Friday Favorite 9/9/22

 This week we turn to the fashion industry. Did you know that, “every 25 minutes, an Olympic size swimming pools worth of crude oil is used in the production of synthetic clothing?” We knew that the fashion industry was terrible for the environment but had no idea that it was this bad! The ad favorite of this week brings light to this situation by bringing that fact to life in a real-world depiction scenario. The ad was done by Woolmark, “Wear Wool, Not Fossil Fuel” ad promoting their 100% natural clothing line. It is also 100% biodegradable and renewable. At the beginning of the spot, there are people swimming in this Olympic-sized pool of fossil fuel and trying to escape the grip of its grimy substance. As they struggle, they eventually escape by pulling off the top layer covered in oil to reveal the clean outfit that lies beneath. You can really see their metaphors through the visual aesthetics of the ad. What starts off as a dark and grim beginning turns into one full of lush green spaces and light moods. The ad is expected to run in the U.S., the UK, France and Australia this month. It was created in collaboration by Park Village, Studio Birthplace and 20Something.

Environmental Impact of NFT’s

We should all know what NFT’s are at this point. It is a hot topic right now, as is the metaverse. But what most people haven’t been made aware of is,  their impact on the environment. These blockchains run-on high-energy consumption to be created and checked through what is called the “proof of work” system, through cryptocurrency companies such as Ethereum. The way this works to oversee transactions is that the system forces “miners” to compete by solving complex puzzles to basically land the job of verifying transactions to a blockchain. These miners will then receive a reward once the job is completed. The process is incredibly inefficient on purpose, according to The Verge. This encourages someone to be less likely to screw up the ledger because of how much energy it takes. A.K.A. how much money it costs to do. Let’s look at some figures that were put together in an article written by VICE. “Based on data from the Energy Information Administration, there are 0.85lbs. of CO2 released into the air per kWh of energy used. If you multiply this by the amount of energy spent on each transaction on Ethereum, this equals 120.7lbs of CO2 for every NFT created. This is 6.16 times the CO2 of burning one gallon of gasoline…. Ethereum uses as much electricity as the country of Lybia.” Those numbers are absolutely staggering! Is there a solution? As it turns out there may actually be one option. To rid the system of this energy consuming proof-of-work system, some have proposed what is called a proof-of-stake mechanism instead. This system uses validators and chooses them based on the number of tokens they have instead of having them compete with complex puzzles to see who will validate the block chain. This requires much less energy because “the time it takes for the proof-of-stake algorithm to choose a validator is significantly quicker” (Blockworks). Does this seem like a good solution? We don’t really know, but it seems like it may be a step in the right direction. Since this space is so new at this point, there is still much to learn. However, it seems that the metaverse may create a whole lot of negative impacts on the environment from where we stand now.

Full Speed Ahead/Earth Day 2022

Here at Locomotive, we like trains. However, we though it important to make a statement on the impacts that they do have on the environment. You see us post steam engines on our stories but we are not oblivious to the fact of the fossil fuel problems they can create. The CO2 they pollute the air with is substantial due to the burning of fossil fuels. The steam engine in particular produces higher emissions. That being said, railroads are still actually one of the most efficient ways to transport freight across the country, so most are modernizing their systems to reduce impacts on the environment. “Moving freight by train instead of truck reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 75%.” (AAR) This is because they are more fuel efficient than trucks and move much faster.  

At our company, we love what the metaphor of a train stands for. It represents being unstoppable, getting things done and forward progression. This is why we chose it as our emblem. When the train first arrived in the 18th Century, it brought with it a new notion of industrialization that propelled society into a new era of business and trade since it was now cheaper and easier to produce in large quantities. Our values lie in progress as a culture and as a collective in the industry that we’re so proud to be a part of. The idea of progression has a much different meaning in today’s world. For us it’s inclusion, diversity, equality for a better world tomorrow. These are things that we are bringing to the table in the years to come. Being an equal opportunity employer that bridges the wage gap for women in the industry is just one way we contribute to this progress. We also want to put emphasis on sustainability through business to do our part for environmental efforts. We do this by remaining a fully remote business and have no intentions of changing that. This helps lower the world’s CO2 emissions for unnecessary work commutes. There are many ways a business can become more ecofriendly. Here are just a few: 

1.     Such as using energy saving bulbs

2.     Offering remote work as we do or assist with public transit

3.     Recycle

4.     Choose sustainable suppliers

5.     Unplug electronic when not in use

6.     Provide clean drinking water to reduce plastic bottles

7.     Use indoor plants to improve air quality

Deciding to do your part for climate change is a small win in itself. The more people that join the movement the better! It’s up to each and every one of us to do a little more each day to improve our planet’s health. It’s the small daily habits that add up to BIG changes in the end. One world. One community.