CustomEarthPromos - Eco Blog US

With some of the loudest sounds and brightest lights, dozens of drag racing cars will be zooming down a short stretch of California's Sonoma Raceway, this weekend. Reaching speeds of more than 300 mph, they'll burn shocking amounts of fuel. It's not exactly the public image of California as a state full of pollution slashing, climate tackling Earth lovers. As the state develops climate goals with growing ambitions, leaning on automakers to build more efficient cars, raceway officials are looking for a balance between being green and keeping their sport alive.Some of the ways Sonoma is embracing sustainability in their everyday operations include huge numbers of solar panels and an elaborate effort to reuse oil, among other fluids, while showcasing green vehicle technology. "Our place in the sustainability movement might be a little suspect—this is not an industry where you might be used to seeing eco-friendly initiatives. But I think that gives us an interesting platform"Sonoma Raceway President Steve Page It's hard to measure the carbon footprint of races, such as this weekend's annual Sonoma Nationals. It depends not only upon the number of cars but their engine specifications, the age of the vehicle, and the very specialized fuel. This information is according to Dave Clegern. Clegern is a spokesman for the state's are regulator, the California Air Resources Board. Top Fuel Dragsters, the long, ultra-fast kings and queens of drag racing, can use up to 23 gallons of a fuel known as nitromethane in only 1,000 feet! This is much more than ordinary vehicles! Sonoma's fuel usage is especially high. The course is close to sea level, which allows cars to take more oxygen into the engines, allowing for more fuel, than raceways at higher altitudes. Clergen stated that racing vehicles are exempt from state air quality regulations. "One perspective might be that motor sport will have a hard time adapting to the shift toward environmentalism and sustainability."IndyCar Driver J.R. Hildebrand Hildebrand has driven the Sonoma course many times and taught at Stanford's vehicle dynamics lab. He mentioned that, however, the sport seeks to demonstrate new technology, and "over the next decade, that core philosophy will be embraced more and more—out of both opportunity and necessity." For the past two years, Sonoma Raceway has hosted the Shell Eco-Marathon, which invites 1,000 high schoolers and college students to build energy efficient vehicles. As far as drag racing is concerned, some cars run on ethanol. The good news is that ethanol is alcohol-based and produces less carbon dioxide per gallon than regular gasoline. The other side of that coin is that it is often made from corn, or other crops, which requires carbon-intensive farming. Sometimes, a few all-electric Teslas are included in the mix of vehicles, showcasing their dramatic acceleration. "Anyone who's hit the pedal in a Tesla in 'insane' mode knows that you ...

As glaciers melt and sea levels rise, coastal cities are looking for ways to cope with the growing threat of flooding. Seawalls are one option, green technologies are another, but one startup is making waves with its concept for urban areas designed not to resist rising water but to flat on it. "Cities are getting hit with new types of extreme weather that they weren't designed for—think of Sandy here in New York. We have taken into account that this must be a future-proof, a climate-proof city for the future."Oceanix Startup CEO Marc Collins Chen Illustrations of what the company Oceanix have been surfacing. They show a leafy territory built on floating platforms that each cover almost five acres. They are moored to the seafloor in shallow waters. They platforms are linked to each other by walkways, which form cohesive communities that encompass all of urban life with a sustainable twist: buildings will be made of timber from sustainable forests; there will be greenhouses, vertical farms, and underwater gardens; power will come from renewable sources, including wind and solar; there will be sewage and waste-recycling systems; and desalination plants will provide usable water.Market your business with a sustainable twist with the help of Custom Earth Promos. "Think about it as an urban extension to a coastal city. It's just affordable housing, maybe schools, maybe hospitals—whatever it is that the city really needs, but on floating infrastructure as opposed to on land."Oceanix Startup CEO Marc Collins Chen The platforms are being designed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Ocean Engineering. The above-water structures will be designed by Bjarke Ingels Group of architects, based in both New York and Copenhagen, in Denmark. Oceanix is incorporated in Hong Kong, but Collins Chen is in New York; he is bringing their expertise together. Collins Chen said that the modular design would allow these floating cities to expand and accommodate a growing population. Six of the hexagonal platforms could form a village big enough to hold almost 2,000 people. Six of these combines could form a city that could accommodate 10,000! The concept has gained support from the United Nations. Their Human Settlements Program, also known as U.N.-Habitat, held a round-table discussion at the New York headquarters this month. The concept has also earned praise, although cautious, from Geoffrey Thün. he is a future cities expert and Professor of Architecture at the University of Michigan. He said that this "offers an idea model for how we should be thinking about the metabolism of our cities." He added that while the Oceanix city looks "handsome" in the illustrations, "they seem to exclude much of the gritty realities of complex urban life." An advisor at the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, based in Virginia, and an expert on adapting to climate change, Josh Sawislak, offered a similar opinion. He said that the ...

Last week, campers from Tallahassee, Florida's Oasis Center for Women & Girl's "Girls Can Do Anything" program launched their eco-friendly party supply business. This week, they'll team up with the city to beautify a retaining wall. The city of Tallahassee will provide an opportunity for some of the younger residents to transform a bland, often graffiti-covered retaining wall into a work of art. On July 18, city leaders will join the campers in downtown Tallahassee to complete the project. "This will be a wonderful experience for the girls, one that underscores the positive change that can occur when we work together for the betterment of our community. In addition to instilling the volunteer spirit in our youth and brightening up our downtown, we are hopeful that our artistic expression will help combat graffiti in the area."Tallahassee, Florida, Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox Unrestricted graffiti on both public and private property can not only have negative effects on a community but is also a criminal offence. This project is the foreshadowing of a graffiti reduction pilot program recently approved by the city commission. The program, which is to be implemented later this year, aims at not only preventing graffiti but putting an end to it. It will also include funding for murals through a portion of code enforcement fines. On July 12, the girls launched their pop-up business, Party Tree Company. They featured green party supplies, such as biodegradable confetti, as well as workshops on how to make the products at home. Proceeds benefited Sustainable Tallahassee, the camp's business week service partner. Girls Can Do Anything camp is offered by The Oasis Center for Women & Girls. The empowerment program connects girls, aged 5 to 13, with women both in history and the community across a wide variety of professions. This lets the girls practice the things they could very well become, build friendships, and discover their own strengths. During the Girls Mean Business Week, campers visit local businesses and meet women. These women teach them about entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, and production. The girls then design and make everything, from the product and pricing to the logo and marketing.Market your business and make a statement by designing your own logo and having it printed on sustainable products from Custom Earth Promos. "The collaborations with local businesses, like Domi Station, Black Dog Café, Other Side Vintage, Sustainable Tallahassee, Railroad Square Art Park, and Full Press Apparel, are what make this week so special."Oasis Executive Director Michelle Gomez "We have been partnering with The Oasis Center for Women & Girls for the past six years to help empower girls to think creatively and with an entrepreneurial spirit. When girls can make their ideas come to life, they see that they truly can do anything!" Business Owner Tracey Shrine This year's business concept was centered ...

E-scooters, the E standing for "electric," promoted as zero-carbon, urban transport, are flooding city streets worldwide. But, just how green this mode of transportation is is still an unanswered question. The companies distributing these vehicles, from multinational operations to local start-ups, insist that these ever present two-wheelers are a gain for the environment and will help curb global warming. One American firm, one of the global leaders in e-scooters, boasts on their website, "Bird was founded to create a cleaner and more hospitable world that prioritizes people over cars. Scooters cut the use of vehicles and reduce the volume of traffic on the road. They also help reduce pollution and improve air quality."American e-scooter firm Bird, via their website Shared scooters that don't require docking ports can be driven door-to-door. You'll avoid searching for a parking space. Plus, they have zero-emission motors. On paper, they look great! They have the potential to radically reduce urban car traffic. In France, for example, 70 percent of trips between home and work are three miles or less (five km), according to the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Research. "Micromobility could theoretically encompass all passenger trips of less than five miles (eight km), which account for as much as 50 to 60 percent of today's total passenger miles traveled in China, the European Union, and the United States."Report from consulting firm McKinsey The National Association of City Transportation Officials said that in the US, riders made almost 40 million trips on shared scooters last year. Lime, a major player, financed by Uber and Google's parent company, Alphabet, found that about one in every three rides in only 26 cities around the world replaces one car trip. "From this shift, we estimate that our riders have avoided 15 million miles (about 24 million km) of car travel and prevented 6,220 metric tons of carbon emissions over a two year period."E-Scooter company Lime But does this vehicle live up to the hype? With regards to Lime's claims, research group 6t conducted a survey of 4,500 commuters in Paris, Lyons, and Marseille, France. It revealed that only 19 percent of riders used these scooters to go to work or school. More than 40 percent of usage was done by out-of-town visitors.Going to work or school using an e-scooter? Take your things in a backpack made from sustainable materials. Without access to e-scooters, 44 percent of respondents said they would have walked, 12 percent said they would have biked, and 30 percent would have used public transportation. Cars only squeezed into the picture.Are you one of the people who still drives? Keep your keys on a lanyard made from eco-friendly materials. "But this doesn't mean that we should get rid of e-scooters—absolutely not! The fact that half the usage is recreational is striking, but at least this favors a more mixed use of ...

Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in popular pain reliever Tylenol, stems from a surprising source: coal tar, a thick, sticky liquid produced when oxygen-deprived coal is subjected to high heat. Fortunately, a new method, developed by researchers at the University of Wisconsin—Madison's Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) offers an environmentally friendly alternative to the currently fossil-fuel heavy one. It draws upon a natural compound derived from plant material to synthesize the popular medication. According a press release, the process is outlined in a patent awarded to a team led by Biochemist John Ralph.Find your environmentally friendly alternative to single-use plastic by replacing your bags and bottles with items from Custom Earth Promos. Along with University of Kentucky Biochemist Justin Mobley and GLBRC research scientist Steven Karlen, the trio decided to experiment with clipoffs. Clipoffs are small molecules attached to lignin, an abundant yet difficult-to-manage polymer that makes the cell walls of plants rigid. This came after having a light bulb moment in the middle of a conversation. "Ralph started talking about clipoffs, and I said why don't we make something out of these. So we chose acetaminophen as a catchy target that people have heard and care about."University of Kentucky Biochemist Justin Mobley Ralph describes lignin as an "extremely complex, messy polymer...very effective for providing structure and defense for the plant" but hard to break down into usable components. This quality makes lignin a researcher's headache. They rely on plant sugars found in bioenergy crops to produce biofuels but find themselves unable to effectively use the leftover polymer. It is then burned for energy. To overcome this issue of wastefulness, a string of chemical reactions capable of converting clipoff molecules, so called because a structure attached to lignin known as p-hydroxybenzoate is "fairly easy to clip off as a quite pure stream," into acetaminophen has been created. It only took three steps to accomplish the task. Adhering to the same process used with coal tar, the only part that changed was the source material. Acetaminophen and p-hydroxybenzoate are both relatively simple molecules. given the similarities in their structures, the plant-based material boasts an advantage of the fossil-fuel derived one. Whereas this more complex petrochemical must be stripped down to its bare molecular bones before being built back up into the desired compound, the lignin-based molecules already bear some of the desired structure. Now, the team is working on refining their method, to improve both yield and purity. Although the more expensive, renewable alternative is unlikely to replace the cheaper method anytime soon, Ralph says that "...at some point , it may be the case that we are completely prevented from using fossil fuels. We are not close to that now...but it is almost inevitable. Preparing ...

PepsiCo just announced that beginning in 2020, Aquafina bottled water will come in aluminum cans. As the concern for global, non-recyclable waste grows, this is the brand's biggest attempt to reduce single-use plastic containers.Put your water in a stainless steel or BPA free reusable water bottle and get rid of some of the single-use plastic containers in your own life. Aluminum is not only one of the easiest materials to recycle but is recycled more often than other similar packaging types. This is according to The Aluminum Association, a group working within Washington, DC, to help make aluminum the sustainable metal of choice worldwide. PepsiCo says that this change, along with their current distribution of Lifewtr, which is available in 100 percent recycled polyethylene terephthalate, a common form of polyester, and removing plastic from its new flavored, sparking water product Bubly, is "expected to eliminate more than 8,000 metric tons of virgin plastic and approximately 11,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a company press release. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US generated 34.5 million tons of plastic, with landfills receiving about 26 million tons of that total, back in 2015. So, while Pepsi's goal is noble, its just a dent in the overall need for plastics to be recycled.Switch to reusable bags and help do your part to reduce the amount of plastic generated. PepsiCo's ultimate goal is to make all of its product packaging recyclable, compostable, or biodegradable by 2025. The 12-ounce cans of water will be available at food service outlets, such as work places, hospitals, restaurants, and colleges. They are also plan on testing it with retailers. PepsiCo expects the first rollout to be completed by the end of 2020. At this point, larger sized cans will be considered for the future. Is the world ready for canned still water? Pepsi executives think so. "Many consumers are open to this and looking for solutions outside of plastic. Our goal is to provide options and to ensure we are staying ahead of consumer trends."Vice President of the Water Portfolio for PepsiCo Stacy Taffet, via TODAY Food by email People have been very vocal about the switch on Twitter, with some consumers voicing concerns that liquid tastes different when in a can. Others have noted that there will no longer be a replaceable cap, meaning each serving will be meant for one sitting. Plenty of eco-conscious consumers are applauding the move. Aluminum cans help keep liquid colder much better than plastic, which is an added bonus of canned water. Aquafina also won't be the first brand of canned water. Open Water, formerly Green Sheep Water, offers both a 12-ounce aluminum can, as well as a larger, aluminum bottle with a screw on top. There is also nonprofit, CannedWater4Kids. They sell canned drinking water and donate a big portion of the proceeds to clean drinking programs. And, just like ...

There's a small billboard on the grounds of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) Sculpture Garden. If you were to just glance at it, you might think it was an advertisement. Upon closer inspection, you'll discover that despite an instantly recognizable logo, it's not an advertisement at all. This billboard is actually a two sided display case. Created by Sean Connaughty, MCAD students and staff, and volunteers, it's filled with one day's worth of trash from Minnesota's Lake Hiawatha.Let Custom Earth Promos help you reduce the amount of trash in your life. This past Earth Day, about 375 volunteers helped Connaughty clean trash out of the lake. This resulted in a total of 18,879 items that were then sorted and categorized. Notation was taken of the corporation that produced the item. The top four brands highlighted in Connaughty's cleanup were PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, McDonald's, and Mars, Inc. These are the four brands whose logos grace the four displays. They are also the four brands whose trash is stored inside them. McDonald's famous arches are made out of straws, Pepsi's circle is an empty Cheetos bag and bottles of Gatorade, and Mars' lettering is a sea of candy wrappers—mostly from their own company. "I realize now that the question is and always has been: Who is responsible for the trash in Lake Hiawatha? Because no agency takes responsibility to clean up the trash at the lake. To me, the answer is the consumer, the producer, and our municipalities."Minneapolis Artist Sean Connaughty Connaughty lives only a few blocks away from the lake. It's a quiet place that would be beautiful if it weren't for all of the pollution. His art and his activism have been aimed at the garbage problem since 2015. Lake Hiawatha is Lake Nokomis' less popular neighbor. It's smaller and has less visitors. However, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources' Habitat Restoration Project includes native plants along the shoreline. This attracts all kinds of birds. But, it wasn't always a lake. Back in the early 1900s, Theodore Wirth, the then superintendent of Minneapolis Parks, suggested it be turned into a dry meadow, since it had subpar lake qualities. Instead, the lake was dredged in the 1930s, about the time the park board decided to build a golf course next to it. Today, the golf course dumps millions of gallons of water into that lake each year. Lake Hiawatha is also the dumping ground for neighboring stormwater. With all of that stormwater comes the surrounding neighborhood's trash. With no mitigation system in place to protect the lake, Connaughty started to clean it himself. He began picking up bags and bags of trash. He enlisted the help of friends and neighbors. so far, he's put together cleanups, published surveys of collected items, presented these items as part of gallery installations, and created public art awareness campaigns to reduce littering.Litter less by replacing your water bottles and planting seed paper. ...

The Green Finance Network Japan (GFNJ) was established late last year with the aim to make green finance mainstream in Japan's financial market. Green finance is a term often used to refer to methods of financing and investing that are more environmentally friendly or sustainable. This has been becoming a global trend since the signing of the Paris agreement back in 2016.Make a green investment in your business by purchasing your promotional materials from Custom Earth Promos. GFNJ Secretary General and Integrated Resort Promotion (IR), Government of Japan, Counselor, Hideki Takada, came across the idea of green finance when he was assigned to the position of Senior Policy Analyst of Green Finance and Investment at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) by the Ministry of Finance in Paris. He held this position between 2015 and the summer of 2018. "Japan was a slow starter in green finance. It has been gaining momentum over the past one or two years. I wanted to maintain and utilize the extensive network I built there, even after I returned to Japan to work in other fields within the government."GFNJ Secretary General and IR Promotion, Government of Japan, Counselor Hideki Takada Takada set up GFNJ with two others. The first co-founder was Takejiro Sueyoshi, CEO of Green Finance Organization Japan and Special Advisor to the United Nations Environment Program—Finance Initiative in the Asia-Pacific region; the second was the President of the Japan Center for International Finance and OECD Former Deputy Secretary-General, Rintaro Tamaki. GFNJ organizes events and conferences on green finances, gathers and shares information on various green finance activities conducted by both inside members and others outside of the organization, and provides a platform for connecting Japanese and international stakeholders.On your way to an event or conference? Go green and take your things in a reusable bag. The group includes more than 120 members from 70 organizations. This includes government ministries and agencies, private companies, academic institutions, local municipalities, financial institutions, international organizations, think tanks, media, and nongovernmental organizations. Members vary in age. Takada stated that professionals make up the bulk of the network. He hopes this will drive rapid changes based on common awareness of the issues.Make a rapid change to keep lots of plastic out of the ocean by replacing single-use bottles with a reusable one. The finance organization serves as a platform for building long-lasting, person-to-person connections as a starting point to bring about bigger changes across all sectors. This is due to bureaucrats are regularly transferred to different sectors of government. The contents of what they do and who they work with tend to change every few years. This can also be said for many private Japanese companies. This is one of the causes of vertical divisions among ...

Chris Johnson's first outdoor parties with friends were small, impromptu, chaotic—"really good fun," as he puts it. Seventeen years later, Johnson and those same four college friends are still pioneers in the art of partying. Shambala, however, is now a four-day event in rural Northamptonshire that averages an attendance of 15,000. It has set an industry standard for its eco-credentials. "We're a purpose-led organization, the point of it existing is to contribute something to the world, and the environment is an important part of our outlook; we have a responsibility—but also an opportunity to experiment." Chris Johnson The festival now uses 100 percent renewable power. It comes from a mix of vegetable oil and solar power units. They have also gotten rid of disposable plastics, and in 2015, they became completely meat and fish free. "It caused a storm initially, but the appetite is there. This year we've got 1 percent of our audience coming by bike and 25 by coach. It might not seem much, but 80 percent of the carbon footprint of a camping festival is made by travel down to the site." Chris Johnson The cultural conversation concerning festivals in recent years has been about the low numbers of female artists or "making them less white." This year the topic has changed and the question is now: How can festivals go green? The first thing is the war on plastic has multiplied. Glastonbury has banned the sale of single-use plastic bottles. Co-Organizer Emily Eavis estimates that this will "save the million bottles that we would have otherwise sold" and is in line with the festival's vision to tread lightly on the land. Instead, the 200,000-strong audience will have access to 850 water taps and dozens of water kiosks.Save yourself from using single-use plastic water bottles by getting a reusable one. Earlier this year, more than 60 major festivals, including Reading, Leeds, and Download, pledged to become plastic-free by 2021. The major offenders remain the same: straws, cutlery, and bottles. Bans have been met with enthusiasm by audiences. However, according to A Greener Festival Co-Organizer, Claire O'Neill, the not-for-profit which audits and advises the industry on how to reduce its environmental impact, the key impact remains these three: transport, tents, and toilets. Using public transportation or signing up for ride sharing to get festival-goers to the site makes the biggest difference when it comes to the carbon footprint. Getting people to remember to pack up and take their tents home is also a major environmental headache. "We actively ask people to consider what they bring to the festival and urge them not to bring disposable tents. We don't ban it because we don't want to become financially prohibitive, but they are a bane for most festivals. The waste is extraordinary." Green Man Festival Operations Director Ian Fielder Consider how you take your stuff to ...

Being environmentally friendly is something that many people are striving for; particularly in recent years. Hundreds of studies and reports are conducted and published from reputable universities, the UN, the EU, and even the Catholic Church. Pope Francis has given the drive to be eco-friendly renewed momentum and motivation with his encyclical on the environment. But, just how practical is it for families to change up their routines? Family life can be hectic. If there is a new baby on the way, planning on how to cut down the mountains of waste may be the last question on a couple's mind. Being green was certainly on the mind of Catherine Devitt, the Environmental Justice Officer from the Jesuit Center for Faith and Justice (JCFJ), when she found out she had a new baby coming. Although she is no longer working for JCFJ, much of Devitt's work when she was involved looking at how Jesuits in Ireland can improve their environmental footprint. When it comes to her home life, Devitt definitely practices what she preaches. One of the most important challenges is the boycott of disposable diapers. They are known to be both environmentally and financially unstable. Not only do they rack up a hefty expense, but many are burnt or shipped off to landfills. Devitt's mom used cloth diapers in the 1980s, before disposable diapers became mainstream in Ireland. She was on hand to offer her daughter guidance. While seemingly much more expensive than the other option, cloth diapers pay for themselves in the long run. (For those looking for first-hand guidance, advice, and information, many social media resources and groups have been established for these discussions.) As the mother of a one-year-old, Devitt said baby clothes quickly became unusable. "They're growing at such a fast rate, and we certainly found that parents are very willing to give you clothes that you no longer need. We found that there's actually no need to buy new clothes and that there is plenty of alternatives, whether through charity shops or again online, there are so many groups where people are willing to give clothes that they no longer need."Jesuit Center for Faith and Justice Environmental Justice Officer Catherine Devitt According to Devitt, buying new clothes that will only be used for a short period of time is not worth the environmental impact. Straying from this practice is also a good way to save money. Baby clothes can cost quite a lot. Breastfeeding is another good way to save money. If it is an option, it is not only good for mom and baby, but the environment as well. It cuts down on plastic, bypasses intensive farming and emissions associated with formula, and puts more money in your pocket. "Every maternity hospital should be promoting breastfeeding for mothers."Jesuit Center for Faith and Justice Environmental Justice Officer Catherine Devitt Devitt adds that she believes no stigma should be associated with it. There are arguments that to ...