraging the 20 million pilgrims who visit Arbaeen annually to reduce the tons of trash they leave every year that clog up Iraq’s waterways. Quoting from <a href="https://www.al-islam.org/articles/aspects-environmental-ethics-islamic-perspective-mohammad-ali-shomali-0">Shiite scholarship</a> and drawing on <a href="https://thegreenpilgrim.org/resources/">testimonials</a> from community leaders, the Green Pilgrim movement suggests carrying cloth bags and reusable water bottles, turning down plastic cutlery, and hosting eco-friendly stalls along the walk.</p>
<p>Muslim-owned businesses and nonprofits are joining these wider efforts. Melanie Elturk, the founder of the successful hijab brand Haute Hijab, regularly ties together faith, fashion, commerce and environmentalism by highlighting the brand’s <a href="https://www.hautehijab.com/pages/ethics-sustainability">focus on sustainability and environmental impact</a>. The Washington, D.C., nonprofit <a href="https://www.greenmuslims.org/">Green Muslims</a> pioneered <a href="https://festival.si.edu/blog/how-green-is-your-deen-environmentalism-islam">the first “leftar” – a play on the word “iftar</a>” – using leftovers and reusable containers.</p>
<p>These efforts are but a few of the diverse ways that Muslim communities are addressing environmental impact. The greening of Ramadan fits into a broader conversation about how often communities can tackle climate change within their own frameworks.</p>
<p>But Islamic environmentalism is more than just the dispensing of plastic forks and water bottles – it taps into a worldview ingrained in the faith from the outset, and can continue to guide adherents as they navigate environmentalism, a space where they may otherwise be marginalized.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197867/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Noorzehra Zaidi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Communal meals to break fast can mean lots of single-use plastics. A switch to environmentally friendly principles is in line with Islamic principles through the ages.
Noorzehra Zaidi, Assistant Professor of HIstory, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/194251
2022-11-30T02:42:03Z
2022-11-30T02:42:03Z
Chlorophyll water can’t clear your skin or detox your liver. But this TikTok trend got one thing right
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494378/original/file-20221109-12-y2eyjf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=1%2C110%2C772%2C555&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-chlorophyll-water-2047018778">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you follow health trends online, you might have heard about “chlorophyll water”. Claims range from <a href="https://www.allure.com/story/tiktok-drinking-liquid-chlorophyll-skin-care-benefits">clearing your skin</a>, stopping <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/chlorophyll-bad-breath">body odour</a>, increasing <a href="https://chlorophyllwater.com">energy and oxygen</a>, to <a href="https://www.verywellfit.com/health-benefits-liquid-chlorophyll-4686266">detoxing your liver</a> and <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/liquid-chlorophyll-benefits-risks">preventing cancer</a>. </p>
<p>Chlorophyll water is sold as a liquid concentrate or already mixed with water. Numerous TikTok videos claim its health benefits.</p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-792" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/792/2a5a434e96e20c6436cb180cbfe25b2f7b8a3dbc/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Then there are celebrity endorsements for chlorophyll water, including from <a href="https://chlorophyllwater.medium.com/the-benefits-of-drinking-chlorophyll-water-by-kourtney-kardashian-poosh-50a3536cb123">Kourtney Kardashian</a> on her <a href="https://poosh.com/chlorophyll-water-benefits/">lifestyle channel</a>.</p>
<p>So, what is chlorophyll water? And is it really a healthy choice?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lemon-water-wont-detox-or-energise-you-but-it-may-affect-your-body-in-other-ways-180035">Lemon water won't detox or energise you. But it may affect your body in other ways</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Remind me again, what’s chlorophyll?</h2>
<p>What you might remember about chlorophyll from high-school science might sound pretty healthy. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/chlorophyll/chlorophyll_h.htm">Chlorophyll</a> is the pigment that gives plants (and some algae and bacteria) their green colour. It is vital for <a href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/photosynthesis">photosynthesis</a>, the process that uses sunlight to produce oxygen and chemical energy stored in the sugar glucose.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495581/original/file-20221116-25-16gm08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Light shining through green palm fronds" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495581/original/file-20221116-25-16gm08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495581/original/file-20221116-25-16gm08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495581/original/file-20221116-25-16gm08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495581/original/file-20221116-25-16gm08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495581/original/file-20221116-25-16gm08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495581/original/file-20221116-25-16gm08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495581/original/file-20221116-25-16gm08.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Yes, you do remember correctly. Plants need chlorophyll to generate oxygen and energy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/sun-shining-through-radiating-green-leaf-391408468">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At the heart of most chlorophyll is <a href="https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-Consumer">magnesium</a> – an essential nutrient for humans – needed for healthy nerves and muscles, regulating blood sugar and blood pressure, and building bones, proteins and DNA. </p>
<p>The chemical structure of chlorophyll looks a bit like <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24670123/">protoheme</a>. That’s the red part of our haemoglobin, the part of red blood cells that carries oxygen in our blood.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-are-leaves-green-86160">Curious Kids: Why are leaves green?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>So, what is chlorophyll water then?</h2>
<p>Water plus pigments that keep plants healthy, and that contain nutrients humans need, sounds great. Unfortunately, it’s not so simple. </p>
<p>First, chlorophyll doesn’t dissolve in water. So, what you get in these products isn’t “natural from plants”. It’s the molecule <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/chlorophyllin#:%7E:text=Chlorophyllin%20is%20a%20semisynthetic%20chlorophyll,and%20have%20good%20water%20solubility.">chlorophyllin</a>. Chlorophyllin is made from chlorophyll by a process called <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5039533">saponification</a>.</p>
<p>Essentially, this involves reacting it with sodium hydroxide and making a smaller molecule that is water-friendly. Then, to help it stay bright green, another reaction replaces the magnesium with copper, <a href="https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/dietary-factors/phytochemicals/chlorophyll-metallo-chlorophyll-derivatives">which is much more stable</a>. </p>
<p>A more accurate name for these products would be “sodium copper chlorophyllin water”. But that’s not quite so marketable.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495582/original/file-20221116-18-qqvv7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman dropping chlorophyll extract into glass of water" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495582/original/file-20221116-18-qqvv7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495582/original/file-20221116-18-qqvv7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495582/original/file-20221116-18-qqvv7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495582/original/file-20221116-18-qqvv7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495582/original/file-20221116-18-qqvv7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495582/original/file-20221116-18-qqvv7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495582/original/file-20221116-18-qqvv7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is that ‘chlorophyll water’ or ‘sodium copper chlorophyllin water’? One sounds easier to swallow.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-dripping-chlorophyll-supplement-into-glass-2130227768">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/does-tiktoks-chia-lemon-internal-shower-really-beat-constipation-heres-what-science-says-188744">Does TikTok's chia-lemon 'internal shower' really beat constipation? Here's what science says</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>But is it healthy?</h2>
<p>Just because it’s been converted from its natural form, doesn’t make it automatically unhealthy. So how do the health claims stack up?</p>
<p>There is lots of evidence about diets high in chlorophyll being healthy. But, since evidence is mostly diets <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128008720000184">high in green plant foods</a>, this can’t be directly translated into water containing a processed derivative of one little part of green plants. </p>
<p>There is <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24670123/">some evidence</a> that comes from the extracted, processed form (chlorophyllin). But that’s mostly from animal or lab studies. These involve very high concentrations that would need you to drink dramatic levels of chlorophyll water to match the doses, or to inject it deep into your cells. To be clear, please don’t do either.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/science-or-snake-oil-can-a-detox-actually-cleanse-your-liver-56344">Science or Snake Oil: can a detox actually cleanse your liver?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There are also some (mostly very small) studies about its impacts on <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25844615/">skin</a> and its use as a <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/287788">deodorant</a>, but most of these are about applying chlorophylls and chlorophyllins directly to the skin. You don’t need to be a scientist to know that’s not the same as drinking it in water.</p>
<p>How about boosting your energy and oxygen? It might make sense on simple logic because this is what it does in plants, and the pigment’s similarities to haemoglobin. </p>
<p>But there is no data to support these claims. We do have a small pilot <a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/A-pilot-study-on-wheat-grass-juice-for-its-and-on-Chauhan/73f2bb7c0b1129b5da66ca284eb2294d956fa9d2?p2df">study</a> of wheatgrass and the blood disorder thalassemia. But wheatgrass is much more complex than just chlorophyll and what helps someone with a disorder doesn’t necessarily make the rest of us healthier.</p>
<h2>So why do so many people say they feel better?</h2>
<p>First, who’s making the testimonials on social media? Do you trust them? Could it be <a href="https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/tmd_major_papers/2/">advertising</a> rather than someone’s own personal experience?</p>
<p>Second, it could be the “<a href="https://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/45/16117.short">placebo effect</a>”, where just taking something that feels like a treatment makes you feel better. </p>
<p>But most importantly, the main ingredient in chlorophyll water is water.</p>
<p>This is definitely <a href="https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/nutrient-reference-values/nutrients/water">an essential nutrient</a>, and definitely something we want to encourage people to drink more of. </p>
<p>By turning to chlorophyll water, people may be simply increasing their water intake, and decreasing their intake of sugary drinks or alcohol. <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/1/70">Improving hydration</a> alone could explain their reports. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-i-wake-up-thirsty-183731">Why do I wake up thirsty?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Are there any risks?</h2>
<p>Excessive consumption (multiple doses a day) <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/19390211.2013.859853">could cause some side effects</a> such as nausea, stomach upsets, discolouring your poo and staining your teeth.</p>
<p>Like all supplements, there is a risk chlorophyll water may interact with <a href="https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/chlorophyll-uses-and-risks">medications</a>. And there haven’t been big safety studies in at-risk groups, such as people who are pregnant or breastfeeding. So caution is advised.</p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-793" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/793/82c1dfb245279ba2e4f858eac103dad66412fdbc/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>But, stop and think about the potential indirect downsides of drinking chlorophyll water. It’s expensive. Chlorophyll concentrate, which you’d dilute with water, costs about <a href="https://www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/buy/58504/swisse-chlorophyll-spearmint-500ml?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1NebBhDDARIsAANiDD0o1EzK7XgJq3xR0yfswtGg_Uc4U3zJ2Ec1CkEEFe8KXVcFbjmtBZIaAmd_EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds">A$16</a> for a 500mL bottle. So it could be an expensive way of increasing your water intake if you think you’re not drinking enough, given tap water is safe and cheap. </p>
<p>Even if there are any benefits, you could get these benefits from eating actual plant foods. So the money and time you spend buying chlorophyll water could be taking money and time away from other food and drink choices that could have much bigger health benefits. </p>
<h2>The bottom line</h2>
<p>If you like it, can afford it, and don’t have any medication risks, the choice is yours. </p>
<p>You could also try other ways to increase your chlorophyll intake, such as eating more green veggies. You could add cheaper things to water to make it appealing, such as mint, fruit or teas. </p>
<p>These options could be cheaper and have even better health impacts, but probably won’t get as many views on TikTok. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/wellness-is-not-womens-friend-its-a-distraction-from-what-really-ails-us-177446">Wellness is not women's friend. It’s a distraction from what really ails us</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194251/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Beckett has received funding for research or consulting from Mars Foods, Nutrition Research Australia, NHMRC, ARC, AMP Foundation, Kellogg, and the University of Newcastle. She is a member of committees/working groups related to nutrition or the Australian Academy of Science, the National Health and Medical Research Council and the Nutrition Society of Australia. </span></em></p>
Health claims for chlorophyll water are all over TikTok. We looked at the evidence to see what stacked up.
Emma Beckett, Senior Lecturer (Food Science and Human Nutrition), School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/186131
2022-07-18T20:06:40Z
2022-07-18T20:06:40Z
This is Australia’s most important report on the environment’s deteriorating health. We present its grim findings
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474055/original/file-20220714-8982-4uksg8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C29%2C4913%2C3245&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jo Anne Mcarthur/Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Climate change is exacerbating pressures on every Australian ecosystem and Australia now has more foreign plant species than native, according to the highly anticipated State of the Environment Report <a href="https://soe.dcceew.gov.au">released today</a>.</p>
<p>The report also found the number of listed threatened species rose 8% since 2016 and more extinctions are expected in the next decades. </p>
<p>The document represents thousands of hours of work over two years by more than 30 experts. It’s a sobering read, but there are some bright spots.</p>
<p>Australia has produced a national state of environment report every five years since 1995. They assess every aspect of Australia’s environment and heritage, covering rivers, oceans, air, ice, land and urban areas. The <a href="https://soe.environment.gov.au/">last report</a> was released <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-yearly-environmental-stocktake-highlights-the-conflict-between-economy-and-nature-73964">in 2017</a>.</p>
<p>This report goes further than its predecessors, by describing how our environment is affecting the health and well-being of Australians. It is also the first to include Indigenous co-authors. </p>
<p>As chief authors of the report, we present its key findings here. They include new chapters dedicated to extreme events and Indigenous voices.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474070/original/file-20220714-8982-jz1ctp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="An eel sticks its head out of bleached coral" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474070/original/file-20220714-8982-jz1ctp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474070/original/file-20220714-8982-jz1ctp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474070/original/file-20220714-8982-jz1ctp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474070/original/file-20220714-8982-jz1ctp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474070/original/file-20220714-8982-jz1ctp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474070/original/file-20220714-8982-jz1ctp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474070/original/file-20220714-8982-jz1ctp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Great Barrier Reef suffered four mass bleaching events since 2016.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>1. Australia’s environment is generally deteriorating</h2>
<p>There have been continued declines in the amount and condition of our natural capital – native vegetation, soil, wetlands, reefs, rivers and biodiversity. Such resources benefit Australians by providing food, clean water, cultural connections and more. </p>
<p>The number of plant and animal species listed as threatened in June 2021 was 1,918, up from 1,774 in 2016. Gang-gang cockatoos and the Woorrentinta (northern hopping-mouse) are among those recently listed as endangered. </p>
<p>Australia’s coasts are also under threat from, for instance, extreme weather events and land-based invasive species. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/another-mass-bleaching-event-is-devastating-the-great-barrier-reef-what-will-it-take-for-coral-to-survive-180180">Another mass bleaching event is devastating the Great Barrier Reef. What will it take for coral to survive?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our nearshore reefs are in overall <a href="https://theconversation.com/another-mass-bleaching-event-is-devastating-the-great-barrier-reef-what-will-it-take-for-coral-to-survive-180180">poor condition</a> due to poor water quality, invasive species and marine heatwaves. Inland water systems, including in the Murray Darling Basin, are under increasing pressure. </p>
<p>Nationally, land clearing remains high. Extensive areas were cleared in Queensland and New South Wales over the last five years. Clearing native vegetation is a major cause of habitat loss and fragmentation, and has been implicated in the national listing of most Australia’s threatened species. </p>
<h2>2. Climate change threatens every ecosystem</h2>
<p>Climate change is compounding ongoing and past damage from land clearing, invasive species, pollution and urban expansion. </p>
<p>The intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are changing. Over the last five years, extreme events such as floods, droughts, wildfires, storms, and heatwaves have affected every part of Australia. </p>
<p>Seasonal fire periods are becoming longer. In NSW, for example, the bushfire season now extends to almost eight months. Extreme events are also affecting ecosystems in ways never before documented. </p>
<p>For example, the downstream effects of the 2019-2020 bushfires introduced a range of contaminants to coastal estuaries, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749122007850">in the first global record</a> of bushfires impacting estuarine habitat quality.</p>
<h2>3. Indigenous knowledge and management are helping deliver on-ground change</h2>
<p>This includes traditional fire management, which is being recognised as vital knowledge by land management organisations and government departments. </p>
<p>For example, Indigenous rangers manage 44% of the national protected area estate, and more than 2,000 rangers are funded under the federal government’s <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/environment/indigenous-ranger-programs">Indigenous rangers program</a>.</p>
<p>Work must still be done to empower Indigenous communities and enable Indigenous knowledge systems to improve environmental and social outcomes.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-best-fire-management-system-is-in-northern-australia-and-its-led-by-indigenous-land-managers-133071">The world's best fire management system is in northern Australia, and it's led by Indigenous land managers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>4. Environmental management isn’t well coordinated</h2>
<p>Australia’s investment is not proportional to the grave environmental challenge. The area of land and sea under some form of conservation protection has increased, but the overall level of protection is declining within reserves.</p>
<p>We’re reducing the quantity and quality of native habitat outside protected areas through, for instance, urban expansion on land and over-harvesting in the sea. </p>
<p>The five urban areas with the most significant forest and woodland habitat loss were Brisbane, Gold Coast to Tweed Heads, Townsville, Sunshine Coast and Sydney. Between 2000 and 2017, at least <a href="https://www.acf.org.au/new_report_reveals_extinction_crisis_in_the_suburbs">20,212 hectares</a> were destroyed in these five areas combined, with 12,923 hectares destroyed in Queensland alone. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-finally-acknowledged-climate-change-is-a-national-security-threat-here-are-5-mistakes-to-avoid-186458">Australia's finally acknowledged climate change is a national security threat. Here are 5 mistakes to avoid</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Australia is also increasingly relying on costly ways to conserve biodiversity. This includes restoration of habitat, reintroducing threatened species, translocation (moving a species from a threatened habitat to a safer one), and ex situ conservation (protecting species in a zoo, botanical garden or by preserving genetic material). </p>
<h2>5. Environmental decline and destruction is harming our well-being</h2>
<p>In this report we document the direct effects of environmental damage on human health, for example from bushfire smoke. </p>
<p>The indirect benefits of a healthy environment to mental health and well-being are harder to quantify. But emerging evidence suggests people who manage their environment according to their values and culture have improved well-being, <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/1/125">such as for Indigenous rangers and communities</a>.</p>
<p>Environmental destruction also costs our economy billions of dollars, with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1787/55ea1cc9-en">climate change</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1787/1a1ae114-en">biodiversity loss</a> representing both national and global financial risks. </p>
<h2>Climate change is hitting ecosystems hard</h2>
<p>Previous reports mostly spoke of climate change impacts as happening in future. In this report, we document significant climate harms already evident from the tropics to the poles. </p>
<p>As Australia’s east coast emerges from another <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-causing-sydneys-monster-flood-crisis-and-3-ways-to-stop-it-from-happening-again-186285">“unusual” flood</a>, this report introduces a new chapter dedicated to extreme events. Many have been made more intense, widespread and likely due to climate change. </p>
<p>We document the national impacts of extreme floods, droughts, heatwaves, storms and wildfires over the past five years. And while we’ve reported on immediate impacts – millions of animals killed and habitats burnt, enormous areas of reef bleached, and people’s livelihoods and homes lost – many longer-term effects are still to play out. </p>
<p>Extreme conditions put immense stress on species already threatened by habitat loss and invasive species. We expect more species extinctions over the next decades.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474075/original/file-20220714-20-1146b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Flying fox hanging from tree branch" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474075/original/file-20220714-20-1146b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474075/original/file-20220714-20-1146b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474075/original/file-20220714-20-1146b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474075/original/file-20220714-20-1146b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474075/original/file-20220714-20-1146b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474075/original/file-20220714-20-1146b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474075/original/file-20220714-20-1146b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some 23,000 spectacled flying foxes were killed in a 2018 heatwave.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An extreme heatwave in 2018, for example, killed <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-19/heat-wipes-out-one-third-of-flying-fox-species/10632940">some 23,000</a> spectacled flying foxes. In 2019, the species was uplisted from vulnerable <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=185">to endangered</a>.</p>
<p>Many Australian ecosystems have evolved to rebound from extreme “natural” events such as bushfires. But the frequency, intensity, and compounding nature of recent events are greater than they’ve experienced throughout their recent evolutionary history. </p>
<p>For example, marine heatwaves caused mass coral bleaching on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/adapt-move-or-die-repeated-coral-bleaching-leaves-wildlife-on-the-great-barrier-reef-with-few-options-179570">Great Barrier Reef</a> in 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022. Such frequent disturbances leave little time for recovery. </p>
<p>Indeed, ecological theory suggests frequently disturbed ecosystems will shift to a “weedy” state, where only the species that live fast and reproduce quickly will thrive. </p>
<p>This trend will bring profound shifts in ecosystem structure and function. It also means we’ll <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666900522000089">have to shift</a> how we manage and rely on ecosystems – including how we harvest, hunt and otherwise benefit from them. </p>
<h2>Including Indigenous voices</h2>
<p>Indigenous people of Australia have cared for the lands and seas over countless generations and continue to do so today. </p>
<p>In Australia, a complex web of government laws and agreements relate to Indigenous people and the environment. Overall, they are not adequate to deliver the rights Indigenous people seek: responsibility for and stewardship of their Country including lands and seas, plants and animals, and heritage.</p>
<p>For the first time, this report has a separate Indigenous chapter, informed by Indigenous consultation meetings, which highlights the importance of <a href="https://theconversation.com/caring-for-country-means-tackling-the-climate-crisis-with-indigenous-leadership-3-things-the-new-government-must-do-183987">caring for Country</a>. </p>
<p>Including an Indigenous voice has required us to change the previous approach of reporting on the environment separately from people. Instead, we’ve emphasised how Country is connected to people’s well-being, and the interconnectedness of environment and culture.</p>
<h2>Failures of environmental management</h2>
<p>Australia needs better and entirely new approaches to environmental management. For example, the inclusion of climate change in environmental management and resilience strategies is increasing, but it’s not universal.</p>
<p>As well as climate stresses, habitat loss and degradation remain the main threats to land-based species in Australia, impacting nearly 70% of threatened species. </p>
<p>More than a third of Australia’s eucalypt woodlands have been extensively cleared, and the situation is worse for some other major vegetation groups.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.publish.csiro.au/pc/pc18006#:%7E:text=While%20there%20were%20some%20differences,by%202038%20unless%20management%20improves.">Experts say</a> within 20 years, another seven Australian mammals and ten Australian birds – such as the King Island brown thornbill and the orange-bellied parrot – will be extinct unless management is greatly improved. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1rWSIpNN_qk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Threatened Species Recovery Hub identified the 50 Australian species at greatest risk of extinction.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of the 7.7 million hectares of land habitat cleared between 2000 and 2017, 7.1 million hectares (93%) was not referred to the federal government for assessment under the national environment law. </p>
<p>Only 16% (13 of 84) of Australia’s nationally listed threatened ecological communities meet a 30% minimum protection standard in the national reserve system. </p>
<p>Three critically endangered communities, all in NSW, have no habitat protection at all. These are the Hunter Valley weeping myall woodland, the Elderslie banksia scrub forest, and Warkworth sands woodland.</p>
<h2>The bright spots</h2>
<p>The report also highlights where investments and the hard work of many Australians made a difference. </p>
<p>Individuals, non-government organisations and businesses are increasingly purchasing and managing significant tracts of land for conservation. The Australian Wildlife Conservancy, for example, jointly manages some <a href="https://www.australianwildlife.org/landmark-partnership-to-enhance-conservation-across-six-million-hectares/">6.5 million hectares</a> actively conserving many threatened species.</p>
<p>By building on achievements such as these, we can encourage new partnerships and innovations, supported with crucial funding and commitment from government and industry.</p>
<p>We also need more collaboration across governments and non-government sectors, underpinned by greater national leadership. This includes listening and co-developing solutions with Indigenous and local communities, building on and learning from Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge.</p>
<p>And we need more effort and resources to measure progress. This includes consistent monitoring and reporting across all states and territories on the pressures, and the health of our natural and cultural assets.</p>
<p>Such efforts are crucial if we’re to reverse declines and forge a stronger, more resilient country.</p>
<p><em>Read the full 2022 State of the Environment report <a href="https://soe.dcceew.gov.au">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/existential-threat-to-our-survival-see-the-19-australian-ecosystems-already-collapsing-154077">'Existential threat to our survival': see the 19 Australian ecosystems already collapsing</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CgK6cIGD889/?hl=en","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186131/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Johnston is contracted by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water as an independent Chief author of the 2021 Australian State of Environment Report. She is a Director on the board of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Cresswell is contracted by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water as an independent Chief author of the 2021 Australian State of Environment Report, and is a co-author on several chapters. He is affiliated with the Atlas of Living Australia, the Resilient Landscapes Hub of the National Environmental Science Program, the Western Australian Biodiversity Science Institute, the Tasmanian Land Conservancy, and the Western Australian Marine Science Institution.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terri Janke is the sole director/shareholder of a multi-disciplinary law firm, Terri Janke and Company, who does work for clients in the environment and Indigenous sector, including Indigenous corporations, NGOs, Universities, Government Departments including the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
Her company is contracted by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water as an independent author of the State of the Environment 2021.
</span></em></p>
Three chief authors of the State of the Environment Report provide its key findings. While it’s a sobering read, there are a few bright spots.
Emma Johnston, Professor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), University of Sydney
Ian Cresswell, Adjunct professor, UNSW Sydney
Terri Janke, Honorary Associate Professor, UNSW Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/183169
2022-06-20T10:29:12Z
2022-06-20T10:29:12Z
Greenwashing: how ads get you to think brands are greener than they are – and how to avoid falling for it
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464783/original/file-20220523-25-a5le5b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6421%2C4267&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brands have several tricks up their sleeves to convince ad viewers their products are sustainable.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-hands-hold-cosmetic-jar-cream-1972427651">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ads are <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ubiquitous-advertising-published-version.pdf">ubiquitous</a> in many people’s lives, whether on billboards across our cities or on our phones as we’re tracked across the internet. That’s a huge amount of power and influence. For example, ads which appeal to eco-conscious consumers have the potential to dramatically affect public perceptions of how brands are addressing <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-science-everyone-needs-to-know-about-climate-change-in-6-charts-170556">climate change</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4188969">green advertising</a> trend – featuring ads that explicitly or implicitly address the relationship between a product or service and the natural environment, promote a green lifestyle, or present a corporation as environmentally responsible – is growing fast. Many ads now feature a range of clever <a href="https://blog.hubspot.com/agency/emotions-advertising">tactics</a>, from filling your screen with green to using vague terms like “<a href="https://onetribeglobal.com/sustainable-lifestyle/greenwashing-10-tactics-to-avoid-it-when-shopping-online/">all-natural</a>”, designed to convince you the products they’re selling are good for the planet.</p>
<p>But are these ads truly reflective of improvement when it comes to production practices, or is this just another example of greenwashing – when companies present an exaggerated or even false image of having a positive impact on the environment? Thanks to a growing body of research, there are a number of things you can look out for to tell the difference.</p>
<p>As more and more people’s eyes are opened to the harsh reality of climate change and the damaging role <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-friday-retailers-are-forcing-our-heads-into-the-sand-to-avoid-facing-climate-realities-172557">consumerism</a> has to play in accelerating it, brands are realising the need to “put green first” if they want to sell their services. As a result, the last three decades have seen environmental advertising flourish.</p>
<p>In reaction, <a href="https://www.ripublication.com/ijaar17/ijaarv12n2_07.pdf">research</a> on green advertising began to emerge in the early 1990s. Although it’s been relatively scarce, growing numbers of academics have been examining how people respond to green ads – and how realistic these ads actually are.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A green-focused skincare advert with a bottle and tub placed on top of a tree stump and surrounded by leaves" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464781/original/file-20220523-22-oxf6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/464781/original/file-20220523-22-oxf6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464781/original/file-20220523-22-oxf6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464781/original/file-20220523-22-oxf6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464781/original/file-20220523-22-oxf6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464781/original/file-20220523-22-oxf6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/464781/original/file-20220523-22-oxf6yh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=558&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This ad mockup plays on subconscious associations between the colour green and sustainability.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/green-tea-skincare-ads-products-placed-1177505692">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even back in 2009, a <a href="https://escholarship.org/content/qt1p65c93r/qt1p65c93r.pdf?t=q9nsc2">survey</a> found that 80% of marketers were preparing to increase spending on green marketing to target more environmentally conscious consumers. And <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13527266.2014.904812">research since</a> has stressed the importance of developing the appropriate blend of communication and messaging techniques in an advert to get those with environmental concerns interested. </p>
<p><a href="https://business-school.open.ac.uk/sites/business-school.open.ac.uk/files/files/Studentship%20Proposals/dsm01.pdf">Studies suggest</a> that people’s <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00139169921972056">emotional affinity</a> towards nature has a strong positive influence on their levels of green consumption. And since eco-friendly products are also often more expensive, ads for them tend to play on <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13527266.2020.1866645">people’s emotions</a> – rather than focusing on the functional benefits of the products – to encourage purchase.</p>
<p>Some companies, however, try to create this effect without the facts to back it – “<a href="https://theconversation.com/greenwashing-can-you-trust-that-label-2116">greenwashing</a>”. Greenwashed ads present confusing or misleading claims that lack concrete information about the actual environmental impacts of whatever’s being advertised. They often involve emotional appeals that make you feel good about helping the environment, when the reality is less palatable. </p>
<p>In one of the most recent studies on green advertising published in the <a href="http://oro.open.ac.uk/82667/">European Journal of Marketing</a>, we’ve investigated the role that ad music plays in consumers’ green buying choices. We created radio advertisements for two fictitious green brands (an electric car and a reusable coffee cup).</p>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="52" data-image="" data-title="Inspiring music" data-size="853568" data-source="Author provided" data-source-url="" data-license="" data-license-url="">
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Inspiring music.
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<p>We found that adding upbeat, bright-sounding music to the ads made listeners feel better about the brand in question – and therefore more likely to buy from it – compared to when the same radio ad was accompanied by slow, sad music, fearful-sounding music, or no music at all.</p>
<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="52" data-image="" data-title="Sad music" data-size="852317" data-source="Author provided" data-source-url="" data-license="" data-license-url="">
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Sad music.
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<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="52" data-image="" data-title="Fearful music" data-size="852317" data-source="Author provided" data-source-url="" data-license="Author provided" data-license-url="">
<source src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/2504/ecocar-afraid-70bpm.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
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Fearful music.
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<p><audio preload="metadata" controls="controls" data-duration="50" data-image="" data-title="No music" data-size="820291" data-source="Author provided" data-source-url="" data-license="" data-license-url="">
<source src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/2502/ecocar-nomusic.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
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No music.
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span><span class="download"><span>801 KB</span> <a target="_blank" href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/audio/2502/ecocar-nomusic.mp3">(download)</a></span></span>
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<p>With its strong emotive power, background music can be used as a “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4188963">peripheral cue</a>” in ads, along with green slogans, to make products seem more positive. But that means companies are able to misuse these emotional appeals to reinforce fabricated promises and weak claims surrounding sustainability. </p>
<p>If these claims are publicly debunked, it tends to result in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00913367.1995.10673471">consumer scepticism</a> about the validity of any sustainability assertions. This is an unfortunate barrier for brands that actually offer <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-009-0223-9">eco-friendly products</a>, who are less likely to be taken seriously as a result. </p>
<h2>Misleading advertising</h2>
<p>Green claims are frequently used to get people to buy products that simply aren’t inherently environmentally friendly: from <a href="https://oceana.org/blog/recycling-myth-month-plastic-bottle-you-thought-you-recycled-may-have-been-downcycled-instead/">recyclable plastic bottles</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/minutes-on-the-lips-a-lifetime-on-the-tip-the-coffee-cup-waste-mountain-63164">disposable coffee cups</a> to flights and <a href="https://theconversation.com/end-of-the-road-for-traditional-vehicles-here-are-the-facts-85419">combustion cars</a> marketed as having a “<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ryanair-adverts-banned-low-emissions-climate-change-environmental-green-a9318826.html">lower</a>” – but in reality still very high – impact on the environment.</p>
<p>As an example, oil giant BP was alleged to have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/dec/04/activists-call-for-bp-adverts-to-carry-climate-damage-warning">misleading customers</a> through an advertising campaign launched in 2019. The ads were <a href="https://www.energylivenews.com/2019/12/05/climate-lawyers-file-complaint-over-bps-misleading-ad-campaign/">accused</a> of creating a potentially deceptive impression of the company by focusing on its renewable energy investments, while oil and gas still make up a significant proportion of its business. BP <a href="https://www.clientearth.org/latest/latest-updates/news/bp-greenwashing-complaint-sets-precedent-for-action-on-misleading-ad-campaigns/">withdrew</a> the adverts in question in February 2020.</p>
<p>Indeed, fossil fuel firms are among the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/05/fossil-fuel-firms-among-biggest-spenders-on-google-ads-that-look-like-search-results">biggest spenders</a> on Google ads that look like search results, which campaigners believe is an example of endemic greenwashing. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6NIHRGIhf2Q?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A video by environmental law charity ClientEarth exploring greenwashing in BP’s marketing.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The backlash against greenwashing has led to strategies like “<a href="https://www.ekstasy.com/blog/what-are-anti-ads">anti-advertising</a>”, a tactic using marketing to explicitly encourage people to buy less. Companies who’ve adopted this strategy, including <a href="https://fortune.com/2017/10/30/rei-blackfriday/">REI</a> and <a href="https://eu.patagonia.com/gb/en/stories/dont-buy-this-jacket-black-friday-and-the-new-york-times/story-18615.html">Patagonia</a>, claim that the test of a brand’s eco-friendly sincerity – or hypocrisy – is whether the products they sell are useful, durable and high quality, encouraging their customers to buy fewer things that last longer.</p>
<p>If you’re suspicious about a brand’s green credentials, look for independently produced evidence for the claims they’re making. The <a href="https://www.asa.org.uk/">Advertising Standards Authority</a> allows people to flag an ad, or make a complaint, if they suspect greenwashing is going on. And it’s also time for increased ad legislation to prevent companies hawking unsustainable products. This could be similar to UK requirements for <a href="https://www.asa.org.uk/static/uploaded/3af39c72-76e1-4a59-b2b47e81a034cd1d.pdf">influencers</a> to mark their advertised content on Instagram.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Ads use music, colour and emotion to stress the sustainability of what they’re selling: even when the reality isn’t as attractive.
Morteza Abolhasani, Lecturer in Marketing, The Open University
Gordon Liu, Professor of Marketing Strategy, The Open University
Zahra Golrokhi, Lecturer in Engineering, The Open University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/182215
2022-05-04T12:03:07Z
2022-05-04T12:03:07Z
PFAS are showing up in children’s stain- and water-resistant products – including those labeled ‘nontoxic’ and ‘green’
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461113/original/file-20220503-26-3ghvsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C6013%2C3987&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Stain-resistance can mean questionable chemicals in children's clothes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/smiling-little-muddy-girl-royalty-free-image/1059735838">VM via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Even if children’s stain- or water-resistant clothes are advertised as “green” or “nontoxic,” they might still contain PFAS, a group of manufactured “forever chemicals” that have been linked to a wide range of health problems in children.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05175">new study</a>, colleagues and I tested more than 90 water- and stain-resistant children’s items that are easily available in stores and online.</p>
<p>The results were eye-opening. We found PFAS in school uniforms, pillows, upholstered furniture and several other items. None of those products’ labels warned that toxic manufactured chemicals were present. In fact, many of them were advertised as nontoxic or green.</p>
<h2>What’s wrong with PFAS?</h2>
<p>PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of over 9,000 chemicals that contain a carbon-fluorine bond and are used for their persistent characteristics, such as their ability to withstand water, heat and grease. </p>
<p>These chemical are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1039/D0EM00291G">all around us</a> – they are used in nonstick cookware, greaseproof food packaging, water-resistant clothing, touch screens and plastic molding, as well as firefighting foams and industrial processes. They get into water, soil, dust and the air people breathe, and they can <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/PFAS_FactSheet.html">bioaccumulate</a> in animals. </p>
<p>They have also been found in the blood of over 98% of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP4092">Americans</a> tested and in the farthest reaches of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/es001834k">Earth</a>. The relatively few PFAS that have been studied for their impact on humans have been shown to have associations with a <a href="https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/pfas/health-effects/index.html">wide range of health problems</a>, such as cancers, increased cholesterol, interference with natural hormones and reduced vaccine response in children.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460655/original/file-20220501-15-bl3si8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graphic show types of products including water-resistant clothes, stain-resistant products, makeup, firefighting foam, cleaning products and food packaging" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460655/original/file-20220501-15-bl3si8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460655/original/file-20220501-15-bl3si8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460655/original/file-20220501-15-bl3si8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460655/original/file-20220501-15-bl3si8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460655/original/file-20220501-15-bl3si8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460655/original/file-20220501-15-bl3si8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460655/original/file-20220501-15-bl3si8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">These are a few examples of other products that can contain PFAS.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://riversideca.gov/press/understanding-pfas">City of Riverside, California</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Children’s exposure to PFAS is of particular concern because children’s smaller size, developing bodies and changing hormones and physiology may make them more susceptible to effects from PFAS. A <a href="http://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14070691">review of children’s exposure to PFAS and the health effects</a> found evidence of associations between PFAS levels in the blood and changes in the age when children first begin menstruating; other findings included changes in kidney function and immune responses, along with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560891/">dyslipidemia</a>, an imbalance of fats in the blood, which can put children at risk for cardiovascular disease.</p>
<h2>What we found in children’s products</h2>
<p>Previous studies have found <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2020.114940">PFAS present in children’s clothing</a>, some of which are advertised as “functional” fabrics with features such as water resistance. We sought to test whether the information on children’s product labels, specifically products advertised as stain- or water-resistant, would predict the presence of PFAS.</p>
<p>We also wanted to know if products advertised or certified as “green” or “nontoxic” indicated the absence of PFAS.</p>
<p>We looked at 93 products used by children or adolescents that fell into three broad product types: apparel, bedding and furnishings. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05175">Initial tests</a> showed that 54 of those products had measurable levels of total fluorine, indicating the presence of PFAS. Our study partners at <a href="https://alphalab.com/">Alpha Analytical</a> then tested those products for 36 individual PFAS.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A grinning baby boy crawls toward the camera through thick white carpet." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461115/original/file-20220503-18-g6watl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/461115/original/file-20220503-18-g6watl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461115/original/file-20220503-18-g6watl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461115/original/file-20220503-18-g6watl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461115/original/file-20220503-18-g6watl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461115/original/file-20220503-18-g6watl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/461115/original/file-20220503-18-g6watl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">PFAS shows up in stain-resistant carpet and furniture textiles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/baby-learning-to-crawl-royalty-free-image/892096000">FatCamera via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found that products advertised as water- and stain-resistant were more likely than other products to have detectable levels of total fluorine and higher levels of PFAS, though not all of them included PFAS. None of the other products had detectable levels of the PFAS chemicals that we tested for, though some had measurable levels of total fluorine.</p>
<p>Water- or stain-resistant products advertised as “green” or “nontoxic” had similar detections of PFAS and total fluorine levels to water- or stain-resistant products without any green assurances.</p>
<p>The product categories that had the highest measurements of PFAS were clothing, including school uniforms; pillow and mattress protectors; and upholstery from children’s furniture.</p>
<p>While our study didn’t measure exposure, there is potential for children in contact with these products to be exposed to PFAS compounds, including many we did not measure, such as volatile PFAS that can be inhaled. Studies have shown that with wear and washing, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126100">PFAS can leach out</a> of durable or functional textiles, leading to increased potential for exposure and environmental contamination.</p>
<h2>What can be done about it?</h2>
<p>While more research is needed to quantify PFAS exposures from clothing and other children’s products, it’s worth asking why these chemicals are added to these products in the first place. The truth is that children are messy, and buying white clothing or using light carpeting in heavily trafficked rooms is just not practical.</p>
<p>The Environmental Protection Agency has been <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pfas">considering federal rules</a> to limit PFAS use and possibly declare them hazardous substances. <a href="https://www.natlawreview.com/article/cercla-pfas-concerns-grow-among-some-states">It’s a complicated debate</a> with implications for the companies that make these chemicals and the products that contain them, and even for landfills and wastewater treatment plants.</p>
<p><iframe id="BSxTp" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/BSxTp/7/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Several states aren’t waiting. <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB652">California recently passed a law</a> that will phase out PFAS in children’s products. <a href="https://dtsc.ca.gov/scp/carpets-and-rugs-with-perfluoroalkyl-and-polyfluoroalkyl-substances-pfass/">California</a>, <a href="https://mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=HP1113&item=5&snum=130">Maine</a>, <a href="https://vermontbiz.com/news/2021/may/20/governor-scott-signs-first-nation-restrictions-toxic-pfas-chemicals">Vermont</a> and <a href="https://www.ncelenviro.org/articles/washington-state-legislation-addresses-pfas-chemicals/">Washington</a> have banned PFAS in carpets and rugs. <a href="https://www.natlawreview.com/article/maine-pfas-products-bill-most-far-reaching-to-date">Maine has gone further</a> to phase out non-essential use of PFAS in consumer products sold in the state by 2030. Several other states are considering <a href="https://www.saferstates.org/toxic-chemicals/pfas/">limits or bans</a> on some or all PFAS in different uses, including firefighting foams, drinking water, food packaging and ski wax.</p>
<p>As someone who buys used clothing, which doesn’t come with tags, for my children, I am concerned about exposure to PFAS. As our study showed, it’s hard to know when an item contains PFAS.</p>
<p>Certifiers of “green” products could help by ensuring that they include PFAS in their criteria. The precautionary principle would suggest avoiding noncritical uses of PFAS in general.</p>
<p><em>This article was updated to correct the description of Maine’s PFAS rules.</em> </p>
<p>[<em>Get science, health and technology stories from The Conversation <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=science&source=inline-science-favorite">in your inbox each Wednesday</a></em>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182215/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Rodgers has been supported by grants from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and charitable donations to Silent Spring Institute. She was a staff scientist at Silent Spring Institute from 2012-2021.</span></em></p>
Tests found PFAS in school uniforms, pillows, upholstered furniture and several other items that are often next to children’s skin and near their noses and mouths.
Kathryn Rodgers, Ph.D. Student in Environmental Health, Boston University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/147838
2020-12-31T20:19:13Z
2020-12-31T20:19:13Z
Green buildings can bring fresh air to design, but they can also bring pests
<p>Throughout the world architects are designing green buildings, whether it’s in their sustainable construction, environmentally friendly operation or actually green by style.</p>
<p>It’s broadly titled <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/biophilia-hypothesis">biophilia</a>, connecting people with nature, and it can lead to some creative and innovative designs.</p>
<p>But now we are finding that literally greening the world — by covering building walls and roofs with vegetation — can also come with some unexpected problems.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/greening-our-grey-cities-heres-how-green-roofs-and-walls-can-flourish-in-australia-139478">Greening our grey cities: here's how green roofs and walls can flourish in Australia</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>A bug’s high life</h2>
<p>In the Chinese city of Chengdu, a vast green experimental housing estate of 826 apartments was constructed where people can live in a vertical forest with every open space and balcony containing live vegetation.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kVtv2mUpzrU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>Trouble is they must share the plants with a scourge of mosquitoes and other bugs. Most apartments in the <a href="http://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/qiyi-city-forest-garden-tower-4/39567">Qiyi City Forest Gardens</a> development were sold by April 2020, but six months later <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1200404.shtml">only a handful</a> of families had <a href="https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1335843/plants-bugs-seize-china-apartments">reportedly</a> moved in.</p>
<p>The towers were built in 2018 and plants were provided to reduce noise and <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1031741.shtml">clean up pollution</a>. But the plants thrived, while sales moved slowly, and no one was clipping the greenery to keep it in control. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/unbuilding-cities-as-high-rises-reach-their-use-by-date-129002">Unbuilding cities as high-rises reach their use-by date</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Now mostly empty balconies have cascading branches of plants overtaking space, blocking windows.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1305765795184676864"}"></div></p>
<p>It might not help that Chengdu and its population of 16.3 million people are located in Sichuan, central China, which is humid and semi-tropical, a perfect environment for fast-breeding mossies.</p>
<p>But a slow uptake, with tenants slow to move in, made the problem worse as the plants subsumed their buildings.</p>
<h2>Some vertical vegetation living success</h2>
<p>Other green projects across the globe have avoided this particular problem, so far.</p>
<p>Milan’s <a href="https://www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/en/project/vertical-forest/">Bosco Verticale</a> (Vertical Forest) was designed by <a href="https://www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/en/stefano-boeri-biography/">Stefano Boeri</a> and botanist Laura Gatti. </p>
<p>They <a href="https://www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/en/project/vertical-forest/">reportedly</a> spent long hours selecting suitable vegetation, a variety of 800 trees, 5,000 shrubs and 15,000 plants, which would suit their location and the Milanese climate.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-cities-are-lagging-behind-in-greening-up-their-buildings-97088">Australian cities are lagging behind in greening up their buildings</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Their plan was to improve air quality in the city via the green facades, and residents have embraced the concept, which appears to be where Qiyi City Forest has gone wrong.</p>
<p>In Chengdu, maintenance and care of the plantings is almost non-existent, so no truly symbiotic relationship between accommodation and human occupier has formed as part of biophilic living. As is nature’s way, the non-human occupiers (the bugs) are winning.</p>
<h2>Gardens need a gardener</h2>
<p>US landscape architect Daryl Beyers, from the New York Botanical Garden, <a href="https://archive.curbed.com/2020/9/18/21445069/qiyi-city-forest-garden-mosquitoes-chengdu">says</a> the Chengdu setup didn’t work partly as a result of bad design.</p>
<p>In Chengdu’s humid climate and clammy monsoons, stagnant water collects in planters which are not properly drained, and mosquitoes breed in these.</p>
<p>Beyers adds: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>They [the developers] didn’t think about the maintenance […] You can’t have a garden without a gardener.</p>
<p>They were touting it as a manicured garden outside on your deck. If it’s manicured, someone has to do the manicuring.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The idea of fully manicured vegetation on balconies only works if the plants are cared for regularly. <a href="https://archive.curbed.com/2020/9/18/21445069/qiyi-city-forest-garden-mosquitoes-chengdu">Apparently</a>, gardeners attend Qiyi City just four times a year to maintain the plants, but they require weekly care.</p>
<h2>Sydney’s green space on the up</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.centralparksydney.com/">One Central Park</a> apartments in Sydney, by <a href="http://www.jeannouvel.com/projets/one-central-park/">French architect Jean Nouvel</a>, takes on a green mantle with plants covering most of its walls and balconies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371692/original/file-20201127-21-5zp0l4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tall buildings covered in green plants" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371692/original/file-20201127-21-5zp0l4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/371692/original/file-20201127-21-5zp0l4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371692/original/file-20201127-21-5zp0l4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371692/original/file-20201127-21-5zp0l4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371692/original/file-20201127-21-5zp0l4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371692/original/file-20201127-21-5zp0l4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/371692/original/file-20201127-21-5zp0l4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One Central Park is the world’s largest vertical gardens.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/SAKARET</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/realisations/sydney/one-central-park-sydney">French botanist Patrick Blanc</a> selected the plants on the building for their capacity for healthy growth and suitability to the Sydney habitat.</p>
<p>By <a href="https://www.arup.com/projects/one-central-park">using</a> acacias (wattles) and poa (grasses) on upper levels and goodenia (hop bush) and viola (native violet) lower down, the vegetation is attuned to its place and growing successfully.</p>
<p>More than 1,100 square metres of walls support many species of plants, most of them native to Sydney. They are at home with the local climate and seasons. The plants can withstand hot, dry and windy Australian summers and have survived since 2014.</p>
<h2>How to green your buildings</h2>
<p>Green buildings are necessary for the environment. We need to redress the loss of our natural resources and their benefits, and green buildings can do that by adopting appropriate design, energy efficiencies, renewable materials and green technologies.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-third-of-our-waste-comes-from-buildings-this-ones-designed-for-reuse-and-cuts-emissions-by-88-147455">A third of our waste comes from buildings. This one's designed for reuse and cuts emissions by 88%</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Central Park’s success could be emulated at Chengdu, by tracing back the original design intent and adopting a workable maintenance and management plan. </p>
<p>The lessons from both projects indicate that proper planning and appropriate selection of vegetation, which is then fed and watered by applicable technology, will yield a proficient green building. </p>
<p>People feel comfort living with nature, and a vertical garden gives those in high-rise towers a chance to share that comfort. But with the benefits come responsibilities. </p>
<p>The clue here is that a faithfully biophilic building must be appropriate for use. That means appropriate in terms of the place, natural resources, local climate and the people who must manage and occupy the natural surroundings.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147838/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Norman Day does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
People love to connect with nature and that’s possible with vertical gardens on high-rise developments. But gardens need a gardener to keep things under control.
Norman Day, Lecturer in Architecture, Practice and Design, Swinburne University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/146757
2020-09-29T19:48:20Z
2020-09-29T19:48:20Z
Climate explained: are consumers willing to pay more for climate-friendly products?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359961/original/file-20200925-20-1nrc7hz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=350%2C188%2C5362%2C3799&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Alliance Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287622/original/file-20190811-144878-bvgm9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287622/original/file-20190811-144878-bvgm9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287622/original/file-20190811-144878-bvgm9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287622/original/file-20190811-144878-bvgm9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287622/original/file-20190811-144878-bvgm9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287622/original/file-20190811-144878-bvgm9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287622/original/file-20190811-144878-bvgm9l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/nz/topics/climate-explained-74664">Climate Explained</a></strong> is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.</em> </p>
<p><em>If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to <a href="mailto:climate.change@stuff.co.nz">climate.change@stuff.co.nz</a></em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>I’m seeing quite a few “climate-friendly” products at the supermarket. Are consumers willing to pay more for these? And how can we encourage people to make good choices?</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Shoppers once selected grocery products based simply on price or brand, but now attributes such as “climate-friendly” or “eco-friendly” are part of the consideration.</p>
<p>The latest <a href="https://www.iag.co.nz/latest-news/articles/Climate-poll-2020.html">IAG New Zealand Ipsos poll</a> found almost four out of five people (79%) say climate change is an important issue for them, the same number as last year’s poll.</p>
<p>An international study of 20,000 customers by grocery brand giant <a href="https://www.unilever.com/news/press-releases/2017/report-shows-a-third-of-consumers-prefer-sustainable-brands.html">Unilever</a> identified one in three (33%) people were choosing to buy from brands they believe are doing environmental good.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/green-is-the-new-black-why-retailers-want-you-to-know-about-their-green-credentials-99073">Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But <a href="https://hbr.org/2019/07/the-elusive-green-consumer" title="The Elusive Green Consumer">research</a> continues to show few consumers who report positive attitudes toward eco-friendly products actually follow through with their wallets.</p>
<h2>Green, eco-friendly, climate-friendly products — confused?</h2>
<p>Colloquially, use of the word “<a href="https://businessperspectives.org/images/pdf/applications/publishing/templates/article/assets/3047/im_en_2010_01_Durif.pdf">green</a>” is applied broadly to almost everything related to benefiting the environment, from production and transportation to architecture and even <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221719306290" title="Green product development under competition: A study of the fashion apparel industry">fashion</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://ecocult.com/whats-the-difference-between-green-sustainable-eco-friendly-ethical-fair-trade-clean-organic-non-toxic-and-conscious/">Eco-friendly</a> isn’t quite so broad and defines products or practices that do not harm the Earth’s environment.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.igi-global.com/dictionary/climate-change-trade-competitiveness-and-opportunity-for-climate-friendly-goods-in-saarc-and-asia-pacific-regions/51292">Climate-friendly</a> defines products that reduce damage specifically to the climate. </p>
<p>All these terms are used in labelling to make us feel good if we buy products claimed to minimise harm to the planet and the environment.</p>
<p>Some brands are even moving beyond simply eco-friendly and now seek to claim their products are <a href="https://unfccc.int/climate-action/climate-neutral-now">climate-neutral</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359976/original/file-20200925-14-11rclo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A shop with the words climate friendly toys written on the door." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359976/original/file-20200925-14-11rclo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359976/original/file-20200925-14-11rclo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359976/original/file-20200925-14-11rclo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359976/original/file-20200925-14-11rclo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359976/original/file-20200925-14-11rclo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359976/original/file-20200925-14-11rclo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359976/original/file-20200925-14-11rclo8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even toys can get the climate-friendly treatment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/justin/9361121180/">Flickr/Justin Hall</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/shopping/eco-friendly/climate-neutral-how-shop-certified-eco-friendly-products-n1190891">Earth Day 2020</a>, the organisation <a href="https://www.climateneutral.org/">Climate Neutral</a> — an independent non-profit organisation working to decrease global carbon emissions — confirmed 103 brands had completed its certification process in 2020 and 50 other brands were still in the process.</p>
<h2>Who says it’s up to standard?</h2>
<p>While companies are increasingly using environmental claims to appeal to consumers, they also <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-018-4028-6" title="They Did Not Walk the Green Talk!: How Information Specificity Influences Consumer Evaluations of Disconfirmed Environmental Claims">attract greater scrutiny</a>.</p>
<p>Concerned about allegations of <a href="https://www.coolaustralia.org/greenwashing-secondary/">greenwashing</a> — claiming a product is green when it’s not — many brands are turning to organisations such as <a href="https://www.climateneutral.org/">Climate Neutral</a>, <a href="https://www.myclimate.org/">Foundation Myclimate</a> and members of the <a href="https://www.globalecolabelling.net/">Global Ecolabelling Network</a> to legitimise their claims. </p>
<p>For example, the <a href="https://www.myclimate.org/get-active/corporate-clients/climatop-label">climatop</a> label certifies products that generate significantly less greenhouse gas than comparable products. The carbon footprints of the certified products are based on international standards (<a href="https://www.iso.org/standard/37456.html">ISO 14040</a>) and verified by an independent expert.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.environmentalchoice.org.nz/">Environmental Choice New Zealand</a> is the official environmental label body that awards certificates and lists environmentally friendly products for green homes or businesses. Products must meet similar standards (<a href="https://www.iso.org/standard/34425.html">ISO 14020</a> and <a href="https://www.iso.org/standard/72458.html">ISO 14024</a>). <a href="https://geca.eco/">Good Environmental Choice Australia</a> is a similar organisation.</p>
<figure>
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</figure>
<h2>A willingness to pay for eco-friendly products</h2>
<p>For years, researchers have examined <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1469540517717782" title="Can we rely on 'climate-friendly' consumption?">climate-oriented consumption</a> to see if it wins people’s support.</p>
<p>Reports such as <a href="https://www.nielsen.com/eu/en/insights/article/2019/a-natural-rise-in-sustainability-around-the-world/">Nielsen Insights</a> suggest the majority (73%) of consumers would change their consumption habits to reduce their impact on the environment, and almost half (46%) would switch to environmentally friendly products.</p>
<p>But the results should be interpreted cautiously. As US psychologist <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-69746-3_2" title="From Intentions to Actions: A Theory of Planned Behavior">Icek Ajzen</a> wrote: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Actions, then, are controlled by intentions, but not all intentions are carried out …</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Consumer concern about the environment does not readily translate into the purchase of environmentally friendly products. <a href="https://chainstoreage.com/news/customers-unwilling-pay-more-eco-friendly-products">Commercial research</a> says 46% of consumers are more inclined to buy a product if it is eco-friendly. But nearly 60% are unwilling to pay more money for that eco-friendly product.</p>
<p>Academic <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2306774815000034" title="Factors Affecting Green Purchase Behaviour and Future Research Directions">research</a> has consistently identified this gap between purchase intentions and behaviours. Hence, despite environmental concern and the positive attitude of customers towards sustainability and green products, it’s estimated the market share of green products will reach only <a href="https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2018/was-2018-the-year-of-the-influential-sustainable-consumer/">25% of store sales</a> by 2021. </p>
<p>Ultimately, the research that evaluates consumers’ willingness to pay more for green products has been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698918304831" title="Willingness to pay more for green products: The interplay of consumer characteristics and customer participation">mixed</a>.</p>
<p>For example, one study found Spanish consumers were willing to pay <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1046/j.1470-6431.2003.00295.x" title="Brakes to organic market enlargement in Spain: consumers’ and retailers’ attitudes and willingness to pay">22–37%</a> more for green products, but Japanese consumers were only willing to pay <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00288233.2006.9513715" title="Measuring consumer preferences regarding organic labelling and the JAS label in particular">8–22%</a> more for green products. </p>
<h2>Why green products cost more</h2>
<p>From procuring raw materials to shipping the final product, almost all steps of the manufacturing and production process of <a href="http://clarifygreen.com/eco-friendly-products-cost-more/">eco-friendly products cost more</a> than traditional products.</p>
<p>There are several reasons for this. Sustainable materials cost more to grow and manufacture, reputable third-party certifications add further costs and using organic materials is more expensive than alternatives such as mass-produced chemicals. </p>
<p>Simple <a href="https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/economies-of-scale/">economies of scale</a> also impact on price. While the demand for such products remains low, the price remains high. More demand would mean more production and lower unit price costs.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://econlife.com/2019/04/paying-for-green-products/" title="Will We Really Pay More to be Green?">economists say</a>, as price lowers, our willingness and ability to buy an item increase. </p>
<h2>The nudge to change behaviour</h2>
<p>In a free market economy, it is very difficult to force people to pay more for products. But brands can “<a href="https://www.businessballs.com/improving-workplace-performance/nudge-theory/">nudge</a>” consumers towards more eco-friendly products. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xoA8N6nJMRs?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Nudge theory is used to understand how people think, make decisions and behave. It can be used to help people improve their thinking and decisions. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/speaking-with-law-professor-cass-sunstein-on-why-behavioural-science-is-always-nudging-us-101074">Speaking with: law professor Cass Sunstein, on why behavioural science is always nudging us</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Studies show eco-friendly logos and labels can be used to nudge consumers toward <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296319305776" title="How to 'Nudge' your consumers toward sustainable fashion consumption: An fMRI investigation">sustainable fashion</a>, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800914003309" title="Food labeling and eco-friendly consumption: Experimental evidence from a Belgian supermarket">food consumption</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296317300905" title="Influencing consumers to choose environment friendly offerings: Evidence from field experiments">eco-friendly</a> offerings.</p>
<p>So while not all consumers will pay more for green “climate-friendly” products despite the best of intentions, we can slowly nudge them to make better choices for the planet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146757/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gary Mortimer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Our intention to buy climate-friendly products does not always match our buying behaviour, especially when we pay more for such products.
Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Queensland University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/132763
2020-03-03T19:05:31Z
2020-03-03T19:05:31Z
‘Freshly cut grass – or bile-infused Exorcist vomit?’: how crime books embraced lurid green
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317955/original/file-20200302-57566-1bhi4c9.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=260%2C182%2C1473%2C2407&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">University of Sydney Library</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Green is a colour that evokes nature, fecundity, sustainability. </p>
<p>At the traffic lights it signals go; on a boat, starboard. </p>
<p>It’s a soft celadon glaze; an intense Van Eyck wedding dress; frothy, aromatic matcha tea; aurora borealis; a meditative praying mantis. It’s jungle camouflage, Joyce’s snotgreen sea, green mould and Martians. </p>
<p>If green had a smell, would it be freshly cut grass – or bile-infused Exorcist vomit? </p>
<p>Green, like all colours, has innumerable meanings and cultural associations. My interest in green stems from the books I curated in <a href="https://news.library.sydney.edu.au/lurid/">Lurid: Crime Paperbacks and Pulp Fiction</a>. </p>
<p>My favourite books in Lurid are the green Penguin crime series from the 1960s. Penguin was founded by <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/company/blogs/celebrating-sir-allen-lanes-life-and-legacy/">Allen Lane</a> in 1935 and revolutionised publishing through a focus on well-designed, pocket-sized and affordable high-quality literature, as distinct from mere pulp. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-the-complex-contradictory-pleasures-of-pulp-fiction-96206">Friday essay: the complex, contradictory pleasures of pulp fiction</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The covers were standardised yet stylish and instantly recognisable: two horizontal bands of colour separated by a central white band featuring the author’s name and title in Gill Sans font. Initially designed by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/feb/04/guardianobituaries.books">Edward Young</a>, the aesthetic was strengthened in 1947 by German typographer Jan Tschichold’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2008/dec/05/design">Penguin Composition Rules</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317957/original/file-20200302-38898-gy2rbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317957/original/file-20200302-38898-gy2rbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317957/original/file-20200302-38898-gy2rbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317957/original/file-20200302-38898-gy2rbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=988&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317957/original/file-20200302-38898-gy2rbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1242&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317957/original/file-20200302-38898-gy2rbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1242&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317957/original/file-20200302-38898-gy2rbb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1242&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The cheerful Penguin logo, also designed by Young, was the only pictorial element on these early covers. In Jeremy Lewis’s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1446935.Penguin_Special">Penguin Special</a>, he writes Penguin eschewed the lurid picture jackets – “breastsellers” – adopted in the US in favour of English restraint and text-only designs. </p>
<p>The books were colour-coded by subject: the now classic orange for fiction, dark blue for biographies, red for drama. Of the <a href="https://www.penguin.com/penguin80/original-10/">first ten</a> Penguin books published, two were crime and colour-coded green. </p>
<p>Since curating the Lurid exhibition, I’ve been wondering: why green? Why not blood-spatter red or noir black? </p>
<h2>The affect of green</h2>
<p>As a visual artist as well as a visual criminologist, I have a great interest in colour and its affective qualities. </p>
<p>The initial green used on Penguin crime covers was a slightly earthy green, not unlike <a href="http://www.webexhibits.org/pigments/indiv/overview/greenearth.html">terre verte</a>. This is a soft green pigment traditionally used as a cool element when mixing flesh tones in a <a href="http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/sgrais/color_palettes.htm">limited palette</a> of flake white, yellow ochre, Venetian red and ivory black, depending on the subject’s skin tones. </p>
<p>Terre verte is often used as a <a href="https://study.com/academy/lesson/grisaille-painting-definition-technique.html">grisaille</a> or underpainting in figurative works and portraiture. But there are so many other irresistible greens in oil painting: cobalt, emerald, viridian, phthalo, cadmium, sap, olive, chromium. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317959/original/file-20200302-38880-16o74o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317959/original/file-20200302-38880-16o74o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=990&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317959/original/file-20200302-38880-16o74o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=990&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317959/original/file-20200302-38880-16o74o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=990&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317959/original/file-20200302-38880-16o74o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1244&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317959/original/file-20200302-38880-16o74o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317959/original/file-20200302-38880-16o74o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1244&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
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<p>The original earthen green hue of Penguin crime was brightened in the 1960s when Italian art director Germano Facetti <a href="https://designmuseum.org/penguin-books#">challenged</a> the traditional Penguin design rules and hired Polish graphic designer Romek Marber to revitalise the book covers. </p>
<p>The “Marber Grid” and pictorial covers placed the typography and Penguin logo in the top third of the cover and allowed two-thirds of the layout for striking modernist illustration and graphic design.</p>
<p>The covers of Dorothy L. Sayers’ <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/116971.Busman_s_Honeymoon">Busman’s Honeymoon</a> and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40776219-lord-peter-views-the-body">Lord Peter Views the Body</a> show the distinctive and recurrent white stick figure Marber applied only to her books. </p>
<p>The Busman’s Honeymoon, in particular, shows Marber at his best. The geometric design evokes a staircase with a corpse – the <a href="http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/the-case-of-romek-marber">identifying device</a> of the white cut-out – at the bottom. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317983/original/file-20200302-18295-1j702ix.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317983/original/file-20200302-18295-1j702ix.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317983/original/file-20200302-18295-1j702ix.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317983/original/file-20200302-18295-1j702ix.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=965&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317983/original/file-20200302-18295-1j702ix.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1213&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317983/original/file-20200302-18295-1j702ix.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1213&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317983/original/file-20200302-18295-1j702ix.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1213&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317962/original/file-20200302-38880-1psmh9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/317962/original/file-20200302-38880-1psmh9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317962/original/file-20200302-38880-1psmh9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317962/original/file-20200302-38880-1psmh9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=997&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317962/original/file-20200302-38880-1psmh9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1252&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317962/original/file-20200302-38880-1psmh9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1252&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/317962/original/file-20200302-38880-1psmh9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1252&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Marber’s <a href="http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/penguin-crime-text-in-full">last</a> Penguin crime cover design was for Ellery Queen’s <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/786952.The_Scarlet_Letters">The Scarlet Letters</a> in 1965. With the letters X and Y that, in the novel, a dying man traces in his own blood, the design introduces trickles of red, photography and a solid black background.</p>
<p>Looking at these book covers today, there is power in the simplicity of these designs with their limited colour palette, elements of photomontage, collage, drawing and geometric pattern, and use of sans serif font. </p>
<p>And, of course, there is the bright green. </p>
<p>The Penguin crime series is not the only one to feature green. Launched by Collins in the 1930s, the <a href="https://paperbackrevolution.wordpress.com/white-circle/">White Circle Crime Club</a> used a bold graphic design featuring two menacing figures and variations on a restricted palette of green, black and white. </p>
<p>This green branding was an intentional strategy to <a href="https://paperbackrevolution.wordpress.com/2016/02/21/the-crime-club-goes-paperback/">compete directly</a> with the green Penguins. </p>
<h2>Green to kill</h2>
<p>Why green? Perhaps the answer lies in green’s association with toxicity. </p>
<p>The 18th century’s <a href="https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/05/02/scheeles-green-the-color-of-fake-foliage-and-death/">Scheele’s green</a>, derived from arsenic, was vivid and alluring. The 19th century’s emerald green was highly desirable, and used extensively in clothing and wallpaper, including that of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/news030609-11">William Morris</a>. Unfortunately, it was horribly poisonous: arsenic fumes from Emerald Green wallpaper <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/victorian-wallpaper-got-its-gaudy-colors-poison-180962709/">killed</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-we-discovered-three-poisonous-books-in-our-university-library-98358">How we discovered three poisonous books in our university library</a>
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<p>Green, then, is deadly. Green radioluminescent paint shone brightly on watches and caused <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-read/the-forgotten-factory-girls-killed-by-radioactive-poisoning/">radium poisoning</a>; green chlorine gas was first used as a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2016/sep/16/chlorine-the-gas-of-war-crimes">chemical weapon</a> in the first world war. </p>
<p>The green of absinthe’s <em>la fée verte</em>, the green fairy, is intoxicating, once thought to be <a href="https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/edible-innovations/absinthe.htm">hallucinogenic</a>, and an ingredient in Ernest Hemingway’s <a href="http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20140109-absinthe-a-literary-muse">Death in the Afternoon</a> cocktail. </p>
<p>With these lethal associations the green of crime fiction starts to make sense.</p>
<p>Sometimes, you can judge a book by its cover.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132763/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carolyn McKay does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Green is lethal: the colour of radioluminescent paint, arsenic and chlorine gas. It is also the colour of crime fiction paperbacks.
Carolyn McKay, Senior Lecturer – Criminal Law, Procedure, Digital Criminology, University of Sydney
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/128808
2019-12-17T13:06:11Z
2019-12-17T13:06:11Z
What would the British parliament look like under proportional representation?
<p>Perhaps the only thing on which Nigel Farage agrees with the Liberal Democrats and Green Party is the need for <a href="https://www.lbc.co.uk/radio/presenters/nick-ferrari/nigel-farage-tells-nick-ferrari-plans-post-brexit/">electoral reform</a> in British politics. </p>
<p>More and more politicians in the UK are pitching for a move to proportional representation (PR), an electoral system in which the overall vote share a party wins determines the number of seats in the legislature. This includes some <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-party-proportional-representation-corbyn-leader-polls-a9249196.html">within the Labour party</a> but not leaders in the Conservative Party, which is doing very well under the current first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, in which MPs are elected with a majority in local constituencies. </p>
<p>But how would the UK’s December 12 election have turned out under PR? My research has shown how <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269407976_It's_Just_Nice_to_Know_There's_Someone_Close_at_Hand_Representational_Distance_and_Satisfaction_with_Democracy_in_Europe">different electoral systems</a> create distance between the policies preferred by voters and those enacted by political parties that breeds dissatisfaction with democracy. I’ve now analysed the British election result to look at how it might have turned out differently under alternative voting systems. </p>
<p>Any exercise to model an alternative election outcome comes with the major caveat that we don’t know how a different electoral system would affect voting behaviour, especially in the long term. There are also plenty of different flavours of PR. Some, such as the single transferable vote system in Ireland and in local elections in Northern Ireland and Scotland, we can’t model because they would require too much information we don’t have about the different preferences of voters. </p>
<p>I focus here on two PR systems that contain some provisions that would address concerns in the UK about voting for candidates and not just parties: the Dutch and the German electoral system. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-you-are-disappointed-with-the-election-result-there-are-things-you-can-do-to-help-you-move-on-128883">If you are disappointed with the election result, there are things you can do to help you move on</a>
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<h2>Dutch versus German system</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190258658.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190258658-e-44">Dutch system</a> is the most proportional because all voters choose from a single national list of candidates, rather than selecting representatives for their local district. Voters pick a party and then their chosen MP from that party. This allows voters to either vote for local candidates or nationally popular figures. Any candidate that receives a certain percentage of the vote wins a seat in the parliament.</p>
<p>In contrast, the German mixed-member system <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190258658.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190258658-e-37">allocates half of the seats</a> to constituency candidates under FPTP, and the other half to regional lists of candidates.</p>
<p>To model what would have happened in the UK under each of these electoral systems, let’s assume that the number of seats remains as it is at 650. In the Dutch case, this would mean that a vote share of 0.154% translates into a seat, 15.4% into 10 seats, and so on. </p>
<p>Under the German system, we would need to redraw constituency boundaries to create 325 seats that would still be allocated under FPTP, and create another 325 seats elected from regional lists. A party gets its vote share from these lists translated into seats if it receives at least 5% of the votes, or if it wins three constituencies.</p>
<p>In the real German system, citizens have two votes, one for the constituency contest and one for the list vote. Here, we have to work out the results of both contests from the one vote people cast. My calculations are based on halving the number of seats each party won to give the constituency results, and using their final vote shares to give the list results.</p>
<p>The basic translation of the election result is presented in the graph below. The Conservatives would not have won an outright majority under either PR system, although they would have won more than 300 seats under the German mixed-member system. The Liberal Democrats do better and the Scottish National Party (SNP) worse under both systems. The Brexit Party and the Greens would only benefit under the Dutch system because both fail to reach the German electoral threshold of 5%.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307411/original/file-20191217-58292-1lhnano.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307411/original/file-20191217-58292-1lhnano.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307411/original/file-20191217-58292-1lhnano.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307411/original/file-20191217-58292-1lhnano.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307411/original/file-20191217-58292-1lhnano.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307411/original/file-20191217-58292-1lhnano.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307411/original/file-20191217-58292-1lhnano.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307411/original/file-20191217-58292-1lhnano.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=383&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">UK 2019 seat distribution, by electoral system.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Heinz Brandenburg</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>There are some things that cannot be factored in. For example, as the Dutch system doesn’t use electoral districts, all parties are electable everywhere in the country. That means that English voters could vote for the SNP or Irish voters in Britain could vote for Irish nationalist parties. But also, Northern Irish voters could choose whether to stick with their traditional parties or instead get involved more directly in selecting the UK government by voting for one of the mainstream British parties. </p>
<h2>Searching for a stable majority</h2>
<p>The problem with such a simple comparison of seat allocations under different electoral rules is that it ignores even the most obvious flaw: under PR there are either no or very different needs for tactical voting. </p>
<p>Almost all the poll movement throughout the 2019 election campaign was <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49798197">from smaller to larger parties</a>, from the Brexit Party to the Conservatives, from Liberal Democrats to Labour. This represents voters responding to a squeeze that was being applied by the electoral system.</p>
<p>Under a proportional system, there would have been no incentive for the Brexit Party to field a smaller number of candidates, or for Liberal Democrat or Green voters to contemplate lending their votes to Labour. The election result under PR may have looked much more like the polls a month before the election than like the result on December 12.</p>
<p>With this in mind, the second graph shows how the size and composition of different possible coalitions under the highly proportional Dutch system would have changed from the actual result to a more realistic vote share distribution taken from poll averages in early November. I calculated the averages from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2019/dec/11/election-opinion-polls-uk-2019-latest-poll-tracker-tories-labour">all polls published</a> between October 30 when parliament voted for an early election to November 8, a couple of days after its dissolution. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307410/original/file-20191217-58302-1wfdkpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/307410/original/file-20191217-58302-1wfdkpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=277&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307410/original/file-20191217-58302-1wfdkpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=277&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307410/original/file-20191217-58302-1wfdkpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=277&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307410/original/file-20191217-58302-1wfdkpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307410/original/file-20191217-58302-1wfdkpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/307410/original/file-20191217-58302-1wfdkpi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=348&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Possible coalitions in the UK parliament under Dutch-style PR list.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Heinz Brandenburg</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A Labour/LibDem/SNP/Green coalition would have been slightly weaker before tactical voting took effect – with 324 seats – than it would have been based on the final result at 330. However, such a coalition would have been very difficult to hold together because, while unified on their position on a second EU referendum, the parties would have been at odds over Scottish independence as well as social, economic and fiscal issues. The only solid majority under either scenario would therefore have been an unlikely comeback of the 2010 coalition between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-did-labour-lose-in-the-north-of-england-128940">Why did Labour lose in the north of England?</a>
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<hr>
<p>The German system would have produced similarly unstable outcomes, but there would have even been an outside chance of a majority for the two pro-Brexit parties if the Greens had come close but failed to reach a 5% electoral threshold.</p>
<p>No PR system would have been likely to produce a workable majority for any sustainable coalition, but that is a reflection of the highly fragmented multi-party political system in the UK. And with such high levels of fragmentation, some PR systems would not even robustly reflect the fact that the two pro-Brexit parties combined did not win 50% of the vote share.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128808/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Heinz Brandenburg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
A chorus of politicians are once again calling for electoral reform after the UK’s 2019 election.
Heinz Brandenburg, Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Strathclyde
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/127542
2019-11-22T12:11:10Z
2019-11-22T12:11:10Z
Does Labour’s green industrial revolution tackle the climate crisis? Experts weigh in
<p><a href="https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Real-Change-Labour-Manifesto-2019.pdf">The Labour Party’s manifesto</a> for the <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/uk-election-2019-75714">2019 general election</a> lays out a plan for transforming British society and the economy to address <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/climate-crisis-51340">climate change</a>. The “<a href="https://labour.org.uk/manifesto/a-green-industrial-revolution/">green industrial revolution</a>” calls for massive investment in renewable energy and low-carbon infrastructure, sweeping changes to how public transport services are owned and operated and an overhaul of agriculture subsidies to prioritise conservation and habitat restoration. Academic experts give their verdict on the proposals. </p>
<h2>Warm homes and wind farms</h2>
<p><strong>Stephen Hall, Research Fellow in Energy Economics and Policy, University of Leeds</strong></p>
<p>Labour has committed to investing £400 billion across the UK in energy generation, energy efficiency, transport and the natural environment. The party has promised to ensure local people have a say in where funding should go.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/labours-low-carbon-warm-homes-for-all-could-revolutionise-social-housing-experts-126329">Labour's low-carbon 'warm homes for all' could revolutionise social housing – experts</a>
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<p>Of all the spending commitments the most expensive, and yet the one that makes the most sense, is the commitment to retrofit the UK’s 27 million homes to a high energy efficiency standard. This national programme might take up to £200 billion to complete, but with 70% of British houses poorly insulated, the economic benefits are massive. People in these homes waste over £400 on gas every year while losing much of that heat through leaky walls. Retrofitting homes would employ hundreds of thousands of people across the UK. The resulting health benefits of warmer homes could save the NHS billions. </p>
<p>Labour also committed to a huge expansion of renewable energy. Anyone who lives in my region, Hull and East Yorkshire, knows someone who works on the wind farms. Rebuilding the electricity sector around renewables offers a huge jobs boost and ensures clean and affordable energy for the long term.</p>
<p>I’m not convinced Labour needs to nationalise “<a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/big-six-energy-companies-16080">the big six</a>” energy companies to deliver its investment programme – it could end up taking on a lot of market risk as the UK’s energy demand and consumption patterns change. But the point of the nationalisation is noble: to protect the jobs of workers in those companies and to put an end to unfair market practices, such as overcharging already fuel-poor households. </p>
<p>Bold plans indeed, and there are inevitable risks to public finances. That said, as the manifesto claims, the cost of doing nothing is far higher.</p>
<h2>Path to net zero carbon emissions in the 2030s</h2>
<p><strong>Marc Hudson, Researcher in Sustainable Consumption, University of Manchester</strong></p>
<p>Labour’s autumn conference passed a motion agreeing to “work towards a path to net zero carbon emissions by 2030”. It never amounted to a firm, legally binding commitment, but the manifesto version of Labour’s pledge on decarbonisation has certainly been watered down. Labour will now:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>develop the recommendations of our “30 by 2030” report to put the UK on track for a net zero carbon energy system within the 2030s – and go faster if credible pathways can be found. We will deliver nearly 90% of electricity and 50% of heat from renewable and low-carbon sources by 2030.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Two things matter here. First, the new 2030 pledge limits its commitment to the energy system – but there are plenty of carbon emissions outside of that. Transport and agriculture would not be included in Labour’s new pledge, which collectively accounted for <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/790626/2018-provisional-emissions-statistics-report.pdf">28% of the country’s emissions in 2018</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302974/original/file-20191121-547-15l3ii7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302974/original/file-20191121-547-15l3ii7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302974/original/file-20191121-547-15l3ii7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302974/original/file-20191121-547-15l3ii7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302974/original/file-20191121-547-15l3ii7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302974/original/file-20191121-547-15l3ii7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302974/original/file-20191121-547-15l3ii7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Unions are at the forefront of Labour’s vision for decarbonisation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fitting-photovoltaic-panels-on-roof-building-665634247?src=d6b78269-5be4-431f-b007-59a8eb64b916-1-27">Franco lucato/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Second, Labour isn’t even aiming for the energy sector to hit net zero by 2030. That could now come as late as 2039. Labour’s decarbonisation targets are still <a href="https://theconversation.com/labours-green-new-deal-is-among-the-most-radical-in-the-world-but-can-it-be-done-by-2030-123982">more ambitious than the other major parties</a>. But in many ways, these longer-term goals are not what we should judge the party on. Debating net zero dates misses the fundamental point that the transition to a zero carbon society desperately needs kick-starting with strong policy action in the next five years. </p>
<p>There are promising announcements – including a windfall tax on oil companies to cover the costs of knowingly damaging the climate. Its recent <a href="https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/ThirtyBy2030report.pdf">“30 by 2030”</a> report goes into greater depth, listing urgent actions to achieve the party’s long-term aims and acknowledging the need for immediate implementation.</p>
<p>Trade unions <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/18/labour-persuaded-to-soften-pledge-of-net-zero-emissions-by-2030">persuaded Labour to soften its pledge</a> – an unsurprising move to anyone who has been following <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Workers-and-Trade-Unions-for-Climate-Solidarity-Tackling-climate-change/Hampton/p/book/9781138841420">their influence</a> in recent decades. But without the support of industry, the promises of Labour – and any other party – are empty. Union backing for what are still ambitious plans may make the difference in translating them into reality.</p>
<h2>More buses and trains, less air pollution</h2>
<p><strong>Nicole Badstuber, Research Associate in Transport, University of Cambridge</strong></p>
<p>If sustainable transport is the aim, buses are rightly Labour’s priority. Buses are Britain’s most used form of public transport, providing <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/774565/annual-bus-statistics-year-ending-mar-2018.pdf">59% of all public transport trips</a> – that’s 4.8 billion journeys a year. Yet bus services have been choked by service and funding cuts.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-44681974">Over 3,000 bus services have been cut since 2010</a> and local government bus funding has halved. Labour promises to <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-48044016">reverse the bus cuts</a>, invest in local transport and give free bus passes to people under 25. This is important. Good, reliable and frequent bus services will be crucial for any sustainable transport system. </p>
<p>Labour would give local government the power to strategically manage the bus network and run their own services, undoing legislation that <a href="https://labour.org.uk/press/for-too-long-the-bus-industry-has-put-profit/">currently obstructs and bans this</a>. There are successful examples of both. London has a regulated bus market that has allowed for strategically planned, managed and integrated services. Reading and Nottingham are examples of <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/transport/2018/06/municipal-bus-companies-can-public-ownership-be-profitable">successful municipal bus companies</a>. </p>
<p>Labour also vows to bring rail into integrated public ownership. Today, Britain’s railways are a confusing part public, part private patchwork, with track managed by government and services run by numerous private companies. Rather than compensate these rail operators by ending their contracts early, Labour would take the cheapest route by not renewing them.</p>
<p>New rail links would also be built, such as a Crossrail for the North and the High Speed 2 (HS2) railway to Scotland, which is currently only committed to running from London to Birmingham. New railways for fast services free up capacity on the “old” railways for more frequent and reliable local services. Improving rail links – particularly local links – is key to encouraging people out of their cars.</p>
<p>To tackle air pollution, Labour proposes to electrify the railway network, encouraging rail freight, ending combustion engine vehicle sales by 2030 – ten years ahead of the Conservatives’ 2040 pledge – and investing in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Labour doesn’t rule out expanding London’s airport capacity though, seemingly at odds with their rhetorical commitment to decarbonise transport.</p>
<p>Labour understands that to compete with the car, public transport needs to be improved. But the manifesto falls short of committing to directly discourage driving, such as congestion pricing, motorway tolling or banning new road building. Perhaps this is politically wise. Talk of curbing car use is rarely popular.</p>
<h2>Money for wildlife and a crackdown on cruelty</h2>
<p><strong>Mike Jeffries, Associate Professor in Ecology, Northumbria University</strong></p>
<p>Labour is promising legally binding targets for restoring habitats and biodiversity. After a decade in which central government funding for nature conservation has <a href="https://nbn.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/State-of-Nature-2019-UK-full-report.pdf">fallen by over 40%</a>, the prospect of a £250 billion green transformation fund is very positive. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-crisis-the-countryside-could-be-our-greatest-ally-if-we-can-reform-farming-126304">Restoring ecosystems will entail land reform</a>, and the manifesto suggested repurposing agricultural funding to support habitat recovery and sustainable food production. Labour alludes to the green belt being “threatened by development” but remains quiet on how its approach would differ. A new “environmental tribunal” to ensure decisions are consistent with environmental obligations could quickly become bogged down in ambiguities.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-crisis-the-countryside-could-be-our-greatest-ally-if-we-can-reform-farming-126304">Climate crisis: the countryside could be our greatest ally – if we can reform farming</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The UK’s wildlife may be <a href="https://theconversation.com/top-five-threats-to-uks-wildlife-and-what-to-do-about-them-new-report-124670">in trouble</a>, but government agencies, NGOs and even enthusiastic citizens are very good at managing local conservation efforts. Trying to marry their collective expertise with the central plans, funds and tribunals could get messy.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302949/original/file-20191121-502-u1a63p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302949/original/file-20191121-502-u1a63p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302949/original/file-20191121-502-u1a63p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302949/original/file-20191121-502-u1a63p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302949/original/file-20191121-502-u1a63p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302949/original/file-20191121-502-u1a63p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302949/original/file-20191121-502-u1a63p.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Labour remain committed to keeping fox hunting banned.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/Yu-qayee34c">Gary Bendig/Unsplash</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the fact that Britain’s wildlife is addressed in the first few pages of the manifesto shows how seriously political parties are now taking the ecological crisis. Turning the big ideas into reality will be the challenge.</p>
<p>Rather simpler is the list of things that Labour promises to ban or crack down on – <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-wonder-fox-hunting-is-still-prevalent-the-ban-is-designed-to-fail-british-wildlife-110454">fox hunting</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/badger-cull-alone-wont-work-for-eradicating-bovine-tb-but-this-might-107472">badger culling</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/keeping-monkeys-as-pets-is-extraordinarily-cruel-a-ban-is-long-overdue-122278">pet monkeys</a>. Politicians underestimate the animal vote, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/07/theresa-may-drops-manifesto-promise-to-allow-foxhunting-vote">as Theresa May found to her cost</a>. Labour appears unlikely to make the same mistake.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300094/original/file-20191104-88372-xpdf2e.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=176&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKGE2019&utm_content=GEBannerA">Click here to subscribe to our newsletter if you believe this election should be all about the facts.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127542/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Hall receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. He is a Labour Party member.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc Hudson is the social media editor for the academic journal Environmental Politics. He is affiliated with Climate Emergency Manchester.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Badstuber works on a research consultancy project at the Department of Architecture at the University of Cambridge funded by UK2070 Commission. She is also a Visiting Researcher at the Alan Turing Institute on a research project funded by the Toyota Mobility Foundation. Nicole Badstuber received funding for her doctoral research into urban transport governance from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council via the research programme Transforming the Engineering of Cities. Nicole Badstuber has previously worked for transport consultancy Steer, and universities University College London and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Previous research projects Nicole Badstuber has worked on have separately been funded by the Laing O'Rourke Centre at the University of Cambridge, the Centre for Digital Built Britain, the MacArthur foundation, the New Climate Economy, the European Innovation Council via Horizon 2020 and UCL Public Policy. Nicole Badstuber is also a freelance writer, writing about a range of transport issues for different publications. Nicole Badstuber also has taken on freelance consulting, most recently for the Campaign for Better Transport on their report into bus service cuts and proposal for future bus funding. Nicole Badstuber is a member of the Labour party. This article does not reflect the views of any organisation Nicole Badstuber has been or is associated with.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Jeffries does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Biodiversity, public transport and home insulation loom large in Labour’s flagship programme for green governance.
Stephen Hall, Research Fellow in Energy Economics and Policy, University of Leeds
Marc Hudson, Researcher on Sociomaterial Transformations, Keele University
Mike Jeffries, Associate Professor, Ecology, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Nicole Badstuber, Research Associate in Transport, University of Cambridge
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/121686
2019-08-23T12:28:31Z
2019-08-23T12:28:31Z
Removing mini-shampoos from hotel rooms won’t save the environment
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288070/original/file-20190814-136213-1ugcr00.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The movement to ban miniature toiletries isn't likely to make a dent in the global plastic crisis.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch#/media/File:Litter_on_Singapore's_East_Coast_Park.jpg">vaidehi shah/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>InterContinental Hotels Group <a href="https://www.ihgplc.com/en/news-and-media/news-releases/2019/end-of-the-road-for-bathroom-miniatures-as-ihg-opts-for-bulk-size--amenities-to-reduce-plastic-waste">will replace</a> mini-shampoos and conditioners with possibly more efficient bulk products <a href="https://apnews.com/da7268c03bf14f77b3bac115b8c35a6a">by the year 2021</a>. <a href="https://www.marriott.com/Multimedia/PDF/CorporateResponsibility/Environmental_Public_Policy_Statement.pdf">Marriott Hotels</a> recently <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/marriott-banning-little-shampoo-bottles-by-2020-2019-08-28?mod=mw_latestnews">followed suit</a>, vowing to ban miniature toiletries <a href="http://www.ktvu.com/news/marriott-banning-tiny-shampoo-bottles-by-2020">by next year</a>.</p>
<p>But environmental activists <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/dropping-mini-shampoo-bottles-is-another-feel-good-move-that-like-banning-plastic-straws-does-little-environmental-good-2019-08-28">shouldn’t rejoice just yet</a>.</p>
<p>These <a href="https://www.ihgplc.com/en/news-and-media/news-releases/2019/end-of-the-road-for-bathroom-miniatures-as-ihg-opts-for-bulk-size--amenities-to-reduce-plastic-waste">announcements</a> are yet another example – such as <a href="https://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/regulation/plastic-bans-are-symbolism-over-substance/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIreTtudaF5AIVyB6GCh2gYAdWEAAYASAAEgI24PD_BwE">banning plastic straws</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/aug/20/greenwashing-environmentalism-lies-companies">false sustainability claims</a> and <a href="https://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/home.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2016/sep/0914-renewable-energy.html">corporate commitments that are far in the future</a> – that seem to be more of a PR exercise than real attempts to move the needle.</p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://sheffi.mit.edu/">professor of engineering</a> and the director of the <a href="https://ctl.mit.edu/">MIT Center of Transportation and Logistics</a>. As I argue in my book “<a href="https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B07BRDZWZH&tag=bing08-20&linkCode=kpp&reshareId=4AGJZZQRWYJSDW8GK41R&reshareChannel=system">Balancing Green: When to Embrace Sustainability in a Business</a> (And When Not To),” announcements of these kinds distract us from legitimate – and more challenging – measures we need to put in place to avoid environmental catastrophe.</p>
<h2>Behind the headlines</h2>
<p>InterContinental Hotels Group <a href="https://www.ihgplc.com/about-us/our-leadership/executive-committee/keith-barr">CEO Keith Barr</a> says that replacing miniature bathroom products “<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/holiday-inn-will-stop-providing-mini-plastic-toiletries-to-help-save-the-oceans/">will allow us to significantly reduce our waste footprint and environmental impact</a>” at the conglomerate’s hotel chains, which include InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn.</p>
<p>It’s true that the <a href="https://cleanconscience.org.uk/">British foundation Clear Conscience</a> estimates that 200 million travel-size toiletries end up in U.K. landfills every year, but there’s another motivation: With <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ihg-hotel-shampoo-bottles-plastic-waste_n_5d41d2d2e4b0db8affb27022">5,600 hotels</a>, the savings for IHG can mount to over US$11 million annually.</p>
<p>Additionally, <a href="https://sheffi.mit.edu/book/balancing-green">studies</a> we have carried out at MIT and <a href="https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/our-work/supply-chain">elsewhere</a> show that evaluations of a product’s environmental impact can mislead if economists don’t consider <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/supplychain.asp">the entire supply chain management process</a>.</p>
<p>For example, most of the carbon footprint of companies like <a href="https://www.apple.com/environment/pdf/Apple_Environmental_Responsibility_Report_2019.pdf">Apple</a>, <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/environment/carbon">Microsoft</a> and <a href="https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collaboration/carbon-disclosure-project-cdp.html">Cisco</a> comes from the suppliers who actually make the iPhones, routers and Xboxes, not directly from the company itself.</p>
<p>Additionally, the net reduction in discarded plastic could be minimal at best if the larger containers are filled from <a href="https://careertrend.com/13369891/how-to-refill-soap-dispensers">single-use plastic pouches</a>. Also, we do not yet know if the larger containers are recyclable, nor the cost and environmental impacts of making, transporting, installing and maintaining them.</p>
<p>Even if replacing miniature toiletries does reduce waste somewhat – as other hotel chains <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-travel-briefcase-hotel-shampoo-bottles-20180505-story.html">join the movement</a> and <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-california-lawmakers-want-to-ban-hotel-shampoo-bottles-20190529-story.html">California moves to ban</a> them – a transition to bulk products will barely put a dent in the <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/environment/an-ocean-of-plastic/2686/">plastic waste that now clogs</a> the planet’s rivers and oceans. It is another “feel good” initiative which help avoid the move to more serious actions that can actually make a difference.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-are-plastic-straws-being-banned-2018-7">Banning plastic straws</a> is another such example. While outlawing plastic straws makes for excellent public relations copy, <a href="https://earth.stanford.edu/news/do-plastic-straws-really-make-difference#gs.w3g0xj">it has virtually no impact</a> on the <a href="https://apnews.com/c1b6f8666138441d9af6054d8c096086">global accumulation of plastic garbage</a>.</p>
<h2>Skin-deep support</h2>
<p>At least the hotel chains are responding to consumers’ <a href="https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/73-percent-of-millennials-are-willing-to-spend-more-money-on-this-1-type-of-product.html">professed increasing support</a> for green products and services, right?</p>
<p>Some studies find that more than 80% of consumers say they <a href="https://sustainablebrands.com/read/stakeholder-trends-and-insights/study-81-of-consumers-say-they-will-make-personal-sacrifices-to-address-social-environmental-issues">will make personal sacrifices</a> to address social and environmental issues. However, when actually buying goods, <a href="https://consciouscompanymedia.com/sustainable-business/marketing/5-reasons-millennials-dont-buy-green-brands-better-way-reach/">consumer support</a> for environmental products <a href="https://consciouscompanymedia.com/sustainable-business/marketing/5-reasons-millennials-dont-buy-green-brands-better-way-reach/">largely evaporates</a>.</p>
<p>To try to explain the gap between what people say and how much they’re willing to pay, my students and I observed <a href="https://sheffi.mit.edu/sites/sheffi.mit.edu/files/2019-08/Consumers%27%20%28not%20so%29%20Green%20Purchase%20Behavior.pdf">consumers’ choices in supermarkets in Boston</a>.</p>
<p>These supermarkets presented sustainable choices in large green frames around the sustainable products – detergents, soaps, paper products and others – alongside “regular” products in the same aisle. Fewer than 10% of consumers chose the sustainable products, though the study found somewhat higher percentages among highly educated and higher income consumers. The sustainable products were, by and large, between 5% and 7% more expensive.</p>
<p>Given customer ambivalence toward paying for green products, companies engage in token measures that insulate them from <a href="https://brandfinance.com/news/press-releases/vw-risks-its-31-billion-brand-and-germanys-national-reputation/">reputational damage</a> and the <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40423794/new-greenpeace-campaign-accuses-corporations-of-using-law-suits-to-silence-protest">unwanted attention of environmental groups</a>, which could lead to NGO and media complaints or <a href="https://theconversation.com/boycotts-are-a-crucial-weapon-to-fight-environment-harming-firms-25267">consumer boycotts</a> and lost sales.</p>
<p>Beyond that, brands will reclassify economically sensible cost-cutting initiatives, <a href="https://www.environmentalleader.com/2010/11/timberland-bassett-cut-costs-emissions-with-led-lighting-retrofits/">such as energy savings</a>, as sustainability initiatives.</p>
<p>One good way to green hotels is to restrict hotels’ use of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/10/science/air-conditioner-global-warming.html">energy-thirsty air conditioning</a>. Another is to charge guests for not reusing towels rather than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-you-should-reuse-hotel-towels-2015-8/">imploring them to reuse these items</a>.</p>
<p>Granted, a slogan that states “Our hotel will not keep rooms cooler than 75 degrees in the summer and no warmer than 65 degrees in the winter” may not increase a hotel’s market share. Even the replacement of the small shampoo bottles with bulk dispensers is <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-beginning-of-the-end-for-those-tiny-shampoo-bottles-1525180702">leading to consumers’ apprehension</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287432/original/file-20190808-144892-9dz6ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287432/original/file-20190808-144892-9dz6ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287432/original/file-20190808-144892-9dz6ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287432/original/file-20190808-144892-9dz6ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287432/original/file-20190808-144892-9dz6ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287432/original/file-20190808-144892-9dz6ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287432/original/file-20190808-144892-9dz6ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">InterContinental Hotels Group is considering flushing their mini-toiletries down the drain and replacing them with bulk items.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTU2NTMyNjYwMCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTE2MDgzOTA0MiIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xMTYwODM5MDQyL2h1Z2UuanBnIiwibSI6MSwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCI4cVRnSzI2aTlvUUswWXAxei9sTjVoTjdLVmsiXQ%2Fshutterstock_1160839042.jpg&pi=33421636&m=1160839042&src=ldRFINzZpVokhiHAwKxO6w-1-0">KR_Netez/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Futile gestures</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most damaging fallout from symbolic corporate green “feel-good” initiatives is that they distract from actions that can make a difference.</p>
<p>More specifically, companies could focus their efforts on <a href="https://qz.com/1416481/the-ultimate-guide-to-negative-emission-technologies/">carbon-reducing technology</a>. No existing technologies are available on a global scale, but a small example of such a successful international agreement is the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/international-actions-montreal-protocol-substances-deplete-ozone-layer">Montreal Protocol</a> to ban substances that deplete the ozone layer.</p>
<p>Governments could implement adaptation measures for the changing climate such as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/19/climate/seawalls-cities-cost-climate-change.html?login=email&auth=login-email">building sea walls</a> on vulnerable coastlines, planning for <a href="https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/07/25/climate-change-food-production-global-warming">changes in food production patterns</a> and the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/climate-change-already-driving-mass-migration-around-globe">massive migration that may follow</a>. An example of a comprehensive adaption strategy is <a href="https://www.pbl.nl/sites/default/files/cms/publicaties/PBL-2015-Adaptation-to-climage-change-1632.pdf">the work of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency</a>.</p>
<p>In a world where companies engage in tokenism to satisfy their customers’ false green preferences, the efforts by Marriott and InterContinental are perfectly acceptable. But that world is likely to be short-lived.</p>
<p>
<section class="inline-content">
<img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/248895/original/file-20181204-133100-t34yqm.png?w=128&h=128">
<div>
<header>Yossi Sheffi is the author of:</header>
<p><a href="https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B07BRDZWZH&tag=bing08-20&linkCode=kpp&reshareId=4AGJZZQRWYJSDW8GK41R&reshareChannel=system">Balancing Green: When to Embrace Sustainability in a Business (And When Not To)</a></p>
<footer>MIT Press provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.</footer>
</div>
</section>
</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on Aug. 23, 2019.</em></p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121686/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>MIT Press provides funding as a member of The Conversation US.</span></em></p>
InterContinental Hotels Group plans to switch miniature toiletries for bulk products, but it isn’t likely to do as much for the environment as activists might think.
Yossi Sheffi, Professor of Engineering; Director of the MIT Center for Transportation & Logistics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/107905
2018-12-20T11:49:32Z
2018-12-20T11:49:32Z
Twelve ways to go plastic-free this Christmas
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251284/original/file-20181218-27758-ts8mks.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Tis the season to be plastic-free.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/stylish-rustic-gift-wrapped-linen-fabric-1252160128?src=fajExa_k64hkF1CS37wkCw-1-3">Shutterstock/Bogdan Sonjachnyj</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Christmas songs are in the air and supermarket aisles are fit to burst – the festive season is upon us. But many may view the shiny, plastic-wrapped goods on the shelves through a different lens this year thanks to growing concern over plastic pollution. </p>
<p>Each year, the UK produces over 2.3m tonnes of plastic packaging and over 4.7m tonnes of paper and cardboard, with only 45% of plastic being <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/746642/UK_Statistics_on_Waste_statistical_notice_October_2018_FINAL.pdf">recovered and recycled</a>. Waste production peaks over the Christmas holidays, with a 30% increase in plastic use, such as packaging and plastic products, and Britons bin the equivalent of <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/christmas/christmas-waste-total-wrapping-paper-food-scraps-packaging-sticky-tape-study-a8119821.html">108m rolls of wrapping paper</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://news.sky.com/story/amount-of-waste-thrown-out-at-christmas-unacceptable-polls-finds-11171061">A survey</a> last year found that 84% of consumers were worried about the amount of plastic packaging used on gifts at Christmas, with 22% of those surveyed stating there was too much waste generated by their households to recycle all of it and <a href="https://www.ecover.com/ecoverpressrelease/">37% confused</a> about what can be recycled.</p>
<p>It’s easy to forget the implications of plastic once our waste has been binned, but significant volumes of the plastic waste we generate this Christmas will remain in the environment for hundreds of years.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/special/delve-deeper.aspx">the Plastics Collaboratory</a>, a joint research effort by academics in different fields at the University of Hull, have come up with 12 ways you can reduce your plastic use this Christmas.</p>
<h2>1. Christmas cards</h2>
<p>Over <a href="http://www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk/resources/for-publishers/the-market/facts-and-figures">one billion Christmas cards</a> are sold every year in the UK, but many are not recycled. Cards are often embellished with plastic and glitter, which makes them non-recyclable. You can tear off parts that can’t be recycled, but making your own cards is much more cost effective, personal and fully recyclable. All you need is recycled plain card, ink stamps, crayons and <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2018/plastic-free-xmas-day-1.aspx">your imagination</a>.</p>
<h2>2. Christmas decorations</h2>
<p>Although most plastic-based decorations are used over several years, many (such as tinsel) degrade over time, releasing plastic fragments. An alternative is to use string and natural materials, such as pine cones and fruit, which <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2018/plastic-free-xmas-day-2.aspx">look good and reduce plastic</a> at the same time.</p>
<h2>3. Christmas wreaths</h2>
<p><a href="http://blog.floralife.com/2015/07/24/279-floral-foam-fundamentals/">Plastic-based floral foam</a> is often used as a backing to hold christmas wreaths together, which crumbles into small microplastics over time. Make sure you buy wreaths that include natural moss. Or, you can make your own wreath, which can be used for years, <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2018/plastic-free-xmas-day-3.aspx">using natural materials</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250688/original/file-20181214-185258-p1vay0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250688/original/file-20181214-185258-p1vay0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250688/original/file-20181214-185258-p1vay0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250688/original/file-20181214-185258-p1vay0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250688/original/file-20181214-185258-p1vay0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250688/original/file-20181214-185258-p1vay0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250688/original/file-20181214-185258-p1vay0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Making a natural Christmas wreath is fun and plastic-free.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/top-view-florist-hands-making-christmas-723037762?src=lot1WNV_Qkm5ynaZNP2GHg-1-4">LightField Studios/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>4. Christmas trees</h2>
<p>You’d have to use an artificial plastic tree <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-38129835">for over ten years</a> to reduce the carbon footprint to that of a real tree. But the best option of all is to buy a potted tree which you can plant out and <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2018/plastic-free-xmas-day-4.aspx">re-pot every year</a>.</p>
<h2>5. Mince pies</h2>
<p>In the UK, consumers buy an estimated 370m mince pies over the holidays yet consume only 80% of them – <a href="https://www.unilever.co.uk/news/press-releases/2012/74-million-mince-pies-thrown-away-every-christmas.html">74m go uneaten!</a> Around 62m plastic trays are needed to hold all the pies that are sold. The best solution is to <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2018/plastic-free-xmas-day-5.aspx">make your own</a>.</p>
<h2>6. Secret Santa</h2>
<p>Secret Santa is a great tradition, but often results in people trying to buy silly gifts that are cheap and tacky and often made of plastic that is quickly thrown away. A nice alternative could be a <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2018/plastic-free-xmas-day-6.aspx">refillable gift stored in a glass jar</a>, such as hot chocolate or pancake mix.</p>
<h2>7. Wrapping paper</h2>
<p>Enough wrapping paper to <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8964837/How-Britain-bins-227000-miles-of-Christmas-paper.html">wrap around the equator nine times</a> is sold each year in the UK. Unfortunately, much of this paper contains glitter and plastic films which make them non-recyclable. You can test this using the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42426888">scrunch test</a> – if the paper has no glitter on it and scrunches up you can recycle it. But an easier alternative is making and decorating your own, with recycled brown paper and string, <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2018/plastic-free-xmas-day-7.aspx">which is fully recyclable</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250689/original/file-20181214-185249-141blny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/250689/original/file-20181214-185249-141blny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250689/original/file-20181214-185249-141blny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250689/original/file-20181214-185249-141blny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250689/original/file-20181214-185249-141blny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250689/original/file-20181214-185249-141blny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/250689/original/file-20181214-185249-141blny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Recycled brown paper is a sustainable and fashionable choice for wrapping.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/gift-wrapping-composition-homemade-wrapped-present-562785853?src=sdpLUw-freytnjuYz-xIeA-1-4">Victoria43/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>8. Reindeer food</h2>
<p>“Reindeer food” has become a popular craft activity for families at Christmas, often made from porridge oats and glitter that is spread in the garden for Santa’s reindeers. Glitter is technically a microplastic and cannot be recycled, but there are natural alternatives such as the mineral mica which has the same effect <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2018/plastic-free-xmas-day-8.aspx">without the environmental impact</a>.</p>
<h2>9. Christmas stockings</h2>
<p>Gone are the days of the small fabric stockings that dangle at the end of the bed. Now it’s all about huge synthetic stockings that brim with presents and flashing lights. By using felt, old pillow cases or even old socks you can recreate your own <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2018/plastic-free-xmas-day-9.aspx">plastic-free personal stockings</a> which children will cherish for years to come.</p>
<h2>10. Christmas crackers</h2>
<p>The majority of Christmas crackers are laden with teeny, tiny plastic gifts. With over <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/christmas/christmas-by-numbers-total-presents-turkey-crackers-travel-statistics-a8119771.html">150m crackers </a> pulled each year, that’s a lot of plastic waste with a few hours of lifespan before the rubbish bin. Make your own crackers and fill them with homemade hats, dad jokes and tiny games such as bingo or origami frog racing for a <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2018/plastic-free-xmas-day-11.aspx">fun and unique alternative</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251286/original/file-20181218-27755-69ltne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/251286/original/file-20181218-27755-69ltne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251286/original/file-20181218-27755-69ltne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251286/original/file-20181218-27755-69ltne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251286/original/file-20181218-27755-69ltne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251286/original/file-20181218-27755-69ltne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/251286/original/file-20181218-27755-69ltne.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">DIY Christmas crackers – let your imagination run wild.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/christmas-presents-cracker-on-wooden-background-348900398?src=gqe_dc5bU1FUZj9y_Fz5zw-1-0">Cmccg/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>11. Christmas dinner</h2>
<p>Christmas dinner comes with a huge amount of plastic packaging. Even when you attempt to be good and buy loose vegetables at the supermarket, most retailers still only have single use plastic bags to hand. Worry not – all you need is a lightweight material, such as an old pillow case and you can <a href="https://www.hull.ac.uk/work-with-us/more/media-centre/news/2018/plastic-free-xmas-day-12.aspx">make your own veggie bags</a> that you can use again and again.</p>
<h2>12. Advent calenders</h2>
<p>You have 12 months to get ready for next year. Instead of buying an advent calendar wrapped in plastic and with chocolate in plastic moulding, why not make your own? <a href="https://www.bubblyfunk.co.uk/tracie-hudson-christmas-advent-a-39.html">One design</a> features 24 matchboxes filled with chocolate and wrapped in card.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/107905/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Parsons leads the University of Hull Plastics Collaboratory and receives funding from the EC and UKRI (both NERC and EPSRC) in support of work on Plastics in the Environment and Evolving a Plastics Circular Economy. We additionally extend sincere thanks to Kate Smith, Flo Halstead, Chris Skinner, Hannah Lightley, Ellie Bartle, Phil Bell-Young, Lucie Parsons and Katie Knass for the ideas, creativity, crafting and supporting videos! We would also like to make a special mention of thanks to Amy and Emma Meek from Kids Against Plastic (<a href="http://www.kidsagainstplastic.co.uk">http://www.kidsagainstplastic.co.uk</a>) for joining us in this campaign.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Katie Parsons and Freija Mendrik do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The world is waking up to the plastic pollution crisis. Here’s how you can wake up on Christmas morning to a more sustainable holiday.
Freija Mendrik, PhD Researcher in Marine Ecology, University of Hull
Daniel Parsons, Professor of Process Sedimentology and Associate Dean for Research (Science and Engineering), University of Hull
Dr Katie Parsons, PhD Researcher in Human Geography, University of Hull
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/76771
2018-08-13T10:22:07Z
2018-08-13T10:22:07Z
Walmart tried to make sustainability affordable. Here’s what happened
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231517/original/file-20180810-2894-1eljuak.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Can Walmart go green while maintaining its commitment to low prices?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Tom Uhlman</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What a difference the birth of a granddaughter can make. </p>
<p>For Lee Scott, who ran Walmart from 2000 to 2009, the arrival of his granddaughter not only <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=NZWrBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT32&lpg=PT32&dq=lee+scott+walmart+sustainability+%22granddaughter%22+born&source=bl&ots=v0C2lpjRxW&sig=w0DDA9Vqi8haEptJfVu8-oNYOuA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiG09Si3r_cAhVD6lMKHXHeAscQ6AEwDHoECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=lee%20scott%20walmart%20sustainability%20%22granddaughter%22%20born&f=false">convinced</a> him the threat of global warming was real but set him on a course that altered the very DNA of the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/global2000/list/#tab:overall">world’s largest retailer</a>. He decided he wanted to use its size and resources to make the world an “even better place for all of us,” changing the way millions shop in the process. </p>
<p>In 2005, midway through his tenure, he challenged his employees: “What would it take for Walmart to be that company, at our best, all the time?” </p>
<p>The answer became Walmart’s <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/global-responsibility/sustainability/">sustainability program</a>, an ambitious effort to figure out how to get its budget-conscious customers to buy more sustainable products. Of course, it was more than Scott’s granddaughter that pushed the retailer in this direction. A <a href="https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/wal-mart-the-high-cost-of-low-price/">dismal perception</a> among the public as well as a <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/WMT/chart?p=WMT#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%3D">stagnant stock price</a> also played roles in prodding Scott and other Walmart officials to take the company in a more environmentally aware direction. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cvvmqUAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">We</a> <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David_Hyatt5">spent</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0008125617695287">five years</a> studying the program – speaking with Walmart’s sustainability leaders, its suppliers and others who have a stake in the company’s activities such as environmental groups and farmers. Our findings highlight both the promises and perils of what one Walmart executive optimistically termed the “democratization of sustainability.”</p>
<h2>Glaciers, landfills and shopping bags</h2>
<p>During our extensive research into the implementation of Walmart’s sustainability program, we found many executives from the CEO on down who were passionate about making the company more environmentally friendly. Before the retailer even began its program, corporate executives traversed the globe to better understand what was at stake. </p>
<p>We were told stories of Scott’s summer 2005 trip to the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire, where <a href="https://www.mountwashington.org/research-and-product-testing/past-projects/climate-change-and-air-pollutant-impacts-to-new-englands-rare-alpine-zone.aspx">scientists take measurements</a> of the ice and the wind to measure the effects of climate change and air pollution. There he met with Environmental Defense Fund President <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/fred-krupp/walmart-the-awakening-of_b_9253920.html">Fred Krupp</a> and some of the scientists to discuss the company’s environmental impact and what it could be doing differently. On that same trip, he also met with maple syrup farmers who explained how climate change was affecting their harvests. </p>
<p>Other company leaders made trips to parched cotton fields, landfills covered with Walmart shopping bags and melting Arctic glaciers, all with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of sustainability and engaging with environmental groups, journalists and critics.</p>
<p>But it still wasn’t clear where all this was going until August of that year, when <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/hurricane-katrina-8452">Hurricane Katrina</a> hit New Orleans, causing extensive human suffering and property damage along the coast.</p>
<p>Walmart, in an unusual move, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/05/AR2005090501598.html">gave local managers wide discretion</a> in helping communities respond and, along with a few other large retailers, worked hard to get needed supplies to the area. In the context of <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-things-that-have-changed-about-fema-since-katrina-and-5-that-havent-83205">widely reported government failures</a> during the crisis, Walmart <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-scott/how-hurricane-katrina-cha_b_8043692.html">received praise</a> for its actions – a far cry from the usual criticism Scott received from social and political activists. </p>
<p>After Katrina, Scott had an epiphany, which culminated in that <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/_news_/executive-viewpoints/twenty-first-century-leadership">speech</a> he made in October 2005 near Walmart’s headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, during which he announced the project: </p>
<p>“What if we used our size and resources to make this country and this earth an even better place for all of us: customers, associates, our children and generations unborn?”</p>
<h2>Seeking sustainability</h2>
<p>In the speech, Scott laid out Walmart’s sustainability vision to Walmart employees and suppliers. He called for reducing waste, using more renewable energy and selling products that “sustained people and the environment.” </p>
<p>In a way, these goals sounded easy. Simply cut down on waste, become more efficient, convince its legions of suppliers to make more sustainable products and sell them at its “low, low prices.” Sustainability goes up, costs go down, everybody wins. But as Scott and his successors learned, this was easier said than done. </p>
<p>Some aspects were relatively straightforward. The company’s efforts to operate more efficiently produced <a href="http://corporate.walmart.com/2017grr/performance-highlights">significant environmental value</a> – and helped its <a href="https://www.environmentalleader.com/2012/10/walmart-to-save-150m-with-sustainability-initiatives-in-fy13/">bottom line</a>. The efficiency of its fleet of trucks doubled within a decade. Walmart <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/2018grr/">has now converted 28 percent</a> of the energy sources powering its stores and operations globally to renewables. </p>
<p>And last year, the <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/2018grr/reducing-waste">company diverted 78 percent</a> of its global waste from landfills, instead finding ways to recycle, reuse or even sell the garbage. Its goal is to eventually get to 50 percent renewables and zero waste in Canada, Japan, the U.K. and U.S. by 2025.</p>
<p>Selling products that “sustained people and the environment” was harder. By 2008, its was clear that progress was not being made as fast as the company had expected. </p>
<p>Walmart had a challenging job. While the <a href="https://www.unilever.com/news/press-releases/2017/report-shows-a-third-of-consumers-prefer-sustainable-brands.html">market</a> for sustainable products is large and growing, it has primarily catered to people with a lot of disposable income <a href="http://www.nielsen.com/eu/en/insights/reports/2015/the-sustainability-imperative.html">who can afford</a> to pay the “goodness” <a href="https://www.luxurysociety.com/en/articles/2018/02/how-luxury-brands-are-practicing-sustainability-creative-ways">premium</a> for things like Toyota Priuses and organic foods. </p>
<p>What about the majority of consumers who usually see the <a href="https://www.sustainabilityconsortium.org/downloads/consumer-science-research-compendium/">high price of sustainability as a barrier</a>? Are sustainable products a luxury good only attainable by the well off? </p>
<p>The questions and challenges of selling sustainable products escalated over time. What is a sustainable product? How could it be measured effectively and efficiently? And how could this information create value for the company and customers? Would people be willing to pay for it if it was impossible to keep the costs down?</p>
<p>Two interconnected challenges it faced are particularly illuminating: the lack of a sustainability standard and how to convince suppliers and customers to go along. </p>
<h2>What’s ‘sustainable’ anyway?</h2>
<p>Walmart leaders quickly learned that the absence of a credible sustainability standard hampered their ability to market new products. </p>
<p>Back then, marketing products as “sustainable” was anything goes. While a few marketing attributes, like “organic,” are <a href="https://www.usda.gov/topics/organic">verified</a> by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, for the most part companies were free to call their products “sustainable,” “natural” or “good for you,” regardless of whether it was true or not. </p>
<p>The need for a standard crystallized when Walmart asked suppliers for proposals for a <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/_news_/news-archive/2008/04/21/wal-mart-consumer-behavior-shows-buying-green-is-going-mainstream">2008 Earth Day promotion</a>. It wanted to specifically promote products that were sustainable. Suppliers responded with such a vast range of claims that Walmart managers could not figure out which products to include. Examples of traits that made a product “sustainable” ranged from having “reduced” packaging material – though there was no gauge as to what it was reduced from – to the use of non-toxic ingredients or the product’s overall recyclability. </p>
<p>A subsequent promotion of Campbell’s soup with a green “Earth Day” label (instead of its customary red one) generated external criticism and accusations of “greenwashing.” That is, some <a href="https://thewashcycle.wordpress.com/2009/04/13/campbell%E2%80%99s-is-going-green-or-are-they%E2%80%A6/">bloggers</a> claimed sustainability at Walmart simply meant taking existing products and putting green labels on them.</p>
<p>Lessons like these led Walmart to seek a way of defining what sustainable means for all its products – a mammoth scale given that the company had over 60,000 direct suppliers and a single store could sell about <a href="https://corporate.walmart.com/_news_/news-archive/2005/01/07/our-retail-divisions">142,000 products</a>. So, in 2009, the company helped establish the <a href="https://www.sustainabilityconsortium.org/">Sustainability Consortium</a>, a collaboration of retailers, suppliers, universities, environmental groups and others to create a data-driven index of sustainability.</p>
<p>The consortium would eventually produce a sustainability “toolkit” with key performance indicators and guidance for achieving sustainability at the product category level whether these be laundry care products, computers or beer. </p>
<p>Such indicators could then be used by consortium members in communications with their suppliers, typically in a sustainability scorecard that the supplier would complete. For instance, a manufacturer might be asked if it had plans for reducing harmful emissions – and if it didn’t, the thinking initially went, this type of information could eventually be passed on to consumers who could then make their own judgments.</p>
<p>The problem was, relying on customers didn’t work.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231584/original/file-20180812-2909-r28tvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/231584/original/file-20180812-2909-r28tvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231584/original/file-20180812-2909-r28tvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231584/original/file-20180812-2909-r28tvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231584/original/file-20180812-2909-r28tvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231584/original/file-20180812-2909-r28tvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/231584/original/file-20180812-2909-r28tvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Getting its budget-conscious customers to choose sustainable products was one of Walmart’s biggest challenges.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Images for Walmart/Gunnar Rathbun</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Focusing on suppliers – not consumers</h2>
<p>Most corporate efforts to become more sustainable are based on the premise that <a href="https://ashtonmanufacturing.com.au/66-of-consumers-willing-to-pay-more-for-sustainable-goods-nielsen-report-reveals/">consumers are willing</a> to pay more for eggs that are organic or coffee that is sustainably sourced. </p>
<p>This posed a dilemma for Walmart since its margins are so thin and most of its customers shop there for the ultra-low prices. How could they be convinced, en masse, to pay a bit more because something is tagged as sustainable? And what would be the best way to let them know a particular product was more sustainable than another? Company leaders believed, based on internal surveys, that although its customers desired (or would in the future desire) more sustainable products, many did not have the means or desire to pay extra. </p>
<p>And while Walmart’s implementation of sustainability metrics into its supplier scorecards gave it insight into supplier practices, they did not provide detailed, verifiable information required for a customer-facing label.</p>
<p>This led Walmart to focus less on consumers and more on suppliers. If it could just make sure its products were more sustainable or at least that it was able to offer more options – without a meaningful increase in price – it could go a long way toward achieving its goals. And consumers wouldn’t even realize they’re helping make the world a better place. </p>
<p>Walmart’s merchants were ready to listen. The supplier scorecards that started rolling in 2012 helped Walmart identify inefficiencies in its supplies’ own supply chains, just as the retailer had found in its own operations years earlier. Walmart used them to push suppliers to seek out similar low-cost innovations in their operations – so they could become more sustainable without altering product price tags – and aligned 5 percent of its employees’ performance goals on sustainability improvements, thus incentivizing buyers to ask about, and suppliers to report on, sustainability metrics. </p>
<p>Early indications are that Walmart’s supplier-focused product sustainability strategy has been influential. A 2014 <a href="http://purestrategies.com/downloads/the-path-to-product-sustainability">study</a> by sustainability consultancy Pure Strategies surveyed a broad range of 100 companies such as Timberland, General Mills and Coca-Cola to better understand what it takes to operate sustainably. It found that Walmart was the top-cited retailer driving suppliers’ investments in product sustainability, with 79 percent identifying the retailer as influential. </p>
<h2>It’s ‘complicated’</h2>
<p>Many of the primary lessons that Walmart has learned so far relate to an emergent understanding of the complexity of selling low-cost sustainable products.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229464/original/file-20180726-106511-ug5gwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/229464/original/file-20180726-106511-ug5gwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229464/original/file-20180726-106511-ug5gwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229464/original/file-20180726-106511-ug5gwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229464/original/file-20180726-106511-ug5gwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229464/original/file-20180726-106511-ug5gwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/229464/original/file-20180726-106511-ug5gwo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Walmart Chairman Rob Walton.‘</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Walmart-Shareholders-Meeting/0197bc33de7440539e20c974b65a96a6/5/0">AP Photo/Gareth Patterson</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Commenting about the difficulty developing its sustainability index quickly, Rob Walton, Walmart chairman and son of the founder, <a href="http://fortune.com/2012/04/17/wal-mart-chairman-how-we-came-to-embrace-sustainability/">told a panel</a> in 2012: “But good gosh, this is really complicated stuff, and it’s giving our buyers information to inform decisions and compare products. It will be a great day when we can give consumers that information.”</p>
<p>Walmart’s efforts showed that balancing cost and sustainability is possible but difficult to implement. For companies, labeling a low-cost product as “sustainable” makes it harder to justify charging a higher price for a similar good that bears that label. And retailers would prefer not to waste limited shelf space providing those options.</p>
<p>Customers may <a href="https://www.unilever.com/news/press-releases/2017/report-shows-a-third-of-consumers-prefer-sustainable-brands.html">prefer</a> sustainable practices yet be unable to pay the premium, even when it’s very little. So, while Walmart can push in this direction, it probably cannot create a mass market for low-cost sustainable products on its own. The retailer and others who wish to develop such a market will likely continue to struggle with what counts as “sustainable enough” for price-conscious customers. </p>
<p>Until that question is answered, sustainable products are likely to remain “luxury” goods that fail to penetrate into the mainstream.</p>
<p>But if we care for the next generation, as Lee Scott did when he decided Walmart was going green, Walmart’s goal of bringing greater scale and scope to the typically niche market of sustainability is a vital one. </p>
<p>“As you become a grandparent,” Scott <a href="https://grist.org/article/griscom-little3/">told a journalist</a> in 2006, “you just become more thoughtful about what will the world look like that she inherits.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76771/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Graham Hyatt is affiliated with the University of Arkansas, which in partnership with Arizona State, founded the Sustainability Consortium with a lead gift from Walmart. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Spicer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Two business professors spent five years studying Walmart’s ambition project to bring sustainability to its millions of budget-conscious customers – a plan that began with the birth of a granddaughter.
Andrew Spicer, Associate Professor of International Business, University of South Carolina
David Graham Hyatt, Research Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management, University of Arkansas
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/99073
2018-06-29T01:26:33Z
2018-06-29T01:26:33Z
Green is the new black: why retailers want you to know about their green credentials
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225242/original/file-20180628-112611-198lh5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is it really that hard to switch to paper or cloth bags?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Guus Baggermans | Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australian supermarkets phasing out single-use plastic bags is just one example of how retailers are fiercely engaged in a race to be “green”. Other examples are dumping plastic straws, buying back used products and reducing unnecessary packaging. </p>
<p>Rather than competing on price or time, green credentials offer a way for retailers to differentiate themselves. Encouraging customers to make overtly good moves also has a psychological effect, allowing them to excuse poor behaviour elsewhere – such as buying a product that may not be ethically sourced. </p>
<p>Having a strong green record also helps create a buffer for when events like <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/autopsy-reveals-dead-pilot-whale-had-80-plastic-bags-in-its-stomach-20180604-p4zj8s.html">plastic bags killing whales</a> or <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-24/australian-retailers-linked-to-sweatshop-abuse/4773738">sweatshop abuse</a> hit the headlines.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/aussie-retailers-need-to-adapt-to-a-world-built-on-speed-78184">Aussie retailers need to adapt to a world built on speed</a>
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<p>Way back in April Woolworths <a href="https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/media/Latest_News/woolworths-announces-june-20-as-the-date-for-national-phase-out-of-single-use-plastic-bags">announced</a> the removal of all single-use bags across the country by the end of June. Although, after some backlash, Woolworths <a href="https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/business/angry-customers-force-woolies-to-backtrack-on-plastic-bags-ban/news-story/a2efcd9aa26d476128c34df9288847fe?__twitter_impression=true">has said</a> it will give bags to customers until the 8th of July. </p>
<p>Coles will <a href="https://www.coles.com.au/about-coles/news/2018/04/03/coles-begins-removing-single-use-plastic-carry-bags">also ban single-use bags from July 1</a>. </p>
<p>Woolworths has since <a href="https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/media/Latest_News/woolworths-group-reaffirms-its-commitment-to-a-greener-future/">announced further strategies</a> for “a greener future”. These include reducing unnecessary packaging and linking with “food waste diversion partners”. </p>
<p>However, sustainability is bigger than just food waste and plastics. </p>
<p>Ikea Australia recently announced it will “<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/ikea-is-getting-into-the-second-hand-furniture-business-2018-6">buy back</a>” used furniture to resell. IKEA <a href="https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_HK/customer_service/our_services/disposal.html">has been doing this in other markets</a>, like Hong Kong, for some time.</p>
<h2>Buying ‘green’ makes us feel good</h2>
<p>The consumer market for green products and services was <a href="https://www0.gsb.columbia.edu/mygsb/faculty/research/pubfiles/14016/cmr5401_04_printversion_delmasburbano.pdf">estimated at US$230 billion in 2009</a> and predicted to grow to $845 billion by 2015. </p>
<p>While consumers are increasingly engaging in shopping activities that support the environment, such as reusing shopping bags, buying local and supporting local farmers and producers, at the same time many are still tempted by A$4 T-shirts from Kmart. </p>
<p>This behaviour can perhaps be explained by the effect of “<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00263.x">moral self-licensing</a>”. This is where consumers do something good to offset their bad behaviour. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-are-what-we-eat-the-demise-of-the-ethical-grocery-shopper-3698">We are what we eat: the demise of the ethical grocery shopper</a>
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<p>In the context of shopping, a good deed, a customer putting reusable bags in the boot of the car, will be followed by a not-so-good deed, such as driving to the shops in our gas-guzzling 4WD. </p>
<p>In this way, the first choice gives us a positive self-concept, which <a href="http://faculty.som.yale.edu/ravidhar/documents/LicensingEffectinConsumerChoice.pdf">negates or “licenses” the subsequent more self-indulgent choice</a>.</p>
<h2>A slippery (green) slope</h2>
<p>The only concern for companies is that they might be accused of “<a href="http://www.thecarbonreport.co.za/4-ways-greenwashing-will-damage-your-brand/">greenwashing</a>” – using marketing to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2898878/">create the perception</a> that their policies, purpose or products are environmentally friendly, when that’s not really the case. </p>
<p>Despite consumer awareness of the practice of greenwashing, the number of companies making green claims has escalated sharply in recent years as organisations strive to meet escalating consumer demand for greener products and services. </p>
<p>According to <a href="http://sinsofgreenwashing.org/findings/greenwashing-report-2009/">one advertising consultancy</a>, there were 2,219 products making green claims in 2009 alone, a <a href="http://sinsofgreenwashing.com/findings/greenwashing-report-2007/">79% increase</a> over two years earlier.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-rid-of-plastic-bags-a-windfall-for-supermarkets-but-it-wont-do-much-for-the-environment-81083">Getting rid of plastic bags: a windfall for supermarkets but it won't do much for the environment</a>
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<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296313000283">Research shows</a> that when consumers are sceptical about a retailer’s corporate social responsibility practices, this can damage the retailer’s brand, increase sensitivity to negative information and stimulate unfavourable word of mouth. </p>
<p>Over the past couple of years, we have seen exactly these phenomena play out again and again. </p>
<p>Several years ago, Walmart <a href="https://grist.org/business-technology/top-10-ways-walmart-is-failing-on-sustainability/">faced scrutiny</a> about its corporate social responsibility claims relating to renewable energy, the industrialisation of food systems and its <a href="https://ilsr.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/walmart-greenwash-report.pdf">cheaply made, disposable products</a>. </p>
<p>Starbuck’s green credentials <a href="https://greenerideal.com/news/business/8766-great-csr-starbucks-releases-honest-evaluation-of-environmental-goals/">were met with scepticism</a> when it was reported some stores <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/oct/06/water.drought">left taps running all day to clear pipes</a>. </p>
<p>Other retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond, Nordstrom, JC Penney and Backcountry.com have <a href="https://www.environmentalleader.com/2016/01/ftc-fines-major-retailers-1-3m-for-misleading-environmental-claims/">faced fines for making misleading environmental claims</a>. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/taste-over-waste-ugly-food-movement-winning-friends-38987">Taste over waste: ugly food movement winning friends</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>Banning the single-use plastic bag alone will not save the environment. Sadly, it is not as simple as that. <a href="https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/%7E/media/EPA/Corporate%20Site/resources/waste/160143-plastic-shopping-bags-options.ashx">Research shows</a> lightweight plastic shopping bags make up around 1.6% of litter in Australia or less than 2% of landfill. </p>
<p>However, despite some <a href="https://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/supermarkets-cop-spray-from-customers-furious-at-plastic-bag-ban/news-story/7111630884dba0ccdd3ed8537f69447e">backlash</a>, banning the bag is certainly a step in the right direct. </p>
<p>Remembering to bring reusable shopping bags is a fairly significant change in shopping behaviour, but the practice has been successfully implemented in states such as Tasmania, which <a href="http://epa.tas.gov.au/sustainability/resources-for-the-community/plastic-shopping-bags">banned single use bags several years ago</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99073/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
As major supermarkets ‘ban the bag’, the spotlight is firmly on sustainability. Retailers are racing to promote their green credentials to shoppers.
Louise Grimmer, Lecturer in Marketing, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics, University of Tasmania
Gary Mortimer, Associate Professor in Marketing and International Business, Queensland University of Technology
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/50500
2015-12-10T11:18:33Z
2015-12-10T11:18:33Z
What’s behind Japan’s moss obsession?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104935/original/image-20151208-4898-1tvnkf7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Who's the moss?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-96689458/stock-photo-closeup-of-a-moss-in-a-japanese-garden-with-stones-and-tree.html?src=pd-same_artist-96689485-Orn4rRVsc_255j6ZwxBeug-1">Andreas Altenburger/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s the latest craze in a country known for its eccentric tastes and <a href="http://adage.com/article/news/japan-s-latest-fads-marketable-u-s/127684/">quirky obsessions</a>. The Japanese have gone gaga for…moss? </p>
<p>In 2011, Hisako Fujii published a book titled <a href="http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%82%B3%E3%82%B1%E3%81%AF%E3%81%A8%E3%82%82%E3%81%A0%E3%81%A1-%E8%97%A4%E4%BA%95-%E4%B9%85%E5%AD%90/dp/4898153097">Mosses, My Dear Friends</a>. It went on to sell over 40,000 copies, which helped trigger a wave of <a href="http://quirker.co.uk/story/japanese-women-stare-at-moss">moss viewing parties</a> among young women who call themselves “moss girls.” </p>
<p>Since then, <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/in-japan-moss-gathers-new-fans-1446513218">according to The Wall Street Journal</a>, moss-themed drinks and rings that sprout moss instead of gems have joined moss balls (<em>marimo</em>) as popular wares. Now moss devotees can go on <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/07/27/national/moss-viewing-trips-catching-on-among-women/#.VmcqkcuFs21">special tours</a>, during which guides lead small groups of fanatics deep into Japan’s lush, mossy forests, where they inspect the plants with magnifying glasses. </p>
<p>So what’s behind Japan’s moss craze? Is it a random, flash-in-the-pan fad? Or is it more deeply rooted in Japanese values, customs and aesthetics? </p>
<h2>Eastern sensibilities</h2>
<p>Of the roughly <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233986259_Systematics_of_the_Bryophyta_%28mosses%29_From_molecules_to_a_revised_classification">12,000 species</a> of moss worldwide, Japan possesses a whopping 2,500 varieties – a relative windfall for enthusiasts devoted to tracking down, studying and documenting their different forms. Japan’s humid climate creates the perfect conditions for the plant to thrive, and gazing at moss during Japan’s hot, humid summers can actually have a relaxing effect (one reason many will hang moss balls under the eaves of their houses). </p>
<p>Perhaps due to its prevalence on the island nation, moss is deeply rooted in Japanese culture. Most Japanese gardens, also known as Zen gardens, have moss. (A Japanese garden is thought to be incomplete without the plant.) And the Japanese national anthem even contains the word “moss.” (In English: “May your world go on for thousands of years / Until pebbles merge into one giant rock and covered with moss.”)</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104936/original/image-20151208-32398-13pic5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104936/original/image-20151208-32398-13pic5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104936/original/image-20151208-32398-13pic5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104936/original/image-20151208-32398-13pic5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104936/original/image-20151208-32398-13pic5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104936/original/image-20151208-32398-13pic5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104936/original/image-20151208-32398-13pic5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104936/original/image-20151208-32398-13pic5z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">No Japanese garden is complete without moss.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-133901621/stock-photo-stone-stairway-in-a-japanese-garden.html?src=xikD7NHFUxO08Z3QzVI-Fg-1-24">'Garden' via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Western cultures, people will often view nature as something to be conquered. But instead of trying to dominate nature, the Japanese attempt to coexist with it, approaching the natural world with the attitude of a polite guest. Accordingly, there’s an inherent urge to preserve it; while there’s a robust <a href="https://www.google.com/#q=moss+removal&tbm=shop">moss-removal market</a> in many cultures, many Japanese wouldn’t fathom destroying something so innocuous.</p>
<p>Japanese culture also values age and history. Because moss doesn’t grow dramatically overnight – and instead takes years and years to cover the surface of a stone – the Japanese see something inherently virtuous about the plant. </p>
<p>Of course, there’s also the beauty of moss: vibrant colors that vary from bright green to brown, which richly complement the steely grays of stones, the red leaves of autumn and the soft pink of cherry blossoms. Many fans love to touch the plant’s sensual, soft surface. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104152/original/image-20151202-22439-lksj8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104152/original/image-20151202-22439-lksj8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104152/original/image-20151202-22439-lksj8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104152/original/image-20151202-22439-lksj8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104152/original/image-20151202-22439-lksj8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104152/original/image-20151202-22439-lksj8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104152/original/image-20151202-22439-lksj8i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The growth of moss: a gradual process that can take years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-329761358/stock-photo-texture-of-stone-brick-wall-with-moss.html?src=Q3xbh1IlbJGHnhRxbfXj9A-1-81">'Bricks' via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similar to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonsai">bonsai trees</a>, moss can be grown in the home. Because moss can be found almost anywhere in Japan, from street curbs to backyards, it’s easy to scrape some off, place it in a glass and <em>voila</em>: a clean, simple home decoration. Like cacti (a popular houseplant in the United States), moss is easy to care for, requiring little water to survive.</p>
<h2>Beauty in its imperfection</h2>
<p>The Japanese concept of <em>Wabi-sabi</em> also plays a key role in moss’s popularity. </p>
<p>Generally speaking, <em>Wabi-sabi</em> is an aesthetic that places a premium on qualities like impermanence, humility, asymmetry and imperfection. It’s the opposite of many Western aesthetic values, which include permanence, grandeur, symmetry and perfection (think of the <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Lincoln_memorial_at_night.jpg">Lincoln Memorial</a> or the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/art/Georgian-style">Georgian architecture style</a>, which originated in England). </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104931/original/image-20151208-32408-1qns6wd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104931/original/image-20151208-32408-1qns6wd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104931/original/image-20151208-32408-1qns6wd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104931/original/image-20151208-32408-1qns6wd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104931/original/image-20151208-32408-1qns6wd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=771&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104931/original/image-20151208-32408-1qns6wd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104931/original/image-20151208-32408-1qns6wd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104931/original/image-20151208-32408-1qns6wd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Japanese flower arrangement.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Ikebana_-_Yoshiko_Nakamura_01B.jpg">Joe Mabel/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, many Japanese prefer simple, stone-colored tea bowls to meticulously crafted china. In some cases, the bowls will assume <a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Shino_chawan_MBA_Lyon_E554-146.jpg">an imperfect shape</a> and feature colors that might clash with Western sensibilities. </p>
<p>Japanese flower arrangements also assume a different flair. Compared to standard Western flower arrangements – which can include a vast array of tightly packed varieties – the art of Japanese flower arrangements (<em>Ikebana</em>) veers toward minimalist elegance: only a few plants, with the stems emphasized just as much as the blooms. </p>
<p>Even crops can be grown in tune with the ideals of <em>Wabi-sabi.</em> Many rice terraces are planted alongside the ridges of a mountain; they aren’t perfectly divided or shaped, nor is the mountain blasted away to create a flat surface. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104925/original/image-20151208-32365-1v72422.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/104925/original/image-20151208-32365-1v72422.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104925/original/image-20151208-32365-1v72422.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104925/original/image-20151208-32365-1v72422.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=301&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104925/original/image-20151208-32365-1v72422.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104925/original/image-20151208-32365-1v72422.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/104925/original/image-20151208-32365-1v72422.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Japanese rice terraces – formed to adapt to the mountainous landscape – contrast with a symmetrical crop field in the United States.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-99025571/stock-photo-aerial-view-of-farmland-north-of-casa-grande.html?src=ItqdnD4SIhIBEeFGmbAvuA-1-43">'Crops,' via www.shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To the Japanese, there’s a natural aspect to <em>Wabi-sabi</em> that’s considered beautiful. And moss is perhaps <em>Wabi-sabi</em>‘s standard bearer: it grows seemingly at random, in asymmetrical patterns. The humblest of plants, it’s often trampled upon, overshadowed by its larger, looming neighbors. </p>
<p>A closer look, however, reveals a world of intricate, vibrant fauna, a tangle of elegant and strange forms.</p>
<p><a href="http://ignition.co/398">In an essay</a>, Mosses, My Dear Friends author Hisako Fujii recalled the first time she fell for the plant, during a trip to Japan’s Yakushima Island:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Like an undisturbed treasure from another era, the moss seemed to be everywhere at once. It had completely covered the trees, the boulders, and even the ground, wrapping the entire forest in its luminous green fur… This, you might say, was the beginning of my love affair with moss.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For the Japanese, it’s not a love affair that’s likely to fizzle in a few short years. Rather, like the plant itself, it’s of the enduring sort – the type that spans generations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50500/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
In a country known for its eccentric tastes, is this simply another flash-in-the-pan fad?
Mako Nozu, Senior Instructor of Japanese, University of South Florida
Brian Thompson, Instructor of Japanese, University of South Florida
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/45336
2015-09-18T05:39:50Z
2015-09-18T05:39:50Z
Nature can’t pay its own way – so let’s take the market out of conservation
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92072/original/image-20150817-5121-1lo21s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River, protected as the world's first national park in 1872. But how do we best protect nature in the future?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/yellowstonenps/14995661458">YellowstoneNationalPark/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For years, scientists and environmentalists have debated the best ways to conserve and protect natural resources from pollution and over-exploitation. </p>
<p>In the late 19th century, conservation advocates with the help of President Roosevelt succeeded in making Yellowstone the first US national park. Yellowstone’s status sent a strong message against unregulated commercial extraction and the model has since been replicated worldwide. However, the strict exclusionary nature of national parks was extremely burdensome for local and indigenous peoples who remained reliant on natural resources within protected areas. </p>
<p>The policy of “fortress conservation” was intended to give way in the late 20th century to a host of more sustainable alternatives, announced at the first <a href="http://www.un.org/geninfo/bp/enviro.html">Earth Summit in Rio</a> in 1992. Conservation and development would be better integrated, and rural poverty addressed by bringing the poor into a global marketplace, while simultaneously delivering the market deep into the rainforests.</p>
<p>Since Rio, <a href="http://www.teebweb.org/">market-based conservation</a> has gained a lot of traction, and almost all forms of nature have been commodified. Packaged into sleek financialised terminology such as <a href="http://www.carbonplanet.com/introduction_to_carbon_credits">carbon credits</a>, ecosystem services or <a href="http://www.speciesbanking.com">species banking</a>, the market has become such a supposed panacea for conservation that <a href="http://www.envplan.com/abstract.cgi?id=d170133">selling nature</a> has become, for many, the only method of conserving it.</p>
<h2>Bioprospecting</h2>
<p>Yet a cautionary tale of <a href="http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Jh2996e/6.3.html">bioprospecting</a> challenges the dominant and countervailing logic that if conservation were somehow made profitable, nature could begin to pay for its own survival. </p>
<p>Bioprospecting is the process of turning indigenous medicinal knowledge and nature into commercial drugs. Its advocates say it would provide the motivation and more importantly financing for conservation in the world’s biodiversity hotspots. Why chop down the Amazon if the forest might contain all kinds of useful and valuable drugs?</p>
<p>The drug discovery example planted in the public’s imagination the iconic image of the “‘<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718515002298">barefoot doctor</a>’ seeking to find the medicinal cure to humanity’s ills under the canopy of the rainforests”. But with little to show in terms of any new blockbuster drugs or significant biodiversity saved, we are left to ask why the market has thus far been <a href="http://conservationmagazine.org/2012/03/a-bitter-pill/">so underwhelming</a> at achieving its conservation goals?</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91804/original/image-20150813-21393-blvhh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91804/original/image-20150813-21393-blvhh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91804/original/image-20150813-21393-blvhh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91804/original/image-20150813-21393-blvhh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91804/original/image-20150813-21393-blvhh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91804/original/image-20150813-21393-blvhh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91804/original/image-20150813-21393-blvhh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many set out to discover new drugs and species in rainforests, but bioprospecting hasn’t done much for humanity of late.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cifor/5660821816">CIFOR/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Capitalism is not the answer</h2>
<p>Capitalism has never really been compatible with conservation. It encourages concentration of resources in already wealthier areas, while the urgent need to protect certain species or habitats is rarely reflected in market prices which are driven by desires to turn a quick buck. For example, drug discovery takes place in large high-tech research laboratories far removed from biodiversity-rich source countries targeted for conservation. </p>
<p>It takes more than 15 years and hundreds of millions in research and development costs to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22930/">bring drugs to market</a> – investment costs too big for low-income counties and local communities to even conceive of, never mind getting involved in, in any meaningful way. </p>
<p>For conservation to be effective, there needs to be an understanding of the benefits and the burdens of bioprospecting participation for all parties involved. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95245/original/image-20150917-7525-x04aw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95245/original/image-20150917-7525-x04aw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=955&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95245/original/image-20150917-7525-x04aw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=955&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95245/original/image-20150917-7525-x04aw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=955&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95245/original/image-20150917-7525-x04aw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1201&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95245/original/image-20150917-7525-x04aw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1201&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95245/original/image-20150917-7525-x04aw2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1201&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">National parks aren’t immune from human problems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Connor Joseph Cavanagh</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Burdens include the displacement and loss of access for locals due to new conservation enclosures – <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/carbon-colonialism-the-new-scramble-for-africa">sometimes involving violence</a> – and the potential misappropriation of nature and knowledge, what critics refer to as “<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/may/01/eu-biopiracy-protect-indigenous-people">biopiracy</a>”. Many of these issues have a serious effect on any local “buy-in” to conservation programmes, and indigenous people rarely see the value of nature in terms of individual market exchange.</p>
<p>Bioprospecting has come a long way in addressing some of these issues. The 2010 <a href="https://www.cbd.int/abs/about/">Nagoya Protocol</a>, signed by 63 countries and the EU, set up access and benefit sharing mechanisms for the world’s genetic resources. </p>
<p>But right as bioprospecting seemed to be working out many of its problems, large pharmaceutical companies started closing their natural products divisions and moved on to the next big thing: chemically-derived computer generated molecules, known as <a href="http://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/v6/n10/full/nchem.2074.html">combichem</a> – a portmanteau of combinatorial chemistry. As with many market conservation initiatives, this was a fix; the fluidity of the market left the rural poor with little hope of a potential windfall of conservation benefits in their hands.</p>
<h2>'Dark shadow’ of overpopulation</h2>
<p>For conservation thinking to move forward it needs to take into account some very important and complex issues concerning markets. </p>
<p>As much as we would like to believe that we have moved beyond the Malthusian belief that overpopulation and local level mismanagement leads to environmental degradation and scarcity, the spectre of <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-the-pill-save-the-polar-bear-44401">too many people in the world</a> continues to cast a “dark shadow” across our current conservation policy.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91795/original/image-20150813-21435-1ytrktr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91795/original/image-20150813-21435-1ytrktr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91795/original/image-20150813-21435-1ytrktr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91795/original/image-20150813-21435-1ytrktr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=733&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91795/original/image-20150813-21435-1ytrktr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91795/original/image-20150813-21435-1ytrktr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91795/original/image-20150813-21435-1ytrktr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Thomas Malthus, best known for his belief that overpopulation would lead to catastrophe.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/fa/25/d2c7707f809bd259eb86d61d1cc5.jpg">Wellcome Library, London</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This naturalisation of environmental problems fails to take into account many of the real drivers of global environmental change, such as the marginalisation of rural resource users due to <a href="https://theconversation.com/tigers-elephants-ask-what-have-royals-ever-done-for-us-18725">poorly planned conservation policies</a>, <a href="http://www.startribune.com/how-outsiders-are-complicit-in-african-issues/320211841/">complicit elites</a>, consumption by the global north and large scale extraction by multinationals. Paradoxically, many of these same industries have now become the saviours for today’s market conservation.</p>
<p>No one has all the answers to conservation’s complex challenges, and rarely if ever are we going to find a perfect solution. But we can find the optimal solution. It is astonishing that so many critical social and natural scientists, many of whom have devoted their lives to challenging the dominant narratives of conventional thinking, have become champions for market conservation. We can do better.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45336/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Neimark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
You can’t simply ‘value’ nature as though it were a commodity able to be bought and sold.
Benjamin Neimark, Lecturer, Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/46035
2015-09-01T05:37:54Z
2015-09-01T05:37:54Z
How floating turbines could harness the awesome power of the tides
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93344/original/image-20150828-19933-g2kznj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXSO4xSA5CA&feature=youtu.be">Windmill John / Tidal Steam</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world’s tides contain enough energy to power the <a href="http://tidalenergytoday.com/2015/02/17/estimate-of-global-potential-tidal-resources/">entire UK’s electricity consumption</a>. And, since it effectively harnesses the moon’s constant and predictable gravitational pull, tidal power overcomes one of renewable energy’s classic problems – the fact you never know quite how much sun, wind or rain to expect. Now, underwater windmills positioned just below the ocean surface could be a major breakthrough for tidal power.</p>
<p>Costly technology and inaccessible locations have thus far held things back. Large, heavy and expensive turbines mounted on the seabed have been developed, but these are aimed at commercial scale developments. Tidal power needs its equivalent of the rooftop solar panel.</p>
<p>Imagine then a wind turbine, but underwater, and not fixed to the seabed – these so-called “mobile floating turbines” are a cheaper and more adaptable alternative to big, fixed developments. Most floating turbines look something like this:</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92067/original/image-20150817-28357-b16jls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92067/original/image-20150817-28357-b16jls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92067/original/image-20150817-28357-b16jls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92067/original/image-20150817-28357-b16jls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92067/original/image-20150817-28357-b16jls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92067/original/image-20150817-28357-b16jls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92067/original/image-20150817-28357-b16jls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92067/original/image-20150817-28357-b16jls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This ‘Evopod’ partly floats on the surface, but some other designs are entirely submerged.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3d/Evopod_lighter.jpg">Ocean Flow Energy Ltd</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>They’re placed whereever tidal flows will be strongest, and are then loosely tethered to (but not built on) the seabed. Cables take power generated by the turbines down to the seabed and along to the shore.</p>
<h2>Why floating beats fixing</h2>
<p>Floating turbines are able to capture energy from the fastest-flowing water, which tends to be just below surface. At the bottom, where the water bumps against the seabed, things slow down and the flow is less smooth. Turbines floating in the right place could generate significantly more energy than those stuck to the sea bed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93346/original/image-20150828-19918-1x8vicp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93346/original/image-20150828-19918-1x8vicp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93346/original/image-20150828-19918-1x8vicp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93346/original/image-20150828-19918-1x8vicp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93346/original/image-20150828-19918-1x8vicp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93346/original/image-20150828-19918-1x8vicp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93346/original/image-20150828-19918-1x8vicp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93346/original/image-20150828-19918-1x8vicp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The UK has some of the world’s best tides.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:M2_tidal_constituent.jpg">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Tidal currents also shift direction roughly every six hours, therefore an optimal turbine would take advantage of these two-way flows. Floating turbines can freely rotate in the changing tide, eliminating the need for costly and complex mechanical yawing systems used by bed-mounted turbines. </p>
<h2>Floating is cheaper</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92153/original/image-20150817-5121-ezwjs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92153/original/image-20150817-5121-ezwjs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/92153/original/image-20150817-5121-ezwjs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92153/original/image-20150817-5121-ezwjs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92153/original/image-20150817-5121-ezwjs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92153/original/image-20150817-5121-ezwjs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92153/original/image-20150817-5121-ezwjs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/92153/original/image-20150817-5121-ezwjs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bed-mounted turbines can be big and bulky.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Deploying large, heavy turbines on the bed requires expensive specialised vessels and docks. Even routine maintenance is costly. </p>
<p>In contrast, floating turbines can be towed to a site and installed very quickly at a fraction of the cost. Internal machinery can be positioned above the waterline allowing instant access for routine maintenance and minimal waterproofing costs. </p>
<p>Since they’re relatively cheap to set up and operate, floating turbines are suited for a wider market, not just utility companies. Industries close to the coast could invest in a floating turbine to reduce their electricity bill, in much the same way as they are currently doing with solar or wind technologies. You can even “plug in” multiple turbines by sharing mooring points. </p>
<p>While bed-mounted turbines aren’t visible from the surface, most floating turbine designs would be visible and could interfere with shipping lanes or be exposed to floating debris. </p>
<p>Floating turbines could be best suited to sheltered tidal environments such as estuaries, since storm waves could interfere with their power output and operation.</p>
<h2>Floating turbine designs</h2>
<p>Numerous floating turbine designs exist, utilising a variety of interesting innovations.</p>
<p>Some have a hull which floats on the surface while the turbines operate underwater, as in the case of <a href="http://www.scotrenewables.com/sr2000">Scotrenewable’s SR2000</a> which claims to be the “largest and most powerful tidal turbine in the world”. Its 64m long hull and 16m diameter turbine blades are designed to last for 20 years. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eQ2GndZzBZA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The smaller SR250 being lifted out for routine maintenance.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Other floating designs include a <a href="http://www.bluewater.com/new-energy/bluetec-modular/">modular design</a> for easy transportation and assembly anywhere in the world, or a specially-streamlined turbine moored to a swivelled connector, for <a href="http://www.oceanflowenergy.com/technology.html">use in rough seas</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KyuHX29yXdI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Bought a desert island? Need electricity? Look no further than the BlueTEC Modular.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some “floating” tidal turbines actually bob somewhere just below the surface. In one design a “hinge” on the sea bed is attached to a semi-submerged platform that can fit <a href="http://www.blackrocktidalpower.com/technology/">up to 36 turbines</a>, which can freely rotate into the flow. Developer Black Rock considers lots of independent and inexpensive turbines positioned to catch the optimum tidal flow a better configuration than a single larger turbine.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FXSO4xSA5CA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Black Rock Tidal Power TRITON S36 in use.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Floating turbines demonstrate the continued effort towards exploiting the vast tidal energy resource. The sector is growing ever closer to <a href="http://www.meygen.com/the-project/">commercial scale arrays</a> using bed-mounted turbines, but floating turbines could increase development opportunities further.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46035/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ross Jennings does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Imagine a wind turbine, but underwater, not fixed to the seabed, and able to work 24/7.
Ross Jennings, PhD Student in Renewable Energy, University of Hull
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/43872
2015-08-18T05:31:58Z
2015-08-18T05:31:58Z
‘Dead niche’ green festivals need to move mainstream
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91155/original/image-20150807-27573-1drtehs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If only we could all get this excited about tackling climate change.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/musicnewsaustralia/8541725920/">EvaRinaldi/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Every year, hundreds of thousands of people up sticks and camp out at UK music festivals. These events are more popular than ever – there are now <a href="http://www.thefestivalcalendar.co.uk">scores</a> of festivals, ranging from the massive, mainstream <a href="http://www.readingfestival.com">Reading</a> Festival to smaller-scale “boutique” festivals such as <a href="http://www.buddhafield.com">Buddhafield</a>, catering for every taste. </p>
<p>The UN Music and Environment Initiative <a href="http://www.unep.org/music_env/about.asp">observed</a> recently that music is “one of the most powerful media to communicate environmental messages to billions of people worldwide regardless of race, religion, income, gender or age”. While music’s ability to excite the senses is unquestionable, the whole industry faces a range of significant challenges if it is to become more environmentally sustainable. Production and consumption sit at the heart of the music industry, meaning that any change might question its economic model.</p>
<p>Festivals in particular have a significant impact on the area they occupy, often causing traffic, waste, water, litter and sustainability issues that are bad for the local environment. </p>
<p>Festivals and gigs account for <a href="http://www.juliesbicycle.com/files/2008First-Step-JB-report-revised09.pdf">75%</a> of total carbon emissions of the UK music sector – 43% of which is just from audience travel. These are conservative estimates that do not include waste and emissions from food and drink, even though large gatherings test the capacity of water and energy resources and generate significant amounts of waste.</p>
<h2>Europe leads the way</h2>
<p>Across Europe, a range of festivals have signed up to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiative. In addition, the International Organisation for Standardisation <a href="http://www.iso.org/iso/sustainable_events_iso_2012.pdf">(ISO) 2012</a> was developed as a standard for those wishing to stage environmentally sustainable events. Highlighted music festivals include <a href="http://www.hovefestivalen.no/">Hove</a> in Norway, which has become carbon neutral, and <a href="http://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/a-greener-music-festival-in-roskilde">Roskilde</a> in Denmark, where the European Environment Agency distributed various messages on the state of the European environment during 2009. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91290/original/image-20150810-11068-t6oakr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91290/original/image-20150810-11068-t6oakr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91290/original/image-20150810-11068-t6oakr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91290/original/image-20150810-11068-t6oakr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91290/original/image-20150810-11068-t6oakr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91290/original/image-20150810-11068-t6oakr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91290/original/image-20150810-11068-t6oakr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91290/original/image-20150810-11068-t6oakr.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Spreading the news…</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angela Connolly</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Many UK festivals have also started engaging with climate change. Glastonbury has devoted an enormous amount of effort towards <a href="http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/information/green-glastonbury/our-green-policies/">improving its sustainability</a> by installing 1,200 compostable toilets, encouraging the reduction of waste, promoting the culture of recycling on the site and donating large proportions of the festival’s profits to environmental charities. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, <a href="http://www.juliesbicycle.com/">Julie’s Bicycle</a>, an organisation that exists to promote sustainability in the arts, has developed a number of tools to allow festival coordinators to measure and reduce their carbon footprint.</p>
<p>The high profile <a href="http://www.tinthepark.com/home.aspx">T in the Park festival</a>, held at Strathallan Castle in Perthshire, sparked <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/11520743/T-in-the-Park-festival-under-threat-from-nesting-ospreys.html">controversy</a> this year when the festival relocated to a site where protected ospreys visited. Planning approval was only <a href="http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/music/music-news/park-workers-warned-could-face-6038107">granted</a> when the main stage was moved and exclusion zones were created.</p>
<h2>Changing behaviour</h2>
<p>But there is always more to do. The hundreds of smaller festivals must not be overlooked. Our research focuses on Scotland and goes beyond technical attempts to provide green energy sources and deal with waste management. We want to probe the different understandings of sustainability among the temporary communities that gather at festivals.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91288/original/image-20150810-11088-e0whal.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91288/original/image-20150810-11088-e0whal.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91288/original/image-20150810-11088-e0whal.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91288/original/image-20150810-11088-e0whal.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91288/original/image-20150810-11088-e0whal.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91288/original/image-20150810-11088-e0whal.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91288/original/image-20150810-11088-e0whal.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91288/original/image-20150810-11088-e0whal.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Creative Carbon Scotland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Angela Connelly</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, armed with surveys and musical instruments, we have attended two such festivals. At one, we encountered a catering van that reused food waste and sought to subvert the economic system by asking festival goers to pay what they thought was a “fair” price. </p>
<p>Audience behaviour remains tricky to unpick. We engaged in many climate change conversations from divestment to recycling. We often heard that “Scotland has plenty of water. We don’t need to conserve it”; or that people felt they were on a “responsibility holiday”, confirming <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692309001367">evidence</a> from the tourism sector that even the most committed environmentalists take a break from routine during a down period. Tellingly, our activities were described by one festival-goer as “dead niche”.</p>
<p>We hope to start a conversation on how to move from being “dead niche” to making climate change a mainstream issue in the Scottish live music sector and beyond. There needs to be a cultural shift from below as well as above and this means communicating the climate change challenge through all available formats and working beyond the purely technical domain of energy efficiency targets.</p>
<p>It is a challenge that needs a wide variety of people to make work: from suppliers to audiences and musicians, lest we fulfil the vision conveyed in an <a href="http://www.awakeman.co.uk/soul/either-or/Fragments%20of%20a%20Vision.htm">environmental protest song</a> from 1971:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I was working one day at my desk<br>
The air was thick with pollution<br>
The trees existed no more<br>
For we hadn’t found a solution.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43872/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela Connelly receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (Grant Reference: AH/M009270/1) for Fields of Green: Addressing Sustainability and Climate Change through Music Festival Communities, a project in association with Creative Carbon Scotland.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jo Collinson Scott receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (Grant Reference: AH/M009270/1) for Fields of Green: Addressing Sustainability and Climate Change through Music Festival Communities, a project in association with Creative Carbon Scotland.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matt Brennan receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. He is a member of the Scottish Green Party and works for the University of Edinburgh.</span></em></p>
The UK should look to mainland Europe for greener music festivals.
Angela Connelly, Research Associate, Lancaster University
Jo Collinson Scott, Lecturer in Commercial Music, University of the West of Scotland
Matt Brennan, Chancellor's Fellow in Music, The University of Edinburgh
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/45601
2015-08-09T10:43:52Z
2015-08-09T10:43:52Z
Why promoting green infrastructure in Africa may be bad for development
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90987/original/image-20150806-5253-1ni4198.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Kariba dam on the Zambezi River produces most of the electricity used in Zimbabwe and Zambia, supports extensive fishing and tourism industries and protects hundreds of thousands of people from floods.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Inadequate infrastructure is widely recognised to be holding back Africa’s development and lowering the quality of life of its citizens. The <a href="http://www.zakenya.com/transportation/roads-in-nairobi-with-the-heaviest-traffic-jam-during-peak-hours.html">traffic jams</a> of Nairobi, the <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-18/power-starved-nigeria-cuts-electricity-bills-before-elections">power cuts</a> of Nigeria or the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2013/11/19/zimbabwe-water-and-sanitation-crisis">water shortages</a> that currently afflict Harare and Bulawayo are some of these.</p>
<p>The same is true in fast-growing regions of Latin America and many parts of Asia. It is widely agreed from Addis Ababa to Brasilia, New Delhi and beyond that infrastructure investment is a priority.</p>
<p>But what kind of infrastructure is needed? Developed countries that enjoy a legacy of decades of infrastructure investment are trying new approaches. Since their cities and populations are growing slowly, their primary concern is now simply to maintain and improve what is already in place and make it more <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSDNETWORK/Resources/SIAPfinal.pdf">sustainable</a>. </p>
<p>So, there is growing interest in using what they call <a href="http://www.unepdhi.org/-/media/microsite_unepdhi/publications/documents/unep/web-unep-dhigroup-green-infrastructure-guide-en-20140814.pdf">green infrastructure</a> – such as natural systems like wetlands – to provide services such as water storage and treatment. </p>
<p>But problems arise when societies believe that their own preferences should be the rules that govern others. This is particularly evident in the field of water, where the desire to improve the aquatic environment has seen many, often expensive, innovations promoted – some of which work and others which fail.</p>
<h2>The push for green infrastructure isn’t benign</h2>
<p>The preferences of developed countries on what the focus of infrastructure development should be are sometimes enforced through hard instruments. That Europe and the US are major providers of aid has enabled them to impose policies on poorer countries. One example is that they have prevented dams from being built in countries where they were <a href="http://www.cgdev.org/blog/hydropower-me-not-thee">badly needed</a>.</p>
<p>As countries have become less dependent on aid and can access funds from alternative sources such as China, influence is being exerted through <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-09-09/africa-s-new-friend-china-finances-9-3-billion-of-hydropower">different channels</a>. Scientific research is one such soft channel. </p>
<p>Because the research budgets of the rich countries are many times larger than those of developing countries, they tend to determine what subjects are researched and from what perspective. And, since researchers are measured by whether they publish in international journals, they have a strong incentive to produce work acceptable to rich world editors.</p>
<p>So, the promotion of green infrastructure as an alternative to traditional concrete and pipes, known as grey infrastructure, is not as benign as many people think.</p>
<p>For this reason, colleagues from India, Mexico and Spain and I recently joined a <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6248/584.1.summary">debate</a> to contest the notion that green infrastructure could somehow replace grey infrastructure. We showed that such approaches could simply not meet the needs of the developing world’s fast growing societies. </p>
<h2>Some efforts make sense, others not</h2>
<p>There is sound logic to some of the solutions that developed countries have come up with to solve their pressing environmental problems. For example, prioritising the development of <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/britain/21588072-london-has-built-about-good-transport-network-it-could-given-its-constraints-time">public transport</a> in London is perhaps the only way the city could save itself from its own success.</p>
<p>Scaling back economic activity to give more <a href="http://www.climateadaptation.eu/netherlands/coastal-floods/">room</a> to the rivers in flood-prone regions of the Netherlands is also logical since their intensified agriculture has moved into barns and greenhouses and needs less space.</p>
<p>But the logic behind other initiatives make less sense. For Germany to close all its nuclear power stations and then increase the amount of coal fired electricity <a href="http://www.theenergycollective.com/robertwilson190/328841/why-germanys-nuclear-phase-out-leading-more-coal-burning">generated</a> is, politely put, puzzling. </p>
<p>In London, a plan to divert the city’s sewerage into the huge 30km Thames Tideway tunnel is going to increase the cost of water for each household by around <a href="http://www.infrastructure-intelligence.com/article/jan-2015/new-data-shows-thames-meets-eu-directive-so-tideway-tunnel-still-needed">$200 per year</a> with no obvious benefit. </p>
<p>In the 1990s, Australia and Spain both decided that they did not want to build new dams or transfer water from one river basin <a href="http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2011/01/to-dam-or-not-to-dam">to another</a>. When they were hit by long-term droughts and cities began to run out of water, they panicked. They went on to spend billions on desalination plants. Before the plants were ready, rain fell and almost all the plants have been mothballed.</p>
<p>In the US, there is a strong movement to remove dams and let rivers run free. This is a remarkable turnabout from middle of the 20th century when iconic folk singer Woody Guthrie wrote a song about the <a href="http://www.bpa.gov/news/AboutUs/75thAnniversary/Pages/Woody-Guthrie.aspx">hydroelectric dams</a> that had enabled the Allies to defeat Nazi Germany. It was inviting the Columbia river to flow on to sea, with the condition that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… while you’re rambling, river, you can do some work for me. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A plea to the green idealists in the north</h2>
<p>We object to the notion that countries which have completely transformed their watercourses and landscapes, destroyed their forests and decimated their wildlife should be trying to prevent developing countries from charting their own development path. The US’s 2014 budget actually had a <a href="http://www.internationalrivers.org/files/attached-files/budget_bill_factsheet_wo_bic_0314.pdf">clause</a> instructing the US government’s members of the World Bank board to vote against any proposals for new dams.</p>
<p>We know from the experience of North America and Europe that it is possible to create new physical environments that are pleasant to live in and meet peoples’ needs. So our plea to the green idealists from the north is to recognise that we are in an <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/anthropocene-the-human-age-1.17085">Anthropocene age</a>. </p>
<p>Developing countries are building new environments which must meet the needs of their present and future generations. We need to ensure that these meet peoples’ aspirations within an altered but sustainable and socially acceptable ecological framework.</p>
<p>But every society should be allowed to make its own decisions, in accordance with its own preferences, so long as they do not have a negative impact beyond their borders.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45601/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Muller receives funding from the Water Research Commission.</span></em></p>
Green infrastructure may not be the best thing for Africa despite being environmentally friendly.
Mike Muller, Visiting Adjunct Professor, University of the Witwatersrand
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/41105
2015-05-01T14:22:05Z
2015-05-01T14:22:05Z
Promising more free nursery care is one thing, delivering it is quite another
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80056/original/image-20150501-12616-qpd0mn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Good deeds don't always work out that way</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/s/sad+face/search.html?page=2&thumb_size=mosaic&inline=58314529">Nailia Schwartz</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the parties fall over themselves in a last-minute attempt to woo women voters, childcare is finally being recognised as the salient political issue it should always have been. It is, after all, 2015. Not only does childcare promote gender equality and economic growth by facilitating women’s employment, it educates children and provides them with essential opportunities to socialise with their peers. </p>
<p>These benefits hinge on the quality of the services provided, however. As the parties have moved into a superficial bidding war about who will provide the largest quantity of free hours, this issue seems to have been overlooked. They have paid little attention to how these free hours will actually be provided given the current challenges facing the sector.</p>
<h2>Party proposals</h2>
<p>Currently in England, children aged three and four (and some two-year-olds) are entitled to 15 hours of free childcare per week (there are similar initiatives in Scotland and Wales). In <a href="http://www.labour.org.uk/manifesto">its manifesto</a>, Labour proposed an extension to 25 hours per week for three and four-year-olds as well as more breakfast and afterschool clubs for school-aged children. </p>
<p>The Liberal Democrats <a href="http://www.libdems.org.uk/manifesto">intend to</a> widen eligibility for the current 15 free hours to all two-year-olds and, for working parents, to provide free childcare from nine months (the end of parental leave) to two years. They also support a further increase in the number of hours per week to 20. </p>
<p>Not to be outdone, the Conservatives <a href="https://www.conservatives.com/manifesto">have proposed</a> to increase provision of free childcare for three and four-year-olds to 30 hours per week by 2017, but only for parents in employment. The Greens <a href="https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/manifesto/Green_Party_2015_General_Election_Manifesto_Searchable.pdf">propose</a> a fully comprehensive system of early education and care from birth to school age. Even UKIP <a href="http://www.ukip.org/manifesto2015">plans to</a> increase school-age care. Both the <a href="http://votesnp.com/docs/manifesto.pdf">Scottish National Party</a> and <a href="https://www.partyof.wales/2015-manifesto/">Plaid Cymru</a> also support additional free early education and care services.</p>
<h2>Capacity for expansion?</h2>
<p>While support for public funding of childcare across all the major UK parties is to be applauded, the question remains whether any of these parties are fully prepared to fund childcare in a way that meets the needs of parents, children and providers. Recent experience with expansions to the free entitlement under the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition gives cause for concern in this regard. </p>
<p>While the number of children taking up free places in nurseries <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/324065/SFR20-2014_Text1.pdf">has increased</a> since 2010, expenditure <a href="http://www.casedata.org.uk/show-chart?id=under-5s/full/figure/1">has fallen</a>. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/324065/SFR20-2014_Text1.pdf">majority</a> of children under school-age receive their free childcare from private and voluntary providers. Yet recent reports <a href="https://www.pre-school.org.uk/whats-new/early-years-agenda/counting-the-cost-report">have documented</a> that these providers currently face a shortfall between the cost it takes to deliver each free childcare place and the funds they receive to do so. </p>
<p>To stay in business, they have to make up this shortfall through the fees they charge parents for additional hours. Doubling the number of free childcare hours without increasing the funding per place exacerbates the problem and could put providers into extreme financial difficulty.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80057/original/image-20150501-12652-gdn6wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80057/original/image-20150501-12652-gdn6wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/80057/original/image-20150501-12652-gdn6wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80057/original/image-20150501-12652-gdn6wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80057/original/image-20150501-12652-gdn6wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80057/original/image-20150501-12652-gdn6wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80057/original/image-20150501-12652-gdn6wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/80057/original/image-20150501-12652-gdn6wr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More free places without more funding spells trouble for private nurseries.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&search_tracking_id=8145DZvH_9fX4bYL4QvGCg&searchterm=nursery%20school&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=137155820">Marko Poplasen</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Without sufficient funding, it will be difficult for providers to maintain let alone raise the quality of the service they provide. Quality in the sector is already an issue, as the recent expansion of eligibility to a group of disadvantaged two-year-olds highlighted. A report <a href="http://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/1sound-foundations-jan2014-3.pdf">published by</a> the Sutton Trust advised delays to the roll-out for two-year-olds precisely due to a shortage of sufficiently high quality places. </p>
<p>Expanding the number of free hours of childcare could be a great benefit to both parents and children. But the politicians need to pay greater attention to the challenges of implementation. Successful expansion in practice will likely require additional funding to meet current costs of delivery and to attract and train qualified staff. Otherwise, in the push to expand capacity rapidly, service standards may fall.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41105/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caitlin McLean does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Politicians promising to expand free childcare is no bad thing, but it is difficult to deliver in practice
Caitlin McLean, Ailsa McKay Postdoctoral Fellow in Economics, Glasgow Caledonian University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/40767
2015-04-27T17:04:54Z
2015-04-27T17:04:54Z
Parties target women’s economic inequality, but much still needs to be done
<p>Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish National Party leader, <a href="http://www.snp.org/media-centre/news/2015/apr/nicola-sturgeon-launches-snp-womens-pledge">announced</a> her party’s “Women’s Pledge” at a live event in Glasgow on April 25, promising to deliver policies that promote equality for women. But how are the parties doing overall?</p>
<p>My yardstick is the blueprint that <a href="http://wbg.org.uk/briefing-paper-launch-plan-f-a-feminist-economic-strategy-for-a-caring-and-sustainable-economy/">was recently published</a> by the <a href="http://www.wbg.org.uk">UK</a> and <a href="http://www.swbg.org.uk">Scottish</a> Women’s Budget Groups, who campaign for a fully gender-equal society (full disclosure: I convene the Scottish body and am a member of the UK body). Plan F proposes to reverse the cuts to public services and social security that have particularly adversely affected women. It proposes to invest in the social infrastructure of care, health, education, training and housing. It wants <a href="https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit">Universal Credit</a> reformed and affordable care made accessible to all. </p>
<p>Another priority is for the government to support and recognise people – mainly women – who provide unpaid care in families and communities. It wants more support for men to contribute more to unpaid care, and a social security system that aims at fairer sharing of caring and the costs involved. </p>
<p>In advance of a full analysis of the parties’ policies from the UK Women’s Budget Group, which is due shortly, I see two things: measures that address women’s unequal economic status and the ways in which existing tax, income and welfare policies all contribute; but a wider context that still generally asserts the neutrality of mainstream policy and does not have enough to say about gendered realities. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79464/original/image-20150427-18152-a8cvye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79464/original/image-20150427-18152-a8cvye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/79464/original/image-20150427-18152-a8cvye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79464/original/image-20150427-18152-a8cvye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79464/original/image-20150427-18152-a8cvye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79464/original/image-20150427-18152-a8cvye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79464/original/image-20150427-18152-a8cvye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/79464/original/image-20150427-18152-a8cvye.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Is policy as gender-neutral as we like to think?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&searchterm=gender%20equality&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=225764215">iculig</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The small print</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10696553/Labour-would-scrap-tax-break-for-married-couples-says-Ed-Balls.html">Labour</a> and the <a href="http://votesnp.com/docs/manifesto.pdf">SNP</a> are committed to improvements in equal-pay legislation and pay audits and to removing the Married Tax Allowance, which <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/02/tories-marriage-tax-allowance-will-further-poison-their-brand">arguably</a> discriminates against women. Both call for a review of Universal Credit. The SNP wants it stopped while Labour, which published a <a href="http://www.labour.org.uk/blog/entry/labours-manifesto-for-women">Manifesto for Women</a>, would like to see a “pause”. </p>
<p>Two issues that disproportionately affect women are the fees payable to employment tribunals and the minimum wage. Labour is proposing to abolish employment tribunal fees and the Liberal Democrats will review whether they are a barrier, but the SNP is silent. On the minimum wage, Labour and the SNP are respectively proposing to raise it to £8 and £8.70 per hour. The <a href="https://www.greenparty.org.uk/we-stand-for/2015-manifesto.html">Greens</a> would up the rate to £10 per hour, while the Lib Dems would phone a friend – the Low Pay Commission – to ask what it thinks. </p>
<p>On austerity, the Conservatives are sticking with Plan A, including £12bn cuts in welfare spending. Labour too will keep welfare caps, including a cap on child benefit for the next two years as a deficit-reduction measure. So much for cutting child poverty and easing the pressures on hard-working families, favourite themes of current political rhetoric. In contrast, the SNP and Greens want to “end austerity” and do not support further caps and cuts on social security and protection. </p>
<h2>A ‘working’ economy?</h2>
<p>The Labour manifesto focuses on an “economy that works for working people”. But this sort of framing of the economy consistently overlooks and undermines the contribution of unpaid care and all those people for whom paid work is not an option now or in the future. Where do those people see themselves in this picture of the economy?</p>
<p>Access and affordability of flexible quality childcare is back on the agenda of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-31533691">all the main parties</a> – not before time, many would argue. We are seeing a bidding war between the parties of between 20 and 30 hours of free provision. How this will work out when it comes to allocating resources to meet capacity at local-authority level and rebalancing reliance on expensive private-sector provision remains unclear, however. </p>
<p>With some signs of moves in the right direction, there is still plenty room for improvement. Major gaps in relation to the demands of Plan F are the lack of focus on investing in social infrastructure, recognising the care economy and improving the conditions of those who work in it. The relationship between economic and social infrastructure, and the reliance on an undervalued workforce are not prominent across the party interests as presented in their manifestos either.</p>
<p>Aside from those important issues, Labour’s Manifesto for Women and the SNP’s Women’s Pledge are leading the way among the main parties – albeit they cleave to childcare as being purely a “women’s issue”. They do recognise the imperative to tackle women’s unequal economic status and make commitments to secure equal representation of women. If we are to make women’s economic, political and social equality a reality, political parties and policy thinkers need to bring together the care economy and the “productive” economy and value women’s contribution across the board.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40767/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela is Convenor of Scottish Women's Budget Group and a member of the UK Women's Budget Group and European Gender Budgeting Network. She is also a Board Member of Engender.</span></em></p>
The main parties are still a long way from getting full marks when it comes to tackling women’s financial disadvantages.
Angela O'Hagan, Research Fellow, Glasgow Caledonian University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.