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As a gearhead who mostly tests running shoes and apparel made for high-energy activities, I don鈥檛 often fire up about a sweater. But when I pulled on for the first time, I didn鈥檛 want to take it off.

I wore it while working at my desk. I wore it while walking my dog. I even ran about a mile in it on a cold evening during a youth soccer practice when I felt like I just needed to move. I especially love pulling it on after a day outside on snow. The thing is ridiculously soft and warm, and it looks good, too.

You鈥檇 think my favorite new sweater would be made out of the natural fiber we all know and love thanks to brands like Smartwool, Ibex, and Icebreaker: Merino wool. But there鈥檚 a new natural fiber that may just give good-ole Merino a run for its money: alpaca.

Merino (a type of sheep) wool and alpaca fleece both come from cute, fluffy animals that are sheared without harm typically once a year. Merino and alpaca both consist of hollow fibers with amazing properties that keep the animals鈥攁nd humans鈥攚arm when it鈥檚 cold and cool when it鈥檚 warm, regulating body temperature. Both fibers naturally resist odor, wick sweat, and breathe well. And they鈥檙e both biodegradable and renewable. So, is one better than the other?

According to Kris Cody, founder of the quickly growing outdoor apparel company Paka, the superior fiber is the wool from the animals that live in the Andes Mountains of South America: the alpacas.

A Relationship with an Alpaca Sweater

Ten years ago, while taking a gap year before college and backpacking through South America, Cody stumbled upon a sweater handknit by a Peruvian woman at a street market in Cuzco, Peru. 鈥淭hat sweater became my companion,鈥� says Cody, who recently opened an office in Boulder, Colorado and now has 20 employees stateside. 鈥淚t worked in every single climate on my trip. I built a relationship with that sweater.鈥� So much of a relationship that when the then-18-year-old started college to study neuroscience at the University of Virginia that fall, he couldn鈥檛 get the sweater鈥攁nd its origin鈥攐ut of his mind. Or heart.

鈥淚 just felt such a connection back to Peru鈥攖he culture, the people, and the sweater. I didn鈥檛 want to lose it.鈥� The fact that seemingly everyone at UVA kept asking him where he got the sweater, coming up to touch it, and marveling that it felt as soft as cashmere further flamed his love affair.

鈥淚 was fascinated because it feels like a luxury, fashion fiber,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd I recognized the fact that this animal [the alpaca] had evolved in the craziest climate on the earth where you freeze and burn in the same day with 70-degree temperature fluctuations. In looking at the fiber and the hollow air pockets and how much function was embedded, I thought that it would be really revolutionary for the outdoor apparel industry.鈥�

At 19 years old and just having finished a year of college, Cody bought a one-way ticket to Peru to track down the woman who had sold him the sweater. 鈥淚 flew back with no business plan but wanted to get to know the family of weavers.鈥� He spent a couple of weeks retracing his steps from his trip a year earlier, searching for the weaver who had sold him his sweater. 鈥淚 was just so interested in finding the real source of where it came from,鈥� he says. His persistence and the fact that 鈥淐uzco鈥檚 not so big鈥� led to success.

When he finally stumbled upon the right doorstep, he explained his obsession to the local Peruvian weaver, Gregoria. Though skeptical at first, Gregoria trusted Cody enough to introduce her to her family, and her weaving process. Cody says he lived on the family鈥檚 rooftop for weeks. 鈥淚t just became this relationship of getting to her family and learning more and working on some ideas and prototypes in her kitchen. We began sharing this dream of, 鈥榃hat if we brought this to the U.S.? What, and how, do we do this in a way that works and that represents the culture?鈥� It was a collaboration.鈥�

Cody came home with a bag of 50 sweaters that he sold on Shopify out of his dorm room. A year later, he returned to Peru with a film crew to create about the origins of the sweaters he鈥檇 been selling with the intention to spread the word and launch a Kickstarter campaign. The video, which highlighted the Peruvian people and alpacas, went viral, and Paka was born.

Fast-forward eight years, and Paka employs 300 weavers in Cuzco. The company aims to multiply each weaver鈥檚 income by eight percent, helping to improve the statistic that one in three children under 5 years old in Cuzco suffer from malnutrition. The company contributes one percent of annual sales to female education, helping young Peruvian women attend university. Through its partnership with a local nonprofit, Paka assists women of neighboring communities of Cuzco to learn how to weave, allowing many to move from manual labor like farming to skilled, artisanal traditions passed down from the Inca. Each sweater is signed on the tag by the woman who made it. Mine is signed by 鈥淧amela A.鈥� On one side is a small emblem of an adorable alpaca and on the other side a tiny woven patch (which the company calls an Inca ID).

I am, in fact, wearing my cozy, cashmere-like as I write this. I wish I had kept the biodegradable tag that came with it (and comes with every Paka item), because on that tag was a QR code鈥攁 source certificate鈥攖hat would have allowed me to trace my sweater back to the exact adorable, fluffy alpaca from which its fibers were sheared, cleaned, dyed (with environmentally friendly dyes), woven, and knit.

Even if I don鈥檛 know the details, my sweater鈥攁nd my other Paka apparel鈥攃hannels an Andean alpaca and every person who went into making it every time I wear it.

Alpaca’s Unique Qualities

There is nothing wrong with Merino wool. I love Merino wool. But alpaca, Kody says, has several unique characteristics.

鈥淚 love Merino wool as well,鈥� says Kody. 鈥淚 think there are a lot of benefits for both of them, and also reasons to synergize alpaca and Merino, because the structure is very different.鈥� Kody explains how alpaca fiber is hair-like and Merino a crimped fiber, which means that Merino wool adds volume to garments while alpaca does not, giving alpaca a greater insulating capacity with a lower weight. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the medullated air pockets in alpaca that make it three times warmer than merino,鈥� he says.

Alpaca, he says, is softer, and three times lighter than sheep’s wool. It tests warmer than Merino and has half of the moisture retention of Merino, which, Kody explains, translates to less bacteria build-up and thus, less odor.

鈥淚n my opinion,鈥� he says, 鈥渁lpaca is the most odor-resistant fiber you could ever wear. It repels moisture because these air pockets inside of the fiber hold heat and repel water.鈥� It鈥檚 those same air pockets that give it thermoregulation properties. 鈥淚 think that is the super-strength of alpacas having evolved in 70-degree daily fluctuations. That thermal regulation story is really what we are focusing on the most.鈥�

So, why aren鈥檛 more brands using alpaca? While Merino wool has been utilized by numerous outdoor companies for years鈥攚ith great success鈥攖he framework for using alpaca is still a new frontier. Kody points to the 鈥渧ertical infrastructure鈥� he and his team have built by spending time on the ground in Peru with 7,560 alpaqueros (alpaca cowboys) employed by Paka, the local weavers, and other artisans involved in the process.

鈥淚 think it’s very important that people know what’s behind the whole alpaca animal and story that the people have with it,鈥� says Cody. He explains how alpacas are neither pets nor butchered for food like cows in the U.S. 鈥淭he people in Peru have this synergistic, co-dependent relationship with the alpacas to survive out in the Andes. They live alongside each other. There are no fences. The alpaca come in at night. The people take care of their herds and use the wool for warmth. The culture behind that, the weaving patterns and traditions and everything behind alpaca is really important.鈥�

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Chick fil-A used to be my guilty pleasure, especially when traveling. When I’m rushing through airports that seductive red and white sign always calls for a detour and a Chicken Deluxe. Now, thanks to about the plastic chemicals found in food packaging, that sandwich is dead to me. A team of scientists and concerned citizens recently tested more than 300 unique foods for harmful plastic chemicals. My beloved treat sat near the top of the inauspicious leaderboard.

My regular readers know that I have long been concerned with the scary amount of plastic chemicals that we interact with as we 听go about our daily lives.

There鈥檚 the black plastic in our utensils. And the PFAS (a.k.a forever chemicals) found in everything from our clothing and furniture to our beauty products and toilet paper, the foaming agents in our toothpaste and laundry soaps.

The list goes on and on. We are a society addicted to plastic chemicals and all the modern conveniences they afford. Meanwhile, cancer rates in people under 50 are . I am in doubting that this is merely coincidence.

But nothing freaks me out more than chemicals making their way into my family鈥檚 food. Who among us could ever enjoy a bite of a Chicken Deluxe听again if we knew it were laced with poison?

I decided to look into what we know about chemicals in food packaging, what regulators are doing about it, and how we can protect ourselves.

Plastic Chemicals Pervade Our Everyday Food

I鈥檝e been seeing pop up in my newsfeeds about plastic chemicals in food. I鈥檝e had moments of paralysis in the grocery story trying to find a decent head of lettuce that wasn鈥檛 swathed in a plastic.

A group of Californians felt the same way. They听embarked on a six-month research project to test common food items鈥攆rom local grocery stores and take-out joints鈥攆or the presence of chemicals that enhance the performance of plastics. Phthalates, for instance, are a class of chemicals used to make plastic more pliable. Think: milk jugs and yogurt cups. Bisphenols are plastic hardeners found in beverage bottles and linings of canned goods.

The independent group, working under the name PlasticList, purchased 775 food samples of 312 items. Everything from Almond Breeze milk (currently sitting in my fridge) and grass-fed steak from Whole Foods to Taco Bell chicken burritos and, yes, my beloved Chicken Deluxe from Chick fil-A. They then tested those items for the presence of 18 common plastic-related chemicals that fall under the umbrella of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (or EDCs). Ample proof exists that EDCs cause like cancer, diabetes, and reproductive and neurological disorders.

The is pretty shocking: the PlasticList team detected plastic chemicals in 86 percent of the food tested. 鈥淏ut this doesn鈥檛 mean we should all freak out,鈥� says Yaroslav Shipilov, the PlasticList team leader. 鈥淎lthough it was surprising to discover the presence of plastic chemicals in such a huge percentage of the food we tested, in all but 24 specific cases, the items are still safe to eat according to the three major regulating bodies, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).鈥�

Shipilov hopes that his findings will spawn more testing. He also hopes that the regulating bodies will update their outdated safety limits, which are decades old and often contradictory. 鈥淔or example, in some cases we have chemicals that have been banned from children鈥檚 toys, but not food. This suggests that they are not safe for toddlers to touch, but are fine for them to ingest,鈥� he says.

Are Plastic Chemicals Harmful to People?

Make no mistake about it. A rapidly growing body of evidence proves that plastic chemicals are really bad for human health, not to mention the harm they cause the environment.

To get an overview of the health impacts, I reached out to Philip J. Landrigan MD, a pediatrician and biology professor at Boston College. Landrigan serves as director of both the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good and the Global Observatory on Planetary Health.

In October 2023, Landrigan published , a wide-ranging report covering the many health and environmental implications of plastic chemicals.

鈥淧lastics have allowed significant benefits to humanity in the fields of medicine, electronics, aerospace, and more. But it鈥檚 also clear that they are also responsible for significant harms to human health, the economy, and the earth鈥檚 environment,鈥� says Landrigan. 鈥淭housands of chemicals鈥攊ncluding carcinogens, endocrine disruptors, neurotoxicants, and persistent organic pollutants鈥攍each out of plastics and harm human health at every stage of the lifecycle, from production to discard.鈥�

For example, Landrigan says, consider the coal miners and oil field workers who suffer from cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. (These workers extract the raw materials that create plastic.)听The plastic production workers who have an increased risk of leukemia, lymphoma, and brain and breast cancer. The plastic recycling workers who contend with high rates of toxic metal poisoning and neuropathy. The workers in the plastics textile industry die of bladder cancer and lung disease. And the families who live near plastic production facilities who have increased risks of premature birth, low birth weight, asthma, childhood leukemia, lung cancer, and a host of other life-threatening ailments.

The report says that these harms exceed $500 billion per year in health-related costs in the U.S. alone.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 most concerning to me as a pediatrician,鈥� says Landrigan, 鈥渋s the risk that chemicals in our food pose to pregnant women and young children. We all need to be more aware of plastics鈥� threats to human health. And we need to take intentional steps to reduce our exposure and our children’s exposure to plastic.鈥�

Food Packaging Regulations Are Rolling Out鈥揃ut Not Fast Enough

The federal government has been slow to respond in a meaningful way to the growing body of evidence that plastics in our food system are poisoning us.

Just last week, a group of environmentalists filed a new lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the use of phthalates in plastic food packaging. For close to a decade, the FDA has ignored calls to take stronger action against phthalates. We lag far behind the European Union in this regard.

Reporting from suggests that this refusal is due to pressure from the chemicals industry, which would surely suffer in the face of a phthalates ban.

Still, some states have begun to take independent action to protect our food from plastics chemicals.

鈥淪tates have taken the lead on phasing out dangerous chemicals from food packaging and containers,鈥� says Gretchen Salter, policy director for Safer States, a national alliance that works to protect people and the environment from toxic chemicals. 鈥淥ur shows that 16 states have adopted 29 policies to remove chemicals like PFAS, phthalates, and bisphenols (chemicals like BPA and BPF)听from food packaging. Additionally, Washington state has recently 听to ban all听bisphenols in drink can liners and require disclosure of the use of all听bisphenols in food can liners.鈥�

5 Ways To Protect Yourself From Plastic Chemicals in Food

Try as we might, avoiding plastic food packaging altogether is downright impossible. But there are some things we can do to not only limit our exposure to their inherent chemicals (like phthalates, bisphenols, and PFAS), but to be part of long-term solutions that will protect our kids, grandkids, and all the generations to come.

1. 1. Avoid fast food and take-out. When you can鈥檛, get that hot food out of its packaging as soon as possible to avoid chemical leaching. Even pizza boxes contain PFAS.
   2. Bring your own take-out containers. When dining out, bring a glass or metal container from home for leftovers. And avoid putting plastic take-out containers into the microwave. Although the specific research around this practice is , most experts believe this can cause additional contamination and leaching.
   3. Opt for fresh, whole foods. Skip the packaging whenever you can. For example, buy loose veggies rather than those ensconced in plastic. For meat and fish, buy direct from the counter. Ask for it wrapped in paper, rather than picking up a package from the chiller, where it’s been resting in a plastic package for who-knows-how-long. (Note: even that butcher鈥檚 paper likely has chemicals on it, so unwrap it as soon as you get home.)
   4. Ditch all plastic from your kitchen. Yep, you heard me鈥攁ll of it. Storage containers, colanders, utensils, cereal bowls. Start to replace all of those items with glass, wood, metal, and ceramic. I鈥檝e scored some really high quality replacements at the second-hand stores I love to frequent. And don鈥檛 forget the Saran Wrap and Zip-Lock bags. Transition away from those, too, and go with beeswax bowl toppers and silicone baggies.
   5. Speak up! It takes one minute to to create a Global Plastics Treaty. Do it! Another powerful action you can take is to write a letter to your state congress representatives. Urge them to support the Global Plastics Treaty as well as state laws to ban toxic plastic chemicals. Here are to get you started.

Kristin Hostetter is 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 sustainability columnist. Sadly, she has eaten her last Chick fil-A Chicken Deluxe. But she’s currently working on recreating a healthier version in her home kitchen.听 Follow her journey to live more sustainably by for her twice-monthly newsletter.听

The post Proof That Our Food Is Filled with Plastic Chemicals appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

I鈥檝e read more books on climate action than I can count. So I don鈥檛 say this lightly: I鈥檓 obsessed with the one I just finished, by听Ayana Elizabeth Johnson.

In it, Johnson, a marine biologist and co-founder of the nonprofit think-tank , conducts interviews with 20 experts in everything from finance to farming to film and asks them to imagine what a replenished and healthy world might look like if we use the collective wisdom we already have to combat climate change.

I read this book in mid–November, right after the 2024 presidential election, and I was pretty gripped with climate anxiety.

This is not another preachy enviro-book. It鈥檚 not pushing hope for hope鈥檚 sake down our throats. Instead, it spotlights innovative solutions that are already working鈥攍ike an increased reliance on renewable energy, greening up transportation and buildings, regenerative agriculture, and reducing food waste鈥攁nd urges us to consider the possibilities when these things scale. Interspersed throughout the interviews are lists of jaw dropping facts, poems, and essays. And plenty of calls to action.

There was one paragraph that really hit me. In her interview with Paola Antonelli, senior curator for architecture and design at New York鈥檚 Museum of Modern Art, Johnson asks her a question that recurs throughout the book: 鈥淗ow can we be part of the solutions we need? Is there a call to action?鈥�

鈥淭he call to action is really to be better humans,鈥� Antonelli says. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how else to put it. Be better humans by understanding that we live for others. Otherwise we don鈥檛 have much reason to live. And when I say 鈥榦thers,鈥� I mean also the rest of the environment, all creatures and things. The answer is love.鈥�

I decided to reach out to Johnson for a climate pep talk. The book hit shelves in September 2024, and we’ve had a presidential election鈥攁nd a lot of global unrest鈥攕ince then. I was curious how Johnson felt now, and whether her attitude or ideas had shifted with the socioeconomic and political tides. Plus, I just really didn’t want the book to end. Johnson鈥檚 casual, conversational style of writing left me feeling like we were already friends and hoped I could glean even more insight from one of the most exciting minds in the climate movement.

OUTSIDE: Talk me off the ledge: the book鈥檚 premise听ponders what the听world would look like if we get climate action right. But can we actually get it right? In the time that we have? How?听

JOHNSON: I have a lot of angsty journalists on my calendar right now and I’m just like, at what point did I become everyone’s climate shrink? How did I become the pep talker? It鈥檚 sort of funny because I am decisively not an optimist. I’m well aware that this climate scenario could very easily go even further off the rails. But it has literally never occurred to me that we should give up because that’s absurd, right? You don’t give up on life on earth.

And so it just always comes back to the question of what can we do to make it better? Because not trying is not an option. I was raised by two people who were in various small ways active in the movement for civil rights. At no point did people in that movement say, 鈥淭his is too hard. Let鈥檚 just give up and be unequal forever.鈥�

Sometimes I think there are a lot of people out there who are just quitters when it comes to climate change. They think the odds are too long and they鈥檒l be gone anyway. But that’s a very weak and sad response.

Part of the problem is that we’ve been told that we have to stop or solve climate change. And those verbs are clearly delusional because we can’t solve it and we can’t stop it. But we can make things much better than they otherwise would have been if we didn鈥檛 try.

People just need to roll up their sleeves and get their heads in the game. I don’t really know what to say about the anxiety that most people are feeling except to say this: you will feel a hell of a听lot better if you’re doing something about it.

Most of the people reading this interview care and want to take action. But unfortunately there are so many who don鈥檛, who just go about their lives, and intentionally or unintentionally don鈥檛 think about what the world will look like in 50 years. What would you say to them? Wake up! As the saying goes, if you鈥檙e not part of the solution,听you鈥檙e part of the problem.

You use a Venn diagram exercise to help people find their niche in the climate movement. Can you explain how it works? To ensure a livable future on this planet, we need to move beyond the platitudes of reduce, reuse, recycle. There is no one person or one entity that can fix this problem. We need to create a culture where everyone has a role to play. Are we gonna put our heads in the sand or pitch in?

The Climate Action Venn Diagram is a tool that helps everyone find their unique role by finding the intersection of three questions. 1) What brings you joy? 2) What are you good at? 3) What work needs doing?

The book is the result of my Venn diagram.

The Biden-Harris administration has arguably taken more climate action than any in history. A lot of environmentalists are bummed鈥攅ven scared鈥攁bout the results of the recent presidential election. You wrote the book before it happened. How did the election impact you personally and how will it impact your work and message moving forward? The last Trump administration rolled back well over 100 environmental protections and we don’t want that to happen again. In this current environment, I think we may need to do some reframing. We may get more traction if we talk less about 鈥渃limate change鈥� but keep pushing on the solutions. For example, there may be some openings in just the basics like the government protecting clean air and clean water, and we can reframe a lot of climate stuff in those terms because all Americans care about that.听

When you feel like you鈥檙e banging your head against the wall, stop doing what you’re doing and find a different way. Because if yelling climate facts at people was enough, we would have solved this already, right?

I also think it will be really hard for the Trump administration to turn its back on the economic benefits we鈥檝e seen from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Especially when so many red states are benefitting the most. Texas and Iowa lead the nation on wind energy. Not because they鈥檙e a bunch of hippies but because the finances just make sense. As of 2022, the clean energy sector employs more than 3.3 million people, over three times more than fossil fuels.

My reaction to this election was OK, what does this mean for me and my work? My answer, after reevaluating all my projects: I just need to double down. That includes focusing on what city governments can do to adapt to climate change, via my think tank Urban Ocean Lab, and supporting the next generation of climate leaders through teaching at Bowdoin college, and consulting with corporations that are trying to get it right since the federal government isn鈥檛 adequately regulating their climate impacts.

But overall, the role that I see for myself in climate work is to welcome more people into it. We need way more people working on climate solutions. So how can I help people get creative and find their own personal approach?

Was your book tour, which really wasn鈥檛 a book tour in the traditional sense, part of that approach? Yes, the Climate Variety Show, which we put on in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Portland, Maine, was born out of my own complete lack of desire to read my book aloud in bookstores across the country. What could be more boring? People are already bored of climate change, so how do I entice people in? I feel like there are things we haven’t tried yet as far as communications and influencing our friends and family.

So the was all about taking climate seriously without taking ourselves seriously. It was basically like a high school talent show鈥攃omedy, dancing, hula-hooping, poetry, games, music, puppets, and magic all mashed up into an evening of delightful chaos.

And everyone there filled out their Climate Action Venn Diagram in real time. If you want to get a sense of what it was like, you can hear audio clips in and see a in my Substack newsletter.

In What If We Get It Right?, you end each chapter by asking your interviewee the top three things they wish everyone knew about their particular area of expertise. So I鈥檇 like to ask you: What are the top three things you want everyone to know about your book?

1. It鈥檚 quite a fun, spirited read. I鈥檝e been told the vibe of the book is like eavesdropping at a dinner party with me and 20 dear friends and colleagues, because the book includes interviews with these brilliant folks who are showing the way forward to their 鈥渧isions of climate futures,鈥� as the subtitle puts it. And if you listen to the audiobook, you get to actually hear these conversations.
2. There鈥檚 magnificent art and poetry mixed in.
3. I envisioned this book as something that people would read and discuss together, so, for book clubs and teachers, I made .

Oh! And as a bonus, the very last page has , which I spent an inordinate amount of time putting together and includes anthems for victory, love songs to Earth, tunes for tenacity, and sexy implementation vibes.

Kristin Hostetter is 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 sustainability columnist. This column is the result of a similar Venn diagram exercise she did several years ago when she became a founding member of the . Follow her journey to live more sustainably by for her twice-monthly newsletter.

The post This Book Is the Cure for Climate Anxiety appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Auden Schendler, one of the biggest climate advocates in the outdoor industry,听doesn鈥檛 start his new book, Terrible Beauty, with any of the myriad lessons he鈥檚 learned over decades of environmental work. Schendler, who is vice president of sustainability at Aspen One (parent company of Aspen Snowmass), doesn鈥檛 drop into scare tactics, or data, or the myriad ways global warming is harming recreation, business, and our ability to thrive. Instead, he opens with a camping trip in the Utah desert with a couple of buddies, chasing down dirt devils for the sheer glee of being outside in a storm.

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The book goes on to examine the ways we need to approach environmentalism if we want to experience that joy in the future. In his 25 years heading up sustainability initiatives for one of the ski industry’s biggest corporations, Schendler has been at the forefront of climate action. He converted Aspen’s utility to renewables, convinced its tissue supplier to stop cutting down old-growth trees, and led the outdoor industry in political lobbying. But he says we need to do more. A lot more. Corporate sustainability is failing, he says, and individuals aren鈥檛 leveraging enough of our personal and political power because we鈥檝e been cowed into thinking we don鈥檛 have any. And now, the clock is ticking. According to Schendler, modern environmentalism is broken鈥攂ut he has some ideas about how to keep it moving forward.

Terrible Beauty: Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul is a book about citizenship, the pursuit of purpose, and uphill battles you might not win but have to keep fighting anyway. It鈥檚 a book about right now.

What do you hope people take away from this book?

I want to suck people into the joy of the universe, then give them that technical payload on climate in a way that motivates them. When you ask people, 鈥淲hat do you care about?鈥� It’s things like community and family and wild places. But when you ask them, 鈥淲hat are you doing to protect those things against this existential threat?鈥� they throw up their hands. I wanted to give people tools to figure it out. So there鈥檚 a bunch of stuff about banks and how the financial sector impacts climate change, but this is a book about the human experience. I鈥檓 trying to say modern environmentalism is failing, but what can replace it? Can it be exciting?

Let鈥檚 talk about that failure. You鈥檝e that skiing is toast, and that we鈥檝e failed on climate as a society. How do we go forward in the face of that?

When you鈥檙e in a movement that鈥檚 losing it鈥檚 not glamorous, but this is where I think there鈥檚 a connection to the outdoor world. The purpose has to come in the doing of the thing. It鈥檚 like type 2 fun. It鈥檚 not about winning or losing鈥擨 think in any human endeavor it鈥檚 very rare to be able to say,听鈥測es, we won.鈥� Instead, we have to think about it like a practice. We鈥檙e improving the world. As much as a day in my life as a climate fighter is depressing, it鈥檚 also fascinating and weird and filled with these odd twists and turns and micro wins and crippling losses. There鈥檚 a lot of glee in getting into mischief.

You argue that the ways we鈥檝e largely been doing environmental work, particularly corporate sustainability, isn鈥檛 actually addressing the root causes of global warming. How do we change?

When we discovered that CO2 was going to be a problem in the fifties, we should have started getting off [fossil fuels], but we didn鈥檛 because we were misinformed, or because politicians were bribed, and since then we鈥檝e been working toward targets that are in line with what the fossil fuel industry would want. For instance, in my world, the outdoor world, you could say, 鈥渓et鈥檚 talk about recycled skis,鈥� but that doesn鈥檛 really move the needle. Instead, we need to be publicly lobbying our peers and elected officials on climate.

What can someone like me, who isn鈥檛 part of a big business or advocacy group, do to move the needle?

My prescription is this: You get a six pack and you get a few smart friends, and you ask each other 鈥淲here do we have power?鈥� You come up with an answer, then dismiss it if it鈥檚 not to scale.

Think about environmental activist Greta Thunberg, who said 鈥淚鈥檓 going to sit in this one spot for a year.鈥� That helped. You have to just try some stuff. The question is really: Do we want to be citizens or not? Can you go to a town council meeting and talk about the planning and zoning board? You can鈥檛 just sign an online letter and call it good. You have to do real stuff and move your body and get out into society, instead of giving into the inclination to stay in or avoid confrontation.

That requires bandwidth, and there are people who don鈥檛 have that, and that鈥檚 OK too. Revolutions don鈥檛 come from 100 percent of the population mobilizing, it鈥檚 typically 4 to 9 percent, and that can make a difference.

Bandwidth, and who has the ability to act on climate, seems like a really big part of the conversation.

When climate is forcing you into survival mode, you don鈥檛 have the leisure that humans need to thrive. You can鈥檛 just be recovering from the last fire or flood all the time. This is environmentalism writ large right now. You think I have the luxury to care about climate? I can鈥檛 feed my family or pay my health care bills. This gets to the broader question of whether we鈥檙e actually taking care of each other, and we鈥檙e not.

The tension in the book is that the thing that could destroy us is also a fundamental opportunity for change as a society. How do you walk that line?

The cover of the book meant to express that. Like, 鈥淒amn, this thing is kind of fucked up, but it鈥檚 still beautiful.鈥� I think about Tolkien’s idea of the long defeat, and how we鈥檙e in this long battle of good versus evil. We鈥檙e slogging through Mordor. I think this is humanity鈥檚 biggest project but we鈥檙e still making things better. It鈥檚 going to be uncomfortable and hard, but it can still be full of purpose and joy.

The post In “Terrible Beauty,” Auden Schendler Explains Why We鈥檙e Losing the Climate Fight鈥攁nd Why We Have to Keep Trying Anyway appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Update (January 9, 2025): The study cited in this article had a mathematical typo in calculating the exposure risk of a harmful chemical called deca-BDE, inflating the number by tenfold. As a result, some news outlets have canceled the study. But the recommendations to avoid black plastic in the kitchen remains, according to co-author of the study, Megan Liu: 鈥淒ue to our miscalculation (not included in the abstract, highlights, or conclusion) the estimated exposure of one of the chemicals detected, deca-BDE,听in kitchen utensils is an order of magnitude lower than we originally reported. But our recommendation to use alternatives such as wood and stainless steel, especially with kitchen utensils, remains. Deca-BDE is a banned flame retardant that can still pose health hazards, especially to children. Plus, our study also found 10 other harmful flame retardants in certain black plastic items. None of the chemicals tested are regulated in recycled plastics. And they should be.鈥�

Fair warning: if you invite me to dinner at your house and I spy a black plastic spatula in the utensil canister on your counter, I鈥檓 confiscating it. Not because I鈥檓 a thief, but because I care about you. I don鈥檛 want black plastic anywhere near your scrambled eggs or anything else that goes into your mouth.

A published in Chemosphere, a scientific journal covering environmental chemistry, sounds the alarm on the toxicity of black plastic, which is commonly used in kitchen utensils, take out containers, sushi and meat trays, and even childrens鈥� toys.

The study tested 200 household items for bromine, a chemical that indicates the presence of dangerous brominated flame retardants (BFRs). Of the 87 items that contained bromine, the 20 with the highest concentrations were then analyzed for BFRs. 17 came back positive. The items with the highest levels of BFRs: a take-out sushi tray, a black plastic spoon, and a children鈥檚 pirate necklace.

For me, the scariest part of this discovery is that BFRs have been banned in the U.S. since 2004. So why are they showing up in products on our shelves today? It鈥檚 because we鈥檝e recycled BFRs into places that they were never intended to go and it raises big questions about the safety of plastics recycling in general.

Is It Safe to Use Black Plastic?

The growing consensus among experts is that black plastic poses risks to human health and the environment. BFRs are linked to including endocrine, liver and kidney toxicity, cancer, adverse effects of fetal and child development, and more, according to The National Institute of Health Sciences.

鈥淥ur study showed that BFRs (including one called deca-BDE which has been banned in the U.S.) still exist in a percentage of new black plastic household items,鈥� says Megan Liu, co-author of the study and the science and policy manager for , an environmental health and advocacy nonprofit.

The problem, she says, is that BFRs is a broad class of chemicals and only a handful of them have been outlawed. (This is a common challenge with chemical regulations, as I discovered when researching an article on PFAs, aka forever chemicals.) When a specific iteration within a large class of chemicals is banned, companies often switch to a similar鈥攁nd equally harmful鈥攐ne. It鈥檚 been likened to a dangerous game of whack-a-mole in which companies technically stay compliant but exacerbate the danger.

Liu says black plastic contamination traces back to electronics or e-waste recycling. For decades, BFRs have been added to electronics to prevent fire-related injuries and damage to property. BRFs鈥攂oth the banned ones and their cousins鈥� are still in circulation as old and new e-waste makes its way into the recycling system.

鈥淲ithout regulations to end the use of harmful chemicals and prevent them from being recycled, toxic flame retardants will continue to enter our homes through the back door and show up in products,鈥� says Liu.

Plastic Was Never Meant to Be Recycled

This black plastic study reveals an inherent and much deeper problem with our plastic recycling system. Despite how desperately we want to recycle the plastic we consume, it was designed to be durable by its very own founding fathers.

Consider this听 against Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. The suit alleges that the mega companies contributed to the plastics crisis by misleading consumers with advertising that praises the recyclability of single-use beverage bottles. 鈥淓xcept at the margins,” the suit reads, 鈥渋t is theater鈥攁 show designed to make consumers feel good about, and be willing to, consume unprecedented volumes of defendants鈥� single-use plastic.鈥�

But don鈥檛 take my word for it. Take it from one of the early champions of disposable packaging. At a 1963 plastics conference, Lloyd Stouffer, editor of Modern Plastics magazine, gave a horrifyingly听celebratory speech about the disposable nature of their darling packaging material and all the money it would make them.

鈥淭he package that is used once and thrown away, like a tin can or a paper carton, represents not a one-shot market for a few thousand units, but an everyday recurring market measured by the billions of units,鈥� he espoused. 鈥淵our future in packaging does indeed lie in the trash can. You are filling the trash cans, the rubbish dumps and the incinerators with literally billions of plastics [sic] bottles, plastics jugs, plastics tubes, blisters and skin packs, plastics bags and films and sheet packages–and now, even plastics听cans,鈥� he said. I picture him raising his fist in celebration, dollar signs in his eyes. 鈥淭he happy day has arrived when nobody any longer considers the plastic package too good to throw away.鈥�

You can read the text of for yourself, and you should because it will blow your mind. It reads like an SNL parody. He waxed on and on about how all the different types of throw-away plastic鈥搄ars, bottles, cigarette boxes, shrink wrap鈥搘ere replacing reusables at a staggering rate. All while saving companies millions.

In this room full of industry titans, Stouffer was leading a pep rally for pollution.

Jackie Nu帽ez, advocacy and engagement manager for Plastic Pollution Coalition, summarizes the fundamental in four words: 鈥淭oxics in and toxics out.鈥� In other words, that should be taken out of the recycling system all together, and dealt with as the toxic/hazardous waste that it is.

鈥淚t鈥檚 ludicrous,鈥� says Nu帽ez. She even takes issue with the word 鈥渞ecycling鈥� when it comes to plastics. She argues that when plastics are reclaimed and melted down, they deteriorate and lose some of the function they were originally designed for. 鈥淓very time you heat up plastic, the chemical bonds weaken,鈥� she says. 鈥淭o turn it back into usable new plastic, virgin plastic must be fed in, perpetuating our hunger for plastic.鈥�

It sounds like the evil twin of a sourdough starter that needs to be fed in order to rise.

Is It Better to Not Recycle Plastics?

Our long-term goal, according to both Liu, Nu帽ez, and many other environmental and health experts, should be to phase out plastic production.

According to Plastic Pollution Coalition, about 460 million metric tons of plastic are now produced annually. That number is expected to triple by 2050. Yet, ever made has been reclaimed. Recycling rates for other materials, like aluminum, glass, and paper, are far higher.

鈥淭his black plastics study brings to light a disturbing fact about plastic recycling,鈥� says Liu. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 recycle our way out of the toxic plastic crisis. It is critical that governments adopt strong restrictions on harmful chemicals and plastics to protect the health of all people.鈥�

While Nu帽ez agrees that we need strong policies and regulations, and that polluters should pay for the harm they鈥檝e done, she does not think that we should just give up and stop recycling.

鈥淵es, consumers should still separate out and sort their plastic according to their local guidelines,鈥� says Nu帽ez. 鈥淭his is our current, albeit flawed, system. It鈥檚 not broken, it鈥檚 just contaminated with plastic.鈥�

How Can You Be Safe from Plastic?

While it鈥檚 clear that single-use plastic is bad for us and for the planet, it鈥檚 also, very hard to avoid it in today鈥檚 world. That听 said, here is an听ever-growing list of ways that I try to keep myself and my family safe from its harmful effects.

• Speak up! This is perhaps the most important thing you can do to create meaningful change. Ask your grocers and favorite restaurants to offer packaging choices that are nonplastic. Ask them to allow and embrace reusables. Write to your legislators and local officials and tell them we need to break free from plastic. Vote for politicians who support these views.
• Throw out your plastic kitchen utensils. This includes spatulas, spoons, strainers, bowls, cups, cutting boards, and containers.
• Shop smart. When you have the choice between plastic and any other material, steer clear of plastic. This is especially important when it comes to food packaging and anything that touches food.
• Adopt a reusable mindset. Carry听your own water bottle. Bring your own cup to the coffee shop. Even tote your own container to restaurants for leftovers. This not only keeps you听safe, it sends a message to the proprietors that you do not approve of single-use plastic.
• Know your local recycling guidelines. Really know them. Call your town or local recycling center and ask specific questions about exactly what they鈥檒l take and won鈥檛 take.
• Sign petitions. It鈥檚 a fast, easy way to be part of collective action. Here are two you can sign today in minutes: supports federal legislation that would limit plastic pollution. supports a global treaty with the same goals.

Kristin Hostetter is 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 sustainability columnist. She is on a perpetual quest to banish plastic from her life. Follow her journey to live more sustainably by for her twice-monthly newsletter.

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The leaves are starting to fall here in New England and that perennial urge to bust out the rake and leaf blower is nagging at me. But for the first time in, well, forever, I will resist that urge. Because it turns out, raking up and bagging or burning those leaves is not only bad for soil health. It also takes away habitat for important wildlife like bugs and birds, who are critical pollinators.

I know what you鈥檙e thinking. What will my neighbors think if I ignore my yard work? We鈥檝e been taught鈥攂y society, by our homeowner鈥檚 associations, by our parents, and by our landscapers鈥攖o keep our yards clean and tidy. To remove leaves and branches as they fall. To whack back our shrubs and perennials after they bloom. And to invest in big fall and spring clean-ups that scour our flower beds free of debris. Your neighbors might think the alternative鈥攁 yard with fallen leaves, long grass, and flowers gone to seed鈥攊s untidy, or even a threat to property values and health (by attracting bugs and animals).

But ecologists say we need to rethink our preconceived notions of beautiful, well-maintained yards. Lawns comprise 44 million acres in the U.S. alone, more than double the acreage of all our national parks combined. And as satisfying as a perfect green lawn may be, it鈥檚 an ecological dead zone that doesn’t support any of the essential听functions鈥攍ike pollination, carbon sequestration, and nutrient recycling鈥攖hat sustain our ability to live on this planet.

According to a by NatureServe, a nonprofit specializing in biodiversity data, more than one third of species and ecosystems in the U.S. are at risk of disappearing. This kind of biodiversity loss would be catastrophic for humans, ecologist and entomologist Doug Tallamy told me in an interview for a story I wrote about rewilding.

Thankfully, natural landscaping is trending. According to House Beautiful, the practice鈥攚hich includes native perennials, wildflower and pollinator gardens, xeriscaping, and lawn reduction鈥攊s one of . That鈥檚 good news for folks on a budget (and those who want to reclaim their fall weekends) because natural landscapes are way less cost- and time-intensive to听maintain. It鈥檚 also good news for all the bugs, birds, and bees, which are so critical for biodiversity.

But back to raking. As I write these words, I can hear the buzz of leaf blowers in my neighborhood. I can see a big truck piled high with collected leaves, about to be carted off to who knows where. Meanwhile, in my yard, I鈥檓 watching them fall and wondering how to harness their glory.

Why Experts Say Don鈥檛 Rake

鈥淟eaves are not litter,鈥� says Matthew Shepherd, the director of outreach and education at Xerces is a nonprofit focused on protecting and conserving insects and other invertebrates. 鈥淭hey provide critical food and shelter for butterflies, beetles, bees, moths, and other invertebrates. And we need to stop thinking of these tiny creatures as pests, but rather as heroes. Instead of banishing them from our spaces, we need to roll out the welcome mat.鈥�

Insects are critical to humans because they transfer pollen from plant to plant, which helps plants and crops reproduce. 鈥淲ithout these pollinators, and ample habitat for them, our global food supply would be drastically diminished,鈥� says Shepherd. Insects are also a valuable food source for birds, reptiles, and other insects, and they help aerate soil and decompose organic matter.

Additionally, leaf debris helps build healthy soil that holds moisture. Leaves are nature’s fertilizer: free, nutrient-dense organic matter that breaks down and feeds the soil. It’s pretty ironic that we sweep our yards clear of them and then run to the garden center to buy chemical fertilizers (which, according to The Freedonia Group, a market research firm, is a $4 billion market).

Here鈥檚 How to Get the Most Out of Your Leaves

As I watched the leaves pile up on my lawn, I started to wonder whether there were any downsides to letting them be. Is there such a thing as too much leaf litter? What if they dried out鈥攃ould they be a fire hazard? I reached out to Jamie 鈥淒ekes鈥� Dedekian, an organic lawn expert I’ve come to trust at my local garden center, Country Garden, in Hyannis, Massachusetts, to get some basic best practices.

鈥淚f you let leaves build up on your lawn over time, and just let them sit, the answer is yes, they will smother and could kill it,鈥� Dedekian told me. But the answer is not to do a big fall clean up. Instead, he recommended a few easy “clean-in” techniques that will harness all the goodness in those leaves and distribute them in a beneficial way across your yard.

As they start to fall, blow whole leaves into your flower beds, where they鈥檒l create wildlife habitat and eventually decompose and feed the soil and plants. Once you’ve created a blanket in the beds that鈥檚 a few inches thick, then it’s time to feed the lawn some leaves. 鈥淩emove the bag on your mower and mulch them up into small pieces,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 essentially a free compost application. As those small bits of leaves decompose they will actually help your lawn, not hurt it.鈥�

If you live in a wildfire-prone area, you will also benefit from some leaf redistribution, because dry leaf litter听can pose a fire hazard in hot, dry, windy conditions. Shepherd suggests raking them into a pile a safe distance away from structures鈥攖he U.S. Department of Agriculture at least 30 feet from the home鈥攁nd letting them decompose naturally there.

鈥淓ven a small pile of leaves can make a positive impact,鈥� Shepherd says. 鈥淛ust find a corner of your yard, make a pile, and let it be. The animals will find it, and they鈥檒l appreciate it.鈥�

5 Pro Fall Tips for the Eco-Conscious Gardener

As I wrapped up my conversation with Shepherd, I asked him what yard tasks I can be doing to improve the health and beauty of my space this fall. After all, I love gardening and yard work, and with less raking to do, I鈥檇 have lots of time on my hands. Here are his ideas.

1. Relax and watch. 鈥淛ust sit and enjoy your morning coffee while watching the finches feed on your seed heads and the bees buzz around the last of your lavender,鈥� says Shepherd. 鈥淪ometimes protecting and promoting habitat means doing less. Part of gardening should be just sitting back and enjoying it. Actually taking time to notice and watch and appreciate the wildlife that you’re bringing in.鈥� It鈥檚 also a good time to make notes about plants that thrived and those that didn鈥檛, and make a list of new plants you want to try next year. Think about your bloom period through the year. 鈥淒id you have periods when you didn’t have a lot of bloom? Are there native plants you could introduce to fill those gaps?鈥� he says.

2. Collect seeds. Are there plants you love and want more of? For me this year it was cardinal flowers, which drew hummingbirds into my yard every day. I鈥檓 leaving many of the seed heads intact for the birds to feed on, but I鈥檓 collecting some to plant.

3. Make a brush pile, also known as habitat pile. Find a lonely corner of your yard and start building a pile of sticks and branches for animals to. Start with the largest logs and branches on the bottom, and keep adding as time goes on. Be sure to leave gaps for airflow and wildlife access.

4. Save the stems. Some bees nest in the stems of shrubs and perennials, so resist the urge to chop them down to nubs.

5. Split native perennials. Fall is a great time to divide many plants. Dividing entails digging plants up and splitting the root ball into smaller sections to replant in different spaces. This practice promotes growth and is a great way to fill in gaps in your garden. I鈥檝e got tons of splitting to do this fall: black-eyed Susans, daisies, catmint, sedum, and lavender to name a few.

Kristin Hostetter is 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 sustainability columnist. On most weekends when she鈥檚 not out hiking, you can find her puttering in her garden or in the kitchen cooking up the fruits of her labor. Follow her journey to live more sustainably by for her twice-monthly newsletter.

The post Raking Leaves Is Pointless鈥攁nd Bad for Your Yard appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

With all the greenwashing that goes into destination marketing, it can be easy to lose sight of the true meaning of 鈥渟ustainability.鈥� It鈥檚 simple: 鈥淪ustainable鈥� travel is travel we can keep doing. And a huge part of that equation is going to places that have are committed to climate neutrality, where you can trust that your behavior upon arrival is sustainable by default.

These destinations have put serious thought and resources into creating sustainable experiences for travelers who want to do better and feel better about how they use their precious vacation days. More than most other places on Earth, there has been significant governmental investment in public transportation, tourist education strategies, environmental rehabilitation, and waste management. They鈥檝e weighed all that behind-the-scenes stuff that you don鈥檛 have a lot of control over on a short trip鈥攖he environmental overhead, if you will.

To make this list, we looked for cities, countries, and regions that are internationally recognized for environmental innovation. We considered places with听impressive public transportation networks, where you can easily get deep into the backcountry without renting a car. We also looked at rankings of per-capita carbon footprints, which correlates to how sustainable daily life is for the average resident. These destinations stood out for being easy to get around (without cars or commercial airlines), protective of cultural traditions, and sustainable overall by design.

1. Sweden

With one of the lowest per-capita carbon footprints in all of the developed world, it鈥檚 no surprise this Scandinavian nation offers perhaps the most guilt-free traveler experience you can find鈥攚hether you鈥檙e going for urban sightseeing or outdoor adventure. For starters, the country has an incredible waste management system. Earlier this year, Sweden enacted a law that requires everyone鈥攊ndividuals and businesses alike鈥攖o separate food waste from regular trash, which is then converted into biofuel. The country also recycles 35 percent of all plastic waste, and 82 percent of aluminum.

About 60 percent of Sweden鈥檚 electricity comes from renewable sources, and the country intends to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045. (In comparison, the United States gets only 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources, according to the Department of Energy.)

More significant commitments to green energy abound in various Swedish cities. The port city of Gothenburg has been ranked the world鈥檚 most sustainable city on the Global Sustainable Destination Index for seven years running. Nearly its entire public transit system runs on renewable energy, and over 90 percent of its hotels have been environmentally certified. Stockholm鈥檚 whole land-based public transit system also runs on green energy, and the Swedish capital aims to make all of its ferries carbon-neutral by 2030. In the far north, the city of Skellefte氓 is currently working on electric snowmobiles to offer visitors a quieter way to spot wildlife in the winter.

Access to nature is ingrained in the country鈥檚 ethos, which means there鈥檚 a broad 鈥渞ight to roam鈥� for hiking and camping pretty much everywhere. Even still, the government has recently started investing more heavily into building waymarked trails in lowland regions. To that end, Sweden has spent about $600,000 on the brand-new , which connects roughly 170 miles of new and existing trails across 22 islands using a series of ferries. As of October 2024, you鈥檒l be able to thru-hike the Archipelago from north to south (or vice versa), starting with a ferry ride from Stockholm itself.

I recently got a sneak peek of the trail on a visit out to the islands of Ut枚, N氓ttar枚, Sandhamn, and 脜l枚, and was stunned by how pristine, quiet, and diverse the land was. Some sections traverse soft, sandy beaches where you can swim in solitude even in mid-August. Others wind through evergreen forests dripping with so much moss and lichen that they seem enchanted. You can backpack the entire trail, camping for free on beaches and in forests, or you can stay in well-equipped inns, B&Bs, and guesthouses on every island.

Flight-free travel is easy across the country. Sleeper trains and overnight ferry services connect the major urban centers in the south to other mainland European cities, and the whole country is well-connected by train. From Stockholm, long-distance trains will take you directly into the Arctic.

Beyond all this, Sweden is helping other countries lower their environmental footprints, too. Swedish companies including Northvolt are . Spending your tourism dollars in Sweden contributes to this green economy.

2. Switzerland

Don鈥檛 even think about driving a car in Switzerland. There鈥檚 just no need鈥攁s soon as you arrive, you can take trains, buses, and trams right into the mountains. And if that鈥檚 not enough, gondolas, chairlifts, cable cars, and funiculars can dump you right out onto the trails. The entire nation鈥檚 public transportation network is at your disposal with a , which grants you license to hop on and hop off as you please.

Behind the scenes, about 75 percent of Swiss energy comes from renewable sources, and the country has a serious commitment to recycling. 82 percent of PET bottles actually get recycled in Switzerland, compared to about 30 percent in the U.S.

Switzerland is a vocal champion of international climate issues while also putting policies into practice at home. The nation鈥檚 tourism board has attempted to make the country synonymous with sustainable travel through its long-running 鈥淪wisstainable鈥� campaign, which promotes environmentally-friendly businesses throughout the tourism sector. In order to work with the campaign, partners have to undergo a grading process to prove they meet minimum criteria for sustainable practices.

The national tourism board is also addressing overtourism by touting lesser-known regions eager to welcome visitors. Val Poschiavo, for example, is one of many gateway towns to the , an ancient trade route-turned-hiking-trail. The region has excellent infrastructure but relatively few international visitors, which is an extra bonus for you if you鈥檙e looking for a destination where travel feels鈥攁nd is鈥攅asy while also seeming completely different from your everyday life.

3. Costa Rica

Costa Rica has long been synonymous with eco-tourism for the abundance and diversity of wild experiences within its borders. More than a quarter of the country鈥檚 land is formally protected, and according to the Global Alliance of National Parks, that makes it the world leader in percentage of land protected.

Over the last few decades, Costa Rica has worked hard to repair the damage of previous deforestation. In 2019, it received a Champions of the Earth award from the United Nations for those efforts鈥攖he highest environmental honor the UN awards. In 1987, the nation was only about 40 percent forested, and today that鈥檚 increased to over half. But the nation has no plans to stop there. Currently, the country generates about 98 percent of its energy from renewable sources. By 2050, the country hopes to be entirely carbon neutral.

Costa Rica does have some work to do with regard to recycling and waste management. In 2018, it was found that only nine听percent of renewable waste was recycled, though the country is now taking measures to address this. Earlier this year, Costa Rica passed laws banning the free distribution of single-use plastic straws and bags at the point of sale. Companies selling single-use bottles also have to agree to at least one of several measures to increase their use of recycled plastic, contribute to waste-management programs, or reduce their use of plastic packaging.听 听听

4. The Highlands, Scotland

Unlike the rest of the United Kingdom, Scotland has a broad 鈥渞ight to roam鈥� that mimics that of Scandinavian countries. Even on private land, you鈥檙e allowed to camp, hike, and paddle pretty much anywhere you like as long as you鈥檙e respectful of people鈥檚 homes and personal space. Protecting the land is an important aspect of Scottish culture, so you鈥檒l also find a strong bent toward听sustainability here. The government has committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2045.

If you want to take a guided adventure, go with Wilderness Scotland, an outfitter based in Aviemore. They鈥檝e long been a leader in the tourism industry when it comes to building and operating sustainable trips, and I鈥檝e seen first-hand how the company uses sustainable, locally-owned partners to elevate their small group adventures (starting at $1,825 per person). On one trip to Cairngorms National Park, we e-biked through the mountains to the off-grid Loch Ossian Youth Hostel, which can only be reached by foot or bike. The company uses trains where possible and has a fleet of electric vehicles to cart travelers when private wheels are necessary. They鈥檝e also scored every single one of their offerings so you can see how your carbon footprint on, say, an overnight, island-to-island kayaking and camping trip around the Hebrides compares to a trip where you鈥檇 stay in local inns and hotels.

Best of all, you can take the swanky Caledonian Sleeper Train straight from London to trail towns like Fort William, a terminus of the West Highland Way, and Inverness, where you can walk to put-ins for the .

5. Kyoto, Japan

Japan is a world leader in public transportation and plastic recycling. But the city of Kyoto wins for more than just environmental sustainability. The city has done an impeccable job of preserving its history and cultural heritage, too. It , like woven and dyed textiles, woodcrafts, and handmade washi paper, to keep them alive. There are also , which have been lauded for their dedication to maintaining their original form even as they age and restoration becomes inevitable.

Kyoto offers a fascinating balance of the new, the old, and the natural, all of which are connected by near-perfect public transportation. Within the city limits but worlds away from its busyness, you鈥檒l find the rural town of Ohara hiding among the foothills. Here, the natural environment blends seamlessly with urban comforts. Enjoy a stay in a ryokan to get a sense for traditional Japanese hospitality. Bathing rituals at onsen, or spring-fed baths, offer a glimpse at traditions that have evolved over more than a thousand years. Several temples in the area provide a quiet place for reflection among well-manicured grounds.

The city is also a leader in sustainable tourism among other peer cities in Asia. In 2019, it was the first Asian city to join the , which measures cities鈥� progress on various sustainability measures and creates benchmarks for improvement. Of course, there鈥檚 also ubiquitous public transportation connecting Kyoto to the rest of Japan, offering guilt-free access to adventure and culture well beyond the city limits.

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For about a year now, I鈥檝e been a devoted thrifter. I estimate that about 75 percent of the clothing and household items I鈥檝e purchased have been second-hand finds. My main motivation, of course, has been the environment. But I鈥檝e also saved a ton of money along the way.

And maybe the biggest boon of this lifestyle shift is my new mindset. Before, if I wanted something and could afford it, I鈥檇 just buy it. I鈥檇 scoop things up because they were a good deal, even if I didn鈥檛 need them. (Hello, cute $5 Old Navy T-shirts in three different colors!) I thought nothing of plopping things in my Amazon cart and clicking that Buy Now button for the instant gratification of it all.

As a thrifter, my spending is on a slow burn. I realize that I don鈥檛 need that metal colander (to replace my old plastic one) in two business days. I can survive without it until I find one on the wonderfully crammed shelves of Goodwill. And I know I will, eventually. (In fact, I did, for $3.)

The 鈥渘eed it now鈥� mindset is expensive and carbon intensive, what with all that packaging and shipping. It鈥檚 also mentally exhausting and stressful. Where do you think the term 鈥渟hop til you drop鈥� came from?

On the flip side, I鈥檝e found that by slowing down my shopping habits, I start to see more sustainable opportunities everywhere. I fix things more often, rather than replace them. By waiting before I buy something, I realize that I can get by just fine without it. Or at least until I find it in a pre-loved condition.

And I鈥檓 not alone. The resale market, a.k.a. thrifting, is booming.

The Rise of Thrifting

According the ThredUp’s annual , the global market for secondhand stuff will reach $350 billion by 2028 and is going three times faster than the overall apparel market. The boom is driven by the surge of online marketplaces and the shopping habits of Gen Z and Millennials.听 Thrifting can take many forms: yard sales, estate sales, flea markets, Goodwill and Salvation Army stores, vintage shops, and online marketplaces like Poshmark, The RealReal, and ThredUp.

Options for outdoor gear also abound. Companies like Geartrade and Out&Back Outdoor will resell your old gear (for a small commission), and also offer great deals on pre-used stuff. Companies such as Patagonia, The North Face and Arc’teryx have their own and even brand-centric resale platforms. Remember classified ads in the back of the newspaper?

Embracing the resale market has a significant impact on the environment. Thrifting reduces waste, keeps items out of the landfill, slashes energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and it cuts demand for “fast fashion.”

In no particular order, here are my favorite thrifting finds. Happy hunting!

1. Beautiful Bird Bath

Community 鈥淏uy Nothing鈥� groups and local virtual yard sales can yield some great treasures. I wanted a pretty stone bird bath to entice hummingbirds to my yard, but new ones are upwards of 100 bucks. So I went on Facebook, found my local virtual yard sale, and made a post: 鈥淪eeking a cement bird bath, any condition.鈥�

In a matter of days, someone from a few towns over DM鈥檈d me saying I could have theirs for free. I picked it up, patched the cracks, and now it resides happily in my garden.

2. Heirloom Skillet

I鈥檝e ditched all my nonstick cookware because it contains toxic forever chemicals and downsized my pot and pan collection. I realized that I didn鈥檛 need three different 8-inch skillets and five similarly sized sauce pans cluttering up my cabinets, even though I鈥檓 a dedicated home chef. Now I have just a couple of stainless steel pots, a big copper skillet, and a medium sized cast iron one. But I wanted a small one for single servings.

I scored a super high quality, 鈥渃ollectible,鈥� 8-inch Griswold skillet at a flea market for $12. It needed a little love, but I was happy to oblige and now it鈥檚 as good as new. ( to revive and reseason cast iron.) The same skillet on eBay goes for over $100.

3. Go-To Hiking Boots

I鈥檝e loved my Hoka Anacapa Mid GTX hiking boots for years. In fact, I鈥檝e loved them to death and I needed to replace them. Thanks to a free Chrome extension called , I found an almost new pair on Poshmark for $47 (they sell for $195 new). When you search something on Google, Beni automatically scours more than 40 resale sites to find the exact product. I highly recommend downloading Beni.

4. Forever Garden Clogs

I鈥檝e burned through several cheap plastic pairs over the years and wanted a permanent solution. Poshmark to the rescue again. My $30 bid for ever-so-gently used L.L.Bean Boot Rubber Mocs (new they go for $60) was accepted. This is likely the last pair of garden clogs I鈥檒l ever buy.

5. My Favorite Jeans

Everyone knows old jeans are the best jeans. Old, thrifted jeans are even better. And not just because they鈥檙e the most comfy, but because new denim has . That鈥檚 why I was stoked to meet my favorite pair ever in a humble church basement thrift shop: vintage-y Levi鈥檚, all soft and perfectly broken in, with cute rear pocket stitching. They set me back 8 bucks.

6. Preppy Madras Pants

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with the preppy look. (Does anyone remember ? It was my teenage fashion bible.) My drawers were filled with classic button down shirts and lots and lots of madras. When I found a pair of slightly obnoxious madras J. Crew clam diggers at a second-hand store, I was filled with nostalgia for feathered hair and mixed cassette tapes. They were a steal for $7.

7. Not Your Grandpa鈥檚 Overcoat

Even during my preppy high school days, I was a thrifter. I鈥檓 not sure whatever happened to that oversized brown tweed men鈥檚 overcoat I rocked to school each day back then, but I recently found a similar version for $12 in mint condition. Even though I鈥檓 more of a puffy jacket girl these days, this is my new cool weather go-to when I want to class things up a bit.

8. Kitschy Party Shirt

I鈥檓 always on the lookout for quirky-cool clothes for my sons. My ski-obsessed youngest loves this fun button down printed with vintage French resort ski posters. It鈥檚 100 percent cotton, nice quality, and it was ours for a fiver. Mom for the win!

9. Birthday Guitar

My son is a strummer and a traveler, but the two don鈥檛 often mix. Sitting around a campfire not too long ago, he wished he had his six-string. I thought back to a long ago review of a packable Martin guitar I edited for BACKPACKER. Back home, I fired up Google and found one in great condition on GuitarCenter.com for $184 ($319 new).

听11. Travel Art

The vast majority of art you find while thrifting is crappy鈥揻aded Norman Rockwell prints, sappy animal portraits, and Impressionist train wrecks. But once in a while, you find a real treasure. My favorite is a simple street scene that reminds me of my travels. Is it Spain, France,听 Italy, or Peru? Who cares? I wish I were there, and the frame alone is worth more than the $40 I paid for it.

10. Garden Helper

So many new tools are cheap and plasticky, while the old school stuff is often higher quality and made from metal and wood. I love trolling the quirky and aptly named Used Tool Store near me when I need a specific piece of equipment for a project, like a drill bit extender or a compost turner. That鈥檚 when I found a funky two-point garden fork with super-skinny tines that fluffs my compost perfectly. It set me back $10.

Kristin Hostetter is 国产吃瓜黑料’s sustainability columnist. She buys everything she can through thrifting and loves the thrill of the hunt.听 Follow her journey听to live more sustainably by听听for her twice-monthly newsletter.

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If you were to unfurl all the toilet paper that Americans use in a year, it would stretch more than 930 million miles. That would reach from the Earth to just beyond Saturn.

Toilet paper is one of those ubiquitous household items we all use every single day. I don鈥檛 know about you, but I鈥檝e never given my bum-cleaning tool too much thought.

But consider this: per year, producing our toilet paper bridge to outer space churns up tens of millions of trees and uses approximately 197 billion gallons of water per year. And production emits as much greenhouse gas as 12.4 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles. When I read these mind-blowing numbers, I started to give a crap about toilet paper.

What Is the Most Environmentally Friendly Toilet Paper?

Not all toilet paper is created equal, says Ashley Jordan, corporate campaign advocate for Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).听NRDC is a nonprofit environmental advocacy group that leverages science, policy, law, and people power to safeguard the earth.

NDRC publishes an , analyzing and grading (A to F) the environmental impact of top brands. This grade takes into consideration the impact tissue production has on Canada’s听boreal forest, a massive swath of old growth trees that stretches for 1.2 billion acres from Newfoundland to Alaska.

The Canadian boreal forest is an environmental superhero. “Its soil and vegetation stores more carbon acre-per-acre than any other terrestrial ecosystem on Earth,” says Jordan. “But every year, Canada clearcuts a million acres of boreal forest, in part, to feed U.S. tissue consumption. The toilet paper we choose can have a major impact.”

But not all toilet paper comes from this embattled ecosystem, and the NRDC also examines products generated from other sources.

Breaking Down the Impact of the Three Major Types of Toilet Paper

Forest fiber

Most toilet paper brands come from wood pulp harvested from trees. Think Charmin, Scott, Cottonelle, and Kirkland (Costco) as well as most low-budget brands. 鈥淓ach roll of forest fiber toilet paper uses around 1.2 to 2 pounds of wood,鈥� says Jordan. 鈥淚t requires twice as much water and has three times the carbon footprint of recycled fiber tissue.鈥� No surprise: all the 100 percent forest fiber toilet papers received Fs on NRDC鈥檚 report card.

Many forest fiber brands display 鈥淔SC Mix鈥� label鈥攁 certification that requires a product to be made from a blend of recycled wood and trees harvested from specific forests (including the Kirkland brand that I’ve bought for years). 鈥淔SC Mix brands brands get some additional points in our methodology,” says Jordan, “but ultimately, they still earn F grades.鈥�

Bamboo

The wood-like plant is often touted as an environmentally friendly alternative because it鈥檚 fast growing and has a lower land use impact and carbon footprint than forest fiber. 鈥淚t is a better option,鈥� says Jordan, who notes that bamboo toilet papers received Bs and Cs on NRDC鈥檚 report card. 鈥淏ut where that bamboo comes from is an important factor. Did it come from a bamboo plantation that was clearcut and converted from a natural forest? Or did it come from a natural bamboo forest?鈥�

Jordan says it can be difficult to tell, so she recommends looking for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) 鈥�100%鈥� certification label. 鈥淚t indicates that the bamboo was sourced in a way that limits negative forest impacts,鈥� says Jordan.

100 Percent Post-Consumer Recycled

These products come听from paper that has been diverted from the landfill through recycling, then de-inked, re-pulped, and turned into tissue. This is the most environmentally-friendly choice, Jordan says. 鈥淎s opposed to pre-consumer recycled content, which comes from scraps at manufacturing operations or unsold paper products, post-consumer recycled products have that added element of helping divert waste from landfills and fostering a more circular economy,鈥� says Jordan. The brands that use 100 percent recycled fibers all received As and B+s.

Are Bidets More Environmentally Friendly than Toilet Paper?

The short answer is yes, bidets are more sustainable than toilet paper. They save trees and, surprisingly, they save water, too.

Unless you live in a water-scarce environment, bidets win over toilet paper because spritzing your bum uses far less water than wiping it. Here’s some conservative math: A typical bidet uses about one-eighth of听a gallon of water per-flush. A single roll of standard forest fiber toilet paper requires six gallons. (Recycled toilet paper uses about three gallons). So one roll of standard toilet paper, which lasts my family of four maybe two days, equals 48 bidet sprays. If we each spray twice a day, that means a bidet uses 33.3 percent less water.

And there鈥檚 another factor to consider, too. Toilet paper, like so many of our household items, , which I wrote about several months ago. Also known as PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, this family of chemicals has been linked to a whole host of environmental and health problems like cancer, liver and thyroid problems, reproductive problems, and increased risk of birth defects, among others.

Since we know that the skin absorbs PFAS through contact, it鈥檚 a scary thought: with each wipe we could be exposing ourselves鈥攊n the most intimate way鈥攖o extremely toxic chemicals. Bidets avoid this exposure.

My Bidet Experiment

Bidets have been around since the 1700s, and while about 70 percent of the world uses them regularly, Americans have been slow on the uptake. That all changed when the pandemic hit and we were all scrambling to stockpile toilet paper. Since 2020, bidet sales in the U.S. have grown by .

I decided to see for myself what all the hype was about, so I ordered up one of the most popular, affordable bidets, the . After a simple 15-minute install, I was in business.

The Classic 3.0 is a simple insert that attaches to the base of the toilet between the bowl and the seat. A control panel juts out to side. A knob on the panel controls the spray. Here鈥檚 how it works: You sit. You poop. You spin the knob which controls the pressure, and a targeted jet of water hits you where the sun doesn鈥檛 shine. After about five seconds, you turn off the jet, grab a square of (recycled) toilet paper, dab dry, and off you go. (Tushy also offers washable bum towels as an alternative to toilet paper, but I have yet to make that leap.) My toilet paper use has plummeted by about 90 percent.

It鈥檚 been about a month of butt-washing, and I adore it. Seriously, there is nothing not to love about using a bidet. It saves trees, it saves water, it saves money, and my bum has never, ever been so clean. I鈥檒l be ordering Tushys for the other bathrooms in my house. Heck, I鈥檒l be ordering them for people on my Christmas list.

The upgraded model, the , is intriguing. It includes a seat warmer, a blow dryer, and the ability to control the water temperature. (I will surely appreciate this winter months!) But the Ace requires an electrical outlet near the toilet. I plan on installing one before the cold comes.

*The internet is rife with conflicting data about toilet paper. I made a few assumptions based on reliable sources (listed below) and relied on to determine the amount of resources that toilet paper consumes. Note: I calculated the numbers for forest fiber toilet paper. The reality is that an indeterminant portion of U.S. toilet paper usage is recycled.

• The average roll of toilet paper weighs 5 ounces and stretches .03 miles, according to my actual measurements.
• U.S. population is 345,000,000, according to
• The average person uses 85 rolls or 28 pounds of toilet paper per year, according to Statista. I adjusted this number conservatively because Statista’s assumption that a roll of toilet paper weighs just three ounces seemed way light compared to the variety of rolls I measured.听

Hostetter has invited several friends over to poop on her bidet. Each one left a convert. Follow her journey to live more sustainably by for her twice-monthly newsletter.

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