The Drop In vol.03

Shred Cycle

The other day while mindlessly scrolling my "For You" page on TikTok (yes, I'm on TikTok), I happen to stumble upon a company that recycles skateboard wheels called Shred Cycle, 

This video, which has over 3M views, posted by Jessie Frietze-Armenta, the founder of Shred Cycle, talks about why she started the company and goes into a little bit of the process of what it takes to recycle a skateboard wheels. 

Like many things we discard on a daily basis, we rarely think about what happens to it once we throw it in the trash or what we hope happens to it when we throw it in recycling. Jessie is actually doing something about it and taking a much needed step in making the skateboard industry and the planet more sustainable. 

Learn more about Shred Cycle HERE and how you can donate your used skateboard wheels.

I Ate Burger King's Impossible Whopper, So You Don't Have To

One of my new favorite podcasts "People I Mostly Admire" by Steven Levitt, recently discussed the topic "There's a better way to eat meat" where Levitt interviewed Bruce Friedrich, the executive director of The Good Food Institute. 

The Good Food Institute's mission, as stated on their website, is to "develop the roadmap for a sustainable, secure, and just protein supply. We identify the most effective solutions, mobilize resources and talent, and empower partners across the food system to make alternative proteins accessible, affordable, and delicious." 

As the conversation was focused on all of the externalities of eating meat, one of the more specific issues is the environmental impact. It got me thinking about the main reason why I'm mostly (I'd say about 95%) vegetarian and raised the question “would I eat ‘meat’ if it didn't have the negative impact to the environment that current processes do?”

Hmmm…good question, Corey.

So I got the idea to seek out eat and review the most accessible meat substitute that I could think of, the Impossible Burger from Burger King.

I'll preface this review by saying that I haven't eaten a fast food burger in years, so I don't have a lot to compare it against in that department, but I did recently enjoy a magnificent juicy Lucy from The Blue Door Pub, so my bar is set pretty high as far as burgers go  

1. Appearance - the photo below is slightly edited, but the Impossible Whopper looked just like any other fast food chain burger; slightly pale, flat and not that appealing. 

2. Texture - I've had Impossible burgers at more up-scale restaurants in the past and my biggest complaint is that they don't have the right texture of a burger and tend to just crumble apart. The Impossible Whopper's texture was more substantial and felt like I was biting into your run-of-the-mill burger.

3. Taste - it was....fine. I mean, I didn't have very high expectations to start with, but it tasted good. It's not going to win any Best Burger awards or anything, but if you are craving a burger, but not craving destroying the planet while you stuff your face, the Impossible Whopper is a very suitable and palpable alternative. 

4. Repeat customer - No. I probably won't be going to Burger King again any time soon to have a whopper because the calorie count on this bad boy is just as bad as you'd think it is, clocking in at 630 calories and 34 grams of fat.

The point is though, the path we're on with worldwide population growth and what would be needed for meat production to sustain that growth, is not sustainable. The work that the Good Food Institute is doing and the constant improvements in taste and texture, there's a future where "meat" consumption can continue without the harmful effects to the environment. 

Big Oil's Bad Week Is Good for Everyone Else

You may have seen a lot of info coming out targeting big oil over the past week and let's just say, it's good news.

Here's a round up of why it was so bad for them, but so good for the planet.

1. A Dutch court reached a decision that ruled Shell must reduce its CO2 output by 45% by 2030

2. Exxonmobile has lost 1 and possibly two board seats to activist hedge fund called Engine No. 1 who has this little nugget about Exxon on their website:

"We believe that for ExxonMobil to avoid the fate of other once-iconic American companies, it must better position itself for long-term, sustainable value creation.”

3. The International Energy Agency released a report last week that outlined a path to net-zero energy by 2050 and could do so without investing in any new fossil fuel extraction. 

4. Chevron shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favor (61%) in a proposal to cut Scope 3 emissions, which are usually the majority of any organization's greenhouse gas emissions. 

If you're keeping score that's Mother Earth - 4, Big Oil - 0