Each week find a round-up of selected news and resources related to global ethical issues and positive solutions that you can use in your solutionary teaching/work.
Here’s some recent news worth knowing:
Small steps toward positive solutions …
- Illinois (US) has passed a law that will raise the state’s minimum wage from $8.25 to $15 by 2025.
- After pressure from shareholders, the multinational commodities trading company Glencore has “promised to prioritise investment in commodities that assist with the transition to cleaner energy and transport instead, while limiting coal at current production levels.”
- Proctor & Gamble has agreed to phase out animal testing for cosmetics “in all major global beauty markets” by 2023.
- Vanuatu, which has one of the strongest single-use plastics bans in the world, has announced plans to expand the ban to include products such as “disposable diapers, plastic cutlery and grocery packaging like netting and clamshell cases.”
In the courts …
- Environmental groups are filing lawsuits against the Trump administration to try to protect threatened species, such as the lesser prairie chicken, caribou, and predators like wolves and bears. The lawsuits seek to force the US government to follow the Endangered Species Act and other federal laws designed to protect imperiled species.
We must do better …
- The first nonhuman mammal species to have gone extinct due to climate change has been officially recognized. Bramble Cay melomys were small rodents who lived on a single island off of Australia.
- Botswana is considering a plan to kill elephants and use them for pet food, in response to increased conflicts between elephants and small-scale farmers.
- A new UN report highlights how the global decimation of plants and animals is “threatening the security of the world’s food supplies and the livelihoods of millions of people.” One of the report’s authors said, “The foundations of our food systems are being undermined … because of the impact of management practices and land-use changes associated with food and agriculture.”
- Iceland has announced plans to kill more than 2,000 whales over the next five years.
- A new report from several NGOs has found that “plastics pose serious health risks at every stage in their production, use and disposal.”
- The Southern Poverty Law Center’s new report has discovered that hate groups in the US have increased by 30% over the past four years, and that in 2018 alone, there was a 7% increase in hate groups.
- Due to huge amounts of trash that have accumulated on Mount Everest, Chinese officials have announced that the base camp in Tibet will be closed to tourists until remediation is complete. Climbers with permits will still be given access.
- A new Oxfam report notes that child marriage in South Sudan has increased significantly, due to the impacts of the ongoing civil war, including poverty and hunger.
- Research shows that habitat loss is forcing more wild animals to eat human food, which is detrimentally influencing their behavior and biology.
- A new report highlights that the number of US students “in kindergarten through the 12th grade who are homeless has increased by 70 percent over the last decade.”
Did you know? …
- A pilot trial of a four-day work week at a New Zealand company reported a 20% increase in productivity, and significant decreases in stress and burnout.
- A report from the National Resources Defense Council reveals that US consumers’ toilet and tissue paper consumption is destroying Canadian boreal forests, because many companies are using virgin trees, rather than recycled fibers.
- Since China banned the imports of most “recyclable” materials, many US cities have resorted to putting it in landfills or burning recyclable materials, which has increased toxic pollution.
- Researchers have discovered that “growing up next to vegetation is associated with an up to 55 percent lower risk of mental health disorders in adulthood.”
Be sure to forward this to at least ONE person who would benefit from these resources.
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The post What’s New Wednesday 2-27-19: News & Resources for Educators & Solutionaries appeared first on Institute for Humane Education.