Akepa

Sustainability is deceptive. There’s what we see and there’s what lurks beneath. Which is an irresistible opportunity to make an iceberg #infographic - especially with the link between sustainability and climate change. Here are just a few of the issues that sustainability can communicate, as well as the conspicuous reduction in CO2 emissions that many of us see. 🐋 Protecting biodiversity 🎓 Lowering educational barriers ⚖️ More social justice 🧋 Reducing plastic pollution Of course, these issues are intersectional. Take the level of CO2 in our atmosphere, which is linked to biodiversity loss. In turn, biodiversity is threatened by plastic pollution - and so on! Anyway, there’s more under the water. Dive in, rummage around, stay buoyant, and if you think anything is missing, let us know in the comments. There’s plenty more we could’ve included. And as a final flogging of the metaphor, let’s hope this iceberg stays afloat over the coming years. We’ll keep doing our little bit to help…

The world’s largest-ever coral was discovered in November 🪸. At 183m, it’s bigger than the planet’s largest-ever creature: the blue whale 🐋. That’s just one of the spotlights on our deviant stage of good news. Here are a few more. 🛰️ The world’s first wooden satellite headed for space 🥇 A school preserving Indigenous culture won World Building of the Year 2024 🌊 A unique, bioluminescent new sea slug was discovered in the deep sea ⛽ Half of the world has been transitioning away from fossil fuels 🥤 Scientists developed a plastic that can safely dissolve in the sea Have a peek through the full slideshow for the comprehensive 10 stories. Kyoto University, SpaceX, International Space Station National Laboratory, The Earthshot Prize, Darlington Public School, World Architecture Festival, National Geographic, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Ember, RIKEN #sustainabilitynews #newsroundup

Anti-Black Friday can be done in a looooooot of different ways. It doesn’t have to be just about skipping the Black Friday deals. Which can be tough for buyers and brands alike. It’s also not only about sustainable brands giving discounts (although, that’s probably better than polluting brands giving discounts). Instead, we’ve been super inspired by these brands who are offering thoughtful alternatives, like: 💚 hosting clothing swaps 💚 discounting and donating 💚 repairing clothes 💚 organizing workshops 💚 engaging with nature And we hope you’ll be inspired too. We see you! Montane Ltd, FREITAG, The Swapshop, BlueCity (010), Dille & Kamille, Keela Outdoors, Colorful Standard, ECOALF, Haglöfs, DECIEM | THE ABNORMAL BEAUTY COMPANY, ASKET, ChattyFeet, Xandres Find more details on the brands and their campaigns here: https://lnkd.in/eSPSW8hQ #GreenFriday #AntiBlackFriday #BlackFriday

What happened at #COP29? To distil the dizzying headlines, we've quickly summarized what some of the key outcomes are, and also some of the stumbles: 💸 Rich nations tripled their climate financing pledge to $300 billion a year – although this falls well short of the $1.3 trillion demanded. ⛽ No progress was made on COP28’s commitment to phase out fossil fuels, kicking the responsibility over to COP30. 🌳 Agreements were made on carbon markets, making the carbon credit trade fully operational.  ✊ Countries agreed to extend a gender and climate change program. 🌍 Countries agreed to support least developed countries (LDCs) with national adaptation plans (NAPs).

Training a generative AI model is carbon-intensive. But what about using one? Generative AI tools, like ChatGPT and DALL-E, are not so innocent. In a 2024 study, it was found that while training AI models is more energy-intensive than producing an outcome, it could take just a few weeks or months for usage emissions to exceed training emissions - for popular models like ChatGPT. And that’s due to the generative AI boom and the ubiquitous way AI tools are used. But how exactly? Well, generative AI can’t be powered without thirsty data centers, which need alarming amounts of water to cool them down and scary amounts of electricity to keep spouting out the answers to our questions. Read more about environmental AI’s impacts through these 20 stats & facts we’ve gathered, backed by recent reputable sources: https://lnkd.in/ePdNveBg Some of the stats may leave you wondering: should we boycott AI and revert to manual content creation? It’s a bit more complicated than that. #GenerativeAI

Did you know that leaves can give us much more than a pretty fall season 🍁? They’re helpful to their ecosystems, for a start. And these innovative brands are lifting leaves to new heights. Fallen leaves, pineapple leaves, tea leaves, and palm tree leaves. Leaves that would’ve ended up as waste in landfill. Swipe through to see what kind of fancy things are being created! But first, there’s one you’ve probably heard of before – can you guess it? Hint… it’s connected to a sweet and tropical treat. Ft. Releaf Paper, Biophilica, Ananas Anam Ltd, Arbhu Enterprises - and more. #leafstartups #leafbrands #leaves

Google has just released another core update to its algorithm but we don’t give a monkey’s. Not because we’re nonchalant about SEO, quite the opposite. We’re big into #SEO for our own website and clients’. Rather, it’s because Google’s core updates are designed to reward useful content that’s written for people, to the detriment of SPAM that’s designed for search engines 🤖. Here’s what Google says about its latest core update: ➡️ “This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on search.” This is ALWAYS how we do things, anyway. SEO, to us, is like a hot sauce 🌶️. It complements the main component. We NEVER confect content around keywords without considering humans. And if we use AI we apply it judiciously because overly-artificial slop isn’t useful for folk either. As such, if we have that attitude then there’s not much else we can do - and getting analytical about the ins and outs of Google updates is a giant waste of time. That’s time we could be using to create great content. We haven’t been hit by one of the updates yet and nor have any of our clients - instead, we tend to get boosts because of our approach. Nevertheless, if you’d like to read more about the latest core update - then you can read more in the post from Google Search Central below: https://lnkd.in/d7Ef-PMm This is the last time you’ll hear from Akepa about algorithm updates, unless you want to contact us because you've had some trouble. #coreupdate #november2024coreupdate

We’re living through an age of biodiversity loss as well as the climate crisis 🦏. COP events are in place to help find solutions and COP16 Colombia has just concluded, under the banner of ‘Paz con Naturaleza’, which more or less translates to ‘Making peace with nature’ 🕊. That sounds sensible and it was a fitting venue as Columbia is the most biodiverse country in the world for some flora and fauna, like orchids and birds. We’ve summarized the key outcomes, and also some of the stumbles, in this video: Here are a few quick points if you don’t fancy watching the movie: 📢 A belated voice has been given to indigenous communities, in negotiations. 🌊 Important marine areas can now be mapped in a standardized way. 🍄 Funga looks set to get the same recognition as Flora and Fauna. 💸 Sadly, funding for the global south remains stalled. Confused about all these COPs? Bear in mind that the biodiversity COPs (CBDs) are distinct from the Climate COPs, of which COP29 Azerbaijan starts next week. You’ll be hearing from us about that quicksmart… #COP29 #COP16 #biodiversitycrisis

The recycling symbols with mysterious numbers inside, on our plastic packaging. What do they mean?! Is it recyclable or not?! No one really knows. So Akepa would like to clear things up! There are 7 different types and this infographic explains their arcane meanings. Yes they are all recycling symbols ♻️ but that doesn’t mean that the things they’re on are easily recyclable (or can even be recycled at all). ⚠️ This is because these recycling symbols, called RICs (Resin Identification Codes), were created by the plastics industry - as a brilliant piece of marketing - to promote the idea of simple recycling. In reality, the majority of plastics are very tricky to recycle. (And just between us, the plastics industry knew this… for decades). So, as a rule of thumb, types 1 and 2 are generally recyclable but it really depends on your municipality’s facilities. You can likely find that information online, so have a peek because if you’re lobbing plastics into the recycling randomly, you could be #wishcycling. Find out more about that in our blog post… https://lnkd.in/dSFNg4-i #plastic #plasticrecycling #typesofplastic #RICs #plasticlabeling #wishcycling

GHG emissions in the EU fell by 8% in 2023; the steepest fall for decades...🥳 The drop is like that experienced during lockdowns and a whopping 37% lower than 1990 levels. That's just one standout from our deeply traditional tableau of good news. Here are a few other bits 'n' bobs you might like: 💂 The UK becomes the first major world economy to quit coal power. 🚄 Solar panels are rolled out 'like carpet' on train tracks. 🦑 A national marine sanctuary is the first to be led by an indigenous tribe. 💛 There's this new yellow powder that can absorb as much CO2 as a big tree. There's twice that in the full slideshow so have a cheeky peek through it... Ft. RepRisk, Sun-Ways, University of California, Berkeley, European Environment Agency, Nature Magazine & more... #sustainabilitynews #newsroundup