What do you want to know?

There are so many things that I could focus on in the never-ending firehose of bad news (gestures broadly at everything). Every week I try to find an angle that will inform and educate without depressing the hell out of all of us.

So, do tell: what would you like to see? Do you want more explainers about how everything is interconnected? (Like when I talked about pandemics and climate or how urban heat islands are related to redlining policies of the past?) Would you like a deeper analysis of something that recently appeared in the news? Would you like more case studies and how-to tutorials? Send me an email and let me know.

"We, the communicators, are at the center of all things sustainability. We’re at a tipping point where the Venn diagram of sustainable business objectives, stakeholder expectations, and professional opportunities all intersect with content. With sustainable content and sustainability communications, we can be key players in our organizations’ efforts."

Alisa Bonsignore
Sustainable Content: How to Measure and Mitigate the Carbon Footprint of Digital Data
Now available

What I've been reading

I'm focusing only on the good stuff this week. No doom and gloom. We have enough of that already.

Good news for your morning caffeine habit: climate-resistant coffee is a thing! The excelsa variety has been known for a century, and is grown in the central regions of Africa, as well as India, Indonesia and Vietnam. The plant has unusually deep roots, leathery leaves, and a large trunk, all of which make it more resilient against drought and heat. So far, it's shown itself to be resistant to common pests and diseases.

Farmers in Vermont have found a use for human urine. They have been following in the footsteps of the ancient Chinese and ancient Romans, and are using urine as fertilizer. The Urine Nutrient Reclamation Program (UNRP) is run by nonprofit Rich Earth Institute (REI). Windham County's "donations" are collected by truck, driven to a large tank where the urine is pasteurized, and then stored until it's time to use as fertilizer.

Is lower-emission steel a possibility? Green-steel startup Boston Metal says yes. Rather than using a blast furnace, which uses coal-based fuel, the new process uses electricity. If renewables are used as the source of the electricity, the process can nearly eliminate the climate impact from steel production.

Shameless and unsolicited cross-promotion of good stuff!

Last week I did a bio-writing workshop hosted by Katel LeDû of Liminal Bloom. Normally I think that writing a bio — or any form of self-promotion — is a form of torture. This workshop was effective, easygoing, and helped me to create something that it's the usual LinkedIn SEO-packed bio that we're used to seeing. I'm not sure if this is the bio that I'll use to attract clients, but it did reveal some behind-the-scenes guiding principles about who I am and what I want to be doing. Highly recommended.

Learn more about coaching and workshops