Ethics and sustainability journal

The Great Green Wall is an African-led project which originally planned to grow a living wall of acacia trees spanning the entire width of Africa in order to reverse desertification. This process would provide food, jobs and a future for millions of people who live in a region on the forefront of climate change. The Great Green Wall would be the largest living structure on Earth and a global symbol for positive environmental change and since the project started in 2007, greenery has started coming back to the land, bringing greater food security, jobs and stability.

However, there is evidence that planting trees in this way is an inefficient approach to land restoration with a previous project in the Sahel region finding that ‘eighty percent of trees died within two months’ (CNN, 2016) without sufficient water or protection. These concerns are redefining the nature of the Great Green Wall project as a patchwork of greening tailored to local conditions, rather than a huge forest.

There are twenty-one African countries participating in the project, with over ‘four billion dollars’ (ibid) of pledged funding, and international partners from the World Bank to the French government. The project plans to restore fifty million hectares of land, providing food security for twenty million people, creating 350,000 jobs, and isolating ‘two hundred and fifty million tons of carbon’ (ibid) ‘Fifteen percent’ (ibid) of trees have already been planted, largely in Senegal, with four million hectares of land restored.

However, Niger has seen the largest positive impact by using conservation techniques such as reviving the roots of plants and trees, and digging half-moon pits to store water. Trees destroyed during droughts are allowed to recover naturally over time and then are carefully maintained. These methods have succeeded in restoring five million hectares of land and approximately two hundred million trees which should deliver ‘500,000 tons of cereal grain per year; enough to feed 2.5 million people’ (ibid).

The radioactive wastelands around Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant will be turned into a large-scale solar powered farm. This is a good choice for the land it cannot be used for farming or housing as it will be radioactive for the next few hundred years due to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 in which thousands of people died.

A Ukrainian-German joint venture has made the first private investment of ‘1.1 million dollars’ (Slav, 2017) towards the Chernobyl solar power project, planning a small farm of ‘1.5 megawatts’ (ibid). In January 2017, the Ukrainian government alleged there were ‘thirty-nine potential bidders, thirteen of which were international firms’ (ibid).  

The Ukrainian government is making the project attractive to foreign investors by lowering the rates of renting state property in the area around Chernobyl by ‘eight-five percent’ (ibid) and has made the renting process simpler. There is also existing power transmission infrastructure in place and a ‘feed-in-tariff system which will be in effect until 2030, which stipulates a fixed price per kilowatt’ (ibid).  

There will be difficulties with the project as workers will only be able to spend a limited amount of time in the radiation zone, so shifts will be short. This means a larger workforce will be required and there will be higher expenses for labour.

When the project is complete it could potentially produce ‘2.5 gigawatts of electricity’ (ibid), which will reduce Ukraine’s dependence on Russian energy. This will be an important political step for Ukraine as there has been an ongoing conflict with Russia since 2014. This project will also create clean energy for Ukraine, helping people and the environment.  

Artificial Christmas trees are generally made from PVC, typically making them unrecyclable. Also these trees will most likely have a large carbon footprint as most artificial trees are imported from china. In the USA, ‘eighty-five percent’ (Gray, 2017) of artificial trees are imported from China. One positive for artificial trees is that typically they will be reused for at least ‘10 years’ (ibid) which will compensate for the amount of energy used in their production.

Real Christmas trees are a good option because most come from farms where farmers plant new seedlings every spring to replace those harvested and saplings are important habitats for birds, insects and other wildlife. Tree farms also provide employment, for example, ‘more than 100,000 people’ (ibid) are employed in the tree farm industry in the USA. However, after Christmas, some trees are sent to landfill and as they decompose, they produce methane which contributes to global warming. A way to prevent this is to take trees to a recycling site where they can be turned into compost or wood chippings for use as biofuel.

The most environmentally friendly option is to buy a tree with roots which can be replanted in the garden or in a larger pot for the following year. People can reduce their carbon footprint by buying local trees and using energy-saving LED lights with a timer.

Millions of pounds of glitter are produced annually, and it is used in many items including face and body products, furniture, toys, clothing and accessories. Unfortunately glitter is made from micro-plastic which is damaging the world’s oceans and marine wildlife and studies show that micro-plastic has been found in the air, drinking water and food which could be damaging human health.

Glitter is a micro-plastic made from a polymer known as Mylar. Researchers estimated that in 2014 ‘5.25 trillion pieces of plastic weighing approximately 270,000 tons’ (Dorn, 2017) were floating in the world’s oceans. Micro-plastics such as glitter accounted for over ‘ninety-two percent’ (ibid) of the floating plastic waste and their size makes them look like food particles to fish and other marine life. ‘One in three fish’ (ibid) caught in Great Britain had ingested micro-plastics, according to a Plymouth University study in 2012. Many sea creatures have been found to eat plastics, with some species being attracted to them more than their typical food.

There are environmentally friendly, biodegradable versions of glitter available on the market including BioGlitz and Glitter Revolution, which are made from eucalyptus extract. Biodegradable glitter is also less sticky compared to typical glitter which contains metalloids that cause static and friction. Biodegradable glitter is made by transforming ‘cellulose derived from eucalyptus trees into rolls of plant-based plastic, which is then coated in .1 percent aluminium and cosmetic pigments’ (Donnelly, 2017). The thirty-six inch rolls are sent through a precision cutter and the pieces are caught in a net as they are sliced. Biodegradable glitter is also non-toxic which makes it great for children and the environment.

Bibliography:

Dorn, A. (2017) Glitter Doesn’t Have to Be Bad for the Planet. Available at:   https://www.racked.com/2017/8/1/16003528/glitter-environment-bioglitz (Accessed 9/12/2017)

Many single use plastic bottles can be recycled but most end up as waste that pollutes the world’s land and oceans. To tackle this problem a company called Skipping Rocks Lab have developed an edible bottle which is made solely from plants and seaweed that ‘biodegrades within six weeks’ (Ooho, n.d); the same amount of time as a piece of fruit. The goal of Ooho is to provide the convenience of plastic bottles whilst limiting the environmental impact. 

Ooho is more sustainable and environmentally friendly than traditional plastic bottles as production methods produce ‘five times less carbon dioxide, uses nine times less the amount of energy’ (ibid) and is cheaper.

The product is similar to edible balls found in bubble tea. Ooho does not have any flavouring which could make it bland for some consumers but there is the potential to add flavouring. Ooho can be eaten by peeling off the outer layer like an orange. To create the casing, balls of ice are tipped into calcium chloride and brown algae extract which stays solid after the ice melts. If consumers choose not to eat the bottle, Ooho will biodegrade within six weeks so it is an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic bottles which take hundreds of years to break down.

One downside of Ooho is that it cannot currently be resealed once opened. The new environmentally friendly product will introduced at various events beginning in 2018.  

Research shows that teenagers ‘born after 1995’ (Twenge, 2017) are much more likely to experience mental health issues than their predecessors with increasing numbers of teenagers feeling depressed and suicidal. According to the Pew research center, smartphone ownership reached the ‘fifty percent mark in 2012’ (ibid) which coincided with a sudden increase in teenage depression and suicide rates. By ‘2015, seventy-three percent of teenagers’ (ibid) had access to a smartphone and this reliance on technology has resulted in teenagers spending less time having face to face interactions with their friends which can affect their mood and lead to depression.

Time spent online has also been linked to mental health issues with suicide risks significantly increasing after more than two hours a day online. Research shows that teenagers who spend more than five hours a day online were ‘seventy one percent’ (ibid) more likely to have at least one suicide risk factor which could be depression, having suicidal thoughts, making a suicide plan or attempting suicide. Studies have found that spending more time on social media was linked to unhappiness and those who avoided Facebook reported feeling less depressed by the end of the week.

Teenagers are also not getting enough sleep which may be caused by a dependence on smartphones. This a significant problem as not sleeping enough is a key risk factor for depression. Teenagers who would not have otherwise had mental health issues may have become depressed due to too much screen time, not enough face-to-face social interaction, inadequate sleep or most likely a combination of all three.

Marine wildlife in the world’s oceans are struggling to survive due to rising sea temperatures, over-fishing and huge quantities of plastic waste. Due to global warming sea surface temperatures have increased, water has become more acidic, levels of dissolved oxygen are declining and food supplies have dwindled. Research suggests that over fifty percent of the world’s oceans may suffer the effects of rising carbon dioxide levels over the next fifteen years. By 2050 it is likely that over ‘eighty percent of the oceans’ (McKenna, 2017) could be affected, forcing wildlife to migrate, adapt or become extinct.

Global warming is causing bleaching of coral reefs as algae, which is the corals food source and is responsible for its colour, disappears when sea water temperatures rise. This results in the coral turning white and leaving them more susceptible to death and disease. Many coral around the world are being affected including over ‘two thirds of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef’ (ibid). Other effects of rising sea temperatures include the destruction of kelp beds, seagrass meadows and mangrove forests which store vast amounts of carbon.

Plastic waste is also a huge problem for marine wildlife and research has shown that by 2050 there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish. There are huge floating islands of waste in the Caribbean and wildlife can get caught in plastic waste, including turtles that have been found with plastic straws stuck in their noses which restricts their breathing. One study showed that ‘seventy-one percent of seabirds and thirty percent of turtles’ (ibid) have been found with plastics in their stomachs. Marine animals that ingest plastic have a ‘fifty percent risk of death’ (ibid).

The HenPower project was started in 2011 to combat loneliness and depression in older people. Chickens were brought into nursing homes so that residents could care for the chickens; feeding them, collecting their eggs and maintaining their coops. Some residents also went into schools and retirement homes with the chickens in order to talk to people about how to care for them.

The results of this biophilic engagement were that residents became more active, had improved feelings of self-worth and it encouraged a community spirit amongst residents. A twelve month study confirmed that project HenPower is improving human health and well-being, reducing depression and the need for certain medications, improving the quality of life for residents. A study by the University of Northumbria found that male participants of HenPower all reported improved well-being, reduced depression and loneliness. In one dementia care home it was found that since the hens had arrived violent incidents by residents had decreased by ‘fifty percent’ (Salter, 2014) and the need for anti-psychotic drugs was reduced so significantly that they were no longer issued routinely.

In January 2013, HenPower was awarded ‘£34,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund’ (ibid) and in May 2017, it was awarded a further ‘one million pounds from the Big Lottery Fund’ (ibid) to continue its work for another five years.

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Should antiquities be repatriated to their country of origin or kept in Western museums as part of a universal collection, representing the art and cultural history of the world? Is it ethical to keep artefacts that have been stolen, even if that theft occurred decades or even hundreds of years ago?

Within this last decade, American public collections such as the Getty Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art have had to return hundreds of illegally acquired artefacts. Large institutions such as the Art Institute in Chicago and the Asian Museum of Art in San Francisco have had questionable connections exposed to Subhash Kapoor, a convicted smuggler of stolen antiquities from India and south-east Asia. It is the responsibility of museums to practice due diligence in determining the origin and authenticity of artefacts and to make sure they are dealing with reputable people, unfortunately in a many number of cases they are failing to do so. These mistakes are adding to the moral justification of cultural patrimony for some.

It can be viewed that important historical objects should be returned to their country of origin for both their cultural and monetary wealth as they are seen as that country’s cultural property. It can also be argued that Western museums keeping foreign artefacts to display are only for Western audiences and are also promoting inequalities between the West and other parts of the world.

However, it could be argued that national museums demand the repatriation of objects, on behalf of their governments, for political agenda rather than ethical and cultural reasons. Furthermore, universal museums can be seen to be the best context in which the greatest number of people can engage with art because of the diverse range of objects brought together and the greater accessibility for more types of people. Also, with the ongoing destruction of ancient sites in the Middle East by the so called Islamic State, it can be argued that only museums in the west can preserve the world’s cultural heritage.

Western ‘universal’ museums have the responsibility to encourage access for all people, wherever they are from in the world and to facilitate loans and exchanges with non-western museums in order to promote understanding and prevent inequalities between East and West and to safeguard and share our global world heritage with generations to come.

Methane warms the planet twenty times as much as carbon dioxide (Pearce, 2016). ‘Carbon dioxide levels have shown negligible growth in last three years which could be due to China burning less coal’ (Harvey,2016). However, methane emissions have been ‘rapidly rising since 2007’ reportedly due to the ‘increased production of flooded rice fields and larger numbers of livestock’ (Pearce, 2016) in growing, densely populated countries such as China and India’.  

Methane levels have ‘more than doubled in the last two hundred and fifty years and are responsible for a fifth of global warming. At least a third of methane levels can be contributed to the production of fossil fuels including fracking, oil drilling and coal mining where methane is released as a waste by-product’ (ibid). Perhaps more public awareness of the damage caused by fossil fuels is needed and more pressure is required to encourage governments and companies to change their harmful policies by ways of demonstrations and boycotting of products and services.  

The warming of the Arctic tundra, due to global warming is releasing methane as the vegetation underneath is exposed. This creates greater releases of methane, creating an uncontrollable loop (Harvey, 2016). In response to this, new measures are being implemented such as breeds of rice that requires less flooding in paddy fields, and new feeds that can cut down on emissions from cows. There are now methods of capturing methane from large agricultural barns where livestock are intensively reared. However, ‘few of these are widely in operation at this time’ (Harvey, 2016). With industry slow to act, it is more important than ever for us as consumers to do what we can to prevent global warming.

With simple changes to lifestyles people can reduce their carbon footprint. Walking or cycling more instead of using cars would make a significant difference. Reducing the mileage of the average new car from fifteen thousand to ten thousand miles a year would save more than a tonne of carbon dioxide which is approximately ‘fifteen percent of the average person’s footprint’ (Goodall, 2017). Recycling and reusing items such as clothing and appliances instead of buying new ones would significantly reduce carbon emissions from production methods. Using less water, electric and gas in homes and properly insulating homes would decrease energy consumption and help to tackle climate change. Also, replacing inefficient light bulbs in homes with LED’s would ‘reduce the need for national grids to turn on the most expensive and polluting power stations at peak demand times on winter evenings’ (Goodall, 2017).

Diets also contribute to global warming. Eating less meat, particularly beef and lamb would help to reduce methane emissions as ‘cows and sheep emit large quantities of methane’ (Goodall, 2017).  A vegan diet would make the biggest impact of all as it may make as much as a ‘twenty percent difference to an overall carbon footprint’ (Goodall, 2017).

Bibliography:

Goodall, C. (2017) How to reduce your carbon footprint. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/19/how-to-reduce-carbon-footprint (Accessed 05/10/17)  

Harvey, F. (2016) Rapid rise in methane emissions in 10 years surprises scientists. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/12/rapid-rise-methane-emissions-10-years-surprises-scientists (Accessed 05/10/17)

The gluten free industry is worth hundreds of millions of pounds despite only one in one hundred people in the U.K having coeliacs disease. However, ‘thirteen percent’ (Marber et al, 2017) of the British population is now reporting to be avoiding gluten, which is the highest proportion in Europe.  

Coeliacs disease is a condition where gluten proteins found in wheat and other cereals cause damage to the small intestine lining causing symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting, bloating, lethargy and depression.

Companies are prolifically marketing foods including corn and water, as gluten free despite no gluten being removed in the manufacturing process as they do not naturally contain gluten. Reportedly, supermarkets can increase products by up to ‘three hundred percent’ (ibid) if they attach a gluten free label.

Non edible items are also being marketed as gluten free including shampoo, shower gel and toilet cleaner. It would not matter if these products did contain gluten or not as they are not intended to be ingested.  

Even lifestyle products are now being marketed as gluten free, including gluten free travel and dating websites. Presumably participants feel as if they are adopting a healthier lifestyle and becoming part of an elite community, endorsed by health conscious celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow.  

However, the theory that gluten free products are healthier for all may be unfounded as claims suggest that gluten causing irritation of the gut in non-coeliacs is unsupported by long-term research. In fact, gluten free products are arguably unhealthier than their standard alternatives as gluten free products often contain higher levels of fat and sugar as they give the products more of a texture (texture is lost during the process of removing gluten.)

It seems that the buzz words ‘gluten free’ are being used by companies to market a lifestyle choice and products are misrepresented as healthier when in fact there is no disernable difference to cheaper alternatives apart from the ‘gluten free’ designer label. More concerning, is the illusion for the consumer of a healthier food option, when arguably gluten-free food stuffs can be higher in fat and sugar so are in fact less healthy. It seems that consumers are often paying a higher price to be part of the gluten free, celebrity endorsed elite.    

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Damien Hirst is famous for his artworks featuring dead animals including his Turner prize winning  ‘Mother and Child Divided’, a cow and a calf sliced in half and displayed in glass tanks filled with formaldehyde. While dead animals appearing as art can be shocking, live animals being killed for art’s sake can be viewed as cruel and unethical.

Damien Hirst’s work ‘In and Out of Love’ featured two windowless rooms swirling with live butterflies. Visitors to the Tate Modern exhibit could see the butterflies’ close-up as they flew around and fed on bowls of fruit. Many were shocked when the Tate revealed that over nine thousand butterflies died during the twenty-three weeks that the exhibition was open. To keep the exhibit running, each week it was replenished with approximately four hundred new butterflies to replace those that had died. Some butterflies died by being stepped on and others were injured when they landed on visitors’ clothing and were brushed off.

The butterflies were kept in an unnatural environment for the entirety of their lives which is arguably animal cruelty and neglect. Hirst used tropical butterflies which could live for up to nine months in the wild but those in the exhibition only survived between a few hours and couple of days. It could be argued that their short life span and their insect species made the butterflies seem less important than other animals in the artists and audiences view. The exhibition could have been closed after the first wave of deaths but it was not. The Tate have suggested that the exhibit was not cruel because the butterflies were all sourced from reputable UK butterfly houses and were selected from varieties known to thrive in the conditions created, possibly resulting in longer lifespans for the butterflies than if they were living in the wild.

This is not the first time that the Tate has faced accusations of animal neglect. In 2009, Cildo Meireles, a Brazilian artist, exhibited a series of fish tank installations, which resulted in the deaths of twelve fish. It can be viewed that institutions have a moral and legal responsibility to safeguard the wellbeing and treatment of animals who should not be seen as a commodity to be used, discarded and replaced. Artists and institutions such as the Tate have the power to champion animal welfare and rights and environmental issues and reach a global audience but it would seem that profitability comes before ethical considerations.

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Most supermarkets will not buy products that look imperfect or are within ‘ten days of their expiry date’ (Boffrey, 2017) resulting in tonnes of wasted food which hurts businesses and the environment. However, in Norway they are inventing ways of tackling food waste and aim to reduce the problem by fifty percent.

A company named Best For, keeps digital records of products sell by dates, allowing shops to locate food which needs to be discounted to stop it from being wasted and also alerts charities of food that can be donated. A mobile app, foodlist, encourages people to take photographs of food in shops that will soon be out of date in order to make the public aware that it needs to be eaten and where it can be located. A business called SNAL frukt & gron has started selling wonky vegetables and odd coloured eggs at a ‘thirty percent discount’ (ibid) which encourages consumers to buy produce that may not be visually perfect but is still healthy to eat which cuts down food waste and helps producers and the environment.

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Petit Pli is an eco friendly origami inspired clothing range made from durable pleated fabric which expands and grows with a child. It is ‘waterproof, machine washable and recyclable, with all garments fitting the three-month to three-year age group’ (Smithers, 2017.)

The inventor Ryan Yasin created Petit Pli in response to a lack of sustainability in children’s clothing, using the scientific principles he studied on an ‘aeronautical engineering degree’ (Smithers’ 2017). He was inspired by technology used in ‘stents and biomedical implants’ (Smithers, 2017).

Most children grow by ‘seven sizes in their first two years and parents spend an average of £2,000 on clothing before their child reaches the age of three’ (Smithers, 2017).  The short lifespan of children’s clothing and the mass production of garments all contribute to environmental damage through pre and post production textile waste, high water consumption and carbon emissions.  

This new technology is a move in the right direction for sustainable fashion and for lessening environmental damage. The technology works by pleats moving in ‘both directions, either folding together or expanding’ (Smithers, 2017), allowing the clothing to move with the child. Heat treatment ‘fixes these properties permanently in place, even though the wash cycle’ (Smithers, 2017). This makes the garments durable and can be folded down ‘small enough to tuck in your pocket’ (Smithers, 2017) making it a good choice for families.

Yasin is in talks with a major UK retailer and hopes his clothing range will go on sale in the UK within the next few months. He aims to keep clothing at a competitive price whilst ensuring ‘everyone along the supply chain is paid ethically’ (Smithers, 2017). This plan fits well with the sustainable fashion ethos, with workers being paid ethically but clothing being priced competitively to compete with the fast fashion market.

Bibliography:

Ecosia is a web search engine that invests at least eighty percent of its profits from advertisement revenues into planting trees in threatened forest ecosystems around the world. The company employs thirty thousand farmers and has planted over seventeen million trees so far. It aims to plant one billion trees by 2020 and its ethos is that trees should ‘provide value to nature and people’ (Ecosia, n.d).

Planting trees increases human health and happiness, and helps wildlife by providing safe, natural habitats. Trees improve air quality by releasing oxygen and absorbing air pollution and carbon dioxide which are large contributing factors in climate change.

Ecosia supports tree planting projects in twenty-five of the most threatened forest ecosystems where at least ‘seventy percent of the original habitat has been lost’ (ibid). Worldwide ‘1.6 million people depend on forests’ (ibid) and Ecosia is supporting poor agricultural communities by tree planting which creates jobs and reverses desertification which allows food and medicinal crops to be grown.

Ecosia plant tree species where they would naturally grow to in order to maintain the natural balance of the environment and also native plants species will thrive better in their natural setting. Ecosia so far has over seven million active users and over 5,755,962 euros have been invested into tree planting.

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