one5c

26/06/2024

Summertime can frazzle our electric grids, not just because of increased demand from our air conditioners but also because the heat reduces transmission efficiency. Many see this as a red flag against EVs, which rely on the grid for their fuel. But EVs actually have a very “minimal impact” on the grid, according to reporting from InsideEVs.

In fact, EVs can actually help stabilize the grid during moments of peak demand, with off-peak charging incentives and the increasingly common ability for some cars to put power back into the system. Take that, naysayers.

Read the full report: https://insideevs.com/news/723614/ev-myths-electric-grid/

24/06/2024

This summer, we’ve got an eye on three films with environmental twists.

Post-apocalyptic and barely-future films alike reckon with planet-altering weather—and its impacts. Here's what to tune into this summer.

13/06/2024

Now it's time to do the same for the rest of the greenhouse gases.

For the first time ever, researchers have detected a dip in atmospheric levels of gases that deplete the ozone layer and contribute to warming.

Countries signing the 1987 Montreal Protocol agreed to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and later their common replacements, hydrofluorocarbons (HCFCs). The United Nations estimates that the world has now curbed 98 percent of the ozone-depleting substances being produced in 1990.

Research published this week in Nature Climate Change says global concentrations officially peaked in 2021, years ahead of schedule: "The radiative forcing and equivalent effective chlorine from hydrochlorofluorocarbons has decreased... since 2021, 5 years before the most recent projected decrease."

Read the findings via Nature: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-024-02038-7

11/06/2024

Washington Post did the math, and the math is 🥵. The newspaper's analysis of meteorological records unveiled the extent of life-threatening heat across the globe, with no stat more eye-popping than the number of people who've been in heat-related danger already this year.

See Washington Post's complete breakdown, including a map visualizing where people have faced dangerous heat this year, and an interactive tool that allows you to find out how much your city has already endured this year: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/interactive/2024/heat-index-temperatures-global-cities/

08/06/2024

Ocean plastic can wreak all kinds of havoc on marine ecosystems, the climate, and our own health. This , dive into our essential guide to plastic pollution. There's an entire section dedicated to ocean plastic: where it comes from, who's responsible, and what can be done about it. https://one5c.com/plastic-pollution-ocean-136931577/?utm_source=ig-one5c&utm_medium=organic-social

04/06/2024

Anyone who grew up near a coast knows firsthand that a hot dry day and a hot wet day aren’t the same thing at all. If it gets bad enough, sweating (the body’s natural cooling system) stops working.

Enter wet bulb temperature:

As summer heats up, there's one weather metric that can help understand when and for how long it's safe to be outside. Here's what you need to know about wet bulb temperature.

01/06/2024

Shopping for “palm-oil free” products may seem like the move here, but swapping the go-to ingredient for other oils could actually make things worse. Read on:

Palm oil production is responsible for mass tropical deforestation, yet its almost unavoidable at the grocery store. Here's what a conscious shopper can do.

24/05/2024

Hey, want to buy an EV? A lot of salespeople are clueless, but you don’t have to be. Grab our free one-page guide now:

A lot of salespeople are clueless, but you don’t have to be

22/05/2024

Seems more like “global heating” than “global warming,” eh?

Get our best recommendations for how to talk about the climate crisis: https://one5c.com/global-warming-vs-climate-change-136957722/?utm_source=ig-one5c&utm_medium=organic-social

21/05/2024

What's on your summer reading list?

Our picks go excellent with some sun tea, and include titles for both fiction and nonfiction lovers. (Extra credit if you can find ’em at the library or secondhand—or share your copy with a friend or two.)

Our summer reading list includes works of both fiction and nonfiction—all designed to help you understand your place in our climate-changed world.

10/05/2024

In the simplest terms, carbon offsets are a mechanism to balance out the emissions from one thing by investing in efforts to reduce emissions elsewhere.

Sounds great! Not so fast...

Carbon offsets offer travelers the chance to zero out the emissions of their flights by funding emissions-reducing projects around the globe. But are they legit?

06/05/2024

Ready to feel inspired? We created a Spotify playlist with environmental messages that, frankly, slap hard.

This playlist will get you revved up about saving the world

29/04/2024

3 reasons:

When it comes to assessing the emissions associated with armed conflict, an exact number is very hard to pin down. Here's a rundown of the reasons why.

28/04/2024

The vast majority of fashion emissions occur in manufacturing, because the process demands loads of energy at factories in nations such as China, India, and Bangladesh, which largely burn fossil fuels for electricity generation.

If you’ve decided some of your garments need a new home, there are several ways to get rid of them sustainability instead of sending them straight to the landfill or incinerator. Here's our guide to breaking the cycle: https://one5c.com/clothing-recycling-136952260/?utm_source=ig-one5c&utm_medium=organic-social

24/04/2024

HOW TO ENTER: Subscribe to our FREE climate solutions newsletter and respond to any email - or simply write one to [email protected] and tell us you want one of these hats. You have until 11:59 p.m. (Eastern) May 31 to enter.

We are not super comfortable with merch given the sheer volume of clothing waste in the world, but we found a better way: Our founder Joe Brown embroidered this The Environment design (by graffiti artist Then One) on used hats from eBay. And one of them can be yours. (Don't worry, they're clean.)

Subscribe and respond to enter! 👇
https://one5c.com/newsletter-signup/?utm_source=ig-one5c&utm_medium=organic-social

22/04/2024

We have an Earth Day tradition around here. In observance of this holiday, we call on you all to pull one of the absolute strongest levers any of us has in addressing the climate crisis: Telling your elected officials to prioritize saving the world.

This year's cause: A piece of legislation called the Green New Deal for Public Schools Act that aims to prepare for a climate-changed world—and to get students ready for that world—but has repeatedly stalled in Congress.

This Earth Day, ask your reps and senators to get behind a greener, cleaner, and safer school system for America’s students. We made it easy 👉 https://one5c.com/green-new-deal-public-schools-letter-136952782/?utm_source=ig-one5c&utm_medium=organic-social

17/04/2024

The newest version of popular classic board game Catan focuses less on building a settler empire and more on living sustainably, reports Ars Technica. Catan: New Energies, created by the original creator’s son, zooms in on the clean energy crisis, pollution levels, and effects of climate change. In gameplay, players work to transition from the cheaper brown fossil fuel tokens to the more research-intensive green renewable energy tokens.

According to the United Nations, climate-focused video games can encourage kids toward more action, because of the power of the platform in sharing positive messages and information. Perhaps family game night can also benefit from this kind of green twist?

11/04/2024

On June 15, New York City is set to become the first U.S. city to implement congestion pricing, the practice of charging a fee for entering or leaving a particularly car-clogged area during peak hours.

Once in effect, cars that enter Manhattan below 61st Street during peak hours will be charged $15. Trucks will be charged between $24 and $36 depending on their size. Money raised from the toll can then go to projects like improving public transit. In New York, congestion pricing is expected to raise at least $1 billion per year for the MTA, the city’s public transit system.

🤔 But does congestion pricing work? 🤔

In a word, “yes.” From a sheer balance-sheet POV, charging drivers a fee saves commuters time and businesses money. If a person would typically drive 5 miles on the city highway to and from work, congestion pricing would save them a half-hour per day, or 120 hours per year. It also allows businesses to schedule more timely deliveries, which means they won’t have to keep as much expensive backup inventory in stock.

Additionally, the toll improves the health of nearby communities—which in many cities may contain a disproportionate number of people of color and those with lower incomes. Particulate matter emitted from vehicles increases the risk of heart disease and asthma, and nitrogen oxides in those same fumes can harm the respiratory system.

Learn more about congestion pricing, and why—despite the above benefits—it’s controversial: https://one5c.com/new-york-congestion-prcing-136952607/?utm_source=ig-one5c&utm_medium=organic-social

31/03/2024

EV critics will often argue against their safety, but the facts don’t support this position.

EVs are just as safe as any traditional vehicle, and several EVs, like Rivian’s R1T pickup, have earned top ratings from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. EVs built today also include the latest safety features, like cross-traffic alert and blind spot monitoring.

Here are five more EV myths, debunked: https://one5c.com/6-ev-myths-debunked-136943462/?utm_source=ig-one5c&utm_medium=organic-social

22/03/2024

Despite high costs and environmental red flags, most energy forecasts still factor nuclear power into a carbon-neutral future, but is investing billions in nuclear development worth the drawbacks?

It’s true: nuclear is a clean source of energy in terms of greenhouse gases, but it’s also complex, expensive, and requires many more safety considerations than renewable energy sources. An analysis published in 2023 by Lazard found that nuclear power can be the most expensive conventional energy option, with a cost of $141 to $221 per megawatt-hour.

When it comes to filling the grid’s gaps in a net-zero future, nuclear could be a reliable choice, but it is not a replacement for renewables like wind and solar.

Even if costs shrink, one issue remains for all nuclear projects: where to put the waste.

“For me, part of what sustainability means in the big picture is that we don’t do things that leave a mess for future generations to clean up,” says Robert Brecha of the University of Dayton. “For me, the nuclear waste issue is still one that we haven’t solved.”

Learn more about the pros and cons of nuclear energy at one5c: https://one5c.com/nuclear-energy-net-zero-136951440/?utm_source=fb-one5c&utm_medium=organic-social

19/03/2024

Welcome to one5c’s Lawns Gone Wild, your step-by-step guide to rewilding a piece of your turf. Subscribe to our newsletter to get each step delivered directly to your inbox: https://bit.ly/3wUS8ZK

Why nuke our grass?

It’s well established that your lawn of non-native grass is the enemy of local ecosystems and total crap as a carbon sink. But now that spring is upon us, you can go toe-to-toe with the adversary in your own backyard. Between now and May, we’ll be doling out a five-step plan for kicking your grass.

Now is the time to start. Simply retiring your mower during No-Mow May and sprinkling on some native seeds will likely leave you with a bunch of tall grass, warns Doug Tallamy, the University of Delaware ecologist behind Homegrown National Park, an organization that promotes restoring yards to natural landscapes. “That’s a guaranteed total failure, because the lawn will outcompete every one of those tiny little seeds,” he says.

Step one is easy and commits you to nothing: Start collecting cardboard. At the end of March, you’ll cover the area you’re rewilding with those pieces to help choke out the grass (more on that next week!). For now, start eyeing a patch to slaughter—we suggest starting small with a 10-by-10 block—and save any boxes that come in the mail, or hit up places like liquor stores or Costco that usually give them out freely.

See you next week!

13/03/2024

The attorneys general of 24 states are suing to keep this rule from going into effect—a reminder of the impact local elections can have on national policy.

11/03/2024

In the past, EVs were quirky, strange little vehicles that purposely signaled their eco-presence. Aside from the occasional oddity—Tesla Cybertruck, we’re looking at you—that has fallen out of fashion.

More EV myths, debunked: https://one5c.com/6-ev-myths-debunked-136943462/?utm_source=ig-one5c&utm_medium=organic-social

10/03/2024

Here's how the Toyota Prius Prime SE compares to the Mercedes-Benz AMG G63. And that's after spending $151,025 less on the Prius.

06/03/2024

Laundry accounts for 8% of a home’s energy bill, according to the Energy Information Administration. New efficiency standards rolled out by the Biden administration last week will require new top-loading washers to sip 11% fewer electrons, front-loading ones to dip by 9%, and dryers to cut their draw by 40% when they go into effect in 2028.

The move comes after a late-January update to the efficiency rules for stoves and fridges. Next up: dishwashers.

04/03/2024

A new Breyers flavor has all the dairy, but none of the cow:

A new chocolate ice cream flavor from Breyers and Perfect Day has all the dairy but none of the cow. Here's how they tapped a new technology to create the frozen treat.

03/03/2024

A heat pump can measurably decrease your personal emissions. In addition to directly creating greenhouse gasses, petroleum-based climate control wastes a ton of energy to heat loss. (You know how you tell your kids not to touch the furnace because it’s hot? That’s wasted energy; the fire in that box should be conditioning your living spaces, not waiting to burn someone.)

Read our complete primer on heat pumps: https://one5c.com/there-is-no-such-thing-as-cold-69281592/?utm_source=ig-one5c&utm_medium=organic-social

29/02/2024

It’s a rare treat to have bonus time, let alone a whole bonus day. So we wanted to invite you all to take these extra 1,440 minutes to ask yourselves: What’s the rush? In our everyday lives, the faster we move, the more we tend to emit. Whenever we’re able, collectively slowing the heck down can add up serious emissions savings.

Here are five ways metering our urge to sprint can make a difference. Dive deeper into the benefits of each: https://one5c.com/slash-carbon-footprint-leap-day-slow-down-136947884/?utm_source=ig-one5c&utm_medium=organic-social

28/02/2024

Internal combustion cars are generating emissions twice: once in the production and distribution of fuel, and once burning it up to go vroom.

Five more EV myths, debunked:
https://one5c.com/6-ev-myths-debunked-136943462/?utm_source=ig-one5c&utm_medium=organic-social

27/02/2024

The pitch: Trade fracking with water for fracking with captured carbon dioxide.

The reality: Using one greenhouse gas to help you extract another one from the ground is not the solution we're looking for.

Natural gas companies want to pump captured CO2 into the ground—in order to frack more natural gas. Here's what to know about this new greenwashing scheme.