10 Sustainability Movements Driving Us into the Future and the New Regenerative Economy
By: Carbon Radio
Tags: Future, Sustainability, Leadership, Climate Change, Environment

Image Source: Shutterstock

Despite the imminent threat of climate change and the converging environmental tribulations, there is reason to be optimistic about our future. The broad sustainability movement has gained significant traction due to the ingenuity and leadership in smaller sub-movements. While the sustainability movement, as a whole, still needs to grow and accelerate, there have been clear and noteworthy advances that can be attributed to the concentrated efforts of various sustainability factions. Here are 10 focused movements that are making a big difference in the transition to a sustainable future.

1. Cradle to Cradle Design, The Upcycle, and the Circular Economy: Architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart disrupted the way we make things with their 2002 book Cradle to Cradle that was memorably not printed on trees. And, their 2013 book The Upcycle reinforced the notion that waste does not occur in natural systems. The duo articulate a clear vision for society — “a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy, and just world with clean air, water, soil, and power, economically, equitably, ecologically, and elegantly enjoyed.” Their vision continues to spread with the creation of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute founded in 2010 and conversations around the circular economy have blossomed all over the world. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, also launched in 2010, is on a mission to accelerate the transition to a circular economy that 1) designs out waste and pollution, 2) keeps products and materials in use, and 3) regenerates natural systems. Think about the impact this will have on the next generation of designers. Imagine how beautiful and elegant our products, architecture, and systems will be as we begin to see these designs implemented.

2. Biomimicry: Janine Benyus has also inspired the next generation of designers by exploring nature’s best ideas. She has developed and led a growing segment of the broader sustainability movement that emulates nature’s designs and processes to create a healthier more harmonious relationship between humans and the environment. The Biomimicry Institute and the Global Biomimicry Network have mobilized tens of thousands of students and practitioners to solve the world’s most complex design challenges. The International Living Future Institute also hosts a Living Product Challenge encouraging manufacturers to create products that are healthy, inspirational, and give back to the environment. The solutions that have emerged from biomimicry are brilliant, elegant, and often the result of interdisciplinary teams driven by curiosity and the creative pursuit of imitating nature.

3. Green Buildings: According to the Alliance to Save Energy, “Buildings — including offices, homes, and stores — use 40% of our energy and 70% of our electricity. Buildings also emit over one-third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, which is more than any other sector of the economy.” So, it makes sense that so many have decided to focus on our built environment. The built environment is also ideal as there are many building owners and stakeholders that can pursue the low-hanging fruit of energy conservation projects in many ways. When it comes to the design of new buildings, the U.S. Green Building Council has lead the way with their industry-defining LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certifications. The U.S. Green Building Council was founded in 1993, and has led the transformation of the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry over the past three decades. And now, the industry is advancing further with attempts to raise the bar on building performance. The International WELL Building Institute is “the leading global rating system and the first to be focused exclusively on the ways that buildings, and everything in them, can improve our comfort, drive better choices, and generally enhance, not compromise, our health and wellness.” This rating system, similar to LEED, is articulating a vision at the intersection of buildings and public health. Combine this with the goal of Net Zero Energy, and we get a very high performing and beautiful building stock. The next 20 years of architecture will be invigorating and high performing.

4. Plant-based Diets — The World Resources Institute (WRI) has focused significantly on the impact of animal agriculture on global emissions. The WRI website states, “the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that total annual emissions from animal agriculture (production emissions plus land-use change) were about 14.5 percent of all human emissions, of which beef contributed 41 percent.” So, there is a significant need for us to reduce the amount of meat we eat. If we were to get to 100% electricity produced by renewables and found a way to achieve a neutral carbon footprint in every sector but agriculture, we’d still be 14.5% away from having a completely greenhouse gas neutral economy. Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat, two companies that Bill Gates has invested in, are just two of what will likely be many plant-based meat alternative companies that carve into the GHG emissions of animal agriculture.

5. New Happiness and Wellness Metrics: More countries are now starting to focus on the health and happiness of their populations instead of just their economic productivity. There is a trend to prioritize human value over economic value. 2020 U.S. Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang has suggested creating an American Scorecard and deprioritizing GDP as a measure of economic success and societal wellbeing. New Zealand’s Happiness Index is another example of a national level effort to prioritize humanity over the all-mighty dollar. As more countries shift away from GDP as the singular measure of success, environmental sustainability and public health will continue to climb the ladder of societal concerns that policy makers prioritize.

6. Reforestation — In 2004, Wangari Maathai became the first African woman and the first environmentalist to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She was awarded the Nobel Prize for her “contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace.” Her Greenbelt movement is credited for planting millions of trees in Africa. She has undoubtedly inspired a generation of environmentalists in Africa and globally that are committed to planting trees on a massive scale. There has also been a growing body of research and experimentation around the use of drones to plant trees. The notion of trees being planted by dropping seedlings from the sky seems a little bit ridiculous at first. But, drones also have capabilities other that flying. Drones can identify ideal locations for reforestation with sensors and simply by getting to places that are not easily accessible. So, it is conceivable that we could see the largest reforestation initiative in the next decade enabled by drones and inspired by Wangari Maathai.

7. Conscious Consumerism: It has never been more important to buy local. As the online commerce giants of the world destroy local main street economies, the role of the customer becomes more significant. The Conscious Consumerism movement goes beyond buying local though, really diving into the supply chain and being critical of companies that are not intentional about how they source, maker, and sell. Certified B Corporations have a emerged as leaders in this sub-movement. These are companies that have self-identified as organizations that care about social and environmental performance. “Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.” We can expect that this type of credential will have the same impact in some industries as LEED has had on the architecture, engineering, and construction industries, effectively raising the bar of performance.

8. Electric Vehicles and the American Charging Network: While Elon Musk has certainly been at the forefront of the Electric Vehicle industry over the past decade; the exciting news is that most other car manufacturers are getting in the game now too. Moreover, various state governments are providing funds for building out a robust American Charging Network. In the short run, this will decrease range anxiety, and in the long run, this will accelerate the transition to an all-electric passenger vehicle fleet. This is matched with an overwhelming majority of Presidential candidates supporting eventual zero-emissions standards and additional funding for electrifying the transportation sector.

9. The Anti-Plastic Movement: While there was some initial push back to the anti-straw effort made by environmentalists, there seems to be steady progress on multiple fronts of reducing single-use plastic. There has been steady behavior change that has been slowly happening for a long time, but the introduction of new alternatives to single-use plastic has enabled more people to buy-in to changing their habits. Likewise, there are a growing number of initiatives to clean up plastic waste in the ocean. At the very least, we should expect this sub-movement to continue to gain momentum and start to see measurable results in the next decade.

10. Climate Entrepreneurship: In his book Creating Climate Wealth, Jigar Shah argues that climate change — the biggest challenge of our time — can be turned into a $10 trillion dollar wealth-creating opportunity. Jigar Shah is the Co-Founder of Generate Capital, a company that is financing large sustainable infrastructure projects. And, there are startup incubators across the country focusing on sustainability now. Boston’s Greentown Labs touts itself as “The best place in the world to build a cleantech hardware company.” Techstars now has a Sustainability Accelerator developed in partnership with The Nature Conservancy. This is a unique collaboration “seeking for-profit entrepreneurs with commercially viable technologies that can rapidly scale to help sustainably provide food and water and address global issues like climate change.” We can expect a new wave of sustainability entrepreneurs over the next decade that will disrupt the status quo and have a big impact.

All of these movements should give us reason to be hopeful about our future. Environmentalists should communicate an enduring optimism as we continue to build a new regenerative economy.