John Cox

Blogs · @wyome

Tagged sustainability · everything

www.bbc.com

The insiders changing how we think about flying

This piece traces how the aviation industry's climate reckoning is unfolding on two fronts simultaneously: international policy, via a new coalition of countries (France, Spain, Kenya, Barbados and others) pushing a levy on private jets and premium-class seats to fund climate adaptation, and personal disillusionment among industry insiders—a former commercial pilot, a private-jet pilot turned sustainability consultant, and an aerospace engineer—who left their careers after confronting the gap between aviation's "sustainability" rhetoric and its actual, exponentially rising emissions. It's built around the stark statistic that 1% of people cause over half of aviation's emissions, and offers concrete near-term fixes (contrail avoidance, taxing frequent flyers, electric short-haul planes) alongside practical advice for ordinary travelers on flying more intentionally.

Permalink sustainabilitytravelaviationclimate

www.thekitchn.com

I Set Out to Quit Buying Groceries Sold in Plastic, and Ended Up Saving $40 a Month Along the Way

Filson turns grocery shopping into a self-imposed game where plastic packaging counts as "lava" to avoid, opting instead for glass, paper, aluminum, or package-free goods—a shift that's shaved roughly 20% off her monthly food and household budget. She walks through category-by-category swaps (glass-jarred yogurt and condiments, paper-wrapped deli meat and cheese, bulk bins, farmers-market produce) and argues that less packaging often means genuinely lower prices, not just an environmental upside. It's a practical, brand-specific guide worth keeping if you want concrete substitutes rather than vague "reduce plastic" advice.

Permalink sustainabilityshoppingbudgetsustainable

www.nytimes.com

Smart secondhand shopping

Wirecutter's Alexander Aciman puts Lululemon's "Like New" resale program to the test, ordering flagship leggings and other pieces to judge whether the discounts justify buying someone else's used activewear. The piece weighs pricing, condition, and quality against the brand's premium reputation, part of a broader Wirecutter series probing whether retailer-run resale programs actually deliver value compared to traditional thrifting.

Permalink sustainabilityaudiovintagefurniture

NOEMA

The Disappearing Art Of Maintenance

New York's R32 subway trains—the unpainted "Brightliners" that operated for 58 years despite being designed to last only 35—exemplify how meticulous maintenance can extend the life of infrastructure far beyond its predicted lifespan, a feat the MTA achieved through scheduled preventive maintenance practices implemented since 1990. The piece argues that maintenance is fundamentally undervalued in capitalist economies that prioritize cheap disposal over labor-intensive upkeep, and proposes that treating maintenance as a serious economic and political framework—rather than an afterthought—could better address both climate change and resource scarcity than the dominant "reduce, reuse, recycle" paradigm. Rather than waiting for climate catastrophe to force behavioral change, Vuocolo contends we need to rebuild economic systems that value the practical knowledge and skilled labor that keeps society functioning, even if that means fundamentally challenging how capitalism organizes work and social value.

Permalink sustainabilitymaintenanceinfrastructureclimate

us.sunpower.com

wedontneeddst.com

We Don’t Need Daylight Saving Time

Daylight Saving Time was created in the early 20th century to reduce evening lighting consumption, but modern research shows it actually increases overall electricity usage by 0.6 to 4 percent while also raising fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, costing Americans $434 million annually. The practice has significant health consequences, including a 5 percent spike in heart attacks during the spring transition and increased depression and suicide rates following the time shift due to sleep disruption. Most of the world has abandoned or never adopted DST—only 20 percent of the global population uses it, and 14 countries have discontinued it this century.

Permalink healthsustainabilityeconomics

Scientific American

Can Radical Efficiency Revive U.S. Manufacturing?: Scientific American

U.S. industry can nearly double its output while using 9-13 percent less total energy through systematic efficiency improvements that require no major technological breakthroughs, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute's analysis. The piece demonstrates this potential through real-world examples—the steel industry's 40 percent energy reduction via electric arc furnaces, Texas Instruments' semiconductor plant that cut energy costs by $4 million annually while costing $230 million less to build, and Dow Chemical's $9.4 billion in savings from efficiency investments. Industrial efficiency gains are economically advantageous for individual companies and collectively offer a path for the U.S. to maintain global competitiveness while addressing energy security and environmental pressures.

Permalink technologysustainabilitybusiness

Scientific American

Can Radical Efficiency Revive U.S. Manufacturing?: Scientific American

U.S. industry can dramatically improve competitiveness and profitability by systematically upgrading energy efficiency without waiting for technological breakthroughs—a transformation that could yield 84 percent more output in 2050 while using 9 to 13 percent less energy than today. Real-world examples from steel (electric arc furnaces), semiconductors (Texas Instruments' LEED Gold fab), data centers, and chemicals (Dow's $9.4 billion savings) demonstrate that applying new technologies to established industries and established thermal principles to emerging sectors generates both environmental gains and substantial financial returns. The key is adopting an energy-focused design lens throughout operations, as seen in symbiotic industrial ecosystems like Kalundborg, Denmark, where waste from one facility becomes a resource for another.

Permalink sustainabilitybusinesseconomics

Scientific American

The Smart Way to Play God with Earth's Limited Land: Scientific American

Lynas argues that 83 percent of Earth's ice-free land is already human-influenced and that "wilderness" is effectively extinct, making traditional conservation approaches obsolete. Rather than pursuing low-impact rural living or halting land conversion, he contends that humanity should concentrate its impact through intensified agriculture on existing farmland, aggressive urbanization, and electrified transport, while allowing marginal lands to rewild and protecting high-biodiversity areas—a strategy that also slows population growth through demographic transition. He specifically advocates scrapping biofuel subsidies (except potentially for aviation), switching ground vehicles to electricity, and recognizing that cities, despite their apparent sprawl, actually represent the most environmentally efficient way to house the world's growing population.

Permalink environmentsustainabilityscienceagriculture

The Christian Science Monitor

Home solar gets $280 million boost from Google - CSMonitor.com

Google is investing $280 million with solar installer SolarCity to finance rooftop solar systems for homeowners who can't afford the $25,000–$30,000 upfront cost, allowing customers to pay a fixed rate for the power generated instead. Google profits through federal tax credits (30% of costs), accelerated depreciation benefits, state and local tax credits, and interest payments from SolarCity, with analysts estimating returns exceeding 10 percent and potentially reaching 20 percent. The deal is expected to finance 10,000 solar installations over 18 months and signals Google's broader commitment to clean energy investments, which now total $680 million across wind and solar projects nationwide.

Permalink sustainabilitysolargooglehome

Marginal REVOLUTION

Electric Roads — Marginal Revolution

Researchers are developing buried charging pads in roads that would wirelessly transfer electricity to vehicles as they drive, potentially reducing EV battery sizes by 80 percent and eliminating the need for frequent charging stops. This approach shifts the energy storage burden from the vehicle to the grid infrastructure, allowing EVs to operate with much smaller, cheaper batteries while maintaining long-distance driving capability. The technology, pioneered in New Zealand, could fundamentally change EV design and economics by making vehicles lighter and more affordable.

Permalink technologysustainabilityinfrastructuretransportation

WordPress

InBubbleWrap

This guide surveys packaging material options available to New Zealand businesses—cardboard, biodegradable plastics, glass, and others—examining their protective qualities, sustainability credentials, and cost implications. It breaks down specific materials like paperboard boxes, bubble wrap, padded envelopes, kraft paper, and shrink wraps, detailing their properties, pricing factors, and environmental impacts to help companies align packaging choices with both operational efficiency and environmental responsibility.

Permalink sustainabilitybusiness