Amazon plans to cut waste following backlash

Good News Notes: “Amazon has launched two programs as part of an effort to give products a second life when they get returned to businesses that sell items on its platform or fail to get sold in the first place. The so-called Fulfilment by Amazon programs, announced in a blog post on Wednesday, will help to build a circular…

LanzaTech Makes Products From Carbon Dioxide

Good News Notes: “Climate technology developer and commercializer LanzaTech has been awarded $4.1M from the Department of Energy (DOE) for a project leveraging technology that uses carbon dioxide (CO2)-rich gas, such as from corn grain ethanol refining, to make chemicals and fuels. A major benefit is that the CO2 is captured before it is released to the…

Burger King® Rolls Out Green Packaging Pilot Program

Good News Notes: “Burger King® is committed to being part of a more sustainable future by reducing our environmental footprint. That’s why today, we are continuing our journey by launching a green packaging pilot program focused on finding scalable solutions for eight of our most-used, guest-facing items including forks, spoons, knives, straws, drink lids, Frypods®, Whopper® wrappers…

The Farmer Trying to Save Italy’s Ancient Olive Trees

Good News Notes: “In early 2016, Giovanni Melcarne, an agronomist and the owner of an extra virgin olive oil farm in Gagliano del Capo, walked through the southern Italian countryside of Puglia. He was with a fellow olive-oil farmer who had called and told him there was something he had to see. The two approached a…

Why Luxury Brands Are Embracing Upcycling Amid the Pandemic

Good News Notes: “The New York designer Hillary Taymour is something of a fashion rebel. Instead of following the industry norm and enticing fans to buy the latest from her label, Collina Strada, she teaches them the techniques necessary to imitate her trippy tie-dyes on their own, or alter them to their liking, should they…

Starbucks’ experimental new cup costs extra, but it’s worth it

Good News Notes: “Starbucks is launching an experimental “borrow a cup” program at select locations in its hometown, Seattle. The program is part of Starbucks’aim to make its cups more sustainable, and it will kick off as a two-month trial in five Seattle stores. Customers at those stores will have an option to receive their drinks…

Pair upcycle plastic waste into benches for public in a Hong Kong town, showing the potential of a circular economy to reduce marine pollution | South China Morning Post

Good News Notes: “Old milk containers, juice jugs and toy cups are not the type of products usually associated with high-concept furniture, but two designers in Hong Kong have taken these and other items and upcycled them into stylish pieces of public furniture. Tasked with creating a collection of 12 benches for the town hall…

Seaweed breakthrough in east London could help save planet

Good News Notes: “Science graduate Marcos Ulloa, who did his Masters degree at Queen Mary University, aims to set up Britain’s first commercial land-based seaweed farm to mass produce the substance.   The 27-year-old from Canary Wharf has found a way to use dried or fresh seaweed as wrapping for food products and other uses instead of plastics.  ‘The material can reduce the waste accumulated in landfills,’ he explains….