Papers are finally off to judges for scoring and my, what a whirlwind couple weeks it has been! From calling schools to share this incredible opportunity, to reminding Teams of deadlines, to contacting Judges to help score papers….it has been busy to say the least! This has been an interesting year, and we were blown away again by how strong of a response we had. This year saw the highest ratio of Teams actually submitting papers! Going into a year of COVID left us with plenty of uncertainty, but never again shall we doubt. It is refreshing to see the determination of so many shine through this year. Teams across the globe had every opportunity to say “I cannot do research this year!” But they did not, no they did not! 

The continuing fight against an impending climate catastrophe is going to be full of challenges. Radical sustainable technology will be implemented and then not be enough. New climate control innovations will barely suffice. Each issue will seem as insurmountable as the last. But as we have seen from your clean tech entries this year there will always be a passionate group to fight on!

Now that papers are submitted there is no more for you to do than wait! We will be announcing our Semi-Finalists on June 1st – I promise that will be here before you know it so stay tuned!

This time of year is always a blur, with one week left there are so many things to do and it feels like so little time! After registration closes for the only sustainability competition of its kind, papers from dozens of nations are submitted, top tier judges from across the globe are sent their assignments, scores are submitted, semi-finalists announced and Finalists then notified…all in one month! 

It is a good thing this time of year is the only one that is so busy. I do not think it would be sustainable for me if not! I joke of course, this is an incredible opportunity for so many! It is an honor to be involved with this program year after year. The sprint to the Finals begins soon! 

Marketing campaigns from large corporations pushing people to live sustainably and “do your part!” have been around for years now. Despite this, most everyone understands that when it comes to sustainability it is these very same corporations that cause the most damage. Over 70% of all global emissions stem from just 100 companies. Just 100! And because of this, it is easy to think your your efforts in preserving planet earth are in vain. And while we do need more from these massive polluters, it is important not to diminish your own impact! 

Say you go to the grocery store every week, and when buying produce you use four plastic bags available at the store. It is easy to say there is little point in using a reusable bag, after all it is only four bags each time! But when you think about it, that is over 200 a year meaning in a 50 year span, you as a single human will have thrown out over 10,000 bags! 

When you extend this logic to other areas of your life like water use, food waste and electricity consumption, your impact over an extended period becomes much more apparent. Then look at this from a global perspective and the impact we have truly begins to sink in!

Do large companies need to work to find ways to have more clean tech in their system and and a more sustainable business model overall? Yes! But never let that make you think your impact is nothing!

The Clean Tech Competition runs on a yearly cycle but it never really feels like the end will arrive until all of a sudden it is rapidly approaching just a few weeks away! Of course, the Final end is in August, but the race to tell all the uninformed of the only global sustainability competition for 15-18 year olds ends when registration does! These last few weeks are always move so fast (the Administrator says as he thinks how March and February do not even feel like the happened!?) but they are some of the most exciting! The registrations are pouring in, the paper submissions follow soon, then it is off to the judges with excited students behind them! 

Sustainability is a mindset of passion for many, and we cannot wait to see what amazing work has been done this year! #CTC2021 is about to reach its peak, will you be joining hundreds of students from around the world? Only a few weeks left to join us, do not miss out!

There is a long list of ways to fight against a degrading environment. Activism, new technology, decreased resource use and many others allow us to actively lessen the toll taken by our modern civilization. All techniques we should continue rely upon! Unfortunately there is once principle that is almost impossible to reverse and has a huge impact on how we view our planet: Changing Baseline Syndrome.

Changing baseline syndrome is the concept that as our perception of things change, so does the level you consider to be fine. In other words, you or I today view the world as it is and while we know it was better in the past, it is hard to visualize. In 20 years, when we are continuing to try to restore a healthy earth that becomes what we think of as “normal.” While that may not seem terrible, that means those who view that time as normal will not fully comprehend how much better (or hopefully worse!) it was 20 years before. 

This means that no matter what we do there is always going to be a perceptive shift with each generation. Each will feel that the environment of their youth is as good as it gets. Which means that what they fight to make a healthy environment is still much unhealthier than it should be!

Not the thoughts I am sure you were looking to read today, but a fact we have to deal with nonetheless! 

Every year the same thing happens. The Fall is busy but the end of the current round of the Spellman HV Clean Tech Competition seems very far off. Next year? That’s never going to come…especially for 2020. 6 months until papers come in? Might as well be 10 years at this point. But then once the calendar changes and the New Year has been rung in…BOOM everything starts moving at the speed of light!! Deadlines approach faster and faster, time gets shorter and shorter, everything just flies by at the speed of light accelerating and increasing in speed and rapidity and then all of a sudden its August and the finals…are…done. And then, everything seems to move at a normal pace again. 

I have always wondered if this is how the students researching sustainability feel as they progress with their work. Does a simple and entirely expected change in the calendar make you feel like everything just got way more real? Maybe it is just me, but I think there are more involved in this global competition feeling this way than I expect!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope.

 

The holiday season is upon us! A traditional time of gift giving for billions across the globe, this season of generosity is anything but to our planets resources. Think of how many billions of packages will be sent and gifts will be bought. In America alone, over $1 trillion was spent on Christmas gifts in 2019. Everything bought (often in a box) is then usually placed in another box or wrapped in paper. Ordering online? Think of all the packaging and wrapping and bubble wrap. Oh and how about the fuel used to ship! 

Unfortunately, with a pandemic raging across much of the world, it is forecast to be a record year for online purchases. And given the circumstances, that is understandable. I myself will be ordering through Amazon more than I wish. Sustainability and environmental consciousness is not the easiest at this time of year. It is hard to live a renewable-focused lifestyle during the 2020 holiday season. Hopefully people decide to cut down on their use of large online retailers once this is past us. Sorry to be less than cheery!

If only someone could create a highly-compostable cardboard that is cost effective. That would make a great Clean Tech Competition entry!