More than waste separation and alternative energies
TEXT Franziska Hapke Illustrations Felix Gonser, Igor Mitov
The new seats at the
Maracaña stadium
in Brazil installed
for the 2014 Football
World Cup are made
from recycled PET bottles.
Hans Carl von Carlowitz at the court of the Electoral of Saxony first formulated the principle of sustainability in 1713. However, it took until the 20th century for his idea to really attract any attention.
Produce carrying an organic label must contain at least 95% organic ingredients. According to EU legislation for organic farming, exceptions are possible for the remaining 5%, as there are not always sufficient ingredients available in organic quality or cannot be produced organically.
The precious floors at Neuschwanstein castle suffer under the masses of visitors. Therefore, the Throne Room was covered with a printed vinyl flooring, also called ‘photographic flooring’, in 2015. After 12,000 days in use and approx. 4.5 million visitors, it was recently replaced and the used flooring fully recycled.
Every year since 2016, 100 cities worldwide are ranked for sustainability with the Sustainable Cities Index. The areas taken into account are People (social aspects), Planet (ecological aspects), and Profit (economic aspects). In 2018, London headed the ranking.
There are more plastic flamingos in the US
than real ones.
The re-commerce company momox launched a representative Kantar survey to find out more about German consumers’ second-hand shopping behaviour. According to the survey, 53% of Germans have bought second-hand products. When comparing the federal states, the people of Hamburg are those who most frequently buy second-hand. In a city comparison, Frankfurt and Stuttgart take the top ranks, followed by Munich.
Already today, individual EU Member States exceed the 2020 target of generating 20% of their energy from renewable sources. In Sweden, for example, the share of renewable energies is already at 51%.
In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda with 17 Sustainable Development Goals. They include ending poverty, achieving gender equality, access to affordable and clean energy, climate action and partnerships to achieve the goals. All 193 countries of the UN General Assembly committed to achieve these goals by the year 2030.
A study launched by Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) shows that the sustainability of a company makes itself felt in its image, its efficiency, staff satisfaction and its chances to recruit young talent. However, it is also reflected in the key economic figures: according to the study, companies from the consumer industry and the trade sector acting in a sustainable way increase their EBIT margin by 6% compared to those operating in a less sustainable manner.
In 2009, Denmark prior to the start of the World Business Summit on Climate Change introduced the Climate Greenwash Award. It is based on a public voting and presented to companies falsely portraying themselves as climate champions. The first ‘winner’ was the Swedish energy giant Vattenfall.
The melting of recycled glass saves 20% energy compared to making new glass.
In 2005, the village of Jühnde in Lower Saxony became the first of today 149 ‘bio-energy villages’ in Germany. It already won an award in the nationwide bio-energy villages competition. The village has 780 inhabitants and is strongly characterised by agriculture.
Packaging, electronic waste, used nappies, empty bottles – until recently, they all went into the same refuse bin in Shanghai. Often, kitchen waste was simply emptied into the streets. Those days are over: a few weeks ago, the city administration started distributing posters and brochures to citizens to explain the new waste categories. According to media reports, approx. 30,000 volunteers have been recruited in addition to explain the citizens of Shanghai the refuse separation system.
