Blogs

Earlier this year, I wrote about my journey in confronting the environmental and social impacts of air travel. I had been working on the Travel Better Package to support a reduction in flying in universities and colleges and had just returned from a two-week long Christmas holiday to Canada. I grappled with the shame I felt, mixed with the longing to see my family. I thought it could be useful to share the difficulties of an international life to support others in similar situations.

Starting a business can offer a lifeline for people living below the poverty line as they try to recover financially and mentally. However, the Covid-19 crisis is going to have a devastating impact on economies. The outbreak has brought countries’ economies to a halt and driven many victims to shut their business and seek loans to survive. If starting a business in the informal sector[1] was difficult before the coronavirus crisis, it will be far more difficult after the crisis. This is because many employees will be made redundant (if they are not already redundant) and some people (especially women) will look to start a new business to be able to survive.

Evidence shows that long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to the development of various diseases, including respiratory conditions such as lung cancer and asthma, and to an estimated 36,000 early deaths in the UK every year . Evidence based research also indicates a link between high levels of air pollutants and Covid-19 cases and deaths

Everyone has heard of recycling, but what about upcycling? Recycling is the process of turning waste into a reusable material or product. It involves taking common household items, such as paper, glass, and plastic, breaking down the materials, and using them to form another product that is often of lesser quality. Upcycling, on the other hand, is a very specific form of recycling that turns waste into a material or product that is of a higher quality.

During the lockdown period of the coronavirus pandemic we are all adapting to spending more time at home. I have at times felt anxious about my health, financial implications, and future stability of work. I am grateful that I am still able to leave home for essential purchases and participating in daily exercise, and when I do the nature that greets me outside becomes my sanctuary.

It is well established now that Covid-19 is very strongly linked to the loss of biodiversity that is caused by both businesses and individual human activity. In this short article, we introduce Energy from Waste (EfW) as a process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the incineration of waste (Stringfellow, 2014). It could be termed ‘Renewable’ in the sense that waste is always in a constant process of replenishment from human activity.

EAUC writes about Earth Day, the roles of universities and colleges in coming to the aid of our ailing planet, and how Covid-19 will impact our Earth moving forwards.

Around the globe, the current pandemic has imposed a new reality that revolves around phrases like: self-isolating, social distancing measures, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), flattening the curve and underlying conditions.

As a result of Covid-19 pandemic, world leaders have followed World Health Organization (WHO) advice that social distancing is the solution to prevent the virus from spreading and to our allow National Health Services to save lives. To allow this to happen, businesses have been told to close their doors during the coronavirus outbreak. The question is: have businesses fulfilled their CSR duties?

Life has as we know it entered unprecedented times with the emergence of the Covid-19 virus. Worldwide, organisational operations and individual movements have been restricted, and in some countries these rules are enforced by the police. Governments have taken unprecedented measures to confine movement. The previous unthinkable measures have changed lives drastically but most are complying with the new rules, acknowledging the greater good is to minimise impact and retain health.

Biodiversity is the infrastructure that supports all life. The immense pressure plastics are having on the oceans, along with the disappearance of rainforests, and land clearing for agricultural purposes, have all contributed to biodiversity loss and species extinction. All these issues have resulted in many years of human overexploitation of our planet and are recognised to be causing the sixth extinction period the planet is currently experiencing.

LSE student Harriet Freeman talks about the struggle and surrender involved in running a successful sustainability campaign.