In Between Times 6-1-2023
Big changes in Walmart packaging, Micro nuclear power coming online, Texas leads on renewable installations, What is your political identity - really?
Take Action!
Walmart is the biggest retailer in the USA and so when this giant moves to much more sustainable packaging it makes a big difference.
CNBC reports:
"The nation's largest retailer will roll out changes to eliminate waste across its business, it said Thursday. Walmart will swap plastic mailers for paper ones that can be recycled curbside.
It will add made-to-fit technology in about half of its fulfillment centers, so each shipped box uses less material and more boxes can fit on each truckload. And by the end of the year, customers at all of its stores will be able to choose to skip plastic bags when retrieving curbside pickup orders."
This is progress on a large scale. Please sign this petition of encouragement. Let's get them to do more.
Click here to sign the petition!
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NYT Opinion: The new climate law is working. Clean energy investments are soaring.
Universities to start using micro nuclear power
There is no doubt about it, nuclear is seeing a lot of new love. For decades demonized by much of the environmental community, nuclear is increasingly seen as an important energy source for the future.
Your editor has powered most of his life with nuclear energy. First from the Surrey nuke plant near Hampton Roads, and now from the Lake Anna plant in central Virginia. Almost every EV you see on the road in The Old Dominion fundamentally runs on nuclear power.
The old concerns are still there, meltdown, waste. But nuclear power is very climate friendly, and increasingly modular nuclear power is making things less centralized and cheaper.
And there has even been real progress on the fusion front which promises power without the waste. But that is still a way off.
(From Green Citizen)
…microreactors can be built into factories and hooked up on-site. The goal is to use nuclear energy on demand as a product. The reactors can complement renewable energy by providing a lot of power without taking up a lot of land. For example, a 10-megawatt microreactor takes up less than an acre, which is much less compared to solar farms and windmills.
The University of Illinois and Penn State are only some of the universities that plan to use nuclear power. And they aren’t the only ones. The Department of Defense is also working on a microreactor.
Click here for the article.
Micro reactors to hit the market
Getting creative with political identity
Political identity is a weird. Some things considered conservative today weren’t considered conservative not that long ago. What is liberal today wasn’t decades before. And when did “progressive” start getting used again? What does that mean? What about socialism - which is defined as government control of the means of production? Probably most of the people I know who say they are inclined toward socialism don’t want mines and the auto industry nationalized. And who is a nationalist? What does that mean? What about libertarian? Who is actually a “fascist” which traditionally has incorporated many of the tools of the far left, gun control, nationalization, nationalized healthcare, public works projects, but is often associated with the right? Is the American party of the left, the Democrats, anti-business? Hardly. Is everyone on the right “pro-business”? Hardly. It’s all a giant gumbo. Yet for some reason the Republican/Democrat binary thing mostly holds on in this country. In a time where there is more consumer choice than ever before, politics in the USA is still mostly A or B.
For our money the best way to really get to one’s position politically is to abandon the old left/right spectrum and to embrace what the Nolan Chart can show us.
One can take the Nolan Chart test here. If you’ve never done it you should definitely check it out.
AllSides has another way of getting at real political identity and it’s pretty good too. (But definitely take the Nolan Chart test.)
(From AllSides)
In today’s polarized political landscape, it can be easy to fall into a pre-defined category: Liberal or Conservative, Republican or Democrat. But what if we tried to think outside the box?
In that spirit, we asked members of the AllSides team to try to define themselves politically without the usual partisan labels. By removing these options, we were forced to consider other, more specific, more personal options.
The following is what we came up with:
Click here for the article.
Texas is leading the way on renewable energy installations in the USA - by a lot.
Leading apparel brands unite in quest for harmonised textile waste management
You know what’s really heard to recycle? Besides used pizza boxes? Clothes. And carpet. Textiles generally. It’s been a real bugaboo since recycling became what it has become. But there is some progress being made.
(From Circular)
Brands such as Adidas and H&M Group have joined forces with the Policy Hub – Circularity for Apparel & Footwear and Eunomia Research & Consulting, to research and publish a set of principles for the “most effective” waste management system to tackle the pollution and enable a smooth transition to a circular economy for textiles in the EU.
Textiles have some of the most significant environmental impacts in Europe after food, housing, and transport. Key to reducing these impacts will be enabling circular use and end-of-life solutions, reducing the vast quantities of disposed, landfilled or incinerated textiles, according to Policy Hub.
Click here for the article.
Bridging divides with music
“Music is a world within itself
With a language we all understand
With an equal opportunity
For all to sing, dance and clap their hands”
-Stevie Wonder
Amen to this. Your editor has seen the miracle(s) of music many times.
I have seen it warm cold hearts. I’ve seen it bring people to tears. I’ve seen old American women getting down to a badass salsa band in The Dominican Republic with the whole (very local) club just having a great time with them at two in the morning. I’ve seen suns set while The Grateful Dead played through golden hour. I’ve been onstage singing and experienced what it is like to see a crowd just turn on and get into the groove.
Music is one of the greatest things in life. And it is a language that can transcend differences.
(From The Fulcrum)
Music to Life provides four reasons why music in this time of cultural and political divide in our nation is more important than ever:
Bridging Divides: Musicians can be powerful change agents, developing new social solutions, reminding us of our common experiences as humans and inspiring our responsibility to our global community.
Engagement: Research shows that musicians help enhance people’s identification with a cause or community and their music increases people's loyalty to an issue and connection with each other.
Bringing Change: Musicians help define pivotal moments of our history, sparking new and unconventional ways of communicating, challenging norms, and unifying.
Establishing humanity: Musician-driven gatherings, whether to raise awareness or connect with people in need, remind us of our common humanity, give us a sense of belonging, and spark meaningful participation.
Click here for the article.
In Between Times Podcasts
EVENT
June 2 @ 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm MDT
Police-Community Relations Conversation
Location: Online
Communities function best with (a few) shared values like safety and order. We want our communities to be safe. We want law enforcement to be fair. We want police to do their job in a manner that is safe for them and for community members. We expect these elements to be a given-a shared goal based on shared values-but we are in a moment where instead of safety, we are witnessing tragedy in our communities. Smartphone video is documenting police and citizen interactions in a way that wasn’t possible in earlier times. The role, management and funding of police has come under question as incidents of violence crossing racial lines are no longer invisible to the larger community. This conversation offers an opportunity to speak of our experiences and perspectives on this situation.