Posts Categorized: Sustainability

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  Carrying Our Weight: Shared Wisdom for Backpacking & Energy Efficiency

  by Sam Randall

  Right around the time I made the exciting professional move from grad school to begin my fellowship with E4TheFuture, I was simultaneously embarking on a personal journey to break into the next level of outdoor exploration and learn how to become an overnight backpacker.

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  Efficiency: Minimizing Total Costs of a Precious Resource

  by Pat Stanton

  Fighting climate change hinges on transitioning consumption to what will become our most precious energy resource: zero-carbon electricity.
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  Insulation: Maximizing Value of a Precious Resource

  by Pat Stanton

  How do you keep drinks cool when you’re out far from home? Bags – or blocks – of ice (duh)!

  Consider ice, a precious energy resource in the great outdoors. Your choice of a container dramatically impacts your results: To keep cool all day will require much more ice (your precious resource) if you choose an open metal bucket, compared to a well-insulated cooler.

  Getting to Zero
  When you want to decarbonize the building sector, your precious energy resource is zero-carbon electricity (including its generation, transmission and distribution). Poorly insulated buildings waste energy resources, like an open metal bucket wastes precious ice on a hot day.
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  Industrial Symbiosis: Taking Resource Efficiency to the Next Level

  by Susan Buchan

  You may remember the term symbiosis from eighth grade biology. It’s the concept of organisms sharing materials, energy, even their bodies – with other organisms for the benefit of both species. The idea of applying symbiosis to industrial producers was pioneered in Denmark almost 50 years ago in 1972, and came to fruition in 2015 with the establishment of the Kalundborg Symbiosis Industrial Park.

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