SO GOOD
This week's round up of stories is extra good this week
The Hague has banned fossil fuel ads. The Dutch city passed a law banning ads for fossil fuel products and services with a high carbon footprint, like aviation and cruise ships. This decision follows a call by the UN chief, António Guterres, earlier this year for governments and media to enact these bans, as they’ve done with tobacco. A local law has also been proposed in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam. Source: The Guardian
New England states announced their largest offshore wind selection yet. Rhode Island and Massachusetts announced a coordinated selection of 2,878 megawatts of offshore wind, the largest procurement in the region’s history. These projects will supply enough energy to power about 1.4 million homes in Massachusetts homes and over 125,000 in Rhode Island. The US has surpassed 15 gigawatts of offshore wind projects approved – all under the Biden-Harris Administration. Source: Rhode Island Office of Energy
London’s Natural History Museum plans to become a climate ‘catalyst for change’. Four galleries plan to be overhauled in a transformation it says will mark “a step-change from being a catalog of natural history to a catalyst for change” in response to the climate emergency. The museum also plans to reopen two long-closed exhibition spaces and develop a new research and storage facility that will build on its aim to encourage visitors to become “advocates for the planet.” Source: The Guardian
Zion National Park shuttles are now fully electric . The fleet of 600,000 are now operational, transporting the park’s more than 4 million yearly visitors. The zero-emission buses hold a higher total capacity on board and have quieter operations. While Zion is the first park in the National Park System to transition, the NPS is actively working to transition large bus fleets to 100% electric vehicles, like those at Grand Canyon, Acadia, and Yosemite. Source: NPS
Slaughterhouses to pay for Amazon reforestation. Two beef slaughterhouses will pay $764,000 for environmental damage after being found guilty of buying cattle from a protected area of former rainforest in the Amazon. This is the first decision in several dozen lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in environmental damages for deforestation by the beef industry. The money will be used to reforest 573 acres of the converted pasture land. Source: AP News
Patagonia gave $1 million to regenerative farms in California. Ventura County is home to thousands of farms, giving the region one of the highest concentrations of pesticide use in the world. With the funding, the Rodale Institute will help farmers transition away from conventional agriculture toward regenerative, organic practices. The supportive funding comes from Patagonia’s nonprofit arm, the Holdfast Collective, a 501(c)(4) organization focused on climate solutions. Source: Fast Company
Wimbledon’s tennis balls are being recycled into tiny mouse homes. Every year, Wimbledon uses over 50,000 tennis balls over the course of the competition. In partnership with the Wildlife Trust, the tennis balls are recycled into homes for tiny, brown mice. The new nests are a perfect fit that can shelter them from predators and elements alike. Source: The Great Big Story
Illinois law prevents HOAs from banning native plants. Homeowner associations (HOAs) across the country, including many in Illinois, have adopted prohibitions against native plants. Now the state has passed a new law that supports native plantings. While the new law doesn’t eliminate HOAs’ ability to adopt “reasonable” rules around native landscaping, the law’s language addresses several of the most common complaints leveled against native plants. Source: WTTW
Researchers are testing using flowers instead of petrochemicals for fragrance. Researchers in the UK are figuring out how to turn unsold flowers that would otherwise go to waste into product fragrances, through a partnership between the grower, Unilever, and the University of Nottingham. Typically, Synthetic fragrances for products like body wash primarily come from petrochemicals. This pilot project would use essential oils extracted from real flowers instead to make up a product’s scent. Source: Fast Company
Did you see?
New York Climate Week is coming! We did a brief round up of events on our radar. You can check that out here.
This is so great thank you!