It’s been a big month for sustainability news!
If you’re not as big of an eco-nerd as I am, you may have missed some of these important announcements, so I thought I’d share them with you.
First, for my Indiana friends, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) recently released its Recycling Activity Summary based on 2017 data.
The big takeaway? Indiana’s recycling rate is currently only 16.8% (including composting). This is far below the national rate of 34.7% as well as Indiana’s goal of 50%.
While this might be discouraging news to some people, to me it illustrates the huge opportunity that Indiana residents and businesses have to make dramatic improvements.
For example, a few simple process changes can enable your event to recycle 50-90% (or more!) of its waste. That will go a long way toward increasing Indiana’s recycling rate!
Second, if you’re based in Indianapolis, the Office of Sustainability just posted its Thrive plan for public comment. This is Indy’s first sustainability and resilience plan, and it lays out 64 actions for the city to take by the year 2025. Check it out and leave your thoughts by Dec. 26!
Finally, the U.S. Global Change Research Program recently released the Fourth National Climate Assessment. This important report highlights the ways that climate change is already affecting communities in the U.S. and predicts the impacts it will have on the U.S. economy, infrastructure, and more by the end of the century.
(Bonus for Indiana residents: Purdue recently released its own assessment of how climate change is predicted to affect Indiana specifically, with specific sections about health, agriculture, tourism, and more.)
These articles provide a lot of information to take in. For me, the three main takeaways are:
- The world is changing
- These changes will require us to adapt, in both our personal and professional lives
- There’s a huge opportunity for businesses and organizations to succeed by adapting early and staying engaged with sustainability issues
Are you discouraged by environmental news lately? Or are you encouraged by progress you’re seeing in certain areas? Leave a comment below and let me know!
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