Imagine a world where business not only thrives but also nurtures the planet we call home. A world where sustainability isn’t just a buzzword but a powerful driver of profits and purpose. With a few changes to typical business practices, you can begin to practice sustainable entrepreneurship, a way to measure success that goes hand in hand with making a positive impact.

In our fast-paced and environmentally conscious era, testing sustainable options for your product and company has become nothing short of essential. 50% of consumers across all industries cited sustainability as one of the top 5 factors driving their purchasing decisions.

As an entrepreneur with a vision, you may be eager to unlock the secrets of success while leaving a greener footprint behind. But where do you begin? How can you navigate the dynamic landscape of sustainability? Start with actionable strategies and a step-by-step process to test sustainable options for your business.

Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned business owner, your initial choices represent an opportunity to dive into the world of sustainable entrepreneurship and emerge with a business that is stronger, wiser, and ready to reshape the future.

Editor’s Note: This article is based on “Sustainable Entrepreneurship Training” offered by Shift Group. If you purchase an item through one of these links, Earth911 receives a small commission that helps fund our Recycling Directory.

Step One: Screen for Sustainable Ideas

As a savvy entrepreneur, you know that sustainable ideas power successful businesses and help them generate even more profits as other non-sustainable businesses around them struggle to breathe.

Take Tesla, for instance, a company that revolutionized the automotive industry by prioritizing electric vehicles and renewable energy solutions. Today, it’s the most valuable carmaker in the world, worth more than 10 times more than Ford or General Motors, demonstrating that sustainability and profitability can go hand in hand.

Here’s how you can find and embrace some of the game-changing concepts in the sustainability space that can help your business idea take shape:

• Stay informed and inspired: Keep your finger on the pulse of environmental and social trends while taking the time to understand how progress is measured. Engage with industry thought leaders, attend sustainability events, and immerse yourself in sustainable business trends. These insights will spark your creativity and fuel your innovation.
• Seek inspiration from success stories: Look for successful sustainable companies within your industry and beyond, because their innovations can inform how you go about transforming your industry. Study their business models, value propositions, and environmental and social impact. Learn from their approaches and identify potential areas for innovation, especially in sustainability.
• Collaborate with like-minded people and businesses: In the quest for sustainable ideas, collaboration can be a powerful tool. Partnering with like-minded organizations can spark new ideas, inspire innovative solutions, and open doors to valuable resources. Additionally, establishing strong relationships with sustainable vendors and suppliers can ensure a reliable and ethical supply chain, reinforcing your commitment to sustainability.  And of course, adding to your credibility.
• Embrace empathy: Understanding the needs and challenges of your target audience is fundamental to screening for sustainable ideas that lead to business growth. Empathize with your potential customers to gain insights into their sustainability preferences, pain points, and aspirations. Conduct surveys, interviews, or focus groups – even if it’s with a small sample size – to listen actively and learn from their perspectives. By putting yourself in their shoes, you can identify gaps in the market, discover unmet needs, and develop sustainable solutions that directly address your audience’s concerns.

Step Two: Adapt Your Sustainability Plan as Your Market Changes

Sustainability is not a static concept; it’s a dynamic force that evolves over time – and companies need to evolve with it. Take the example of Patagonia, an outdoor clothing company that recognized the growing demand for sustainable products and transparent supply chains. Renee Chouinard led the sustainable business movement, adapting to changing consumer values by championing environmental initiatives and even encouraging customers to buy used products through their “Worn Wear” program to promote a circular economy. The result? Patagonia has the best business reputation in the nation.

Here are steps you can take to stay ahead of the game by adapting to key market changes and incorporating them into your product development:

• Agile and adaptive approach: Embrace an agile mindset that allows you to respond quickly to changing market demands. This flexibility will enable you to align your products and services with evolving sustainability enhancements.
• Fuel innovation: Encourage a culture of innovation within your team. Foster creativity, reward experimentation, and provide space for ideas to flourish, including the room for errors that help you learn faster. Sustainable businesses are born from innovation.
• Leverage data: Utilize data and analytics to identify emerging sustainability patterns, as well as to measure your progress toward environmental goals. Understand customer preferences, market dynamics, and the impact of your sustainable initiatives.

Step Three: Define Your Product/Service

A clear definition is the cornerstone of a successful sustainable business to help it stand out from the crowd:

• Address customer pain points: Let’s face it, most businesses have ignored their customers’ environmental concerns. Stand apart. Uncover the pain points your customers face and design your offering to address those specific challenges. Remember, your solution should be the answer they’ve been searching for.
• Showcase sustainability: Communicate the sustainable features of your product/service with the appropriate context. One change to a product does not make it green, but it can be presented as a step in the right direction. Take the time to explain your choices of low-carbon or natural materials, how you achieve energy efficiency, and how you create meaningful social impact. Focus on how your product or service directly addresses your customers’ needs and pain points. Will it save them time and money, or reduce their carbon footprint? Does it improve their health, well-being, or overall quality of life?
• Compelling value proposition: A well-crafted value proposition connects with your target audience, aligns with their values, and positions your brand as the top choice in the market. Clearly communicate how your product or service stands out from the competition – features tell but benefits sell – while making a positive impact on the planet.

Step Four: Find Market Fit as a Sustainable Company

Achieving market fit, the proof that customers will buy your product or service, is essential for any business, especially sustainable ones. For example, the success of TOMS Shoes lies in achieving market fit by connecting its sustainable business model with a social cause. For every pair of shoes sold, TOMS donates a pair to a child in need, attracting customers who align with their philanthropic mission.

To ensure that your offering resonates with your target market, follow these steps:

• Understand your target audience: Take the time to understand your ideal customer’s values and preferences related to sustainability, then tailor your solution to align with their unique needs. There are many ways to understand your target audience, including interviews, focus groups, and surveys, but the best way to understand your target audience is to be one of them. For example, the best way to design and sell organic cotton jumpers for infants is to be a mom who has an infant and understands the challenges that people like her face.
• Test and refine: Validate your sustainable offering with a select group of potential customers or early adopters. Gather feedback, iterate, and refine your product/service based on these insights. More about this below.
• Engage with your customers: Maintain a close relationship with your customers to gain ongoing insights. Track satisfaction levels, retention rates, and referrals. Remember, happy customers are your brand ambassadors.

Step Six: Learn The Numbers of ESG/Sustainability

Financial sustainability is the backbone of any business. Incorporating environmentally sustainable practices into a company’s financial model is essential for long-term success as it mitigates risks, reduces costs, enhances brand reputation, attracts capital and top talent, fosters innovation, gives the company a competitive edge, and prepares the business for a changing market. Here’s a quick overview of how you can align your financial components with ESG principles:

• Explore sustainable investment and financing: Seek out sustainable investment and financing options, then ask about how they arrived at their criteria for which businesses to fund. Interview leaders at impact investment funds, sustainable banking institutions, and grants tailored for sustainable businesses. Apply the lessons to your financing strategy.
• Calculate all the returns: Develop financial models that assess the return on sustainability investments, not just financial outcomes. Consider cost savings, increased market share, brand reputation, and long-term resilience. And if you have an investor, you will also need to consider the kind of return – in money and impact — they want.
• Transparency and reporting: Embrace transparent reporting of your sustainability initiatives and performance. Share your progress through sustainability reports, ESG disclosures, and dedicated website sections.

Step Seven: Fine-Tune Your Business Idea

Even superheroes need fine-tuning. Your sustainable business idea is important, so ensure its viability and success in the market with continuous reflection and refinement. Entrepreneurs can align their offerings with customer needs, identify unique selling points, and address potential challenges – it just takes time and a focus on sustainable outcomes. This iterative process allows for better market fit, a stronger value proposition, and a more competitive position in sustainability.

Try these approaches to refine your sustainable business concept:

• Feedback from stakeholders and experts: Engage with customers, employees, vendors, investors, mentors, and industry experts. Gather feedback on your business idea and use their insights to improve your model.
• Leverage industry networks: Connect with sustainability-focused industry associations, attend conferences, and join forums or communities. Networking will bring fresh perspectives and collaborations.
• Embrace a growth mindset: Focus on continuous learning, adaptation, and innovation. Challenge assumptions and explore new possibilities. Your growth mindset will drive you forward.

Become Part of a Community That Helps You Grow

You’ve begun the journey in the exciting world of testing sustainable options for your product and company. And the adventure doesn’t end here. To unlock your full potential as a sustainable entrepreneur, we invite you to join the transformative “Sustainable Entrepreneurship Training” course that Shift Group offers.

In this exclusive course, you’ll learn from not one, not two, but five experts. Access 102 engaging course videos, a treasure trove of resources, and real-world examples. With Shift Group’s carefully curated training, you’ll be equipped with the skills to create a pitch-ready business idea and a roadmap to success.

And as a part of the global community of sustainable entrepreneurs on a mission to restore the planet – a community that you will also join upon graduating from our program – you’ll be making a lasting impact while building a profitable business.

Enroll in the “Sustainable Entrepreneurship Training” course and embark on your sustainable business journey with Shift Group today! Use the discount code “Earth911D” during checkout to save 20% on the list price of the course.

About the author

Stefan Doering is this course’s host and Managing Director at Shift Group. He has started and run seven of his own businesses and has been innovating in business and sustainability since 1987. He also teaches and coaches green businesses in three major areas: innovating powerful green business models, crafting and implementing marketing and positioning strategies for bringing green to the mainstream, and creating a consistently profitable and sustainable business.

Warm ocean waters from the developing El Niño are shifting north along coastlines in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Along the coast of California, these warm waters are interacting with a persistent marine heat wave that recently influenced the development of Hurricane Hilary. The Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite is able to spot the movement of these warm ocean waters in unprecedented detail.

A collaboration between NASA and the French space agency, CNES (Centre National d’Études Spatiales), SWOT is measuring the height of nearly all water on Earth’s surface, providing one of the most detailed, comprehensive views yet of the planet’s oceans and fresh water lakes and rivers.

Water expands as it warms, so sea levels tend to be higher in places with warmer water. El Niño – a periodic climate phenomenon that can affect weather patterns around the world – is characterized by higher sea levels and warmer-than-average ocean temperatures along the western coast of the Americas. The image above shows sea surface heights off the U.S. West Coast, near the California-Oregon border, in August. Red and orange indicate higher-than-average ocean heights, while blue and green represent lower-than-average heights.

The SWOT science team made the measurements with the Ka-band Radar Interferometer (KaRIn) instrument. With two antennas spread 33 feet (10 meters) apart on a boom, KaRIn produces a pair of data swaths as it circles the globe, bouncing radar pulses off the water’s surface to collect water-height measurements. The visualization combines data from two passes of the SWOT satellite.

“SWOT’s ability to measure sea surface so close to the coast will be invaluable for researchers but also forecasters looking at things like the development and progress of worldwide phenomena like El Niño,” said Ben Hamlington, a sea level researcher at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

Watch Latest Water Satellite Unfold Itself in Space

In its September outlook, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast a greater than 70% chance for a strong El Niño this coming winter. In addition to warmer water, El Niño is also associated with a weakening of the equatorial trade winds. The phenomenon can bring cooler, wetter conditions to the U.S. Southwest and drought to countries in the western Pacific, such as Indonesia and Australia.

More About the Mission

Launched on Dec. 16, 2022, from Vandenberg Space Force Base in central California, SWOT is now in its operations phase, collecting data that will be used for research and other purposes.

SWOT was jointly developed by NASA and CNES, with contributions from the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the UK Space Agency. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, leads the U.S. component of the project. For the flight system payload, NASA provided the KaRIn instrument, a GPS science receiver, a laser retroreflector, a two-beam microwave radiometer, and NASA instrument operations. CNES provided the Doppler Orbitography and Radioposition Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) system, the dual frequency Poseidon altimeter (developed by Thales Alenia Space), the KaRIn radio-frequency subsystem (together with Thales Alenia Space and with support from the UK Space Agency), the satellite platform, and ground operations. CSA provided the KaRIn high-power transmitter assembly. NASA provided the launch vehicle and the agency’s Launch Services Program, based at Kennedy Space Center, managed the associated launch services.

To learn more about SWOT, visit:

https://swot.jpl.nasa.gov/

Eastern hemlocks are an ecologically important tree species found from eastern Canada to the Great Lakes states and south along the entire Appalachian mountain range. The hemlock woolly adelgid — an invasive insect that was introduced to North America 70 years ago and has spread along the East Coast — can kill a hemlock tree in as little as four years.

“An integrated pest management strategy is the best approach in cases like this,” says Robert Jetton, associate professor of forest health at North Carolina State University and study co-author. “Integrated pest management utilizes multiple tactics to combat insect pests and can include chemical insecticides, seed preservation, biological control, and silviculture, or managing the surrounding forest.

“This study focused on silviculture. Is there a way to actively manage a forest to improve the health of eastern hemlocks?”

The study began in 2017. Jetton and colleagues from the U.S. Department of Agriculture selected 105 eastern hemlock trees in national and state forests along the Appalachians from Maryland to Georgia. They created small or large canopy gaps around the trees by either felling or girdling the competing trees. Felling is cutting down the tree outright, while girdling refers to killing the tree by removing its access to nutrients, but not cutting it down.

The gaps around the hemlocks ranged in size from .05 to .15 acre. Small gaps were created by felling or girdling any competing tree that overlapped the hemlock’s outermost branches, or dripline. For large gaps, they created a radius around the hemlock that was equal to the dripline plus 25% of the average tree height in the stand.

For comparison, the researchers also monitored a control group which consisted of hemlocks that didn’t have canopy gaps created around them.

The researchers collected data on the trees every six months from late 2017 through early 2021. One tree had died (due to another tree falling on it), but overall, even though all of the “canopy gap” trees in the study were infested with woolly adelgid, their health had substantially improved. By comparison, the health of the control trees continued to decline.

“The major benefit of the treatment is that the trees’ crown health improved, especially in areas where we did the large fell,” Jetton says. “Crown health refers to the tree’s foliage — its color and density. With all four gap treatments, we saw that the trees continued to produce new shoot growth annually, though this effect was greatest in the large fells. This is good news because woolly adelgids feed on branch tips, so one of the first effects of infestation is that the tree stops producing new growth.”

While the treatment’s effectiveness varied by region — it was more effective in the southernmost sites (North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee) — the researchers believe the results are encouraging.

“The canopy gaps give the trees better access to resources like water and nutrients that help them deal with the adelgid,” Jetton says. “While it doesn’t cause the adelgid population to decrease, it may be giving trees the ability to ‘outgrow’ the insect’s impact, at least temporarily.”

The study is ongoing, and the researchers plan to focus on stands of hemlocks, rather than single trees, next.

“Our study was conducted in forests where hemlocks occurred under a canopy of primarily hardwood trees, which lose their leaves in fall and winter,” says Albert Mayfield, entomologist with the USDA Forest Service and study co-author. “So, the response of hemlocks to canopy gaps might be different in pure hemlock forests, where there is more year-round shade. But our sites were very typical of the southern Appalachian forests, where hemlock trees are usually mixed with hardwood trees.”

“We see silviculture as part of the overall pest management strategy,” says Jetton. “Hopefully it will benefit biological control efforts by allowing the adelgid’s predators to establish populations, and it may decrease our use of chemicals. But the bottom line is this study shows silviculture is another tool in the toolkit to increase the survival rate of eastern hemlocks.”

The study appears in Forest Ecology and Management and was supported by the USDA Forest Service Special Technology Development Program. Albert Mayfield of the USDA Forest Service is corresponding author. NC State research associate Andy Whittier, and USDA Forest Service members Bryan Mudder, Tara Keyser, and James Rhea, also contributed to the work.

The article, based on research led by Utrecht University in the Netherlands, brought together a group of scholars with broad expertise in global sustainability governance. “Our research has shown that the SDGs lack any sizeable impact on political systems,” argues Frank Biermann, professor at Utrecht University and the lead author of this study. He continues, “Now is the moment for change. Governments must urgently launch a process to strengthen the SDG framework through four make-or-break reform measures.”

Four reforms needed

First, the expert group calls for the SDGs to be strengthened in a way that commits high-income countries to stronger and more concrete action. So far, wealthier countries often focus on those SDGs that they can most easily achieve, and the agenda’s universal approach may be obscuring unequal global consumption and emissions patterns. Also, with inadequate finance holding back SDG implementation in the Global South, stronger commitments by high-income countries to equitable financing solutions are needed.

Second, the SDGs must be adjusted to new challenges, improved scientific understanding, and past failures in implementation. The goals must become more adaptable to escalating crises of ecological breakdown, global pandemics, and rising inequalities, and the UN should introduce regular review rounds where countries can adjust their ambitions to evolving global circumstances.

Third, the SDGs are not legally binding and are often merely vague commitments. While this approach has helped to bring all governments together under the broad banner of the SDGs, it is no longer enough. Instead, governments must together take steps to turn at least parts of the SDGs into binding international law. The authors highlight the ongoing negotiations for an international treaty to end plastic pollution as an example, which is linked to SDG 12 (Sustainable Production and Consumption).

Fourth, many SDGs are poorly embedded in the structures, policies, practices, and norms of local, national, and international institutions and political systems. Governments need to build stronger institutions, both internationally and at home, to make the SDGs a fundamental part of how they operate and make decisions. To support this, the researchers argue that much stronger global oversight of the SDGs is needed. One option would be the creation of a UN Council on Sustainable Development as a major center of global sustainability coordination in the UN system. They also draw on recent research showing the SDGs are making notable impact through the work of cities, provinces, and parts of civil society, arguing that strengthening these networks can also play a key role in accelerating the SDG agenda.

A global agenda

“The SDGs must be supported across the board by all levels of government, civil society and the private sector. Only this will ensure that our world will make meaningful progress towards global sustainability,” argues Dr. Yixian Sun, an assistant professor at University of Bath in the United Kingdom and co-author of this study.

The UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals sit at the heart of the UN’s global “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” One of a string of recent high-profile global megaconferences attempting to mobilize action for a sustainable future, the UN SDG Summit in September 2023 could act as a springboard to achieving the goals by 2030. Professor Biermann: “The SDG Summit is a crucial event to pave the way for a major reform process that will allow the floundering SDGs to deliver on their promise of a global sustainability transition, while ensuring that no one is left behind.”

Summer of 2023 was Earth’s hottest since global records began in 1880, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) in New York.

The months of June, July, and August combined were 0.41 degrees Fahrenheit (0.23 degrees Celsius) warmer than any other summer in NASA’s record, and 2.1 degrees F (1.2 C) warmer than the average summer between 1951 and 1980. August alone was 2.2 F (1.2 C) warmer than the average. June through August is considered meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

This new record comes as exceptional heat swept across much of the world, exacerbating deadly wildfires in Canada and Hawaii, and searing heat waves in South America, Japan, Europe, and the U.S., while likely contributing to severe rainfall in Italy, Greece, and Central Europe.

“Summer 2023’s record-setting temperatures aren’t just a set of numbers – they result in dire real-world consequences. From sweltering temperatures in Arizona and across the country, to wildfires across Canada, and extreme flooding in Europe and Asia, extreme weather is threatening lives and livelihoods around the world,” said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. “The impacts of climate change are a threat to our planet and future generations, threats that NASA and the Biden-Harris Administration are tackling head on.”

NASA assembles its temperature record, known as GISTEMP, from surface air temperature data acquired by tens of thousands of meteorological stations, as well as sea surface temperature data from ship- and buoy-based instruments. This raw data is analyzed using methods that account for the varied spacing of temperature stations around the globe and for urban heating effects that could skew the calculations.

The analysis calculates temperature anomalies rather than absolute temperature. A temperature anomaly shows how far the temperature has departed from the 1951 to 1980 base average.

“Exceptionally high sea surface temperatures, fueled in part by the return of El Niño, were largely responsible for the summer’s record warmth,” said Josh Willis, climate scientist and oceanographer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.

El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon characterized by warmer than normal sea surface temperatures (and higher sea levels) in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.

The record-setting summer of 2023 continues a long-term trend of warming. Scientific observations and analyses made over decades by NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and other international institutions have shown this warming has been driven primarily by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, natural El Niño events in the Pacific pump extra warmth into the global atmosphere and often correlate with the warmest years on record.

“With background warming and marine heat waves that have been creeping up on us for decades, this El Niño shot us over the hump for setting all kinds of records,” Willis said. “The heat waves that we experience now are longer, they’re hotter, and they’re more punishing. The atmosphere can also hold more water now, and when it’s hot and humid, it’s even harder for the human body to regulate its temperature.”

Willis and other scientists expect to see the biggest impacts of El Niño in February, March, and April 2024. El Niño is associated with the weakening of easterly trade winds and the movement of warm water from the western Pacific toward the western coast of the Americas. The phenomenon can have widespread effects, often bringing cooler, wetter conditions to the U.S. Southwest and drought to countries in the western Pacific, such as Indonesia and Australia.

“Unfortunately, climate change is happening. Things that we said would come to pass are coming to pass,” said Gavin Schmidt, climate scientist and director of GISS. “And it will get worse if we continue to emit carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into our atmosphere.”

NASA’s full temperature data set and the complete methodology used for the temperature calculation and its uncertainties are available online.

GISS is a NASA laboratory managed by the Earth Sciences Division of the agency’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. The laboratory is affiliated with Columbia University’s Earth Institute and School of Engineering and Applied Science in New York.

For additional figures and maps related to this announcement, visit:

https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14407

News Media Contacts

Karen Fox/Aries Keck

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1100

[email protected]/[email protected]

Jacob Richmond

Goddard Space Flight Center

301-286-6255

[email protected]

A state-of-the-art imaging spectrometer, which will measure the greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide from space, moved closer to launch this month after being delivered to a clean room at Planet Labs PBC (Planet) in San Francisco.

Designed and built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, this science instrument will be part of an effort led by the nonprofit Carbon Mapper organization to collect data on greenhouse gas point-source emissions. Built around technologies developed for NASA airborne campaigns and space missions, the Carbon Mapper imaging spectrometer will provide targeted data on “super-emitters” – the small percentage of individual sources responsible for a significant fraction of global methane and carbon dioxide emissions.

The Carbon Mapper coalition is a public-private effort led by the Carbon Mapper organization and its partners, including JPL, Planet, the California Air Resources Board, Rocky Mountain Institute, Arizona State University, and the University of Arizona.

The instrument is an advanced imaging spectrometer that measures hundreds of wavelengths of light reflected by Earth’s surface and absorbed by gases in the planet’s atmosphere. Different compounds – including methane and carbon dioxide – absorb different wavelengths of light, leaving a spectral “fingerprint” that the imaging spectrometer can identify. These infrared fingerprints, invisible to the human eye, can pinpoint and quantify strong greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate potential mitigation efforts.

The spectrometer arrived Sept. 12 at Planet, where it will be integrated over the next several months into a Tanager satellite designed by the company. Launch is planned for early 2024.

Before leaving JPL, the spectrometer was put through a series of critical tests to ensure that it could withstand the rigors of launch and the harsh conditions of space. Engineers subjected the spectrometer to intense vibrations similar to what it will endure atop a rocket blasting into orbit, as well as to the extreme temperatures it will experience in the vacuum of space.

There was also an opportunity to use a sample of methane to test the completed instrument while it was in a vacuum chamber at JPL. The test was successful, with the imaging spectrometer producing a clear spectral fingerprint of methane.

“We are thrilled to see the exceptional quality of the methane spectral signature recorded. This bodes well for the space measurement soon to follow,” said Robert Green, the instrument scientist at JPL.

“This delivery is a very exciting step for us as our team can now begin the final stage in satellite integration,” said Jeff Guido, senior director of new missions at Planet. “This milestone is an excellent example of the innovative ways that government, philanthropy, and industry can play to each other’s strengths to build exceptional capability that has the potential for global impact.”

The new satellite is part of a broader effort by Carbon Mapper to survey the globe for point-source emissions of methane and carbon dioxide. That effort includes using measurements provided by an instrument already in orbit: NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation, or EMIT, an imaging spectrometer developed by JPL and installed on the International Space Station. A second imaging spectrometer is being built by Planet in collaboration with JPL. The teams will continue working side by side to deliver these new greenhouse gas measurement capabilities.

More About the Project

Carbon Mapper is a nonprofit organization focused on facilitating timely action to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Its mission is to fill gaps in the emerging global ecosystem of methane and carbon dioxide monitoring systems by delivering data at facility scale that is precise, timely, and accessible to empower science-based decision making and action. The organization is leading the development of the Carbon Mapper constellation of satellites supported by a public-private partnership composed of Planet Labs PBC, JPL, the California Air Resources Board, the University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and RMI, with funding from High Tide Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, and other philanthropic donors.

News Media Contact

Jane J. Lee / Andrew Wang

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-354-0307 / 626-379-6874

[email protected] / [email protected]

Kelly Vaughn

Carbon Mapper, Pasadena, Calif.

970-401-0001

[email protected]

Are you a crafter or an artist who likes to experiment with different materials? If so, you probably are already familiar with your local creative reuse center. But if your community doesn’t have a creative reuse center, this may be something you’d like to get started locally. If so, this article is for you.

Creative reuse centers collect gently used craft supplies, manufacturing leftovers, industrial scraps, and other materials considered waste. Then they redistribute the materials to the community as supplies for crafting and art — creative reuse! There are creative reuse centers throughout the world, and they are all turning the idea of trash on its head.

To give you an idea of how some creative reuse centers started and how they operate today, we’ve surveyed six centers from the U.S. plus the original reuse center in Australia. We also got some tips from reuse center staff for those who want to start a creative reuse center in their community.

Arts Parts – Boulder, Colorado

Arts Parts was founded in 2011 by a woman who knew firsthand the problem of high-end fabric waste through her husband’s business. The center was incorporated as a nonprofit in May 2015 and opened a storefront the same year. Like most creative reuse centers, Arts Parts felt limited in their space and were able to expand their shop in 2017.

Arts Parts has a staff of six people and a team of 25 to 30 weekly volunteers. Their volunteers logged 1,400 hours in the past year. The center accepts donations any time the shop is open — and it’s open seven days a week (as of July 2023). Arts Parts has a separate intake room for their donations. Most of Arts Parts’ revenue comes from shop sales with a bit more than 10% coming from individual donations and grants.

Materials for the Arts – New York, New York

Unlike other creative resource centers in this article, Materials for the Arts (MFTA) is neither a business nor a nonprofit organization. Instead, it’s a program of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. A New York City artist started the program in 1979 and today it’s considered the largest creative reuse center in the country. Unique to this creative reuse center, MFTA maintains an artist-in-residency program. And although the public cannot shop at MFTA, it provides materials free of charge to registered New York City artistic and educational communities that use those materials to support their work.

MFTA stores its materials in a 35,000 square-foot warehouse in Long Island City. Registered members can make an appointment online to shop for materials at the warehouse. Materials for the Arts accepts drop-off donations and can schedule pick-ups with their box truck. They also can match donors with recipients through their Direct Donations Program. MTFA has a corporate volunteer program and has volunteer programs for individuals and schools. The program has a staff of 15. This group does apply for grants and accepts individual donations.

The MFTA managing director says to those looking to start their own creative reuse center: “There are many different business models for creative reuse centers, but if you are able to gain support from local government it could be very helpful.”

Reverse Garbage – Marrickville, NSW, Australia

A group of teachers and community workers started Reverse Garbage (RG) in 1975 to supplement art materials for classrooms and reduce landfill waste. This veteran reuse center runs as a co-op with funding provided by membership dues, monetary donations, and sales. Their staff runs the facility but they also have many volunteers, including those required to do community service, people doing volunteer work to pay off state fines, and those just looking to do good.

Reverse Garbage has a large facility in a nearly 10,000 square-foot warehouse (900 square meters) where they store and sell materials. They accept donations on a case-by-case basis and request donors to contact them before they show up with supplies. They accept donations from individuals, manufacturers, events, and even film and TV. Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, RG was accepting five to six metric tons of materials per week! RG open for shoppers seven days a week. They also have an online store that’s currently undergoing maintenance (July 2023).

An RG staff member told us that “It’s interesting to look back on how our donations for reuse have changed, and that you have to be adaptable, rethinking what you can realistically accept due to your capacity and its potential for reuse. We always try to offer alternatives for reuse or recycling to help more stay out of landfills and also educate the donor as to the value of the resources they have. So, we take only specific items so that we don’t cross over/compete with other not-for-profits — we don’t take clothing as the op-shops/charity shops do this and do it well.”

SCRAP Creative Reuse – Multiple Locations

SCRAP Creative Reuse has locations in Portland Oregon; Baltimore, Maryland; Richmond, Virginia; and Ann Arbor, Michigan. A group of teachers who wanted to find a home for their leftover classroom materials started the first shop in Portland in 1999 with a grant from the state. It became the flagship of a network of SCRAP creative reuse centers in Baltimore, Richmond, and Ann Arbor.

Each SCRAP location is a bit different but all accept donations by appointment and drop-off. Stores may offer bulk or fill-a-bag pricing on some items and they all offer special pricing to schools, groups, and libraries. Volunteers help staff their stores. Each store has different hours and days, but most are open six days a week (Baltimore is open five as of July 2023). Scrap offers arts and upcycling programs to their communities and provides consulting to other creative reuse centers.

The SCRAP creative reuse education director told us, “We’ve learned a lot over the 20+ years developing creative reuse in various communities of all different sizes. Through it all, we’ve tried to remain adaptable and creative in our problem-solving. We value being a part of the larger and growing creative reuse community and networks, providing affordable services and materials as best we can, and contributing to positive environmental impacts.” For more information about starting a creative reuse center, visit SCRAP’s getting started page.

Spare Parts – San Antonio, Texas

Spare Parts was founded in 2011 and opened a shop in November 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. The storefront is the smallest we’ve found — just 1,400 square feet. Run mostly by volunteers, Spare Parts offers for-purchase workshops and is open for shopping on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (as of July 2023).

The nonprofit started with an event to give away used art supplies and other materials for teachers, held in an unused shopping mall. Spare Parts soon after obtained an office to store materials and do administrative work. They continued to offer arts and upcycling programs and workshops in the community including events at libraries, schools, festivals, and so forth. Donations are by appointment, and they do offer online shopping but no shipping. The group has a membership base of donors and also applies for grants.

The executive director and founder of Spare Parts tells those interested in starting a creative reuse center to “be mindful of how you grow, be conservative, and know your limits.” She also encourages new centers to prepare their messaging early; know how to articulate what a creative reuse center is to the community. She also encourages research and to visit as many other creative reuse centers as possible to understand the business.

Upcycle Parts Shop – Cleveland, Ohio

Upcycle Parts Shop was founded in 2014 through a grant under the umbrella of a local community development corporation. The group became a nonprofit in 2019 and now has its own board of directors (full disclosure: this writer is on that board).

The shop runs out of a small storefront and so has limited capacity to keep stock. Donations are accepted by appointment only. Upcycle has a staff of two full-time and two part-time people and many dedicated volunteers. The shop is open five days a week (as of July 2023) and conducts many educational programs throughout the community. The group accepts monetary donations and obtains grants to further their work.

Upcycle Parts Shop’s executive director and co-founder offers this advice to new creative reuse centers: “Determine what matters to you most. Creative reuse centers are a confluence of creativity/arts, environmental sustainability, and community. It’s hard to be good at multiple things at once, especially when starting out, so choose the one that matters most to you then blend in the others!”

The Waste Shed – Chicago, Illinois

A group of dedicated volunteers founded The Waste Shed with the help of GoFundMe in 2014. It became a nonprofit organization in 2015. Located in half of a corner store in Humboldt Park, this creative reuse center has little capacity to store materials long-term. It operates with a staff of 3.5 employees and is open Tuesday through Sunday (as of July 2023). The center accepts donations by appointment only and offers online sales for pick-up. The Waste Shed operates mostly on sales revenue. The Waste Shed staff also does some fundraising and applies for a small number of grants.

Editor’s note: Since this article’s original publication, The Waste Shed has opened a second location in Evanston, Illinois.

Creative Reuse Centers Are Assets to Their Communities

Each of these creative reuse centers works a bit differently. They are specific to their own communities, working with local businesses, industry, and manufacturing partners where they are. But each one reduces waste by recirculating unused materials and encourages creative reuse and artistic expression in the local community. Their physical neighbors are frequently some of their loudest cheerleaders.

Originally published on July 30, 2021, this article was updated in July 2023.

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