Is Adidas a sustainable brand?

In December, the German shoemaker announced plans to make 60% of its products using sustainable materials. They join a growing list of corporations changing their strategies to help build a healthier planet.

Let’s find out if Adidas is sustainable. Do they put their money where their mouth is?

Dig deeper → 2 min

Founder story

The active wear brand ‘Adidas’ began in the quaint town of Bavaria, Germany in 1949. It was founded by Adolf Dassler (the brother of Rudolf Dassler, founder of Puma). The fascinating origins of this brother-shoe rivalry is for an entirely different time…

Microplastics are everywhere. In fact, new research suggests they can be found virtually everywhere on Earth… even hundreds of miles away from human habitation. And it’s impacting more than just the environment, it’s also affecting human health. Here are a few ways you can reduce your exposure to microplastics.

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The scoop: Microplastics can be found in every crevice of the Earth. As they become more prevalent, they are more likely to impact human health.

Top ways to avoid microplastics:

• Filtered tap water > bottled water.
• Shellfish = microplastic.
• Eat more fresh food, less takeout.

Zoom out: As the global production…

Americans are ready for renewables to take over the majority of our energy needs. But we may need more time. How can America transition to a fully clean economy while severe weather impacts energy security in vulnerable areas like Texas?

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The scoop: Below-freezing temperatures blasted the southern US this week, prompting rolling blackouts over the past few days.

Key takeaways:

• Texas was not prepared to deal with the energy demand spikes.
• Natural gas & coal were not sufficient, renewables failed in freezing temperatures.
• America still needs a cocktail of energy supply to meet increasing consumer demand.

Zoom out: The Texas…

Last week’s Chevron oil spill reveals larger questions about the role of local politics in mitigating environmental disasters.

Yes, as many of you probably know by now, there was an oil spill at Chevron’s San Francisco Bay refinery. Over 600 gallons spilled at a rate of 5 gallons per minute, according to reports.

The spill began Tuesday afternoon. It took nearly 2 hours to contain it. For the sake of this post, I’m more interested in the PR response than restoration efforts.

Let’s examine corporate and civic responsibility alike, as Contra Costa County officials target blame at Chevron.

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The scoop…

If you could rewind pre-pandemic to February 2020, what would you have done differently? How can we make ourselves less vulnerable to global disasters? How can we make ourselves disaster-proof?

It’s something I’ve thought a lot about the last few months. And like I wrote about with going sustainable by going independent, I determined the most important factors: own don’t rent (when you can), generate passive income or find a side hustle, maximize savings, minimize debt.

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The scoop: Don’t wait for the next big world event to prepare yourself. How can you make you and your family more ‘disaster-proof’?

Some…

Is Beyond Meat sustainable?

Beyond Meat is a plant-based meat producer based out of California. Within a decade, the protein maker evolved from savvy startup to a multi-billion dollar publicly traded company.

Beyond Meat says they are “making plant-based meat that is better for people and the planet”. Let’s find out if they meet the SR standard.

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The scoop: Is Beyond Meat sustainable? The plant-based protein maker has turned veganism mainstream. But they need to be more transparent.

Some talking points:

• Beyond Meat packaging needs work. Their flagship product (Beyond Burger) is not compostable.
• Beyond Meat uses 99% less water…

Last month, a crypto wallet company called Uphold launched a digital carbon credit coin. It’s called the Universal Carbon token (UPCO2).

UPCO2 is one of the first carbon credit coins available to everyday investors. As part of its mission, UPCO2 tokens link to carbon trading markets, an industry typically dominated by governments and corporations.

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The scoop: Uphold, a digital trading platform, released a digital carbon credit coin called UPCO2.

On a mission to democratize carbon: Think of corporations and governments as the gatekeepers of carbon credit markets. Using blockchain technology, UPCO2 hopes to ease the barrier to entry for ordinary…

Is Starbucks sustainable?

Once an independent coffee shop called Il Giornale, Starbucks is now the largest coffee chain in the world. With great size, comes great responsibility.

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The scoop: Starbucks does a lot of reacting instead of acting. In that light, I do not consider Starbucks to be a cultural nor sustainable leader in the food & beverage space.

Sooo is Starbucks sustainable? No. Especially in today’s climate, you’re better off making your own cup, or supporting a local indie coffee shop. It’s worth the extra few cents to help a business owner put food on their family dinner table.

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