Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

9 simple tips to reduce your carbon footprint during vacations

Carbon Footprint Reduction Strategies

A 10-year-old girl found 220-million-year-old dinosaur footprints on the beach

<keyword id="13135498" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gujarat-Titans" source="Orion">Gujarat Titans</keyword> have swiftly shed their newcomer status in the <keyword id="6354831" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Premier-League" source="Orion">Indian Premier League</keyword> (<keyword id="6354312" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="IPL" source="Orion">IPL</keyword>) despite their relatively recent entry just two seasons ago. Their impressive debut season victory and subsequent second-place finish have firmly established their prowess on the cricket pitch. Now, they hope to emulate this excellence off the field as well, by embarking on a series of initiatives aimed at environmental sustainability and fostering a <keyword id="21195854" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="circular-waste-economy" source="Orion">circular waste economy</keyword>. Embracing the adage ‘environmental stewardship starts at home’, Gujarat Titans have forged a strategic waste management alliance with <keyword id="1517498" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nepra" source="Orion">Nepra</keyword> Resource Management Pvt. Ltd. (NEPRA) for their home games during the <keyword id="20898019" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="TATA-IPL-2024" source="Orion">TATA IPL 2024</keyword> season at Ahmedabad's <keyword id="10818893" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi-Stadium" source="Orion">Narendra Modi Stadium</keyword>. This partnership focuses on <keyword id="6408774" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="waste-segregation" source="Orion">waste segregation</keyword>, recycling, and educating fans about sustainable waste management and hygienic practices, paving the way for a cleaner and greener stadium environment. In 2011, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) paved the way for sustainability-related initiatives, by donning a green uniform and planting trees to spread awareness. Other IPL franchises from across the country are also making strides in sustainability. Recent reports reveal that Chennai Super Kings have teamed up with IIT Madras to champion sustainable initiatives, while Rajasthan Royals have renewed their partnership with Schneider Electric, aiming to cultivate a community of environmentally aware individuals. The collaboration of Gujarat Titans with NEPRA, aiming for a "<keyword id="21195853" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zero-waste-to-landfills" source="Orion">zero waste to landfills</keyword>" objective, will centre on establishing a circular waste economy. NEPRA will take charge of the efficient collection and transportation of waste, leading initiatives to raise awareness among stadium stall operators. Additionally, mindful of the <keyword id="6404408" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="carbon-footprint" source="Orion">carbon footprint</keyword> of visiting fans, Gujarat Titans aim to minimise GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions in the Scope 3 category. They plan to achieve this through collaboration with Gujarat Metro for transportation, the adoption of electric vehicles, and the use of public buses during the team's five home matches. Emphasising the team’s commitment to environmental stewardship through sustainability, GT COO Colonel Arvinder Singh said: “Responsible behaviour on and off the field is an integral part of our conduct at Gujarat Titans. We are alive to the challenges that all of us face and shall strive to make a difference with our sustainable initiatives. Our partnership with NEPRA will enable us to contribute significantly to waste reduction and encourage fans to preserve the environment while enjoying the games.” These initiatives mark a significant advancement from the Titans' previous endeavours during IPL 2023, where they focused on minimising waste sent to landfills and promoting plastic reuse through partnerships with organisations like Bisleri. The recycling of plastic into benches for schools exemplifies their dedication to community engagement and environmental conservation. Such concerted efforts of IPL franchises towards environmental sustainability are poised to inspire sports franchises and fans globally, setting a commendable precedent for collective action in promoting eco-conscious practices.

Batting for the environment: Gujarat Titans kickstart sustainability and circular waste economy initiatives

B9 Beverages Ltd, Bira 91's parent company, on Wednesday said it is raising $25 million in new funding from <keyword id="20841250" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tiger-pacific-capital" source="keywords">Tiger Pacific Capital</keyword>, an Asia-focused fund headquartered in New York and Hong Kong. The new investment is part of a $50 million round raised by the company, with participation from its existing investor, <keyword id="20635955" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kirin-holdings" source="keywords">Kirin Holdings</keyword> of Japan, and Tiger Pacific Capital from New York, it said in a statement. "As Bira 91 takes next steps to drive growth across markets and strengthen its supply chain, this new partnership will strengthen the company's balance sheet considerably," said <keyword id="20841253" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ankur-jain" source="keywords">Ankur Jain</keyword>, Founder and CEO, Bira 91. With this capital, "we will expand our manufacturing footprint to new regions, including Uttar Pradesh," he added. The company has six large-scale manufacturing plants in the country. Bira 91 is now the fourth largest beer company in <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword>, behind only multinationals like Heineken, AB-Inbev and Carlsberg, and has experienced strong double-digit growth since its inception 9 years ago. The company also owns the country's largest beer-focused pub chain, The Beer Cafe. "We are excited to partner with emerging companies in India, especially brands like Bira 91 with a unique understanding of the new Indian consumer, and a strong local manufacturing footprint," said <keyword id="20847970" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="run-ye" source="keywords">Run Ye</keyword>, Founder of Tiger Pacific Capital. Founded in 2015, B9 Beverages is backed by leading investors including Japan's leading beer company, Kirin Holdings, Japan's largest bank, MUFG Bank, Sofina of Belgium, and Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India). SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/nothing-phone-2a-smartphone-debuts-in-india-priced-starting-at-23999/articleshow/108240037.cms">Nothing Phone (2a) smartphone debuts in India, priced starting at ₹23,999</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/electric-two-wheeler-sales-grow-by-24-in-february-2024-ola-electric-leads-with-over-40-market-share/articleshow/108227956.cms">Electric two-wheeler sales grow by 24% in February 2024, Ola Electric leads with over 40% market share</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/xiaomi-14-to-launch-in-india-on-march-7-to-take-on-the-galaxy-s23-and-oneplus-12/articleshow/107841326.cms">Xiaomi 14 to launch in India on March 7, to take on the Galaxy S23 and OnePlus 12</a>

Bira 91 raises $25 mn to expand manufacturing footprint

<ul class="summary-list"><li>US presidential candidates Biden and Trump both vow to get tough on China.</li><li>EIU predicts worsening US-China economic and diplomatic ties over the 2020s.</li></ul>The US presidential election is less than six months away, and Democratic and Republican presidential nominee frontrunners Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both vowed to get tough on China.Despite this, China will likely extend its reach in the global supply chain, the Economist Intelligence Unit, or EIU, wrote in a note on Tuesday.The EIU, which is expecting Biden to retain the US presidency, expects "a sustained worsening" in economic and diplomatic ties between China and the US over this decade — regardless of who wins the election."Either president will pursue policies aimed at exerting further pressure on China's technology sector, while also justifying future trade and investment restrictions based on national security concerns," wrote the EIU analysts.In April, President Biden <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-sells-blue-collar-workers-american-dream-failing-china-steel-2024-4">called for</a> a tripling of tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum imports, echoing former <a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-tariff-china-trade-war-consumer-goods-2018-9">President Donald Trump's levies</a> on a range of goods from China.Trump said in February he would slap tariffs of over 60% on Chinese goods if he's elected.Should Biden win the presidency, he is expected to continue to continue working with like-minded governments."The primacy of US security and economic goals in Mr Biden's diplomatic agenda will still ensure a degree of collateral damage to economies that have deep trade and investment linkages with China," wrote the EIU analysts.They added that if Trump wins the presidency, he is likely to take a "much more antagonistic approach" to the US-China relationship, which risks collateral damage to third-party economies."This would return bilateral diplomatic and trade relations to the state of volatility that characterized his first term," the EIU analysts wrote.However, the EIU said it doesn't expect either Biden's or Trump's trade policies to reduce China's role in global production networks significantly.It is instead expecting the extension of China-linked supply chains via "capital-hungry markets" in Latin America and Southeast Asia."These same dynamics will ultimately make many of these emerging markets vulnerable to an escalation of trade hostilities with the US," EIU's analysts added.As it is, Chinese manufacturers may already be skirting sanctions by using <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-using-mexico-skirt-us-import-tariffs-trade-economy-2024-3">Mexico as a backdoor</a> to get exports into the US.Even Chinese manufacturers are shifting their production out of China to other <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-supply-chains-moving-companies-outside-mainland-2023-4#soon-to-be-the-worlds-most-populous-country-india-is-an-attractive-manufacturing-base-due-to-its-vast-lands-and-young-populations-1">low-cost manufacturing hubs</a> in Asia, including Vietnam and Bangladesh, to avoid geopolitical risks.

China's footprint in global supply chains will grow no matter who wins the US presidential election: analysts

Global mobility fintech startup <keyword id="20582833" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="moove" source="keywords">Moove</keyword> on Wednesday said it has raised $10 million in new debt funding from leading venture debt fund <keyword id="19952355" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="stride-ventures" source="keywords">Stride Ventures</keyword> to expand its <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword> footprint. The fresh capital will be utilised to scale the Indian fleet to over 5,000 and expand into new markets including Delhi, Pune and Kolkata, the startup said in a statement. "Our vehicles have completed over 4.2 million trips, significantly impacting India's mobility sector. With the robust support of Stride Ventures, we stand on the cusp of transforming vehicle ownership nationwide, propelling our mission forward," said <keyword id="20582834" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="binod-mishra" source="keywords">Binod Mishra</keyword>, Regional Managing Director, India and South Asia, Moove. Gurugram-headquartered Moove has established its presence in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad. "Our alliance with Moove is set to transform vehicle ownership accessibility throughout India, marking a significant leap towards social and economic advancement," said <keyword id="20582835" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="apoorva-sharma" source="keywords">Apoorva Sharma</keyword>, Managing Partner at Stride Ventures. Operating in nine markets across Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia, Moove has emerged as Uber's top vehicle supply partner in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and its largest global fleet partner. Currently, over 30 million trips have been completed in Moove-financed vehicles globally, said the startup. The company uses technology and productivity data to build an integrated, revenue-based vehicle financing platform for mobility entrepreneurs in emerging markets around the world who have limited or no access to a vehicle or vehicle financing. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/poco-oneplus-top-indian-smartphone-shipment-growth-but-overall-reading-flat/articleshow/107681294.cms">Poco, OnePlus top Indian smartphone shipment growth but overall reading flat</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/seven-out-of-top-10-smartphones-sold-worldwide-in-2023-were-iphones/articleshow/107617907.cms">Apple domination: Seven out of top 10 smartphones sold worldwide are iPhones</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/webstories/upcoming-smartphones-launching-in-india-in-february-2024/slidelist/107220575.cms">Samsung to Nothing – The upcoming smartphones hitting Indian market in February</a>

Mobility fintech startup Moove raises $10 mn to expand India footprint

Many are familiar with <keyword id="163030" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-mexico" source="Orion">New Mexico</keyword> as the infamous home of a fictional blue meth manufacturer from TV, but it also holds a significant place in the hearts of archaeologists due to its <keyword id="12162896" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="white-sands-national-park" source="Orion">White Sands National Park</keyword>. This park, with its extensive history, has come to become a piece of the complex puzzle of <keyword id="135635" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="human-evolution" source="Orion">human evolution</keyword>. Back in 2009, archaeologists made an astounding discovery within the park's layers – 61 footprints of varying sizes. These footprints narrated tales of <keyword id="3582955" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ancient-human" source="Orion">ancient human</keyword> traditions and life in a region that was significantly different during the last ice ages, far from the arid terrain we see today. What's remarkable is that these ancient humans found their home in the region, thriving during a time when one might not expect them to. Human history is woven with tales of migrations driven by climate, food, and environmental factors. Unravelling when these migrations occurred is an ongoing endeavour. Until recently, experts believed that early humans arrived in <keyword id="6378080" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="north-america" source="Orion">North America</keyword> around 13,500 to 16,000 years ago. However, these 61 footprints tell a different story, dating back approximately 23,000 years. This revelation has posed a challenging mystery, leaving archaeologists with a 7,000 year gap to fill. This new estimate was established by dating Ruppia cirrhosa seeds found within the <keyword id="6425567" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="footprint" source="Orion">footprint</keyword> fossils through radiocarbon dating. This process measures the deterioration of specific carbon isotopes within the material to determine its age. Yet, this new dating method faced scrutiny last year. Sceptics questioned whether R. cirrhosa, an aquatic plant, might have absorbed carbon from the surrounding water, potentially dating back thousands of years before the plant itself existed. To solidify their findings, the research team pursued additional dating methods. They isolated tens of thousands of conifer pollen grains from the same soil layer as the pollen. This confirmed that the plant and the cirrhosa seeds coexisted. And because this was a terrestrial plant, its carbon had to come from the surrounding air. Radiocarbon dating, the same method that dated the seeds, also confirmed the age of the pollen. Furthermore, the pollen samples originated from plants associated with colder glacial conditions, a stark contrast to the present desert vegetation's pollen found in the region, as explained by David Wahl, a co-author of the study. The researchers utilised optically stimulated luminescence, a different dating method, to determine the age of quartz grains based on their last exposure to sunlight. This method confirmed that quartz samples from the layers with footprints were at least 21,500 years old, supporting the other two conclusions. With three robust lines of evidence, the research team has effectively demonstrated that humans arrived in the region around 7,000 years earlier than previously estimated. This discovery adds another intriguing chapter to the story of humanity's past. Now, the next step is to delve deeper into the lives of these ancient ancestors. The findings of this research have been published in Science and can be accessed <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh5007" data-type="tilCustomLink">here</a>.

Discovery of 23,000-year-old footprint fossils reshape the history of early human migration into North America

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A University of Michigan study found that urban-farmed produce has six times the carbon footprint of conventional farms.</li><li>The study faced backlash from advocates and students, saying it overlooked broader environmental harms of industrial farming.</li></ul>Research <a target="_blank" href="https://l.businessinsider.com/u/click?_t=c8e10479a20f45bba5aad6c5f6fbb009&amp;_m=gKkE9A8NehnuDzRzdSau7uq09zqBFd0Sr&amp;_e=NR1opUQhz8M8yUJSUPdig3DFkL5V9rgD-5rPgW0GroA3pbpNmWwHXHGoo74aMXoja_anmr5pb3xh2lAililuTXgADjvTB3UukpAGOLG2SrF_kHfHX8zWICcHcKop4L0aKMXPonVY2xRp0XQZ64IarUuA1R8qw3q4PhAWCWLXY9G0Ydc33x8xgJlvwIMOIziP3Z-9UFI-oql6pfu6qQZ029n5vwVI8SKZfYQDpHggYmAQ4UKQidwQlNlDsWkZAuRowdkRGettNr8zhYW8J95CuNYB-Cw-9oK6upgD5EWEWS6iDszTxyLPdRKl875Oy0xrfCdQvujTUBTHwLNEkZzQUPamO9sHlTOsQ-4qdI45hc-8w4OddF1Nl87AQ7xMgakArmdYr9fCcdKuJiA_rugYKFOk-U9RjTT7RnXWsEZhTWR7O5EnVSqmCgZepdYmPbcW">out of the University of Michigan</a> sent shockwaves through the urban-farming and home-gardening community earlier this year.Fruits and vegetables grown on urban farms have on average six times the carbon footprint of produce from conventional farms, the study, which was <a target="_blank" href="https://l.businessinsider.com/u/click?_t=c8e10479a20f45bba5aad6c5f6fbb009&amp;_m=gKkE9A8NehnuDzRzdSau7uq09zqBFd0Sr&amp;_e=NR1opUQhz8M8yUJSUPdigyVBLt12lmLv8Kq9KF0cdQjoc2NlXgdVGSzgZOXMbm41vySv-6bNirXuVkKEe4zYtRkHu-IV1v-0W-C-yK4FbMXEzIDCy-JCwmYVkyCXPCIt2GwU70ZNcgMDFzgtobt0rzfExa7hjIiSLi_pcqLW2kO3pVFQcy7kUXs39I6Rq9wju-WZ0vlmecmINrxBN9ZlJ5IWP5OA4NsjW1Lcdyo2mGApareaYJhL08j0yXO26bFKkuoZpKWHf3GXRwKkOy8zXWmj-Kcrz1J0L6WBc62tiL4P3v0ro9hAQbfEHHc7kE_oV4DP2reIpebcW5qmhTJTl5SGFjtT9G7XfyABNejPDL36yWuOPnzr4CRUZtQ7yRsLaw9tRD6Q5rBum95o9X5wyvVfLtgRn8X0hgcDynU7SsN5GiVtwX7Hhsk4mjeU0PZLIyNOKWiVR8ho8NL8nP_KtJupdV9Nm8W6gMK_72cr67R_x7w6OxLbRRXv_bHKQhY-">published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Cities</a>, found.The backlash was swift. University of Michigan students organized a rebuttal letter, arguing that narrowly focusing on carbon emissions overlooked the broader environmental harms of industrial-scale farming such as biodiversity loss and water pollution. Some angry homesteaders on TikTok and YouTube circulated conspiracy theories about the government not wanting people to be self-sufficient. The research landed as cities including Detroit, <a target="_blank" href="https://l.businessinsider.com/u/click?_t=c8e10479a20f45bba5aad6c5f6fbb009&amp;_m=gKkE9A8NehnuDzRzdSau7uq09zqBFd0Sr&amp;_e=NR1opUQhz8M8yUJSUPdigxWxojJ8J5pQHuZpUrbvrUbrww7LkgQb0AoKMWISaksztKtNGWhZGbvGryiqPWhFFsNaqynonrY4jZWjZhw-pUXygoC1Auv-xnNPN7GXFHLkI2CdpXSvhXB65J1tq-Z7KNwMBrzEZeDJVuhbNpl1wQcXgx7t3XJKBmcOF4M2o9uCa8eQpctf2Vm6eOrxomO0Gzp72AUSDIcC7_kGXufuZOkPZ4a53ELdiw77soVlQrQLgIcfaMcckVhcpzwIN2IK3sXHOp2y_WBwNwwATroicweQP01heQnBSkyioVIyYhaKYUY_Cg2lsJcZ7tnqtHpYi8ABvbrVPPGavVaK6iAY6g-yusAyUHL2rTnUDi8Q5ln751TcAK2Xy9DpvP6b1qos-sp1bo2WuFLCi0n1JPwIWno%3D">Philadelphia</a>, and Washington, DC, increasingly invest in urban agriculture to promote sustainability and become more resilient to the climate crisis. The researchers told Business Insider that while the many social benefits of urban farming were well understood — such as improving access to fresh food in disadvantaged communities — some climate claims warranted more scrutiny."Urban agriculture is not a magical climate solution," Jason Hawes, a coauthor of the study and a doctoral student at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, said. "But there is evidence that with the right kind of planning and investments, it can be more climate-friendly. So we wanted to figure out what those interventions looked like."Hawes said that produce grown on 17 out of the 73 urban farms his team studied across five countries had lower carbon footprints than produce from conventional farms. The urban sites tended to have longer life spans, reuse waste for compost and building materials, reuse water, and maximize social benefits for their communities.The infrastructure used to build urban gardens matters a lot, Hawes said, because new materials come with their own carbon footprint. Choosing crops such as tomatoes or asparagus, which are typically grown in energy-intensive greenhouses and transported on a plane, respectively, also matters.<h2>Fury among urban farmers</h2>The headlines offended advocates of urban agriculture, according to interviews with a Detroit city official and other academics, as well as the letter circulated by University of Michigan students and shared with BI.These advocates questioned whether comparing the per-serving carbon footprint of produce from urban and conventional agriculture was appropriate, given the vastly different scale of these systems and the roles they serve in society.Mainly, they worried the study would let conventional agriculture — which <a target="_blank" href="https://l.businessinsider.com/u/click?_t=c8e10479a20f45bba5aad6c5f6fbb009&amp;_m=gKkE9A8NehnuDzRzdSau7uq09zqBFd0Sr&amp;_e=NR1opUQhz8M8yUJSUPdig22tyCNchXZAgdxwipimYVznOXFPGv5B5brtbrGUrJWehR9wef9PKiYCdUXXAUTzNCYnCgz5hBndgRonmOFmB8BZI1-3lB5d6Sx9aONB53xyVAKlJvXWlCjlPnSu7v9X7gCcNh3xGtMpUXVN47WmLbh2wFs0l_GI4jAPWh_pHeT7Ztm2dQTrnHg1HAWtXxEd-7j9o9KL7BxVH7ScfYjIGIec_OVLTdtt76ESASEzhfe_gQ9jq0qesHUUboO1ZbAeEC2XbWTtqDM8h-n7kl3tyPJrlQJtL8Y3N1OU6SdGlJeLKC46maN-qpJk3kfzcaBsz10HYy2wx0RZ6iDgFCzWUvQ%3D">globally accounts for about one-third of greenhouse-gas emissions</a> — off the hook and undermine a burgeoning movement to expand urban green spaces and promote food sovereignty, especially in communities of color burdened by pollution. "I thought the study took a lot of the onus off of conventional agriculture, which we are in the process of recreating," Tepfirah Rushdan, who last year became Detroit's first director of urban agriculture, told BI. "The reason for the shift is because industrial agriculture is a strain on our planet."Rushdan also argued that urban farms are a much more sustainable use of land than commercial or industrial development.The letter organized by students at the University of Michigan said the research addressed "critical research gaps" but should have been more nuanced by incorporating more of the environmental harms of conventional agriculture. The letter also alluded to the structural problems that can prevent urban farms from being more permanent, including commercial development and barriers to landownership.Hawes and his coauthor <a target="_blank" href="https://seas.umich.edu/research/faculty/benjamin-goldstein">Benjamin Goldstein</a>, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, said they're sensitive to the concerns, and were responding to them, but stood by the methodology."Our work does not lessen the many benefits that urban agriculture provides," Hawes said in an email. "We put one specific claim to the test with the best available data. This is not an indictment of the process as a whole. Instead, it is an indictment of the environment in which urban agriculture is forced to exist — with constant pressures on land tenure, with resource constraints, and with a constant back and forth about the 'true purpose' of the practice."Hawes and Goldstein said they had crafted policy briefs for city officials and the US Department of Agriculture that underscore how important urban agriculture is for sustainability and local food production. They also are working on a letter to Detroit farmers, many of whom reached out to Hawes to say they'd already adopted the best practices outlined in the study.Despite the controversy, the research led some urban gardeners to reevaluate their practices. Monica Fitzgerald, a backyard gardener in Boulder, Colorado, told BI that she didn't think the headlines were true at first. Part of the reason she grows her own food is to be more sustainable and improve local biodiversity.But after reading the main findings, she learned a few lessons and shared them on TikTok <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@colorado.monica/video/7328188157705424170?_r=1&amp;_t=8jiNGzWHC2d">to dispel other users' conspiracy theories</a>."Try to make things with materials you already have," she said. "Order fewer seeds online. Compost at home. Extend the lifetime of a raised bed, shed, or shovel. Not only does it save you money, it saves you carbon emissions."Are you a gardener or urban farmer who is finding ways to save money and reduce your carbon footprint? Reach out to this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:cboudreau@businessinsider.com">cboudreau@businessinsider.com</a>.

Gardeners are fuming about a study that found produce from urban farms has a high carbon footprint      

Leading planters body <keyword id="174405" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Tea-Association" source="Orion">Indian Tea Association</keyword> (ITA) said <keyword id="6361617" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-change" source="Orion">climate change</keyword> is threatening the industry globally which is resulting in lower yields and rise in production costs. A spokesman of ITA said climate change is also threatening the long-term viability of tea industry, which is also causing increasing pest infestations making pesticide residue management surfacing as a major challenge. To mitigate this, ITA said that the industry needs to adopt a multi-faceted to address the climate change issue by way of sustainable farming practices and reduction in <keyword id="6404408" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="carbon-footprint" source="Orion">carbon footprint</keyword>. In this context, the association maintained the industry involving all the stakeholders to invest in research to come out with mitigating solutions. There has also been a decline in rainfall and increase in temperature in the <keyword id="16942294" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tea-cultivating-regions" source="Orion">tea cultivating regions</keyword> for the last several years, ITA said. According to the association, future projections indicate a substantial reduction in suitability in tea cultivation in areas where the crop is grown. The other major area where work is needed to be done by the industry is that optimisation in the use of chemical fertilisers and greater use of renewable energy. In the latest data compiled by Tea Board, production in January 2023 in the country was 13.43 million kilogramme as against 16.22 million kilogramme in the same month of last calendar year. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/desk-bombing-monk-mode-other-emerging-trends-at-the-workplace-as-per-linkedin/slidelist/98973217.cms">Desk-bombing, monk mode &amp; other emerging trends at the workplace</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/haircut-on-cases-resolved-through-ibc-not-very-encouraging-says-kotak-report/articleshow/98972743.cms">Haircut on cases resolved through IBC not very encouraging, says Kotak report</a>

Climate change threatening tea sector globally: ITA

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In 2021, researchers dated <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/fossil-footprints-humans-occupied-north-america-ice-age-2021-9">ancient human footprints</a> in New Mexico to at least 20,000 years ago.</li><li>Some scientists took issue with the researchers' methods.</li></ul>In White Sands National Park, New Mexico, mingled among tracks of mammoths, ground sloths, and other ancient animals, researchers found human footprints. They dated the prints in 2021 to between 20,000 and 23,000 years ago.For decades, experts thought humans first arrived in the Americas around 14,000 years ago. The footprints — and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/eighteen-thousand-year-old-stone-tools-among-oldest-found-us-2023-9">other recent evidence</a> — push back the date of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/people-in-north-america-15000-years-earlier-than-archaeologists-thought-2020-7">human arrival</a> by thousands of years. "It was kind of a big deal and earth-shattering and rocked the world of the archaeologists," Kathleen Springer, a scientist with the US Geological Survey, told <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2023/10/05/oldest-human-footprint-americas-white-sands/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Post</a>.Some scientists, however, were skeptical, both about the age of the prints and the method used to date them. Now some of the original researchers say they've done more tests to verify the age. <h2>The controversy of the White Sands footprints </h2>In the <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abg7586" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021 paper</a>, scientists from the National Parks Service, US Geological Survey, and other institutions dated seeds from an aquatic ditchgrass, found between sediment layers containing the footprints.They used a classic technique called radiocarbon dating which involves measuring the amount of carbon remaining after a dead organism based on the rate at which carbon isotopes decay. <div type="image" title="white sands footprints" height="920" width="1226" msid="104294333" hostid="261"></div>Some scientists who were skeptical of the footprints' age <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/quaternary-research/article/abs/critical-assessment-of-claims-that-human-footprints-in-the-lake-otero-basin-new-mexico-date-to-the-last-glacial-maximum/7EC770BAF784D0FF813711CD63C126F6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed out</a> that the seeds may contain more ancient carbon sources than the contemporary atmosphere.Aquatic plants may absorb carbon from groundwater that didn't come in contact with the atmosphere for long periods of time, and thus radiocarbon dating makes them appear older than they really were.Or, the seeds may have made their way into the footprints from another site where they were preserved thousands of years earlier. <h2>More evidence for the footprints' age</h2>For the most recent paper, published this month in the journal <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh5007" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Science</a>, Springer, Jeff Pigati, and other co-authors set out to settle the debate. They radiocarbon dated pollen grains from conifer plants in the area.In addition, they used another technique, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), to date the sediment. With OSL, the researchers looked at grains, such as quartz, to see when they were last exposed to light. Both the recent radiocarbon dating and the OSL were consistent with the footprints being between 21,000 and 23,000 years old. Taken together, the data from the latest study "strongly indicate human presence in the Americas" around 20,000 years ago, archaeologist Bente Philippsen who wasn't involved with the latest study, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk3075" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in an article in Science accompanying the paper. But Loren Davis, a professor of anthropology at Oregon State University, would like to see more evidence before accepting the footprints' age. "I unfortunately don't share their conclusions that they have resolved the issue of timing of when people were making these footprints," he told <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/07/1204031535/fossil-footprints-in-new-mexico-suggest-humans-have-been-here-longer-than-we-tho" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NPR</a>.

20,000-year-old footprints show humans have been in the Americas longer than previously thought, scientists say

<div type="image" title="One Planet Banner Test" height="138" width="1100" msid="101402909" hostid="261" sizebytes="5076"></div>Do you remember your very first cellphone?Where is it now? Maybe you passed it on to a friend, traded it in for an upgrade, or sold it. Maybe it's still lurking somewhere in your home, abandoned in a drawer.It takes a lot of resources to make a smartphone. It's estimated that the production of a typical smartphone uses around <a href="https://www.twosides.info/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/mind-your-step-report-76803.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12,760 liters of water,</a> which is equivalent to around 160 bathtubs full of water. The manufacturing process is energy-intensive, too, with the production of an average smartphone emitting 60 kilograms of carbon dioxide, <a href="https://green-alliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Design_for_a_circular_economy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Green Alliance</a>, an independent think tank focused on environmental policy. It's not just smartphone manufacturing that has a big environmental impact. <a href="https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">According to the Environmental Protection Agency,</a> manufacturing is the third-largest contributor to US greenhouse-gas emissions, after transportation and electric power. The sector also accounts for 25% of the nation's energy consumption.More often than not, the products we consume have been made from newly extracted materials. The amount of resources that we extract has <a href="https://www.circularity-gap.world/global" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than tripled since 1970</a>, with global material consumption totaling <a href="https://www.circularity-gap.world/2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than 100 billion tons every year.</a> But while consumption rates have shot up, recycling rates have remained low. Just <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/22/worlds-consumption-of-materials-hits-record-100bn-tonnes-a-year" target="_blank" rel="noopener">8.6% of the materials that we consume each year are recycled.</a><h2>Could a circular economy make a difference?</h2>Some industry leaders think there's a solution for cutting down on waste and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions at the same time: the circular economy. Try to visualize it. Right now, we have a linear system. We extract materials, make them into products, use the products, and then dispose of them. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a charity committed to creating a circular economy, calls this a <a href="https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"take-make-waste" system</a>. Think back to your first cellphone: It's probably at the "waste" stage right now.The idea of a circular economy is to take that "straight line" system and turn it into a closed loop. The basic idea is to keep materials in the loop for as long as possible. Imagine if components from your first cellphone were extracted and used in your current one, or if it was easy to upgrade and repair your first cellphone so you could still use it today.<a href="https://www.circularity-gap.world/global" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Research by the Circularity Gap Reporting Initiative</a> found that only 7.2% of the global economy is currently circular.There are several ways to create a circular economy. It starts with designing products that last as long as possible and are easy to repair. Once a product can no longer be repaired, it can be remanufactured — which is when you disassemble a product and make a new version of the product with used parts. Recycling — when materials are repurposed into a new product and put back together again — is the final step. When you recycle, you are using waste as a resource.Alice Bodreau, the partnership lead at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, said that there are three pillars of a circular-economy strategy: developing products that don't create waste and pollution, circulating the materials that you put on the market, and regenerating nature.Anne Velenturf, a senior research fellow at the University of Leeds, told Insider that adopting a circular economy does not mean that consumers lose out. "Research has shown that we can all still live a good-quality life when resources are better shared across society," she said.<h2>Waste is a resource</h2>Recycling doesn't just tackle our waste problem; it helps to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. That's because recycled materials skip a large part of the energy-intensive extraction and manufacturing process. The production of recycled steel, for instance, requires <a href="https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/completing-the-picture" target="_blank" rel="noopener">10% to 15% of the energy required to produce new steel.</a>The issue, though, is that not everything is easy to recycle. Think about the phone or computer that you're reading this article on. It's made up of lots of different materials and minerals.This problem is something that Peter Afiuny was thinking about when he cofounded the magnet-manufacturing company <a href="https://noveon.co" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Noveon</a>. "In the late '80s and early '90s, all of the stuff that we were consuming as a society started to become more complex in its product, in terms of the components that are used," Afiuny told Insider. "The waste industry didn't really catch up to how to extract the more critical components."Afiuny, who had previously worked in the recycling industry, wanted to find an efficient way to "surgically extract" components that would otherwise be discarded.Cue the creation of Noveon, a company that manufactures rare-earth magnets from recycled materials. According to Afiuny, postconsumer recycling rates for rare-earth magnetic materials are less than 3%. The traditional "mine-to-magnet" process consists of a lot of energy-intensive and waste-intensive steps and uses potentially dangerous chemicals. "We essentially invented a process that bypassed all of these upstream methods," Afiuny said.Many things need permanent magnets, including products that are essential for the green transition such as electric vehicles and wind turbines."Most of our magnetic materials come from end-of-life channels, so that includes motors, energy systems, medical devices, data-storage devices like hard disk drives," Afiuny said.Afiuny told Insider that he saw Noveon's manufacturing approach as part of a wider shift in the industry. "I think that there is just more generally a trend towards developing regional supply chains, especially as companies are becoming global entities and they're looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint," he said.<h2>Design matters</h2>Bodreau said that there's more to the circular economy than recycling."Recycling is like you have a water leak in your house and you just go and directly mop it up and try to mop everything up before doing anything else," she said. "While the circular economy is about putting the tap off and actually addressing the leak itself, and not just mopping the floor and keeping on mopping the floor forever and ever."One way to "turn the tap off" is through design. Bodreau said it's about "redesigning the way you operate and the way your product is designed that it will never end up as a leak in the world."That's the principle the electronics company <a href="https://www.fairphone.com/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fairphone</a> is putting into practice. Based in Amsterdam, the company manufactures just two types of products: smartphones and headphones. Their smartphones aren't glued shut and are easy to disassemble, which makes them much easier to repair."Seventy-five percent of the emissions connected to a smartphone occur during production," Anna Jopp, Fairphone's press officer, told Insider. "To us, this means that the most efficient way to reduce the emissions caused by smartphones is to produce less phones. And the way to achieve this is to use the phones we already have for as long as possible."If you keep your phone for five years instead of three you could reduce the phone's annual carbon footprint by 31%, Jopp said.Since phone longevity is key, Jopp said Fairfone tries to encourage people to keep their phones as long as possible by making products that are modular by design and easily repairable. "The longer a product is used, the fewer new products we need to manufacture and the less resources we use," she said.<h2>The renewable challenge</h2>The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that there will be <a href="https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/articles/we-need-to-talk-about-renewables-part-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">43 million tons of wind-turbine blade waste by 2050.</a> Meanwhile, the Renewable Energy Agency estimates that there will be up to <a href="https://www.irena.org/publications/2016/Jun/End-of-life-management-Solar-Photovoltaic-Panels" target="_blank" rel="noopener">78 million tons of solar-panel waste</a> by 2050. The renewable-energy industry presents a new challenge for the circular economy, and the UK company ReBlade is trying to get ahead of the game. ReBlade's cofounder Fiona Lindsay told Insider that the team wanted to stop material from wind turbines from going to landfills. While many parts of wind turbines can be recycled, the wind-turbine blades are made from fiberglass, a nonbiodegradable manufactured composite that is extremely difficult to recycle. The company is working on solutions to repurpose wind-turbine blades when they can no longer be used to generate power. Their flagship project uses decommissioned blades to create canopies that provide shelter at electric-vehicle charging points.Lindsay said that the "newness" of the sector was a big obstacle. "Until now, blades have only needed to come down in tiny numbers, perhaps because of damage," she said."In the years ahead, blades will come down in their thousands as whole wind-farm sites are repowered with bigger turbines," she said. "What that means is that the owner-operators of sites don't, as of yet, have standardized approaches to procurement or blade-removal operations.""It takes a tremendous amount of energy and resources to produce the blades in the first place, so we believe reusing them is a better option," Lindsay said.<h2>A 'win-win' solution</h2>Velenturf said that there were many benefits for companies adopting circular-economy principles, including accessing new markets and customers and increasing the security of material supplies, which reduces risks and costs.Policymakers are starting to catch on to circular solutions, too. In June, representatives from 180 countries met in Paris and discussed a global treaty to regulate plastics. Bodreau described the meeting as a "big, big way forward." Meanwhile, New York state's recent <a href="https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-signs-digital-fair-repair-act-law" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Digital Fair Repair Act</a> aims to make it easier for consumers to access the parts and information needed to repair their electronic devices.For Lindsay, the circular approach is a no-brainer. "We have a finite amount of resources so we need to find innovative new ways to reuse resources through second- or even third-life uses after they have been used in their initial applications — a win-win for everybody."This article is part of "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/the-great-transition" rel="">The Great Transition</a>," a series covering the big changes across industries that are leading to a more sustainable future. For more climate-action news, visit Insider's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/one-planet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">One Planet</a> hub.

How the circular economy could solve the smartphone-waste problem — and curb the manufacturing industry's carbon footprint, too

<ul class="summary-list"><li>ChatGPT said its carbon footprint depended on the energy use of its computers and servers.</li><li>The climate impact of AI is a newer area of research, but the effect is likely small.</li></ul>Millions of people, like me, are now using ChatGPT, the artificial-intelligence tool that can write everything from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-chatbot-openai-chatgpt-layoff-memo-amazon-google-meta-2023-1?_gl=1*1t95lss*_ga*ODEzOTE0NTE0LjE2NTgyNDk0OTk.*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY3NjA2MDc5MS40NjIuMS4xNjc2MDYwOTk0LjAuMC4w">layoff emails</a> to <a href="https://www.insider.com/okcupid-chatgpt-generated-match-questions-wasnt-great-2023-2">dating profiles</a> to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-gave-instructions-for-making-crack-and-smuggling-report-2023-2?_gl=1*1jik3bn*_ga*ODEzOTE0NTE0LjE2NTgyNDk0OTk.*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY3NjA2MDc5MS40NjIuMS4xNjc2MDYwODE4LjAuMC4w">detailed instructions on how to make cocaine</a>.I haven't asked it to create any of those things, though I did wonder whether ChatGPT could spit out an answer on its environmental toll. Concerns about ChatGPT's carbon footprint, which is likely small at the moment, could rise as more people turn to it for day-to-day search. The chatbot had some 590 million visits in January alone, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/feb/02/chatgpt-100-million-users-open-ai-fastest-growing-app" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to UBS analysts</a> who described it as the fastest-growing consumer app in history.The models underlying ChatGPT that train it how to understand and generate human language require heavy-duty processing power. And the data centers hosting its cloud networks must be kept cool. The energy demands for AI are likely to go up as more people ask it questions like, "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-how-to-negotiate-a-raise-job-advice-experts-approved-2023-1">How to negotiate a raise?</a>" For now, a lot of mystery surrounds the carbon footprint of AI, including ChatGPT. The murkiness isn't surprising. It's often difficult to total up a single human's carbon tab. I eat dairy and travel on airplanes occasionally. AI does neither of those — nor does it harbor the green guilt I sometimes feel for my actions. I asked the chatbot what its carbon footprint was, and its answer felt, well, human: It depends."As an AI language model developed by OpenAI, I do not have a physical body or personal actions that generate carbon emissions," ChatGPT wrote. "My carbon footprint would be limited to the energy consumption of the computers and servers used to run me and process requests. The exact carbon footprint would depend on factors such as the energy sources used to power the computers and the efficiency of the data centers."ChatGPT added that OpenAI didn't disclose how many computers and servers were used to run and process requests. It's "likely a large-scale infrastructure consisting of multiple data centers spread across different regions," it wrote. The numbers might change based on demand.And because ChatGPT's most recent <a href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/openai-chatgpt-update/476116/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data is from 2021</a>, it's unlikely any answer it could give would reflect its recent surge in popularity.<div type="image" title="ChatGPT screenshot" height="1146" width="1532" msid="97916879" hostid="261" sizebytes="105332"></div>Sasha Luccioni, a researcher at the AI startup HuggingFace, wasn't surprised that ChatGPT was vague — the environmental impact of AI is still an emerging area of research.Last year, she coauthored a <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2211.02001.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> that looked at the life cycle of emissions from HuggingFace's own language model, Bloom. The study, which wasn't peer-reviewed, measured emissions starting from the manufacturing of computer hardware to the energy used to train the model. Those emissions totaled nearly 51 metric tons of carbon dioxide — or about 60 one-way flights between London and New York, according to <a href="https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/11/14/1063192/were-getting-a-better-idea-of-ais-true-carbon-footprint/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MIT Technology Review</a>. HuggingFace also tracked electricity use as Bloom fielded hundreds of thousands of queries from users during an 18-day period, and emissions totaled far less than 1 metric ton of carbon dioxide. The emissions associated with Bloom were low compared with language models of similar size. A 2019 <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/1906.02243.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Massachusetts Amherst</a> study of popular language models found in the case of one model, for example, that its training could emit the equivalent of 284,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, or five times the average gas-powered car over its lifetime.If you take a step back, the entire global tech sector accounts for somewhere between <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666389921001884#!" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2% and 4% of greenhouse-gas emissions</a>, and AI is only a slice of that field. The aviation industry similarly accounts for <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/09/aviation-flight-path-to-net-zero-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about 3% of global emissions</a>.That doesn't mean it should be ignored, Luccioni said. "Most AI programs are on the low end of the emissions spectrum," she said. "A select few models seem to be disproportionately polluting, though, so it's important to understand where the sources of carbon are. Then you can at least start setting up guidelines."ChatGPT also told me that OpenAI's goal was to handle an increasing number of requests in an "efficient" and "cost-effective" way, while reducing its environmental impact. Those strategies include optimizing energy use in its data centers, looking to source renewable energy for its operations, and purchasing carbon offsets. <div type="image" title="ChatGPT screenshot" height="886" width="1773" msid="97916880" hostid="261" sizebytes="94044"></div>OpenAI didn't return a request for comment on its environmental goals.The entire exchange left me feeling like I had interviewed a politician because there were few direct answers and I still had a lot of questions, including what the carbon footprint of my query was.

You Searched For "footprint" and got 13 results

9 simple tips to reduce your carbon footprint during vacations

Kapil Yadav

Carbon Footprint Reduction Strategies

A 10-year-old girl found 220-million-year-old dinosaur footprints on the beach

Jenny McGrath

Batting for the environment: Gujarat Titans kickstart sustainability and circular waste economy initiatives

Kunal Kambli

Bira 91 raises $25 mn to expand manufacturing footprint

IANS

China's footprint in global supply chains will grow no matter who wins the US presidential election: analysts

Huileng Tan

Mobility fintech startup Moove raises $10 mn to expand India footprint

IANS

Discovery of 23,000-year-old footprint fossils reshape the history of early human migration into North America

Ankush Banerjee

Gardeners are fuming about a study that found produce from urban farms has a high carbon footprint

Catherine Boudreau

Climate change threatening tea sector globally: ITA

PTI

20,000-year-old footprints show humans have been in the Americas longer than previously thought, scientists say

Jenny McGrath

How the circular economy could solve the smartphone-waste problem — and curb the manufacturing industry's carbon footprint, too

Freya Graham

I asked ChatGPT about its carbon footprint, and for now, it's a mystery

Catherine Boudreau

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides