"It's not you, it's me"...toxic relationships, robots opening doors to sustainabil
Are you in a toxic relationship? (UN Environment Program)
Let's kick things off with this short UN Environment #CleanSeas video takes a lighter look at the issue of marine litter and asks everyone around the world to break-up with single-use plastics and make their pledge at cleanseas.org.
Could 3D printing help tackle poverty and plastic waste? (The Guardian)
Startups are turning plastic waste in developing countries into filament for 3D printers while employing local waste pickers.
Image credit: The Guardian
Robots Opening Doors to Sustainability? (Orlando Sentinel)
How will the ramping up of automation, artificial intelligence and robots affect sustainability? "Boston Dynamics has been in the business of robot making for more than 20 years, but it’s dog-like robot keeps … evolving. Doors can’t deter their dog-mimic robot SpotMini, as long as SpotMini has a friend with a pivot-arm clamp that can open doors."
Reaction to the video have been comments like: “This is how we die.” And “They hunt in packs.” A December 2017 New York Times article "Robots are Coming and Sweden is Fine" shows robots helping miners avoid the dust and exhaust fumes of deep mines. Swedish minister for employment and integration, Ylva Johansson: “The jobs disappear, and then we train people for new jobs. We won’t protect jobs. But we will protect workers.”
Speaking of robots....AI might be what helps us restore our climate (Nature)
“Climate is now a data problem,” says Claire Monteleoni, a computer scientist at George Washington University in Washington DC who has helped to pioneer the marriage of machine-learning techniques with climate science.
Image credit: Microsoft
As Earth-observing satellites become more plentiful and climate models more powerful, researchers who study global warming are facing a deluge of data. Some are now turning to the latest trend in artificial intelligence (AI) to help trawl through all the information, in the hope of discovering new climate patterns and improving forecasts. Microsoft's new AI for Earth is trying to jump in front of this parade as well.
New Report: Redefining Sustainable Business: Management for a Rapidly Changing World (BSR)
Image credit: BSR's Redefining Sustainable Business
"Drawing on BSR’s (Businesses for Social Responsibility) 25 years of experience working with companies and their stakeholders, from corporate headquarters to remote operations and sourcing locations, this report presents our view of how companies can transform their strategies, governance, and management so that they are fit for a disruptive world. It builds on interviews with 50 senior sustainability leaders at member companies and our 2017 survey with GlobeScan on the State of Sustainable Business."
Among many excellent graphics in the publication...one of my favorites is below. They make the case that sustainability professionals, once the defense of the corporation (think of the two C's: compliance and complaints), now need to be part of the offense (innovation, growth, value creation and customer engagement).
Image credit: BSR's Redefining Sustainable Business