A Danish company named Too Good To Go has been working to combat food waste in the United States and around the world. In the U. S., more than a third of food produced goes uneaten, contributing to environmental issues. Too Good To Go addresses this problem by partnering with restaurants to sell their end-of-day leftovers at discounts, typically ranging from 60% to 80% off.

The app of the same name, which started in Denmark in 2015, has expanded to 17 countries and multiple U. S. cities, including New York, Phoenix, and Seattle, with Los Angeles proving to be one of its most successful markets. The company is now looking to expand its footprint in the southeast.

While the cost savings for customers and businesses are significant, the primary focus of Too Good To Go is reducing food waste, which is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The app allows users to track their environmental impact by displaying the electricity and carbon emissions prevented through their purchases. To date, the app claims to have saved over 250 million meals, making a substantial impact.

Food waste contributes to climate change in several ways, including the emission of methane gas from rotting food in landfills, the resources used to grow the food, and the energy expended in food transportation and preparation. Too Good To Go estimates that its efforts are equal to taking about 135, 000 cars off the road for a year, and it plays a crucial role in addressing the approximately 6% of total greenhouse gas emissions caused by food loss and waste in the U. S.

Alexandria Coari, the vice president of food waste nonprofit ReFED, recognizes the potential of apps like Too Good To Go. She believes that they have the capacity to reduce the carbon emissions equal to 870, 000 cars in a year, positioning them as one of the top 10 solutions to combating food waste and climate change.

While the app has been successful in the restaurant industry, its expansion into grocery stores and manufacturing is still a work in progress.

The plastic value chain faces two key challenges: controlling plastic waste and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The chemical industry has a unique role to play in addressing these challenges. Cooperation between upstream and downstream partners is essential to develop solutions that reduce plastic pollution and emissions in plastic production. SABIC(Saudi Basic Industries Corporation)is at the forefront of these efforts.

SABIC has set specific goals, including a commitment to achieve icarbon neutrality(碳中 和) by 2050. To realize this goal, the company has outlined a Carbon Neutrality Roadmap that focuses on five pathways: energy efficiency; renewable energy; electrification; carbon capture, usage and storage(CCUS); and green/blue hydrogen.

Recognizing the scale of the challenges, SABIC understands that progress cannot be made alone. The company actively cooperates through initiatives, such as the Low — Carbon Emitting Technologies(LCET) initiative, where chemical companies work together to accelerate the development of technology solutions for carbon neutrality.

Partnerships are also vital in addressing plastic waste. SABIC is a founding member of the Alliance(联盟) to End Plastic Waste, an organization that brings stakeholders(利益相关者) from across the value chain together to take collective action on the ground. The alliance works towards a future where plastic products never end up in landfills or oceans, but instead are reused or transformed into new products. SABIC is also actively involved in driving the transition from a linear to a circular carbon economy. As responsible plastic producers, SABIC recognizes the importance of offering sustainable materials to customers.

Although the chemical industry has made significant progress, there is still more work to do to achieve the goals. SABIC is already making progress on the complex, long—term effort required and will continue to partner with others to increase the solutions needed to push meaningful change.

As the climate crisis worsens, some cities may turn to parks. Parks have long been places for people surrounded by the gray of asphalt and concrete to get a small deal of green. As cities increasingly feel the influences of rising seas and temperatures, city planners are re starting to think of the roles of parks.

“There has been a quiet and intelligent move to use parks to help cities adapt to the realities of climate change,” said Diane Regas, CEO of an organization that works to create neighborhoods and national parks. “it’s more than shade trees that are helping fight climate change. Parks can help reduce coastal flooding, capture carbon and promote a sense of come-munity among those that will be affected by extreme weather.” Cities plan to build more parks that can reduce climate change effects like flooding and poor air quality.

All of the park-gray asphalt in cities collect heat — a lot of it. A study mapped the hottest areas of most cities and found that extreme heat was nearly always combined with the urban areas paved with lots of asphalt. Large parks cooled certain parts of the city by as much as 17 °F. That kind of cooling can be a lifesaver given more than 600 annual deaths caused by heat-related illnesses. There is no denying that climate change is real. And our parks are assuming the great responsibility and big challenge in the ways we can do the best. Using sat-elite data, the city is able to see what neighborhoods most need —the cooling effect of green spaces. Large parks like the planned D all as Water Gardens will be located in borne of the most heat-stressed parts of the city.

“Not a single solution by itself will solve the climate crisis. We see parks as an important part of it, but there isn’t a silver bullet.” Re gas said. “Parks are an example of what we need to do in the environmental community to embrace solutions that can address climate change and make people’s life better.”