🎸 The Carbon Footprint of Music Concerts

Happy Friday morning! ☀️ If you’ve been watching the FIFA Women’s World Cup, Team Canada was knocked out of the group stages this week after losing 4-0 to Australia 😢. In classic, ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em’ fashion, Team Herby is now cheering for Australia (📣 Aussie, Aussie, Aussie … Oi, Oi, Oi)!

When it comes to climate: we’re cheering for France and New Zealand who are both making huge strides in reducing emissions and cleaning up our planet’s natural habitats. Enjoy today’s stories of progress from around the world!

If you enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to one friend 😊

P.s. stick around until the end for a quiz that will test your climate knowledge and give you a chance to win a gift card!

A New Era of Concerts: Coldplay's World Tour Raises the Bar for Sustainability 🎸

Coldplay is leading the music industry by example, making sustainability a priority on their "Music of the Spheres" World Tour! 🎵

With a groundbreaking 47% reduction in CO2e emissions compared to their previous stadium tour, the band's sustainability initiatives have set a whole new standard for the global music industry.

A few of Coldplay’s sustainability initiatives include: diverting 66% of tour waste from landfills, planting 5 million trees, utilizing 100% renewable energy for production, and donating meals and toiletries to those in need. Additionally, Coldplay has supported various environmental organizations, aiming to create a positive impact on the planet.

Touring has an enormous toll on the environment — between travel, stage production, merchandise, food, and power. With their latest tour, Coldplay is joining a growing list of artists — including Billy Eilish, Dave Matthews Band, and Jack Johnson — in pushing artists to rethink they way they plan future tours.

From Trash to Splash: Paris Is Making The Seine Swimmable Again for Olympics 🏊‍♀️

Can you image swimming in The Seine? We certainly can’t 🤢! But Paris is working hard to change that!

After a century of being off-limits for swimming due to pollution, Paris is preparing to make the Seine swimmable again in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics. 🌊

And it’s working! A decade-long, $1.6 billion project has focused on restoring the river's water quality, reducing pollution, and creating new bathing areas along its banks. The efforts have already seen the return of 30 to 35 fish and marine species to the river, including wild Atlantic Salmon which have been spotted swimming past the Eiffel Tower 🗼.

Post Olympics, three locations are set to be designated for public bathing by 2025, offering a safe and refreshing respite for locals and visitors amid rising temperatures due to climate change.

With remarkable progress in reducing pollution and increasing aquatic life, Paris is make a HUGE splash on the world stage, setting new standards for urban river restoration.

New Zealand leads the way in banning plastic produce bags 🍅

In a groundbreaking move, New Zealand has become the first country in the world to ban plastic produce bags in grocery stores! 🛒

With the new ban, the country’s goal is to encourage shoppers to use reusable produce bags for fruits and vegetables, helping eliminate over 150 million plastic bags per year!

New Zealand has a history of successfully changing customer behaviour. The country banned plastic bags from grocery checkouts in 2019, a change that has saved over one billion plastic bags to date! 👏

We’ll be keeping a close eye on whether or not other countries follow New Zealand’s example in the coming months!

🦕 Herby’s climate-friendly finds

This week: some of Herby’s fav food brands that are supporting regenerative agriculture 👩‍🌾

• Manitoba Harvest’s Organic Hemp Hearts — a fantastic way to add protein to your smoothie, yogurt, or salad. Canadian 🍁

• Salt Spring Coffee — high quality, fair trade, organic coffee that supports regenerative farming practices. Canadian ☕

• Alter Eco’s Burnt Caramel Chocolate — the cleanest, greenest, and best tasting chocolate. B-Corp Certified 🍫

• Lundberg Family Farm’s Basmati Rice — fluffy, aromatic, white basmati rice by a Regenerative Organic Certified business 🍚

🍂 Herby’s weekly roundup

Some quick hits of interesting articles, books, and events this week

• A coal mine turned into a garden is feeding thousands 🌱

• Three factors driving extreme heat this summer 🔥

• Tips to cool your home without AC 😎

• How concrete and asphalt contribute to heat waves 🛣

• Everything you need to know about travelling sustainably ✈

• Did you know construction makes up 40% of global emissions? Learn more about the shift to “Green Construction” 🏗

• What is regenerative agriculture and how can you support it? 👩‍🌾

• Think of going camping this August? Here’s a guide to safe, fun, low-cost car camping 🏕

🤓 This or That?

Last week’s ‘This or That’: That was a trick question 😆. A dog has about the same carbon footprint as two cats (~700kg of CO2 a year). In general, pets have a HUGE carbon footprint, because of their almost entirely meat-based diet. In fact, pets eat ~20% of the world’s meat and fish! Here’s more on their carbon footprint and ways you can reduce their impact.

🙏 Thank you for sharing!

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