Dumpster dive | November 25, 2024

Image source: The Garbage Lady

• Is the annual Macy's Thanksgiving parade sustainable? Statistics from last year's event turned up the usual suspects in the form of plastic: 2000 gallons of paint, 5000 costumes made from synthetic fabrics, 300 pounds of glitter, and 49 polyurethane balloons. [WWD]

• Helium was an unexpected parade statistic. Of those 49 balloons, 16 are giant-sized and require 3000 cubic feet of helium combined, enough to inflate 18,750 drugstore balloons. Yet the world is facing a helium shortage, and at the projected rates of consumption, all the currently available helium on Earth will be depleted in about 40 years, leaving us with defunct MRI machines and deflated balloons. Aerospace engineering, deep-sea diving, and cryogenics will also be heavily impacted. [Slate]

• "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without" is good practice for every day, even though the phrase was initially a response to shortages during World War I. (The phrase originated with Calvin Coolidge, who was quoted as saying “Eat it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.”) [Off The Grid News]

• Sweater weather is officially here, moths be damned and holes be darned. I'm mesmerized by the darning techniques of @alexandrabrinck. Check out her Instagram feed for more mini-tutorials on repairing knitwear, like this one for fixing snags.

• A 2024 Ipsos poll found that 85% of people polled worldwide support a ban on single-use plastics, 90% support a ban on hazardous chemicals used in plastics, and 87% support a reduction on global plastic production. We'll soon see how public opinion fares against fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists during the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee to develop an international legally binding treaty on plastic pollution. The session takes place November 25–December 1. [WWF]

• With or without a treaty, we can make progress against plastic pollution through our own actions, and Greenpeace guides the way with its toolkit for a plastic-free future.

• Too little, too late: A contentious climate deal was reached at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, over the weekend, with 200 countries agreeing to provide $300 billion annually to vulnerable, poorer nations to help them cope with increasingly devastating extreme weather and transition their economies toward clean energy. The funding won't start until 2035 and is criticized as being woefully short of the $1.3 trillion that economists say is needed. [Reuters]

• Elected leaders are failing us on climate action. Project Drawdown outlines a path that we as individuals can take to meaningful, impactful engagement on climate change.

• I've mentioned this resource before, but it's worth calling out again: Enter your zip code and the National Environmental scorecard shows whether your elected members of Congress have been voting for legislation that protects people and the planet. The League of Conservation Voters has been tracking these voting records for over 50 years. (So happy to see that scores for my zip code range from 94%-100%.)

• ICYMI, the 2024 greener gift guide is here to help you shop more sustainably for the holidays. After publishing the guide, I realized I should have added a recommendation for replacing toxic black plastic kitchen utensils, and the heirloom-quality items from Earlywood made the cut.