Oceans Archives - Zureli

Search for any green Service

Find green products from around the world in one place

Window cleaning

Singapore Safety Glass

Tentree restores oceans with sustainable clothing products

Posted on March 20, 2023March 27, 2023 by dishanth

Our oceans are in a detrimental state that could be rectified if action is taken to resurrect the natural life that lives beneath the surface.

Many conversations are happening around deforestation and the loss of biodiversity on the land, but life in the ocean is beyond what is imaginable by those who live on that land. It’s also known that coral reefs and other ocean organisms cease to support our climate if not cared for properly.

Talking of this thought process—the conversation around the environmental impact of land versus the sea—is the critical step to be taken by the sustainable garment producer, tentree.

Its mission is simple on paper, to motivate and encourage environmental stewardship through earth-first apparel. In fact, all tentree products are inspired by the natural environments that the company so desperately works to preserve. The uniqueness of the tentree journey comes from its strategy to plant ten trees for every garment purchased—the name of the brand being an incredible commitment to doing just that.

“Over the past decade, our goal has been to create a business that wasn’t content with just doing “less bad”, but rather, was focused on doing “more good”. For every product we sell, we plant trees all across the globe. We have planted over 100 million trees to date and we connect the customer at every step of the journey with the impact their own purchase has made,” says Derrick Emsley, tentree’s CEO and Co-Founder.

As a result, tentree is aiming for a significant milestone of one billion trees planted by the year 2030, which is currently on track, having planted 100 million of those already.

Planting trees is not enough to be sustainable.

Looking at the staggering figures the company has reached over the past 11 years of business, tentree is certainly likely to exceed its target for tree planting, which wasn’t enough of a challenge.

On the 7th March 2023, the company launched its latest initiative that will account for the outstanding 70% of the Earth’s coverage—its oceans.

Marking the latest range of clothing from the brand known to the consumer as the Ocean Collection, this product line will tackle a separate yet not-so-distant issue.

The strategy behind the Ocean Collection being to regenerate sea life alongside partners. These projects will include kelp planting, coral restoration, and mangroves.

Partnering with Ocean Wise, tentree will support the planting of bull, sugar and giant kelp off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. tentree’s support makes it possible for Ocean Wise to research best practices for ‘seaforestation’—a critical step in its goal to restore, cultivate and protect at least 5,000 ha of kelp globally.
Alongside Plant a Million Corals tentree is supporting coral reef restoration and protection. They’ll be supporting important habitats for fish species throughout Florida and the greater Caribbean ecosystem.
tentree will continue to plant mangrove trees across Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar and Brazil. Nearly 50% of the world’s mangrove forests have disappeared over the last 50 years, and these ecosystems are crucial carbon sinks and nursery grounds for key species.

“By expanding our tree-planting efforts into the ocean, we are able to support a critical ecosystem that supports an incredible number of animals, can serve as a massive carbon sink, and is, to-date, very under-funded due to the challenges of managing and monitoring underwater work,” says Emsley.

“At the same time, the upside and benefits of these projects is massive – no risk of forest fires, rapid growth cycles leading to continued carbon removal year after year, and byproducts that can be used in a variety of ways to reduce carbon emissions elsewhere (ie. bioplastic, animal feed, and more).”

How to make sustainable products and champion circularity.Understanding the mission of tentree it seems apt to delve deeper into what makes the company sustainable. Having spoken to Emsley on the topic, he divulges the company’s approach to circularity and how the sustainability mission has evolved over the years.

Tell us more about tentree’s USP and the journey it has taken as a result.

“At tentree, we view ourselves not as an apparel brand that plants trees, but rather, as a tree-planting company that sells apparel. That being said, we also make phenomenal clothing that aims to be the comfiest, softest, and most sustainable product you’ll ever own.

“Our clothes serve first, as a vehicle to help us fund our global reforestation efforts, second, to provide an individual with the opportunity to make a difference and “wear their impact”, and third, to push the fashion industry towards more sustainable practices through circularity programmes, net-zero ambitions, and more.”

How does tentree manage its own impact on the planet in the process of supporting that of consumers?

“We’ve approached the creation of tentree with some principles that we hold very close:

1. We plant trees.

2. We work to reduce the negative impact of any product we create as much as possible.

3. Anything we cannot reduce, we offset. For each of these principles, we have built a number of ways to verify & validate our efforts.

“When it comes to tree planting, our approach to monitoring, reporting, and verification has evolved dramatically over the past decade. Historically, we have been challenged to measure our impact globally but, in the past three years, have built a technology focused on solving for the challenges of managing, verifying, and monitoring large-scale global reforestation efforts – this system is called veritree.

“Regarding the sustainability of our product, we use only the most sustainable fibre options—such as TENCEL™ lyocell, organic cotton or REPREVE® recycled polyester. As a result of this, we are able to cut back on the waste water and emissions that are created by typical apparel manufacturing. We also launched our new take-back program called “Circularity by tentree” in 2022 that helps keep well-worn tentree clothing out of landfills. “Finally, we are also one of the top B-Corps globally in the apparel category and have shown significant improvement with each recertification.”

How does the Ocean Collection fit into tentree’s mission?

“Our mission at tentree has always been to make saving the planet simple. We do that, by giving everyone of our customers the ability to make an incredible impact through their purchase. What it means to make an impact continues to evolve every year and, with it, so too does our business.

“When we started tentree, our focus was solely on planting trees. At the time, we didn’t know what it meant to make clothing “sustainably”. Upon realising the need to manufacture our product using more sustainable materials, we quickly made this change. Our focus was now on making products that did less harm, while planting as many trees as possible.

“Last year, we launched a circularity program to make sure that the product we created could also be returned to ensure there was no waste. This led to another evolution. Creating products without waste, that does no harm, and plants as many trees as possible.”

Source Sustainability

Biden boosts offshore wind energy, wants to power 10 million homes

Posted on March 30, 2021March 30, 2021 by dishanth

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is moving to sharply increase offshore wind energy along the East Coast, saying Monday it is taking initial steps toward approving a huge wind farm off the New Jersey coast as part of an effort to generate electricity for more than 10 million homes nationwide by 2030.

Meeting the target could mean jobs for more than 44,000 workers and for 33,000 others in related employment, the White House said. The effort also would help avoid 78 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, a key step in the administration’s fight to slow global warming.

President Joe Biden “believes we have an enormous opportunity in front of us to not only address the threats of climate change, but use it as a chance to create millions of good-paying, union jobs that will fuel America’s economic recovery,” said White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy. “Nowhere is the scale of that opportunity clearer than for offshore wind.”

The administration’s commitment to the still untapped industry “will create pathways to the middle class for people from all backgrounds and communities,” she added. “We are ready to rock-and-roll.”

The administration said it intends to prepare a formal environmental analysis for the Ocean Wind project off New Jersey. That would move Ocean Wind toward becoming the third commercial-scale offshore wind project in the U.S.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it is targeting offshore wind projects in shallow waters between Long Island and the New Jersey coast. A recent study shows the area can support up to 25,000 development and construction jobs by 2030, Interior said.

The ocean energy bureau said it will push to sell commercial leases in the area in late 2021 or early 2022.

The administration also pledged to invest $230 million to upgrade U.S. ports and provide up to $3 billion in loan guarantees for offshore wind projects through the Energy Department’s recently revived clean-energy loan program.

“It is going to be a full-force gale of good-paying, union jobs that lift people up,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

Ocean Wind, 15 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey, is projected to produce about 1,100 megawatts a year, enough to power 500,000 homes, once it becomes operational in 2024.

The Interior Department has previously announced environmental reviews for Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts and South Fork wind farm about 35 miles east of Montauk Point in Long Island, N.Y. Vineyard Wind is expected to produce about 800 megawatts of power and South Fork about 132 megawatts.

Biden has vowed to double offshore wind production by 2030 as part of his effort to slow climate change. The likely approval of the Atlantic Coast projects — the leading edge of at least 16 offshore wind projects along the East Coast — marks a sharp turnaround from the Trump administration, which stymied wind power both onshore and in the ocean.

As president, Donald Trump frequently derided wind power as an expensive, bird-slaughtering way to make electricity, and his administration resisted or opposed wind projects nationwide, including Vineyard Wind. The developer of the Massachusetts project temporarily withdrew its application late last year in a bid to stave off possible rejection by the Trump administration. Biden provided a fresh opening for the project after taking office in January.

“For generations, we’ve put off the transition to clean energy and now we’re facing a climate crisis,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, whose department oversees offshore wind.

“As our country faces the interlocking challenges of a global pandemic, economic downturn, racial injustice and the climate crisis, we have to transition to a brighter future for everyone,” Haaland said.

Vineyard Wind is slated to become operational in 2023, with Ocean Wind following a year later.

Despite the enthusiasm, offshore wind development is still in its infancy in the U.S., far behind progress made in Europe. A small wind farm operates near Block Island in waters controlled by the state of Rhode Island, and another small wind farm operates off the coast of Virginia.

The three major projects under development are all owned by European companies or subsidiaries. Vineyard Wind is a joint project of a Danish company and a U.S. subsidiary of the Spanish energy giant, Iberdrola. Ocean Wind and South Fork are led by the Danish company, Orsted.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday it is signing an agreement with Orsted to share data about U.S. waters where the company holds leases. The data should aid NOAA’s ocean-mapping efforts and help it advance climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, the agency said. NOAA also will spend $1 million to study the impacts of offshore wind operations on fishing operators and coastal communities.

Wind developers are poised to create tens of thousands of jobs and generate more than $100 billion in new investment by 2030, “but the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management must first open the door to new leasing,″ said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association.

Not everyone is cheering the rise of offshore wind. Fishing groups from Maine to Florida have expressed fear that large offshore wind projects could render huge swaths of the ocean off-limits to their catch.

Source US News

Forging a more sustainable path for animal farming

Posted on November 4, 2020 by dishanth

Every time a cow burps, it releases a bit of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that traps more heat than carbon-dioxide.

The livestock sector accounts for a significant 14.5 per cent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions and, in the Asia Pacific region, demand for dairy products is growing along with its middle class.

Driven by the growing number of cattle farms, methane emissions are at an all-time high, and could cause a disastrous global temperature rise of three to four degrees Celsius by 2100 if left unchecked, according to a recent Stanford University study.

“Emissions from cattle and other ruminants (herbivorous mammals) are almost as large as those from the fossil fuel industry for methane,” said Rob Jackson, a professor of Earth system science at the university who led the study. “People joke about burping cows without realising how big the source really is.”

With demand for beef and other meats expected to increase in tandem with growing wealth in countries such as China and India, some companies are taking steps to help the animal farming industry reduce its environmental impact.

Global nutrition, health and sustainable living company DSM, one of the world’s leading producers of nutritional ingredients, is testing an animal feed additive for cows that has reduced their methane emissions by about 30 per cent in previous and ongoing trials.

In August, the firm also launched a strategic initiative called “We Make It Possible” to make animal farming sustainable. It takes as its targets the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2, 3, 12, 13 and 14, which aim for zero hunger, good health and well-being for all, responsible consumption and production, action against climate change, and sustainable use of marine resources respectively by 2030.

Peter Fisher, DSM’s regional vice-president for animal health and nutrition in Asia Pacific, said that while plant-based diets have become more popular, meat still makes up a significant portion of many meals. “We have to figure out how to meet this demand in a responsible and sustainable way, and we have to do this with urgency,” he said.

To feed a world population of 9.7 billion by 2050, scientists have highlighted the need to avoid further deforestation, grow more efficiently on existing farms and shift to less meat-intensive diets, among other measures.

We have to figure out how to meet this demand in a responsible and sustainable way, and we have to do this with urgency.

Peter Fisher, regional vice-president for animal health and nutrition in Asia Pacific, DSM

Transforming farming

DSM’s initiative will promote its products and initiatives in six areas: Improving farm animals’ health and yield; improving the quality of food while reducing food waste and loss; cutting livestock emissions; making more efficient use of natural resources; reducing reliance on marine resources; and tackling anti-microbial resistance.

One of DSM’s solutions, a feed additive for cows called Bovaer, is currently undergoing trials in New Zealand and Australia and pending registration for use in Europe. When mixed into a cow’s feed, it inhibits an enzyme in the animal that triggers the production of methane. The additive has already been tested in over 30 farm trials, with over 25 peer-reviewed studies published in science journals attesting to its efficacy and showing no negative effects on the cows’ health or milk.

The company also created Hy-D, a vitamin D additive already on the market that helps pigs and chickens to build stronger skeletons and lead healthier and longer lives. This means that pigs can have more piglets over their lifetime, among other advantages for farmers. Feeding Hy-D to chickens also enables them to lay eggs that have shells that are about four per cent thicker, reducing egg breakages during packing and transport by about 15 per cent.

Each year, about 16 million tonnes of wild oily fish such as anchovies, sprat and capelin are caught and processed into fish meal and fish oil for aquaculture. The oil, in particular, contains two omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), that are used to grow nutritious fish for human consumption, especially in the salmon industry.

To reduce the reliance on these marine resources, DSM has partnered with another firm, Evonik, to produce EPA and DHA by fermenting natural marine algae. The amount of EPA and DHA in one tonne of the algal oil is equivalent to that in 60 tonnes of the wild-caught fish. DSM said that the partnership can currently meet 15 per cent of the salmon industry’s demand for EPA and DHA, equivalent to saving 1.2 million tonnes of wild-caught fish per year.

Fisher said that the firm will also help farmers make more efficient use of local crops for their animal feeds and other needs. “If they can do that, they won’t have to transport resources from across the world, and this will reduce their environmental footprint,” he explained.

He noted that the world’s growing population and demand for animal protein will continue to put huge and increasing pressure on its finite natural resources. “Along with the strain on the environment, this threatens to take our food systems well beyond the planet’s boundaries,” he said.

“Through our new strategic initiative, we hope to achieve a transformation in animal farming that will not only ensure a decent living for farmers but make animal farming sustainable and foster a brighter future.”

By Feng Zengkun

Source: Eco Business