Envirobits

Partnering with Green Sports Alliance

Like most industries, the sports world is making a big push into green energy and technology. We’re seeing it in event planning, recycled rubber tracks, stadium features, and in virtually all corners of athletics.

In that spirit, Innovative Properties Worldwide, the parent company of Sustainability Today and Innovation & Tech Today, has announced a media partnership with the Green Sports Alliance. The partnership begins at the Kansas City Green Sports Symposium, which will be held August 17; we will feature highlights in the Fall issue of Sustainability Today.

The Green Sports Alliance is the environmentally-focused trade organization that convenes stakeholders from around the sporting world (teams, leagues, conferences, venues, corporate partners, governmental agencies, athletes, and fans) to promote healthy, sustainable communities. The Alliance is committed to creating awareness and dedicated to creating meaningful change towards a more sustainable future.

Among its activities, the Alliance shares resources, experience, and expertise to raise awareness of what’s environmentally possible in sports, business, and society. The GSA also mobilizes sports organizations, communities, athletes, and fans to create sustainable progress and behavior change.

Under the evolving partnership, Sustainability Today will introduce the Green Sports section in the Fall issue. Additional green sports coverage will be provided in Innovation & Tech Today, along with social media and online content from both parties.

Ocean Heat Waves Are Growing

Six years ago, a huge part of the Pacific Ocean near North America quickly warmed, reaching temperatures more than 5 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. Nicknamed “the blob,” it persisted for two years, with devastating impacts on marine life, including sea lions and salmon. It also created anomalies like 90-plus degree water in the Gulf of Mexico and 80-degree water in Southern California — not to mention quantum levels of ice melt in the Arctic and Antarctic.

In a world with no human-caused warming, a large marine heat wave would have had about a one-tenth of 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year — a so-called “thousand-year event”. With the current rate of global warming, such an ocean heat wave has a 10 percent chance of appearing annually. The heat wave may cause a source of food to die off or migrate. Heat waves can also lead to toxic algae blooms that kill fish. The events can affect humans, too.

The oceans absorb most of the excess heat trapped by greenhouse gases. If emissions of these gases continue at a high level for decades and average global temperatures reach 5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, some parts of the oceans may be in a continuous state of extreme heat. In effect, the blob may become permanent. The blob in the Pacific may have influenced weather patterns on the West Coast, worsening the drought in California, for example.

Volta Power Systems

Americans are finding creative ways to satiate their wanderlust during the COVID-19 pandemic. Would-be adventurers are showing preference for more selfsufficient domestic travel options like RVs, resulting in skyrocketed demand. With a passion for freedom, wellness, and sustainability, more of us are looking to completely self-sufficient, net-zero mobile living space.

Enter Volta Power Systems. Founded in 2014, Volta provides safe, powerful and simple lithium-ion energy storage solutions for small to midsize businesses. RV, marine and specialty vehicle OEMs trust Volta to deliver advanced, automotive-grade power systems that enhance the lifestyle, freedom and comfort of their endusers. The Volta system can charge from shore power, solar panels, an optional alternator (installed in a gasoline or diesel tow vehicle), or an optional Cummins generator. These layers of redundant power supply are critical for long-term health and safety in severe weather or natural disasters.

Living Vehicle is partnering with Volta Power Systems on lithium-ion storage for the 2021 Living Vehicle luxury travel trailer that allows users to live off-grid and recharge electric vehicles at rates of up to 44 miles per charge-hour using optional 240-volt exportable power charging directly from the trailer. Living Vehicle is releasing three different models for 2021, which will offer up to 3,080 watts of solar and 47,600 watt-hours of energy storage, the highest capacity lithium-ion system available in a luxury trailer.

For more information, visit https:// voltapowersystems.com/

Climate Pledge Arena Rewrites Sustainability in Sports

Get ready for the most environmentally advanced, most sustainable indoor arena in American sports.

When Amazon secured the naming rights to Climate Pledge Arena, the home of Seattle’s new Seattle Kraken NHL team, and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, it tied the name of its pet climate change fighting initiative to the most environmentally proactive sports arena in America.

The 18,100-seat multi-purpose venue, located at Seattle Center, is expected to host 200 events each year. Besides Kraken and Storm home games, it will serve up live music and entertainment from the world’s biggest stars, along with City of Seattle community events.

From a sustainability point of view, the features of Climate Pledge Arena go on and on. It’s a sustainability wonderland of sorts. Climate Pledge Arena is expected to be the first net zero carbon certified arena in the world, and set a new sustainability bar for the sports and events industry. The arena will have all-electric operations and be powered with 100 percent renewable electricity, both from on-site solar panels and off-site renewable energy.

Then there is the truly innovative plan for waste products of all kinds. All operations and events at the arena will be ‘zero waste’ with durable and compostable containers. A minimum of 95 percent of all arena waste will be diverted from landfills on a weight basis. The arena will use reclaimed rainwater in the ice system to create the greenest ice in the NHL. The original 44-million-pound roof from the existing arena will be reused in construction to significantly reduce the embodied carbon of the building.

What about food and concessions? Well, 75 percent of the arena’s food program will be sourced locally on a seasonal basis to support regional farmers and producers. Further, all viable unused food from events will be donated to local community food programs.

Finally, NHL Seattle and WNBA Storm tickets will double as free public transit passes to promote use of public transportation for attendees, including on the refurbished Seattle Monorail.

Eastman’s New Naia Renew Portfolio

By Destiny Nolan

Not long ago, Eastman was one half of Eastman Kodak, the world’s largest supplier of photographic film. With digital cameras and then our mobile phones rendering traditional photography all but obsolete, Eastman has taken its knowledge of chemical processes into the world of sustainability.

The producer of sustainably sourced Naia™ cellulosic fiber, Eastman has introduced its new Naia Renew portfolio of fabrics and filaments, sourced from 60 percent wood pulp and 40 percent recycled waste plastics. Eastman says Naia Renew cellulosic fiber is traceable, biodegradable and captures the value of hard-to-recycle materials that would otherwise be destined for landfills. Naia Renew recycled content is achieved by allocation of recycled plastics through mass balance accounting.

Naia Renew is produced with a low carbon footprint in a closed-loop process where solvents are safely recycled back into the system for reuse. The fiber is made from wood pulp sourced from certified forests, and the recycled plastics feedstock is generated via Eastman’s patented carbon renewal technology. CRT is an integrated, molecular recycling technology that breaks down waste plastics, such as post-consumer carpet fiber and plastic packaging materials, into basic molecular building blocks for the manufacture of new products including fibers — a truly circular solution creating value from waste.

Their vision is to make sustainable fashion accessible for everyone. Naia Renew enables a circular economy for the fashion industry and helps brands meet their eco-conscious goals. They are transforming what a fabric can be and do to meet the sustainability demands of their customers and to create a world where brands and consumers can be in fashion without compromising on quality and performance.

The vertical polygen solar system installed in Los Lunas, shown here, is 30 feet tall and sits beside the village recycling center, providing all facility electricity needs around the clock. Photo courtesy of Wiltech Energy

Los Lunas, New Mexico Unveils Cutting Edge Solar Technology

A new, potentially game-changing solar technology went online in June at the Los Lunas Village’s Recycling Center, making the village the first municipality in the country to install it. The new “vertical polygen” technology is a compact tower that stacks panels vertically around a pole encompassing only 49 square feet. It includes a small wind turbine at the top to produce extra energy when the sun isn’t shining, plus back-up battery storage that includes a 22 kw unit to supply electricity 24/7 with no connection to Public Service Company of New Mexico or any other utility grid.

The new technology will put out six times the power of traditional solar systems. Since the recycling facility only consumes about 15 KW per day, the system offers about 25 percent more electricity than needed to ensure a steady supply day and night. It channels only as much electricity to the facility as needed through computer monitoring and regulation, storing all excess energy.

The Wiltech Vertical Polygen Solar System is unique to power electric vehicle charging stations, telecommunication towers and other base loads. The system was designed and installed by Wiltech Energy, LLC. The Polygen frame was designed by Oswald Wilson and built by Stephen A. Yavorski, Sr., of Airmet Metalworks in Newark, New Jersey-cost $83,000. The system is projected to run at least 20 years, with a full return on investment expected in four years.

Climate Change Threatens Superfund Sites

When the Superfund massive toxic waste sites were created, planners were most concerned with finding areas away from homes and communities. They focus on long-term (sometimes centuries) storage that would not impact people. However, another major threat has come along to create a real mess: climate change.

Take the most notorious Superfund site, the San Jacinto Waste Pits in Barrett TX. It was recently smashed by 16 feet of water that undermined a concrete cap covering the site’s toxic contents, washing dioxin down the river. A dive team from the Environmental Protection Agency later found a potent human carcinogen in the river sediment that is 2,300 times the agency’s standard for cleanup.

Then there is the French Limited site. It was one of 252 Superfund sites inundated by Hurricanes Harvey, Maria and Irma in 2017, which exposed 70 million gallons of toxic chemicals, dumped from 1966-71, to the public water supply. More than 90 chemicals were dumped at French Limited, including known carcinogens like benzene and vinyl chloride, and dangerous heavy metals like arsenic.

These are two examples of a massive problem. Over 700 of the 945 Superfund sites considered vulnerable to climate change lie in 100-year flood plains, which means they have a 1 percent or greater chance of flooding in any given year — a number that is markedly higher now that we’re in the full grip of stronger storms and higher seas. More than 80 of these sites regularly flood at high tide, or are already permanently submerged. And 49 face triple threats—they are in 100-year flood plains, regularly flood, and are vulnerable to hurricanes. The San Jacinto Waste Pits site is on the triple threat list, as is the LCP Chemical site on coastal marshlands in Glynn County, Georgia, which is contaminated by mercury and PCBs.

Another 74 sites threatened by climate change nationwide contain toxic wastes that remain uncontrolled and could damage human health, according to the EPA’s own risk assessments. Nine of those sites are in New Jersey, including the Diamond Alkali site in Newark, a shuttered chemical plant that pumped the herbicide Agent Orange into the Passaic River.

Instead of cleaning up the toxic waste at the Superfund sites, the EPA began in the 1990s to cap the sites with soil, clay or even concrete. This is a less expensive method that leaves the chemicals in place. Environmental activists prefer actual removal of the waste, which is far more costly. Three years later, the clean up project remains mired in delays, and removal has not yet begun.

SPJ Recognizes “American Climate” for Distinguished Reporting

The Society of Professional Journalists’ Deadline Club in New York named Anna Belle Peevey, Neela Banerjee and Adrian Briscoe of InsideClimate News as the winners of its award for reporting by independent digital media for “American Climate.” The documentary series of short video portraits and essays focused on intensifying extreme weather events caused by climate change, which has become the frightening new normal for tens of millions of Americans. They put together the essential elements to start the storytelling—videos, essays, science, data—and an open invitation to other people and other news outlets to continue the conversation and help us face the future that’s already here.

“Everybody reports disaster stories, but InsideClimate News went beyond the death and destruction to starkly show readers how a California wildfire, a Gulf Coast hurricane and Midwestern flooding were connected. Enhanced with videos and graphics, ‘The Shared Experience of Disaster,’ paints a multi-faceted picture of the effects of climate change on the planet, making it all the more real with powerful testimony from survivors,” the SPJ said.

Sustainability Today and our parent company, Innovative Properties Worldwide, are members of the SPJ.

Major Step for Renewable Pulp as Packaging Fiber

In May, the U.S. Patent Office granted one of PulPac ’s general patents, announcing that Dry Molded Fiber is invented and duly owned by the Swedish scale-up company — and beneficial to the United States, the world’s second largest packaging consumer market.

PulPac’s Dry Molded Fiber is a patented manufacturing technology, using renewable pulp and cellulose resources to produce low cost, high performance, fiber-based packaging, and single-use products. Dry Molded Fiber gives up to 80-90% lower CO2 footprint at the same or lower cost as plastic. It enables high-speed manufacturing and can replace most packaging and single-use products presently made of plastics.

“Our duty to the planet is to spread this technology as fast and wide as we can. To empower the efforts further we have formed an open source alliance called the Dry Molded Fiber Technology Pool that welcomes any converter, brand or supplier in plastics or fiber that wish to grow with, and support the advancement in the Dry Molded Fiber process,” said Linus Larsson, CEO of PulPac.

“Together, we will win on price and sustainability against plastics. We will reduce global CO2 emissions from the industry with at least 5 million tons by 2025 while conserving precious water resources,” claims Larsson.

Earlier this year, PulPac, PA Consulting, and Seismic Solutions joined forces to encourage brands and manufacturers to replace single-use plastics with sustainable, affordable, Dry Molded Fiber products and accelerate the transition towards circular economy.

Phil Fawcus, Sustainable Packaging Lead at PA Consulting, said: “Dry Molded Fiber is a unique technology that is playing a critical global role in delivering sustainable packaging at volumes needed to significantly impact plastics reduction. We are delighted this world changing technology has now been recognised with patents in the US, Japan, China and Europe.”

FEBRUARY 2021 THE WAR ON PLASTICS REPORT

The global appetite for plastic products is at an all-time high. With more awareness than ever about the environmental repercussions, how do we combat plastic's impact on our planet?

Could JANUS, a biobased coated paper, be the ultimate solution?

The War on Plastics Report is Here

Innovative paper products technology firm J&J Green Paper is tackling a well-known environmental hazard: single-use plastics. To raise awareness about the critical issue that is plastic use, production and disposal around the world, the company has released its first “The War on Plastics Report.”

In the midst of mass regulatory changes worldwide addressing the modern consumption level of plastics and other disposables, J&J Green Paper is encouraging companies in the plastics and disposable container industries to consider adopting the groundbreaking alternative materials now coming to fruition.

According to the report, if the production and use of plastics continue to increase as projected, the plastic industry will account for 20 percent of global oil use by 2050. Not to mention the related massive increase in plastics finding their way into our landfills and oceans. With plastic becoming more and more expensive to recycle, the company sees now as an imperative time to urge industry leaders to make a change before plastics do further harm to both the environment and human health, according to the company.

J&J Green Paper has invested eight years developing a cutting-edge solution to the critical issue of paper waste, more than half of which is produced for packaging. The company has considerable time and resources into developing products that will meet the consumer needs of the future.

The innovative alternative packaging company has developed alternatives that are both green and easy to use, including sustainable k-cups, paper and aseptic packaging, food prep paper, wine and soda bottles and milk and ice cream cartons.

The report can be viewed at jjgreenpaper.com/the-report/