At least we have trash service (Waste Not a Newsletter)
Waste Not a Newsletter
This is Nature N8. We have a newsletter!
I wanted to find a way to get off social media. (Seriously, who likes social media.) But we all still have email. I wanted to give you more N8 Takes, but in a different format.
This will complement the podcast. (I know you’re all subscribers.) Expect more timely takes on our trash planet, expect green-memes, and expect this weekly.
This is an environmental newsletter for people who don’t like environmental newsletters.
Alright, trash people, here’s your first issue:
COVID-19 and some questionable environmental takes you might have seen.
Here’s Some Trash:
Air pollution dropped in Wuhan, China. (Yeah, I said it.) But NASA said it first.
“This is the first time I have seen such a dramatic drop-off over such a wide area for a specific event,” said Fei Liu, an air quality researcher at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
And then, Venice had clean water because all the tourists stayed home.
But that’s not all! People were also talking about “ghost planes.” These are empty planes flying and burning fuel just to hold open their routes.
Others brought up the environmental impact of surgical masks. Also, surgical masks are made of plastic. (I knew that.)
This is all sort of interesting, but I have a different take.
N8’S TAKE:
All this COVID-19 calculus is just weird click-bait. I mean it.
If you see more articles claiming that the COVID-19 is good for the environment, they’re probably just luring you in with shock-value. Sure, consumption is down, but it goes down during drought, war, anything bad. That’s not the point. We want an environmentally responsible existence AND an enjoyable and equitable one. We don’t just want a healthy planet without people. We aren’t actually achieving a just transition if everything falls apart economically.
During recessions, consumption also decreases. We don’t cheer that because it comes with greater human suffering. Same with COVID-19. Same with any other future climate disaster.
Nuclear winter is pretty sustainable, I hear. (/sarcasm)
New Podcast Episode
After many educational chats with science educators, N8 makes an educated guess… Maybe he’s a science educator too! Here’s a picture of N8 learning from the Honorable Dr. Jane Lubchenco, former head of NOAA, aka, Ocean Goddess. Listen here.
And Environs
(This section is for articles. In case you don’t get the “environs.”)
1. Rolling Stone made a big issue on plastic. If you are unfamiliar with the state of waste or need a primer to send friends, this is great. This is one of the better attempts at “mainstreaming” (waste nerds get it) trash. The US needs EPR. It’s the only policy that works.
2. In other news, the UK is way ahead on trash. Or, is it? Many CE policies are great steps but there is still some murk around exporting of recycling and ways to decrease material consumption.
3. Banks might be evil. They provided billions in financing for fossil fuels after making commitments at COP-21. In other news, sky still gray.
Behind the Bin:
We are trying something new, more frequent uploads! Since we have so much AAAS content, we thought, why not upload N8’s takes more often? Frequent uploads seems to help grow the podcast, so help us share!
Below is Emily pointing out Taiwan.
Meme Space!
Burning Questions?
Send us an email at <ask@wastenotwhynot.com>
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