As If I Needed Another Reason To Love Potatoes

Potatoes: You Can Boil ‘Em, Mash ‘Em, And Now You Can Replace Single-Use Plastic with ‘Em

😊  The Good News - An Australian company called Great Wrap has invented a compostable bioplastic alternative to cling wrap from potato waste, and it can break down in your backyard compost pile in around 180 days! Great Wrap is set to scale its operations next year, and they hope to divert over 55,000 tons of potato waste from landfills each year. That’s enough to fill 99 Olympic swimming pools!

🥾  Follow This Path - Products that can replace petroleum-based plastics and save waste from entering landfills are great for climate action. Even though it’s single-use, I would still use it because sometimes I don’t want to give my good beeswax wraps to guests when they want to take leftovers home!

Humans Aren’t The Only Ones Who Need to Hydrate

😊  The Good News - Over half of the world’s wetlands are dried or degraded, and this is not good for our climate or the species that rely on wetland habitats. However, a recent study conducted by the Southern University of Science and Technology has calculated that rewetting dry wetlands could avoid up to 100 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions by the end of the century.

🥾  Follow This Path - Nature-based climate solutions are often overlooked, but they have the potential to significantly reduce emissions and restore ecosystems. I’m curious to see if any governments use this research to push for wetlands remediation projects.

The Newest Hybrid In Transit Isn’t A Car

😊 The Good News - The Canadian startup TransPod has invented a hybrid between a train and an airplane called the FluxJet. It uses vacuum tubes to (in theory) travel over 600 miles per hour, which is faster than commercial planes. TransPod plans to build a pilot track between Edmonton and Calgary in the coming years.

🥾 Follow This Path - The aviation industry contributes to around 2.5% of global emissions, and if we want people to choose public transit over planes, it needs to be fast. Let’s see if the FluxJet pilot will be a success and if high-speed rail takes off in North America.

Money Pleaseee (But Only For Electric Vehicles)

😊 The Good News - Bank Australia announced that they will stop offering loans for new fossil fuel vehicles in 2025. The bank hopes that the move will encourage its 185,000 customers to purchase electric vehicles, considering only 2% of new vehicles sold in Australia last year met low emissions criteria. Don’t worry if you can’t afford an electric vehicle, though, because the bank will still offer loans for used fossil fuel vehicles until they are affordable for everyone.

🥾 Follow This Path - Banks have greatly contributed to the climate crisis by funding fossil fuel projects, so it’s exciting to see one take responsibility for the emissions their loans cause and fight for climate action.

Yeehaw, Urban Farming

😊 The Good News - A study conducted by Lancaster University has shown that urban farms can produce up to 4 times more crops than conventional farms. The study looked at crop yields in over 50 countries and concluded that urban farms are more productive due to more controlled growing conditions and efficient spacing.

🥾 Follow This Path - Around 15% of the global food supply is already produced on urban farms. Between this research and the fact that climate change is making conventional farming more difficult, the data found here could be used to push for a less conventional but more productive alternative.

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