Susana Gago’s Post

In a Living Systems Lens approach, we monitor actively in search of harm. DNH - do no harm, is a difficult concept to keep to, although I'm not sure why. In many industries I have seen how being tied to something, believing in it so much and pushing it as infallible, leads to its own destruction or at the least the creation of toxicity within itself. Many great initiatives like B Corp, which was a breath of fresh air, at its onset, get so caught up in KPI's of growth/sales that they get lost. The founder was a great, humble man, with the best of intentions. Yet, it's understandable that consumers grow distrustful of certification processes when, for example, oil and tobacco companies can receive A ratings. Let's keep this conversation going amongst those whose intent is not financial benefit of THEIR monitoring system. So many great things happening. Let's weave them together.

What does #Sustainable mean to you? Lately, jargon such as #greenhousegas, #carbonfootprint, #green, #emissions, and #deforestation can be confusing as each word has it's own distinct meaning but are used in shifting contexts. "Sustainable" is quickly becoming a word in which corporations are taking advantage of to slap on to their brands to call themselves environmentally friendly. These words have become buzzwords for a catchall answer to produce #evergreen content instead of focusing on producing results for the cause itself. "Sustainable" practices, "sustainable" development, even "sustainable" protein are some examples that are currently in use. Should we take more consideration into how our audiences are digesting the educational content we produce to ensure our messaging gets across to ensure we promote effective content awareness? Who knows? Once the trend cycle for "sustainable" runs it's course perhaps we'll see the new rise of a different environmentally friendly word pop out of the woodwork.

Empowering a Sustainable Future: The Power of Sustainable Consumption and Production In today's world, where the health of our planet is increasingly under threat, the way we produce and consume goods and services plays a vital role in reducing our ecological footprint. Sustainable consumption and production (SCP) offer a transformative approach to achieving a more resource-efficient, equitable, and environmentally conscious world. The Impact of Unsustainable Consumption and Production ✓Resource Depletion: The extraction, processing, and consumption of natural resources are leading to deforestation, water scarcity, and loss of biodiversity. ✓Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The production, transportation, and disposal of goods contribute significantly to GHG emissions, driving climate change. ✓Waste and Pollution: The disposal of waste and pollutants from production processes harm ecosystems, human health, and the environment. Principles of Sustainable Consumption and Production ✓Resource Efficiency: Reducing the use of natural resources, promoting recycling, and encouraging the use of renewable resources. ✓Circular Economy: Designing production systems that are restorative, regenerative, and waste-free. ✓Sustainable Lifestyles: Promoting sustainable consumption patterns, reducing waste, and encouraging environmentally conscious choices. Benefits of Sustainable Consumption and Production ✓Environmental Protection: SCP reduces the environmental impact of production and consumption, conserving natural resources and mitigating climate change. ✓Economic Benefits: SCP can reduce production costs, increase resource productivity, and create new business opportunities. ✓Social Benefits: SCP promotes sustainable livelihoods, improves working conditions, and enhances human well-being. Strategies for Implementing Sustainable Consumption and Production ✓Education and Awareness: Raising awareness about the importance of SCP and promoting sustainable lifestyles. ✓Policy and Regulation: Implementing policies and regulations that support SCP, such as extended producer responsibility and eco-labeling. ✓Innovation and Technology: Developing and adopting sustainable technologies, products, and services that reduce environmental impact. ✓Collaboration and Partnerships: Fostering partnerships among governments, businesses, and civil society to promote SCP. Join the Movement As individuals, organizations, and governments, we can promote sustainable consumption and production by: ✓Making sustainable choices in our daily lives. ✓Supporting businesses that adopt SCP practices. ✓Advocating for SCP policies and regulations. ✓Educating and raising awareness about the importance of SCP. Together, we can create a more sustainable future, reduce our ecological footprint, and promote a better quality of life for all.

Which side you want to choose for your planet,right or left? Obviously the right one. Today we are diving deep into the "E" part of ESG that is environmental part of environmental social governance. So what exactly does e mean in ESG. In a nutshell it focuses on how companies and individuals can minimize their negative impact on the planet. This includes reducing carbon footprints, managing waste, conserving natural resources, to promoting biodiversity. Imagine a world where companies opetate sustainably and can use renewable sources, individuals like you and me can opt for reusable and eco-friendly products. Remember every action counts. Do you opting for renewable sources can reduce carbon emissions upto 70% by 2050, or that every ton of recycled papers can save 7 tress. These are kind of impact full changes that we can strive for together. Now it's your turn to take initiative for reducing carbon emissions by reducing use of plastic, making use of renewable sources. Tell us your way of reducing negative impact on planet. #esg #environmental #social #governance #environmentalsocialgovernance

Ah, the irony of a solar-powered chainsaw—saving the planet one tree at a time! (sic) This cartoon humorously highlights a prevalent issue in sustainability. We often encounter products designed to reduce their environmental impact, even when their core function is, quite literally, to cut down nature. Sure, using renewable energy is better than fossil fuels, but let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture—deforestation remains deforestation, whether done with a gas-guzzler or a sun-powered "Sawbuster." BUT (there is always a "but"), while it would be ideal for such products not to exist at all, reality bites—we still need them and are part of our economic system, even for "sustainable" operations. So, minimizing their environmental footprint is a necessary, albeit imperfect, compromise. For LCA practitioners out there, a thought-provoking challenge—will your analysis include the deforested area in the environmental flows, or do we simply pat ourselves on the back for using renewable energy? Ultimately, the message is clear—it's better to refuse the consumption of resources altogether than to find “greener” ways of exploiting them. Because in the end, a solar-powered chainsaw may lessen our guilt, but it doesn't change the fact that we’re still chopping down the forest in a greater speed that it can recover. For forestry or any other economic activity to be sustainable, we need to minimize consumption to strictly necessary. Let's prioritize using fewer resources rather than developing cleaner tools for resources exploitation. Design for circularity preciselly starts with the R - Refuse.

One of the most significant impacts of the circular economy is its capacity to reduce carbon emissions. By promoting the reuse of materials and products, it lowers the need for energy-intensive industrial processes, such as raw material extraction and new production. This directly contributes to mitigating climate change. Read further environmental and economic benefits of adopting a circular model in the industry in our latest post: https://lnkd.in/dQ4ssMqn #environment #technology #efficiency #circulareconomy #industry #sustainability #engineering

Rethinking our individual Environmental Impact: From Footprints to Handprints We've all (almost…) heard about our carbon footprint—BP clearly did a good job on this! 👣 In 2004, BP launched a campaign about the carbon footprint calculator and thus cleverly diverted attention from the massive carbon footprint of oil companies to individuals. The carbon footprint provides a model to assess one of the negative impact we have on the environment through the measure of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Naturally, we aim to minimize it. The conversation around carbon footprints often involves emotionally charged topics like reducing meat consumption, avoiding flights, or adhering to speed limits... While these are crucial, we need additional narratives to inspire societal change. 🖐One of these new narratives is the concept of the handprint.  The handprint highlights our positive contributions to the environment and society. This includes, among others: 🗣 Advocating for environmental policies,  👩🎓 Educating others about sustainability,  🌍Leading initiatives in our spheres of influence that encourage collective action (car-pooling at work, organizing skill-sharing workshops, or hosting community events to learn about solar energy). Personally, it helps me to accept compromises within my family, focusing beyond just my individual carbon footprint …. So we want our handprint to be as big as possible! However, increasing our handprint alone isn't enough.  We must also address both.  Both are essential, and their interplay drives real change. This balanced approach is also increasingly adopted by companies to showcase how their products and services contribute to greenhouse gas reductions, while also considering other environmental aspects like biodiversity, pollution, and soil health. How about you? How do you balance both approaches?

Today is #WorldEnvironmentDay; here are five examples of the work we're doing to make a difference: 🔬 Science-Based Targets: We're making great progress in our carbon reduction journey, underscored by our participation in the Science-Based Targets initiative. Our new targets were submitted to the SBTi in 2023, and we're awaiting validation, which is expected towards the end of 2024. 🌳 Biodiversity: We restore our quarries after use and have implemented Biodiversity Action Plans across our sites. Since 2022, we've planted over 5000 trees across our Yorkshire sites. 🏅 Climate leadership: We're pleased to have been recognised as one of 600 Climate Leaders by the Financial Times in partnership with Statista, for the third time. 🧱 Carbon reduction: We continue to lock waste carbon into our facing bricks, removing around 30,000 kg of waste carbon from the atmosphere each year. We've also been innovating our first concrete solution that doesn't need any cement. ♻ Sustainable practices: We manufacture our products using responsibly sourced raw materials, and 74% of our electricity comes from renewable sources. We've installed solar arrays at five sites and are diverting over 99% of our waste from landfills, so we're well on the way to reaching our zero waste to landfill target by 2030. In the coming weeks and months, we'll share more exciting initiatives in this area. In the meantime, you can find out more about our sustainability work on our website https://lnkd.in/eQnxTTre #Sustainability #ClimateAction #GreenInitiatives #EnvironmentalImpact

“Biomass growing and harvesting; mineral and fossil resource extraction; and processing of materials, fuels and food accounted for more than 55% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 and more than 60% if land-use change impacts are considered” reports the international resource panel in their 2024 global resource outlook (United Nations Environmental Program 2024). In a nutshell, material sourcing and processing for all walks of life contributed 55% of the global emission. An inadvertent surge in material usage by 60% than the 2022 levels is predicted (United Nations Environmental Program 2024); if the current habits of sourcing and processing prevail, the future of a liveable planet Earth is uncertain. The report also notes that “the scientific community has never been more aligned before or more resolute on the need for urgent global transformation towards the sustainable use of resources” (United Nations Environmental Program 2024); however, practical changes are yet to be seen. Obviously, switching into a circular economy and circular use of materials are unanimously opined as the way forward for a sustainable planet. Circular economy, by definition, is an intentionally designed economic system wherein life means are made cyclic, similar to natural life cycle, such that resources are not wasted or accumulated in air, soil, or water but avoid adverse health effects on humans as well as other living beings (An Introduction to Circular Economy 2021). Circular materials, on the other hand, are “renewable materials” or “sustainable materials” or “low-carbon materials” that foster a healthy living environment and a circular economy via the elimination or reduction of associated greenhouse gas emissions and resource depletion and wastage (Ramakrishna and Jose 2022). Circular materials are purposely designed with lower environmental footprint and social costs and higher circularity potential while satisfying the cost as well as functional requirements. The primary purpose of the Springer Nature journal Materials Circular Economy is to promote and direct circular materials research for sustainability.