Domestic Flight Ban in France, WeDon’tHaveTime.org, The Fifth Exponential Climate Action Summit, Old Clothing Becomes New FabBrick!

OLD CLOTHING BECOMES NEW FAB-BRICK!

Clarisse Merlet was an architecture student from France in 2017 when she became aware of two problems of waste. The waste in the fashion industry and the waste in the construction industry. Both industries also have a high demand for virgin material which causes stress to the diminishing natural resources used in both fashion and construction. 

One material stood out to her that was common to both industries, cotton. It has thermal properties and is an acoustic insulator. That led her to imagine, what if she could reuse discarded clothes and turn it into a new raw material? That’s how in 2018 FabBrick was born. Merlet’s mission, according to her website, is to “make people aware of the opportunity recycling waste represents as well as challenging those who produce the waste.”

So, they don’t just take the waste and recycle it, FabBrick transforms it into a new design product and sends that new product back to the company. The reason is to help them realize how much waste they produce each year. For the most part, the bricks have been used for room partitions, decorative walls or shelving units in retail stores. Although the bricks can’t yet be used in construction, they are fire- and moisture-resistant.  As of now, FabBrick only provides its services to clients within about 63 miles of its Paris headquarters.

Why does Merlet’s invention matter to us? Merlot’s idea is to keep materials like cotton, wool and polyester from going to landfills and to prolong their lives through repurposing them so that less materials have to be extracted from the Earth. 

DEEPER DIVE: Fab-brick, The Premier Daily, Treehugger 

THE FIFTH EXPONENTIAL CLIMATE ACTION SUMMIT

On Earth Day, 2022, the organization WeDontHaveTime.org  and its partners, held the fifth Exponential Climate Action Summit. The summit explored the role of nature in the race to zero. 

One part of the fifth Exponential Climate Action Summit was held in Stockholm, Sweden and the other in Washington, DC. addressed the role of restoring nature to get to net zero. Each Summit ran about four hours and featured such climate change fighting luminaries as Inger Andersen, Exec. Dir. The United Nations Environment Programme, Kehkashan Basu, Founder/president of Green Hope Foundation and Yishan Wong, CEO of Terraformation.

So given that this year’s Summit is over – why does it matter to us? Because We Don’t Have Time recorded it for all of us to see and put it on the internet for all eternity!! 

Also because scientists agree human beings need to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century to keep the global temperature below 1.5°C. And to that end, there is also total agreement that no viable route to limiting global warming and building resilience exists without urgently protecting, managing, and restoring nature. 

Visit wedonthavetime.org/events/nature or click on the links in the Deeper Dive section of this story at TheClimate.org/episodes. I recommend telling your boss you’re attending a two-day webinar on climate change for your company.

DEEPER DIVE: 5th Exponential Climate Action Summit, WeDontHaveTime.org

MEET CLIMATE CHAMPIONS, WEDON’THAVETIME.ORG

 So what is this, We Don’t Have Time organization almost nobody’s talking about, anyway? According to its website, it’s a “movement and a tech startup that leverages t the power of social media to hold leaders and companies accountable for climate change.”

WDHT is a Stocklhom-based company founded by Ingmar Rentzhog and David Olsson in 2018. In a nutshell, it’s an app, a review platform and social media network “for everyone who wants to be part of the solution. The platform is free of charge. So what is a “review platform,” how does it work, and why does it matter to us?

A review platform is, well, think Yelp! but for the climate. Choose a company (they call them a “recipient”) by typing in the name of the company, organization, government or public person in the “Find account” search field. If the company is in the WDHT database, go for it. Right now, over 200 companies and organizations are listed on and communicating with the WDHT platform.

You can also add a link to a source that provides more background to your review. Links to Youtube videos will be automatically embedded in the review.

WDHT makes it easy for folks not interested in composing a review. They’ve developed three icons to use: Climate Love, Climate Idea and Climate Warning. Climate Love praises a company for doing good climate action; Climate Idea is an opportunity to suggest to a company new, better, climate-friendly way of doing things; and Climate Warning is like a thumb’s down to that company

There are two reasons why this concept matters to us. First, this is an ingenious way to create dialog between us—ordinary folk—and the companies with whom we do business to express our delight or displeasure with how they’re handling their responsibilities vis-à-vis fighting for the climate. Second, for every review posted,  WDHT plants a tree.

WDHT currently claims over 60,000 members on its platform.

DEEPER DIVE: WDHT, WDHT Manifesto

DOMESTIC FLIGHT BAN IN FRANCE HELPS CUT C02 EMISSIONS

Last month, France banned short flights on certain routes where the equivalent train ride of two and a half hours or shorter is available. The ban aims to reduce carbon emissions caused by air travel,  and is part of the country’s overall effort to reduce carbon emissions in France by 40% by 2030.

France’s Industry Minister, Agnes Pannier-Runacher commented on the ban saying, “We know that aviation is a contributor of carbon dioxide and that because of climate change we must reduce emissions.”

The new law, which was voted on in 2021, affects five specific routes:

• Flights between Paris Orly and Bordeaux

• Flights between Paris Orly and Lyon

• Flights between Paris Orly and Nantes

• Flights between Paris Orly and Rennes

• Flights between Lyon and Marseille

Other European countries have followed suit, such as Austria and Germany, though neither has gone as far as France in its restrictions. Why does France’s short distance flight ban matter to us?  According to a report by the Guardian, “the emissions produced per kilometer for each passenger on a domestic route are 70 percent higher than long haul flights–and six times higher than if the same journey was made by rail.” 

DEEPER DIVE: Afar, The Guardian, One Mile At A Time