Strategic Management and Sustainability #29
Wear your heart in your feet and some other examples to make the difference
Good morning,
Today's newsletter is about some important stakeholders: customers, citizens, ultimately us as individuals and our students as representatives of Generation Z đ.
What are they doing? What are they not doing? What can we do as individuals on sustainability issues?
This topic was introduced within the context of a company in Strategic Management and Sustainability #15 newsletter where our UC3M students gave some tips for better energy consumption in the workplace. In newsletter #2, they also provided an app to measure the water footprint and in #6 an Ecological Footprint Calculator.
In the current newsletter Andrea LĂĄzaro DomĂnguez explains some practices young people can adopt to fight against the climate change, Alexander Vermeersch analyzes the Black Friday effects for Amazon and small businesses and makes some advice for us as customers. Maria Giulia Armentano gives us advice nor to waste resources on our Christmas shopping. AndrĂ©s Pires Franco presents the case of the National Football League (NFL), in which some players âwear their hearts on their feetâ. Learn more about it below. Finally, Julia Kuzovkova offers some reasons why there are still climate change disbelievers
We will try to finish all the newsletters before 2021 ends. Therefore, there will be more soon.
Enjoy reading!
Gloria Ălvarez HernĂĄndez
Today's newsletter is a long one 2476 words, about a 10-minute read.
BE THE CHANGE
Andrea LĂĄzaro DomĂnguez
Sustainability for positive change is nowadays required if we want to save our world. There is an urgent need to change our way of living, thinking, and acting if we want to leave a habitable world to our descendants. When it comes to this kind of topic, itâs clear how youngsters play the main role, as they are the ones that are not only living in the present time but also will live in the future.
Undoubtedly, some actions are beyond our capabilities. The reduction of CO2 emissions by big enterprises, protecting and maintaining ecosystems through actions such as reforestations, promoting green energies, using electrical cars, recycling initiatives⊠Nonetheless, these actions, that are the ones that would make a greater impact, are most of the times out of the hands of young individuals. This does not mean that us, the young people, cannot contribute to the change. The first step in order to take action would be to involve ourselves in the matter. Some examples of actions that we can undertake are:
Reuse products in order to reduce the trash that goes to dumping sites.
Recycle.
Buy secondhand products such as clothes.
Buy ecological products.
Use public transport or bicycles therefore reducing car emissions.
Waste less light and water.Â
We, young people, by adopting these practices and creating awareness can improve the critical thinking of future generations and contribute to building a more sustainable world. Awareness is needed of the impact that these actions have on our lives, as the future is ours, as the future is us.
Source: https://selectra.es/energia/info/10-acciones-para-combatir-el-cambio-climatico
Black Friday boycott?
Alexander Vermeersch
Black Friday is a special day for many consumers, between extremely beneficial sales and special offers. This day coming from the United States is more and more known in Europe and more and more expected. We will see why it is good to fight against Black Friday and why it is absolutely necessary to boycott this day and not to take advantage of the price reductions.
One of the first reasons is to avoid compulsive shopping and mass consumption. As we all know, our society has a tendency to overproduce and overconsume things that we don't necessarily need. So a day where prices are so unseemly that it pushes us to consume may not be the best thing right now. For example, there might be a great discount on a TV but did you know that producing it requires extracting 2.5 tonnes of raw materials, and generates 350kg of COâ? In other words, before it is even used, a TV set emits as much COâ as if you were flying from Paris to Marrakech. And this example is not taken at random, in fact the two types of items most purchased during black friday are textiles and high-tech products. And they are among the most polluting to produce.
The textile industry represents between 3 and 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Its production method has a harmful impact on the planet: to manufacture a pair of jeans, it takes at least 7,500 litres of water!
The television set was just one example of the high energy cost of high-tech products, another example could be the fact that to manufacture a 70g smartphone, 70kg of raw materials are needed In short, the ecological impact of over-consumption can be enormous and Black Friday pushes us towards this over-consumption. We know that in France, for example, in 2020, 56 million online transactions were carried out in 24 hours on the occasion of Black Friday.
Then from a societal point of view, Black Friday clearly helps big companies like Amazon for example. For small businesses, Black Friday is often synonymous with selling at an unfair price. So it is not doing them any favours. Especially when you know that there are already two sales periods and that in the end it is probably enough.
As said before, the biggest winners of Black Friday are the online sales sites like Amazon. And who says online sale says delivery. These distance sales have a heavy ecological footprint. By multiplying online shopping, you also multiply the trucks, planes and other transport of goods which is obviously not good for the planet. Not to mention the energy consumption required to buy these products online.
In short, next Friday 26 November, think about the planet (and your wallet) and don't consume more than you have to. In other words, don't (or not too much) take advantage of Black Friday.
Bibliography
Chalvin, E. (2020). Lâimpact Ă©cologique du Black Friday sur lâenvironnement My Little Cabane. https://mylittlecabane.fr/blog/post/l-impact-ecologique-du-black-friday-sur-lenvironnement.html
L. (2020, 17 novembre). 6 raisons de boycotter le Black Friday en 2020. llunimes. https://illunimes.com/6-raisons-de-boycotter-le-black-friday-cette-annee-2020/
Pano, A. (2021, 16 novembre). Comment mesurer lâimpact environnemental du rĂ©emploi dâun ordinateur ? WeeeFund. https://weeefund.fr/index.php/2021/06/18/commentmesurer-limpact-environnemental-du-reemploi-dun-ordinateur/
Pollution numérique : comment la réduire ? (2021, 17 novembre). Greenpeace France. https://www.greenpeace.fr/la-pollution-numerique/
HOW TO BE GREEN THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
Maria Giulia Armentano
With the holidays comes a major part of the waste and pollution of the year. Production and demand for every type of product raise exponentially so itâs important to be aware of the damage that is being caused and to try reducing waste of valuable resources.
Some suggestions to be sustainable while celebrating Christmas are:
·      Shop local, this can be beneficial for you, since you are buying unique gifts for your loved ones, but itâs also very beneficial for your community as you are supporting the local economy.Â
·      To be more original you could consider giving your friends and family an experience. You could purchase a gift certificate for spa services, restaurants, a weekend getaway or even for auto repair services! These certificates can be a great way to get out of the house and meet up with your loved ones now that covid restrictions are being lifted.
·      Donât purchase anything: homemade gifts could be more appreciated and have more sentimental value than anything bought at a store. You could make homemade ornaments, picture frames, soap, or a photo book. You could also consider offering your time to someone busy or making a donation to a charity of your choice in someone elseâs name.
·      There are also a lot of sustainable products that could be gifted: plantable colored pencils that contain seeds you can plant when you are done using the pencil, blooming lollipops that are made with seed-filled sticks, compostable toothbrushes and toothpaste bits that donât waste a lot of plastic on packaging, silicone straws or reusable storage bags.Â
·      Buy pesticide free trees and energy saving led holiday light. If you are opting for a live tree, make sure you know where to plant it after the holidays and that you are not throwing it away. If you canât plant it, consider recycling it by cutting it into firewood, using it in crafts or composting it.Â
·      For your dinner cook organic and local food so you can support local family farmers and get a tastier and healthier meal.
Some other general suggestions are to bring your own reusable bags from home when going shopping in order to reduce plastic consumption or to ask at the first shop you visit for a large bag and keep using it for the next purchases at different locations. Shop online rather than driving a lot to reduce fuel consumption, do not subscribe to printed holiday gift catalogues, if you send Christmas cards use the paper ones instead of the plastic ones, be sure to recycle all the materials you can, reuse empty chocolate and candy tins and donate your old items and unwanted gifts instead of throwing them away.
Sources:
https://green.harvard.edu/tools-resources/green-tip/green-your-holiday-season
https://www.smallfootprintfamily.com/eco-friendly-holiday-tips
Players choose sustainability in âMy Cause My cleatsâ day in NFL
Andrés Pires Franco
In the National Football League (NFL), games played on week 13 means the kickoff of the My Cause My Cleats campaign, and players across the country will "wear their hearts on their feet" through customized cleats that represent organizations that are significant to each of them. This year, participants will be supporting youth empowerment, social justice and environmental causes, and healthcare accessibility. For many, the annual My Cause My Cleats game is an opportunity to continue longtime support for their organizations.
Some players have chosen to represent new organizations. Specifically, Will Dissly and Tyler Lockett have chosen causes with a focus on environmental sustainability. Dissly will raise awareness for 4ocean, a corporation committed to ending the ocean plastic crisis, and Lockett will support Gathering Place, a cornerstone for the Tulsa, Okla. community while also improving social, economic, and environmental sustainability.
After the week 13 games, the cleats are auctioned, and people can bid on the game-worn shoes to also support the cause. Most players set a starting point of $125 to their customize pair. Fans can bid on them at NFL.com/Auction and the 100% of the money is destined to the charity of choice.
The My Cause My Cleats initiative was created in 2016 and was designed for NFL players to showcase the charitable cause that is most important to them in front of a national audience, this allows player to show and support their initiatives and give them more voice by showing and promoting their causes.
Source:
Reasons there are still climate change disbelievers
Julia Kuzovkova
Claim 1: Climate change is part of a natural cycleÂ
Weâll start by giving you one. Yes, there are natural cycles. For instance, deniers love pointing to 17th century Dutch oil paintings as proof of a mini ice age, of all things, because they often depicted frozen lakes. Of course, it only takes a few days for a lake to freeze, and even fewer to thaw. The role of âpalaeoâ scientists, like Mike, is to check whether recent changes look like past natural cycles. They donât! The changes in the last 40 years are too big, and too fast. In fact, the most powerful cycles we know about are slowly pushing us towards a colder climate. Above all, simply look at the annual average of worldwide land surface temperature. From 1910 to 2010 it has steadily increased, Dutch oil paintings or not.Â
Claim 2: Climate change isnât that bad; life will find a way.Â
Ok, for a start, stop using Jurassic Park quotes as the basis of your science. The fact is that the rate of climate change is putting huge ecological stress on our environments. Think of the noble oak tree, if you will. In the past, if its environment became too hot, a tree would of simply drop its acorns a few metres north each winter, and over hundreds of years move 50 miles north where it was cooler. The problem is that now, with humans having urbanised so much of the environment, that acorn will likely hit concrete before reaching its promised land. The same goes for bugs, small mammals and fish⊠thereâs simply no where to go and no route to get there.
Claim 3: I thought things were getting hotter. Have you seen how much it rains?Â
Hold tight, this one is really simple. The sun heats the planet. Heat evaporates water. Vapour gathers as clouds. Rain falls from clouds. In short: the hotter, the wetter. Recent research from the University of Hull into Libyan weather patterns over the last 10,000 years has born this to be true, with rainfall increasing alongside a rise in average yearly temperature. Can we please put this one to bed now?Â
Claim 4: The models used to measure climate change are unreliableÂ
The models are experiments, not oracles!. But theyâre the same models that predict your daily weather and, bar the odd missed shower, theyâre not predicting snow in summer. In fact the first climate prediction came in 1901, from a scientist who wanted to judge how much coal heâd have to burn to start a vineyard in Sweden. With just a few scribbles on a piece of paper he predicted how burning different levels of CO2 would warm the planet over time. Amazingly, and worryingly, his prediction is in line with todayâs measurements.Â
Claim 6: Thereâs no scientific consensusÂ
Oh give over. Not this one again. âThis hasnât been true for over a decade,â says Mike. âThe problem is that society gets climate information from the media, not from scientists. And the media, in an effort to seem unbiased, often line up one climate scientist against one denier to debate their point. But that doesnât mean that the scientific community is split 50/50 on climate change. Actually itâs more like 97/3.â Weâll let you guess which way.Â
Claim 7: The big conspiracyÂ
Whether itâs scientists lying to earn big research grants, the illuminati or aliens⊠there are dozens of outlandish conspiracies as to why climate change reports are not to be trusted. But beyond ridiculous is the idea of nearly every scientist in the world trying to keep one big secret. People seem to misunderstand the economics. For one, if there was a scientific basis for denying climate change, donât you think scientists would be running to BP, Shell and every other coal-burning corporation for big money research grants? âThe idea that climate scientists must have some big conspiracy WhatsApp group or underground lair is beyond absurd,â laughs Mike. âRecently Trump claimed that climate change is a Chinese funded conspiracy. My wife turned to me and asked, âwell where's our secret Chinese cheque then?â If only!
Source: https://www.hull.ac.uk/special/blog/why-people-still-believe-climate change-is-fake-and-why-we-know-theyre-wrongÂ
Picture: https://www.iberdrola.com/environment/climate-change-mitigation-and-adaptation