?? The Grumpy Optimist #88

Happy Monday. ??

Welcome back to another episode of The Grumpy Optimists and I hope you had a brilliant weekend.

Before I dig into the news this week I’d like to make you aware that I am hiring with the company I run, Zevero. You can find out more about the role at the end of this newsletter, but for now, let’s dig in.

?? Articles to read

???Thousands take to the streets of London for climate march.?Thousands of protesters took to the streets of London this weekend in what was dubbed ‘the big one’ and an opportunity to highlight the urgent need for the UK government to take climate action.

???UK’s largest seabed discovered off Cornish coast.?An acoustic study of St Austell Bay recently found one of the UK’s largest seagrass beds, home to over 56 species and a highly effective carbon sink. 92% of the UK’s seagrass has been lost over the last century so this is a significant step and an opportunity to protect more of our oceans.

???Banks and fossil fuel funding.?A brilliant campaign by Make My Money Matter highlights the relationship between the banking industry and fossil fuels, with the big 5 UK high street banks giving $37bn to fossil fuel companies.?Write to your bank to break up with fossil fuels.

???Lululemon launches its first plant-based product.?Lululemon, the global athletic brand has launched two new t-shirts made with renewably sourced plant-based nylon rather than nylon from fossil fuels. Lululemon might make great products (I’m a big fan) but they also use a lot of plastic in their clothing, so this is a big win.

??TikTok removed climate change denial videos.?TikTok will begin removing videos that deny the existence of climate change in an attempt to crack down on misinformation. While this is good news, it’s fairly poor that this is only happening now.

???Growing hops indoors to decarbonise brewing.?80% of the world's hops come from the US and Germany and are grown in very small areas of each country making them vulnerable to climate change, in some parts of Germany last year up to 80% of the harvest was lost due to the summer heat. Ekonoke , the startup growing hops indoors also says that the water use and carbon footprint are 15 times smaller than field growth where no pesticides are required.

???Farmers win the right to repair their own tractors in Colorado.?A new law has passed in Colorado, giving farmers the right to repair their own equipment. Modern tractors, with their many electronic components, have given manufacturers like John Deere a monopoly on repair, but this new law will allow farmers to fix their own gear, bringing the agriculture industry in line with other technology-enabled products and ultimately leading to more productive farms.

???Volcanic microbe eats CO2 for breakfast.?Scientists have discovered a new microbe in a volcanic hot spring that quickly absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2) and turns it into biomass. The researchers hope to use microbes that naturally absorb CO2 as an efficient method of removing greenhouse gas from the atmosphere, potentially helping to address climate change.

???New YouGov research on sustainability shows mixed signals.? YouGov , a global public opinion and data company, released its latest report on the public’s attitudes towards sustainability in Great Britain and the results are interesting. A few positive takeaways are that; embedding sustainability into schools is popular, greenwashing and fast fashion is perceived negatively and 23% of UK adults see the environment as one of the top issues facing the UK. There’s a lot of interesting insight and it’s well worth scanning the full report.

???Farmer jailed and ordered to pay to repair damaged river.?A farmer in Herefordshire has been jailed after ripping up 1.5km of the River Lugg, causing damage to one of the UK’s most unspoiled rivers.

???Wieden+Kennedy become a global B-Corp.? 韦柯广告 , the world’s largest independent creative agency, known for coming up with the Nike logo (and also a brilliant client of Zevero ) announced that they are now officially a B-Corp across all of their offices and are on track for science-based target-aligned reductions in their emissions. It’s no small feat for a 1,500-employee company and I’m pretty proud to have played a small part in this.

??? A podcast to check out

This is a great podcast on how AI can help tackle climate change. An interesting listen and it made me optimistic about the future of technology and decarbonisation.

?? I’m Hiring!

We're looking for our first commercial hire at the company I co-founded,?Zevero, to help accelerate our growth and build on the back of a fantastic year.

You’ll need to know how to sell, be ambitious and manage your time well. If you want to work hard be part of an ambitious team and help drive decarbonisation, let’s chat. Email me at [email protected] with why you want to work with us and give me a client we could work with and how you would sign them.

We’re offering a good starting salary, great equity options and opportunities for a higher figure with a bonus.

You can read more about the job here.

Finally,?check out the piece I wrote for The Economist about climate optimism -?you can read it here.

This newsletter was written on Sunday evening while thinking about the week ahead therefore no music recommendation this week as I just put my head down and worked. I did get to plant out peas in the garden for the first time this year, so summer is very much on the way. Have a great week all.

The Grumpy Optimists ??