Christopher Chacko Updated on Oct 16, 2023 4 min read

#Kylie'sKillingThePlanet

It's a beautiful fall morning and we want to thank you for reading a climate newsletter written by some guy named Chris-

The Not-So Cold Open

The Singaporean Noah’s Ark

Singapore’s facing rising sea levels due to climate change and the Crazy Rich Asians are trying to save it

Photo by Victor on Unsplash

The city-state-nation that's smaller than Rhode Island but is home to nearly 6 million people and some of the world's most expensive real estate is looking for measures to protect its vulnerable coastline due to rising sea levels. Roughly one-third of Singapore is less than 16 feet above sea level, making it susceptible to flooding and endangering valuable real estate and vital infrastructure. The government has committed to spending $100 billion over the next century to defend against rising sea levels, with $5 billion allocated to a coastal and flood protection fund. Some of the measures being taken include: storm surge barriers, raising coastal reservoir dikes, and incorporating mangrove forests as natural barriers.

Maybe Crazy Rich Asians 2 should be about Henry Goulding falling back in love with his country and revitalizing its environmental resiliency and enabling its lower-carbon capabilities - IDK just a suggestion

Why’s this important? Well as sea levels rise due to climate change, Singapore’s actions will be watched closely by other coastal cities worldwide- the likes of Bangkok, Miami, New York, and Shanghai - all of which will, if they haven’t already, faced similar challenges. Coastal cities are vital to international trade and host some of the most influential economies globally, prompting the need for climate adaptation efforts to save lives, retain economic stability, and globalization going forward.

Climate Culture

Vogue Greta

Greta Thunberg has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize

Yes that is Greta Thunberg on the cover of Vogue emulating some kind of horse whisperer in a forest... because climate change..

The winner of the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize will be determined by the Norwegian Nobel Committee and announced soon this month. And actually, alongside Greta this year is another climate activist nominee - Ugandan Vanessa Nakate, founder of the Rise up Climate Movement.

I've always looked up to Greta, like a dog looks up to its master really. She gives me hope that one day, each of you will see me stroking a turtle in the middle of the amazon, clothed in leaves like a modern day interpretation of Adam.

Better Living

For All the Climate Girlies

If I don’t start seeing tiktoks of people recycling their empty makeup containers I’m deleting the app

Major beauty retailer aka make-up Mecca Sephora, initiated its nationwide "Beauty (Re)Purposed" program that aims to reduce hard-to-recycle plastic and packaging waste. The program sees over 600 Sephora stores in the US and Canada set to accept packaging from any beauty brand for recycling, with in-store collection costs fully covered by Sephora - making it totally free to customers. And in-case you've found the one place on Earth that doesn't have a Sephora within a stone's throw, they also have a mail-back collection option through the non-profit org Pact available for a small fee.

Sephora's goal is to lead industry-wide efforts for circularity and sustainability and their "Beauty (Re)Purposed" initiative gives them a direct path at it. The initiative emphasizes customer engagement and education, and the company plans to collect data on returned materials for tracking and recycling purposes. Besides Sephora, Pact has also partnered with brands like Ulta Beauty, Fenty Beauty, Farmacy, MAC Cosmetics and Ilia to promote recycling and sustainability.

The cosmetics industry is one of the largest consumers of plastic packaging, generating 120 billion units of packaging waste annually, and initiatives and partnerships such as this will be crucial in achieving a more sustainable relationship with hard-to-recycle plastics.

Can we start a movement to get Kylie Cosmetics on board too? Let’s call it… #Kylie’sKillingThePlanet

Read more here: Sephora Beauty (Re)Purposed

A note from Chris:

Thanks for reading this week's issue of my newsletter, please feel free to comment any news, topics, or discussions you'd like to hear in upcoming emails. As well, please let me know how you're liking it, if it helps you, entertains you, or how I can improve! Any feedback helps.

Sincerely,

Chris

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Updated on Oct 16, 2023