Pure Perspectives

VITRI has signed a petition created by the World Wildlife Fund aimed at encouraging the United Nations to create a global and legally binding agreement to stop copious amounts of plastic from leaking into our oceans and waterways. We encourage others to do the same.

As plastic pollution grows to be one of the most consequential environmental hazards of our time, so grows the awareness of the problem as one that transcends national boundaries. Citizens across the world are taking notice, and many people, particularly the cohort of younger generations are demanding more attention and action to the problem.

Corporate America is on notice – continue to ignore your poor environmental record and face the wrath, not of a bunch of granola-munching activists, but of your own shareholders. 81% of Dupont investors voted against management to demand the company keep track of its plastic footprint.

A particularly egregious example of greenwashing in the form of a report by Finland-based Huhtamaki, a global food packaging supplier, compares their disposable coffee cups to reusable alternatives. “Key findings” from the report are misleading at best and entirely false at worst, relying on bad assumptions that lead to a skewed analysis and cherry-picked conclusions.

California will become the first government in the world to develop formal health guidelines for microplastics in drinking water, a sign of increasing concern about the ubiquity of small non-biodegradable pieces of plastic in the environment and their potential harm to human health.

Berkeley, California-based NGO, Earth Island Institute, is suing a number of plastics producers over misleading recycling claims and environmental damage caused by their products. The NGO asserts that most of the plastics produced by these companies cannot be recycled and end up as pollution in the environment, which requires costly cleanup efforts.

Whether conscious or not, we rarely drink anything without first having made a prediction about how it will taste. The coffee cup has an outsized impact on the experience of drinking coffee. Research points to specific characteristics of coffee cups that are important including color, weight, size, texture, and shape.

The CLEAN Future Act is a climate change bill that addresses the scourge of plastic production and waste ending up in the environment. The plastic related GHG emissions and plastic waste reduction goals written into the legislation signify a shift in tactics used to address the interrelated environmental challenges.

While awareness is increasing around the harm that single-use cups can wreak on the environment, a new study reveals that disposable plastic products could also present hazards to human health.

At the outset, Covid-19 appeared to be an unexpected boon to many environmental movements. Carbon emissions in 2020 were at some of the lowest levels in decades. A lack of demand in manufacturing led to a reduction in pollution. Some Southeast Asian countries would shutter their wet markets while making wildlife tracking illegal. But one area of environmental outcomes has grown worse during the pandemic – plastic pollution.

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste has partnered with IBM on a technological initiative to track and eliminate plastic waste. As a new and more environmentally minded administration takes office, it is encouraging that technology companies in the private sector are also marshaling their capabilities to address this persistent and pernicious problem. As with most endeavors, the follow through matters.

Along the way someone taught us that success comes only to those who work hard. Hard work is key. I’m not denying that. However, tying incessant work to success, especially if we define it in terms of material wealth, isn’t the reality for many. Luck also plays a role. When we think about achieving our dreams, we don’t address luck as a factor because it is inimical to narratives about personal sacrifice.