(Green)wash your hands of… “clean” energy

I realized when I was writing this article that when it comes to energy, “renewable”, “green” and “clean” don’t necessarily mean the same thing. As a general rule, actually, “clean” is often pretty dirty.

Ask yourself what “clean” and “green” means in context.

Because it could mean a lot of things. It always upsets me when I see a company advertise the ‘greenness’ of their products, while, at the same time, individually wrapping each of them in plastic. I strongly believe that a company that truly cares about its environmental and social impact should have a systemic, comprehensive approach.

When it comes to energy, it’s important to pay attention to the wording. Natural gas and nuclear power are sometimes called ‘clean energy.’ In my opinion, clean means clean, i.e. an energy that does not emit waste, pollution or GHG when extracted, consumed, or after consumption.

Is renewable energy always clean?

As far as I know, there is no absolutely clean energy yet, at least on a commercial scale. For one, you need equipment to channel renewable energy such as wind and solar energy and to transform it into electricity, and this is not impact-free. It can also have terrible consequences for the environment and populations if done wrong. For instance, making phytosilicon, a necessary component of solar panels, creates hazardous waste that is not always disposed as it should, and can be very toxic for all living things. Deforesting land to grow palm oil to transform it into biomass is not clean, even though it might be renewable. Displacing large amount of populations and destroying ecosystems to build a dam to make hydroelectric power either. Renewable energy methods must be thought out in a sustainable way to be truly efficient and have as little negative consequences as possible.

Renewable energy are also pretty ineffective sources of energy when mismanaged. In this fascinating (and a bit terrifying) article, Gretchen Bakke shows how Venezuela’s electricity crisis is caused, in part, by a lack of electricity diversification, all for the sake of exporting oil to other countries.

Should we trust all kinds of “clean” energies?

If done right, renewable energy can get as close to clean as currently possible. This is not true of nuclear energy, often cited as “clean” because an operating nuclear power plan emits close to no GHG (however, all the activities surrounding it, such as building the plant, bringing uranium to it, and decomissioning it do). However, it produces radioactive waste and has a very high water footprint, because it needs a lot of cooling. On top of that, it’s a very hazardous source of energy.

Same goes with natural gas. You’ll find tons of claims that natural gas is clean, mostly coming from lobby or natural gas companies, yet that’s not true at all. It might be cleaner than oil and coal, but that does not make it clean, since it involves polluting extracting processes, methane leakages, and GHG emissions when consumed. Not to mention, like coal and oil, it is not a renewable source of energy.

Bottom line: the big picture matters more than mere words. I am especially careful when companies use words that I know have a bullshit factor, such as green, clean and carbon neutral, and I make sure to dig a little because I want to know that I am not being taken for a fool.

You’ve got the Power #1

In my opinion, we as consumers have a lot of power, and we tend to underestimate it. I strongly believe that making choices in your everyday life that reflect your beliefs and convictions is a factor of change in the world, but also of well-being. It actually feels pretty good to have a reason, a purpose, to consume in a way that feels right to us, instead of mindlessly buying for instant gratification, and following trends and cravings.

Although it can be hard to find the motivation to change deeply engraved habits that may seem easy and convenient, it gets easier as it turns into a new habit, and eventually, into a second nature. It also helps to have good reasons to get started. That’s the goal of this series: everyone has issues they feel particularly strongly about, and my goal is to show that you can have an impact on these issues by taking easy steps, wherever you feel like you are standing right now on the path of responsible consumption, and whatever you feel ready or able to commit to.

Ready? Let’s start with a strong statement: there is sometimes a direct link between the everyday products you buy and some of this planet’s most tragic human rights abuses and conflicts. If you think I am exaggerating, go to 1. If you have conquered the dungeon of fair trade and want to continue your quest, go to 2. If you struggle with the ultimate boss, go to 3.

1. Be honest with yourself

If you have no idea where to start: just begin by reading labels and educating yourself about such things as fair trade, while always exercising your critical eye. Ask yourself where things come from, and be honest about what it means (i.e. a 4 euro t-shirt made in Bangladesh was probably not made in the best conditions by a fairly compensated worker – chances are, it was actually made by a kid). Lots of cool clothing companies now pledge to work with communities to make sure they get fair working conditions and to enhance their well-being, for instance Everlane. This blog is also a great resource to learn more about human trafficking.

2. Go beyond the label, and the obvious

Okay, so now you master spotting fair trade labels! But did you know that your phone may be financing local militias in Africa? Indeed, some types of metal like tin, gold or tungsten are used in virtually all of our electronics. When these minerals are mined (before being transformed into metals) in mines controlled by local armed groups, the income generated may be used by these groups to finance a conflict, by buying weapons for instance. Not to mention the exactions that are committed by local militias in certain African countries, such as sexual violence against women. Yes, that really sucks. Although I won’t ask you to stop using your computer (I might ask you to pay attention to how you use it though), there are some cool initiatives happening, my favorite being Fairphone – you should definitely check them out. That’s just an example on how everyday items can have negative consequences in faraway countries, even in conflicts you’d never heard of. Bottom-line: never underestimate your power as a consumer, it’s very real. And do you research, educate yourself, ask questions.

3. Remember that we live in a complex world

So basically, I just told you that everything you do has a potential negative impact. Sorry about that. It may seem super confusing and disheartening, but the good news is, being educated about this kind of things makes a real difference. The other good news is: there are plenty of really cool companies that make beautiful, functional products, while still caring about the communities they rely on and their employees’ well-being and safety. So what is left to do? The next level is to think broader. Of course, good working conditions, conflict-free minerals and educated choices are a great start. But in the end, a lot of things have indirect consequences on a population’s welfare, such as pollution, climate change, general living conditions, etc. From rising waters that swallow entire islands and force populations to emigrate, to wars in the Middle East, the consequences of climate change on populations and peace are broad, unexpected, and unpredictable. The world is a complex place, and you watching your carbon footprint actually has consequences that go far beyond you, even though it might seem like a drop in the ocean.

(Green)wash your Hands of… Carbon Neutrality

Greenwashing is still a thing. And maybe we got slightly better at spotting it over the years, but as climate change and environmental threats are becoming more and more common, companies capitalize on the marketing boon that looking “green”, “clean” or “carbon neutral” represents.

Here are a few questions that I have researched lately.

What does “carbon neutral” mean?

Carbon neutrality means offsetting the GHG emissions produced by sequestrating an equivalent amount of carbon, or buying carbon credits. A lot of companies, even cities, claim that they are carbon neutral (Google, for instance).

If you’d like to read more about how carbon emissions can be offset, see here and here.

Is carbon neutrality a good strategy?
It sounds like a good idea, but a lot of people don’t believe it’s an effective strategy for all kinds of reasons (most importantly: carbon offsets and credits don’t help cut emissions, carbon sequestration projects can lead to population displacements and human rights violations, a lot of fraud has been happening, and they don’t contribute to finding a sustainable long-term solution to climate change – see here and here).

Another major criticism is that striving to be carbon neutral does not necessarily address the reason why greenhouse gases are being released. If being carbon neutral is part of a bigger plan to transition into being completely “clean” (as far as this is possible), then why not. That’s what Google advertises it is doing, pretty much. The biggest source of their carbon emissions comes from the electricity used in their data centers, and they are also working to eventually be powered at 100% by renewable energies.

However, when nothing else is done to address the structural impact created by a company, then it sounds more like a marketing strategy to greenwash their products. Nespresso, for instance, committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2020. They also have set a goal to collect 100% of used aluminium pods by then, which is very different from actually recycling 100% of them (they currently don’t publish the actual recycling rate of their products). So it’s better than nothing, but in the end, it does not make Nespresso’s pods or business model sustainable, and being carbon neutral does not address in any way the fact that legions of aluminium pods are somewhere in a landfill waiting a couple hundred years to decompose.

More importantly, it gives consumers the green light to believe that what they are doing – in this case buying Nespresso pods, drinking coffee, and putting their pods in a bin so they can (maybe) be recycled – is good, that they are part of the solution, when they are actually still part of the problem. It encourages consumers to believe that this is a sustainable part of their lifestyle, even though it isn’t.

Carbon neutrality is most effective when it is used as a means, not as an end in itself. So when you see this touted on a company website, or if you decide to offset your own carbon emissions, ask yourself: is carbon neutrality used as a tool to soften a structural shift towards a more sustainable path, or is it just used to partially compensate for the consequences of a business model that is inherently unsustainable? If it’s the latter, then I’d consider it greenwashing.

Make it happen!

As things stand now, the Cloud isn’t all green. But there are things you and I can do to change this!

1. Choose wisely

Life is complicated. I am not a big fan of Apple for numerous reasons (amongst others, the fact that they produce heavily polluting devices – not to mention their social cost – that are programmed to become obsolete after just a few years), but I appreciate their leading efforts in terms of supplying their data centers with renewable energy, and that makes me consider switching to Apple Music from Spotify. However, maybe that’s not enough to convince you to change your habits, especially if like me you are reluctant to give your dough to Apple (yep, that’s a bad pun on apple pie). Do your research and weigh the pros and cons – there will always be both.

2. Swap search engines

An internet search done through Google generates 0.2g CO² (and that’s only the search, not everything that surrounds it such as the electricity used by your computer while searching). That does not seem like much, but then again, it adds up quickly. Enter Ecosia.

I have been using Ecosia off and on for close to a year now. Ecosia is a search engine that plants trees: they use 80% of the profits generated from ads to finance reforestation in Burkina Faso. I like their systemic approach to this issue, and their transparent communication, and I love to see that I have helped plant hundreds of trees so far (along with the rest of the community).

I am not going to lie to you: it’s not as good as Google. It can be frustrating. I would not be using it if they weren’t planting trees. Yet, they are planting trees, and in the process, empowering people, positively impacting local economies and the communities’ social stability and food security, and that’s more important to me than the convenience of Google. So far, they have donated more than 2.8 million dollars, and planted more than 4.2 million trees.

3. Get a new email provider

Yes, emails have a carbon footprint! According to this article from the Guardian, emissions due to emails range from 0.3g CO² (for a spam email) to 50g of CO² (for a big, heavy email).

I’ve recently got a Posteo account. Posteo is a German company that runs on 100% green energy (from Greenpeace Energy, i.e. you can trust them), is completely ad-free, does not collect nor sell your data and personal information, offers a comprehensive encryption system, and lots of other cool things. They also don’t let spam in, so that’s a big energy saver. It costs 1 euro/month, but that’s the cost of freedom.

The switch from Gmail to Posteo wasn’t too painful, although it certainly does not look as fancy as Gmail does. You also get a very good calendar with your email address.

4. While you’re at it, delete your emails!

Those emails are saved somewhere, and chances are that somewhere ain’t pretty – see my previous article. So delete the 1,764 emails you have not yet read and never will. With Gmail, it’s easy, you can just delete all the emails in a tab (like social or promotions). I just did it, and I deleted 919 threads in one click (that felt good).

Since I have begun to use Posteo, I also try to delete emails that I will not use again right away (newsletters, confirmations of sorts, etc). Although I am a sentimental person, I’ll also try to regularly delete personal conversations that I’ll never read again, and keep my inbox in check.

5. Limit your computer usage

Do you ever get the feeling that you spend waaay too much time in front of a screen? I certainly do, and I have decided to cut down my computer usage to under 40h/week. I am using RescueTime in order to track and analyze my time spent on the web, and I can tell you what a breakthrough it is to see the actual numbers of your internet usage. You know it’s time for action when an extension tells you you lost 2,5 hours of your day to social media. Stayfocusd is also a good resource to stop perusing the web mindlessly, as it limits the amount of time you can visit certain websites of your choosing.

Any other suggestions/ideas I missed?

Cloud Atlas

Ah, the internet, this great, invisible thing. I guess I am a bit naive, so I was utterly shocked the first time I read emails have a carbon footprint. How could that be, since they are immaterial? Well, it turns out they need to be sent and saved somewhere, and those servers are certainly not impact-free. That somewhere is ‘the Cloud’.

Cloud computing refers to the data and programs stored on servers, as opposed to on personal computers. Today, cloud computing is in full expansion, especially because of the boom of streaming services. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to the Cloud accounted for 2% of all global carbon emissions in 2014, roughly as much as emissions due to flights. As ‘the Cloud’ grows, its potential negative impact increases as well.

Many cloud computing companies have expressed their goal to be powered at 100% by renewable energies, yet some seem to be taking this a bit too lightly. For instance, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the biggest cloud computing company, does not share information on its energy mix or when and how it intends to reach its announced goal of 100% renewable energies.
In my humble opinion, being aware of this is already a first step towards more consumption mindfulness. For me, it’s also an added incentive to cut down my internet usage to less than 40 hours a week (I know, it’s still a lot!)

I have to say, I am pretty impressed by Apple’s attitude on this matter, as they seem to be pioneers in that regard. For someone who has uttered many an anti-Apple rant (both the company and the fruit), that’s kind of hard to swallow. I might even research their Apple Music service a bit more and subscribe, if it proves to be better than Spotify.

I’ll share more companies that help you reduce your very real e-footprint in an upcoming post. I am also open to any suggestions!

Sources :

Greenpeace report, Clicking Clean: A Guide to Building the Green Internet, May 2015.

Google Green

Apple environment page

AWS & Sustainability 

Facebook Sustainability Data 2014

Bryan Walsh, “Your Data is Dirty: the Carbon Price of Cloud Computing”, Time, 02/04/2014

Adam Vaughan, “How Viral Cat Videos Are Warming the Planet”, The Guardian, 25/09/2016.

Neeraj M., “Amazon AWS vs Google Cloud Platform vs Microsoft Azure : Which Public Cloud is Best for You?”, DazeInfo, 22/05/2015.

Matt Weinberger, “Spotify is making a big swith, a huge win for Google », Business Insider, 23/02/2016.

 

The Milk of Human Kindness

I received a newsletter a few weeks ago that kind of bummed me out. It was from Beyond Skin, a vegan shoe company, about the fact that almond milk sales had gone up 250% in the past five years while cow milk sales had gone done. The company was happy about this switch to “cruelty-free vegan alternatives.”

So yes, I was bummed out, because I thought it was probably a bit short-sighted. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s commendable to be aware of the impact dairy and meat farming have on the well-being of the animals. Yet, I was sceptical of the actual environmental benefits of mass-produced almond milk, as I know almonds are certainly not local to where I (and a lot of other people who eat them) live, and need a lot of water to grow. I set out to learn more about dairy-farming, compared carbon footprints and “food miles”, and other miscellaneous factors, in order to make up my mind about which milk to drink, and how to drink it. Here is what I found:

Milk production emits more greenhouse gas (GHG) than almond farming, at farm and factory gate (that is, before the final product is transported and distributed). The almond co-product credit mentioned above comes from hulls and shells that are used as livestock feed and for power generation.

Even though almonds are mainly grown in California (and for a small part in the Mediterranean), and milk can be made pretty much anywhere, the fact that almonds have to travel longer than milk to reach most of the consumers does not really change the fact that milk has a higher carbon footprint, most of which comes from the dairy farm phase. Plus, as a dry, non-perishable good, almonds don’t have to be transported by plane.

Of course, there are other things to take into account when comparing these two very different cultures. Milking cows is not an innocuous business, and the animals’ well-being will vary greatly depending on the type of farming, and the country’s standards.

But almond orchards are not totally harmless either. I found it especially fascinating to read about how farmers “import” bees to pollinate their orchards, and how this can put bees at risk by exposing them to new pathogens and chemicals, and by disrupting their seasonal life cycle. The fact that almond orchards need to be irrigated to thrive in the very dry state of California is also an issue, as the drought has severally touched the state over the past 5 years.

Will I resign myself to eating cereal with water? Will I give up eating cheese forever? Certainly not. But I’ll be more mindful about how I drink milk, and how I buy it.

A few words about the numbers used here: the carbon and water footprints are averages, and estimates. They are orders of magnitude, useful to compare two different objects. They vary depending on the type of farming and the production location.

Almond milk is made of almonds blended with water, and filtered to separate the “milk” from the left-over almond pulp. Throughout this article, I chose the high hypothesis of 1 cup of almond (or 140 grams) for a liter of almond milk, which is probably more than what is used in mass-produced almond milk.

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Sources:

For the milk carbon and water footprints:

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS, Animal Production and Health Division. (2010). “Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the Dairy Sector A Life Cycle Assessment”.

Guinard, C., Verones, F., Loerincik, Y. and Jolliet, O. (2009) “Environmental/ecological impact of the dairy sector: Literature review on dairy products for an inventory of key issues, list of environmental initiative and influences on the dairy sector”. Bulletin of the International Dairy Federation; Report 436; International Dairy Federation: Brussels, Belgium.

Torquati, Biancamaria, Taglioni, Chiara and Cavicchi, Alessio. (2015) “Evaluating the CO2 Emission of the Milk Supply Chain in Italy: An Exploratory Study”. Sustainability. 

Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2010) The green, blue and grey water footprint of farm animals and animal products, Value of Water Research Report Series No. 48, UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands. 

For the almond milk carbon and water footprint:

Alissa Kendall, Elias Marvinney, Sonja Brodt, and Weiyuan Zhu. “Life Cycle–based Assessment of Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Almond Production, Part I, Analytical Framework and Baseline Results”. Journal of Industrial Ecology. Volume 19, Number 6, 2015: 1008-1018. (Study made only on Californian almonds, and supported by a grant from the Almond Board of California)

Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2010) The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products, Value of Water Research Report Series No. 47, UNESCO-IHE, Delft, the Netherlands. 

Others:

Weiser, Matt. “Lucrative but Thirsty Almonds Come Under Fire Amid Drought”. National Geographic. April 21, 2015.

 

Things We Should Know about Clothes

So, you probably understood that clothes are kind of a big deal to me. Not really because I am into fashion – I am really not, although I do occasionally like dressing up like probably 99% of people. No, it’s more because I had a very slow and long epiphany, that eventually became clear one day: I did not need to keep doing what I had always been doing. And this has permeated every aspect of my life, or so I like to think. Everytime I catch myself doing something mindlessly, like shopping in a mall once was, I try to reevaluate it with this thought in mind. Does what I am doing right now make sense? Is there another, a better, way to do it?

For clothes, the answer is yes. Why?

Because cheap clothes suck! They don’t fit well, they are poorly made, and of poor-quality fabric. According to one study, the average number of wears women clothes gets is 7. SEVEN. S-E-V-E-N . Would you wear a perfectly tailored, beautiful silk dress only 7 times? Nope. A cheap, poorly fitted polyester dress on the other hand? I might have done this.

This overconsumption, coupled with the poor quality of today’s garments, is incredibly wasteful. But this is just the tip of the iceberg: the way mass produced clothing is made (i.e., 100% of what we regular people usually buy) is an environmental disaster (so much water is needed, for instance, to produce cotton – not to mention the pesticides), and above all, ethically terrible.

There have been many eye-opening scandals, like the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh. But isn’t it sad that we need those to shift our consumption patterns? Don’t we all know that cheap clothing has a price? I remember working for a retail company and having access to the amount of money each individual garment cost them. The mark up was insane (like easily 80%) and I realized that meant there was absolutely no way in hell the workers were paid a decent living wage. And you know what? I had always known it, and yet I had to see it myself to fully realize what that meant.

That’s something we should keep in mind. We don’t know the specifics on how these workers are treated, and how much they are making when they make garments for H&M or Forever21 or the Gap. But we can safely assume that their working and living conditions are far away from anything we would condone if we were asked directly.

I get it though. I am far from being rich, and I know not everyone can afford to invest in ethical, eco-friendly designer clothes. But here are a few ideas for you, and they have the added bonus of being cheap (sometimes even free) and absolutely eco-friendly, since they don’t involve creating new clothes but instead reusing:

Go vintage or second-hand: if you do it well, you’ll never be as well dressed for as little money. A few thought though:

• it might take time before you become good at finding deals and steals, so persevere!
• it’s a great way to develop your personal style and dress in a more unique way. The drawback is, you can’t expect to successfully go shopping second-hand with a very specific idea of what you are looking for. Keep an open mind, and maybe go shopping a bit more than you’d normally have. It’s more fun than shopping in a mall, and as long as you are being honest about how a garment fits you and whether or not you like it, you will be buying better.
• some stores will let you trade your used clothing in good condition for their clothes. That’s an awesome way to declutter AND to get new clothes for free or almost nothing.

Find (or organize) a swap-party: basically, you bring the clothes you don’t want to wear anymore, put them on a table for other people to look at, and then grab the clothes that catch your eye and you know for sure you are going to wear. You can do that with friends, find a Facebook group, or look in your city for organizations that offer this.

Last but not least: join a “free” group on Facebook. They are popping in many cities and allow people to give away what they do not want anymore. Watch out for junk (there is a lot) and always commit to liking and wearing what you want to get – it would be too bad to create more waste.

And of course, get educated! Elizabeth Cline’s book is a great resource. What most struck me when I read it was the idea that we had never been spending so little money on clothes (even though we, in the western world, are generally way better off than people in the 1900’s). And yet, I have complained many times that a $50 dress is too expensive. That definitely made me rethink my priorities.

 

 

 

 

 

Things We Should Know about Things

I have spent a loooot of time this past year and a half perusing the Internet in search of answers to my big questions: how can I do [insert activity] in an ethical way, and with minimal environmental consequences? Is it possible to get [shoes, bikini, avocado]  in an ethical way, and with minimal environmental consequences? and where? how??

Guess what. It took up so much time. It wasn’t fun. It wasn’t easy. And mostly, it just messed up with my head because these questions never end. When you start looking at how things are made and what impact they have, you fall into a (necessary, I believe) black hole. Let’s say you decided to stop buying ready-to-wear clothing, and to learn to sew to make your own clothes. Great! But how do you know the fabric you’ll buy will meet your standards? You probably don’t, because it’s really hard to get this kind of information on fabric. What do you do with all the leftover fabric that will end up as waste? What if what you made, at least in the first few months, is crap, and will never get worn? Isn’t that wasteful?

Right now, I am in that exact situation. I need new shoes, but I don’t want to buy any kind of shoes. I want them to look good, to be good quality shoes, to be comfortable, and affordable. I also want them to be made by a brand that at least shares my values. Cool. And also not cool: I have researched that a lot, and really can’t find anything that checks all the boxes, so I am going to have to make a choice between all these criteria (or go bare foot). And I hate to say this, but I am broke, so I am pretty sure I won’t be able to invest the money I want to in them.

But back to my tracks: I decided to gather and condensate the information picked up during these searches, and try to post it regularly. Ideally, I’d like to create a hub I, and of course other people, could refer to when they need to have an overall idea of complex issues, and to make educated choices about something specific. Above all, I see it as a way to show that THERE ARE  alternatives, solutions, outside-the-box kinda thoughts that can change the way we consume or we act. And I truly believe there are, and that it should be known.

So yeah, I’ll try real hard to keep to this project (hear: unlike my booklist thing) because I have been thinking about it a lot and I think it’s a good one. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

One thing that constantly baffles me is the capacity that we, human beings, have to not comprehend the scope and consequences of our actions. We know these consequences, we understand them to some extent, and yet we continue to act as if nothing was happening.

I should know, I have been doing this for so long.

One of the reasons why, I think, our world makes it easy for us to not have to face the consequences of our behaviour, is that everything happens so far away, in hidden places we have little idea about. It’s made so easy for us not to see, and therefore, not to care.

Out of sight, out of mind.

I firmly believe the only way to fight this natural tendency to ignorance is to get educated. And that’s what I have been trying to do more. Let me give you a heads-up: it’s overwhelming. There is sooo much information out there, and yet it’s hard to know what to take seriously and when to stop looking for answers. And the worst part comes when one tries to find solutions and alternatives to a behaviour one is trying to change – there are so many different aspects to take into account, because the world is complex.

It does not happen overnight. It can feel overwhelming. It is pretty scary and often disheartening. And yet, it’s necessary.

One thing I have noticed though, is that beginning to question things (and by questioning things, I mean everything) has led me to an increased confidence in one belief: it’s probably impossible to behave perfectly, yet it’s well worth a try, and it did change my mindset on many many issues.

Take fashion, for instance. I have never been that into fashion, but as most people in the Western world at least, I like clothes. 2 years ago, I would have had a very hard time imagining never buying any new clothes. Today, I wonder why I was spending so much money on new cheap garments, and get desperate when I need a new pair of shoes – unfortunately, used shoes in good condition for women are not that common, especially for women with modern feet (i.e, big!).

So yes, I can say that getting educated has changed my relationship to the world. That’s why I want to keep learning, and maybe share here what I find. Because what’s the point of keeping it to myself?

Yay! A book list!

I have recently realized that if I wanted to be serious about exploring the issues around sustainability, climate change and ethical and social entrepreneurship, maybe I needed to start reading books about it.

Hmm. The issue is, I am terrible at reading non-fiction books, so I figured I’d make a list of books I want to read here, with deadlines, and try and hold myself accountable.

Here is a list I put together searching all around the Internet for recommandations (of course, if you have other ideas, let me know!).

On climate change:

• This Changes Everything, Naomi Klein (yep, I still haven’t read it, partly out of laziness, partly out of denial – the introduction was really depressing)
• The Conflict Shoreline, text by Eyal Weizman and photographs by Fazal Sheikh
• La Question climatique – Genèse et dépolitisation d’un problème public, Jean-Baptiste Comby
• Greenhouse Gangsters vs. Climate Justice by CorpWatch
• Politics of Climate Justice, Patrick Bond
• Toward Climate Justice, Brian Tokar
• Contours of Climate Justice, Ulrich Brand and others

On alternative consumption models:

• What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers (2010)
• The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability — Designing for Abundance, William McDonough and Michael Braungart
• Your Water Footprint: The Shocking Facts about How Much Water We Use to Make Everyday Products, Stephen Leahy. 2014
• Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We make Things, William McDonough and Michael Braungart (2002)

On business and sustainability:

• The Truth About Green Business, Gil Friend (2009)
• Strategy for Sustainability: A Business Manifesto, Adam Werbach (2009)
• The Responsibility Revolution: How the Next Generation of Businesses Will Win, Jeffrey Hollender and Bill Breen (2010)
• Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World, Aron Cramer and Zachary Karabell (2010):
• Business Lessons From a Radical Industrialist, Ray C. Anderson (2009)
• The HIP Investor: Make Bigger Profits by Building a Better World, Paul Herman (2010)

So… (try to picture me saying it with a British accent) I am going to try to read one book every 2 weeks. I’ll start with the first one of the first category, then the first one of the second category, etc. I’ll also try to write down notes about each book here so I can remember all the great ideas I hope they are going to spark in me.