Encore: WeDon’tHaveTime.org, FabBrick–Turning Clothing Into Walls, The Climate Reforestation Campaign!

FAB-BRICK: TURNING OLD COTTON CLOTHING INTO NEW WALLS

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

WE DON’T HAVE TIME!

 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 

THE CLIMATE DAILY 50/100 REFORESTATION CAMPAIGN CONTINUES!

We’re making progress with our Climate Champions 50/100 reforestation campaign, so we’re keeping it going!

(Yeessss…)

Thank you to the listeners of The Climate Daily who donated to The Climate Champions 50/100 campaign! There’s still work to do to get us to 10,000 trees. That’s why we’re extending the campaign through May to give more of you the chance to become climate champions. What’s a climate champion, you ask? A climate champion proves that a small group of people can make a massive impact on the planet in a short amount of time.  

How? Our company, The Climate, is partnering with over 30 international tree-planting organizations–ALONG WITH our climate champions– to re-plant, and regrow forests all over the world, by planting ten thousand trees at a time. Why? Because science says the best way to combat climate change is to restore nature. And the fastest way to restore nature is to plant and grow a trillion trees by 2030, and the fastest way to do that is to plant ten thousand trees at a time. So, we’re looking for folks to donate $50 or $100 one time, to help us plant 10,000 trees at a time, in one of seven regions around the planet.

(Which our tree planting partners will do. They’re the tree-planting professionals.) 

Please visit www.TheClimate.org, and at the top of the page, click on the words, “Climate Champions.” Then click on the donate button and join our team of climate champions today. Again, visit TheClimate.org, and at the top of the page, click on the words, “Climate Champions.” Click on the donate button and join our team of climate champions today. And if you want to start your own team of climate champions, reach out to us at info@34.203.12.8. We’ll help you put together your own small group of climate champions to make a massive impact on the planet in a short amount of time. 

(Planting 10 thousand trees–a 20-acre forest!) 

Wouldn’t it be great to be the change you want to see in the world? Become part of something special. Become a climate champion.  Thank you!!

DEEPER DIVE: 50/100 Campaign, Trillion Tree Project