NEW REPORTAdvancing Health and Equity Through Better Building Products
EquityTransform Your Holidays: Embrace ‘Green’ Friday
The consumer-focused holidays are here, with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and more. This season presents an opportunity to give gifts that are memorable and special while minimizing impacts on people and our planet.
In a world where our “stuff” increasingly impacts our climate, communities, and planet, you have the power to advance a more sustainable future. Share love for your family, strengthen your community, and protect the environment by making healthier choices – something we can all celebrate.
Ready to get started? We’ve gathered the best resources to ensure your holidays support a world where all people and the planet thrive.
Celebrate Differently Your Guide to Meaningful Giving
The most treasured gifts often can’t be found in a big-box store. This holiday season, discover the joy of giving that creates connections, supports your community, and nurtures our shared environment. Here are wonderful ways to make your celebrations more meaningful:
Create Memories Together
Transform your gift-giving into shared experiences that build lasting bonds. Cook a festive meal with loved ones, enjoy a local theater performance, or spend a day volunteering for a cause you support. These moments can become stories you’ll tell for years to come.
Embrace Cultural Traditions
Take inspiration from the heartwarming Icelandic tradition of Jólabókaflóð, where families gift books and spend cozy evenings reading together by the fireplace. Choose books from your local library and create your own version of this beautiful custom.
Give from the Heart
Transform simple ingredients into treasured gifts by creating homemade treats in charming mason jars. Or explore your local Buy Nothing Group, where the spirit of reuse and community sharing turns pre-loved items into new treasures.
Empower Change
Make your giving go further by supporting Indigenous and Black-owned businesses, or celebrating Giving Tuesday (December 3rd) by contributing to organizations working toward a healthier world. If Habitable made your list, your contribution for a healthier world can be made here.
Shop Mindfully
When purchasing new items, you have more tools than ever to make choices that align with your values:
- Explore the Environmental Working Group’s Consumer Guides to discover products that meet high standards for health and sustainability
- Use the DetoxMe app from Silent Spring Institute to make informed choices about everyday products
- Check the Retailer Report Card from ToxicFreeFuture to support companies leading the way in sustainable practices
Support Local Artisans
Your community is filled with talented artists, craftspeople, and ethical manufacturers whose work tells a story. When you choose their creations, you’re not just giving a gift – you’re investing in your local economy and helping creative spirits thrive.
Inspiration for the Journey
Deepen your understanding and find inspiration through these enriching resources:
- Watch “Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy” on Netflix, an eye-opening documentary that reimagines our relationship with consumption and charts a path toward positive change
- Be moved by “The Green Buffalo,” showcasing the Lower Sioux Indian Community’s inspiring journey toward sustainable housing and economic renewal
- Explore The Serviceberry, a new book by Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, offering a fresh perspective on our relationship with consumption and nature
This holiday season, let’s celebrate the power we have to create positive change through our choices. Every mindful decision, every local purchase, and every shared experience builds momentum toward a future where our celebrations honor both people and planet.
Together, we can make this holiday season one of connection, purpose, and joy.
Wishing you a season filled with meaningful moments,
The Habitable Team
HealthSafer States: An Alliance for a Healthier World
Resource
Safer States is a national alliance of environmental health groups led by state-based organizations working towards a healthier and more just future.
By addressing critical issues such as toxic chemicals, plastics, and climate change, Safer States empowers collective action through its extensive network and capacity-building initiatives. The organization’s resources focus on ensuring clean air and water, holding polluters accountable, and promoting the development of safer consumer products. Safer States offers valuable tools and support for creating safer solutions for human health and the environment, including a bill tracker that identifies state policies that move the needle toward achieving a healthier world.
PollutionAssessing Benefits and Risks of Incorporating Plastic Waste in Construction Materials
Report
Plastic pollution and climate change are interconnected threats that drive global social injustice, with the construction industry being a significant contributor due to its prolific use of plastics.
Recently, efforts to recycle or downcycle plastics into building materials have accelerated, leading to incorporation of plastic waste into materials such as composite asphalt-plastic roads, plastic adhesives, and plastic-concrete. However, research suggests these practices may exacerbate environmental, health, and social problems, acting as “greenwashing” that distracts from real solutions. This mini review evaluates the impacts of using plastic waste in construction materials and calls for caution and further research before widespread adoption. Read the full review to explore the evidence and recommendations in detail.
PollutionGeneva Beat Plastic Pollution
Report
The time to address the plastic crisis is now. Plastic pollution is a global issue demanding urgent, coordinated action from all stakeholders. This report highlights the Geneva Beat Plastic Pollution dialogues, which played a crucial role in shaping the negotiations for a global agreement. These dialogues raised awareness and urgency, culminating in the historic mandate at UNEA 5.2 to negotiate an international legally binding instrument to end plastic pollution.
PollutionMaterials Economy Webinar
Resource
A path towards planetary health is more urgently needed now than ever, but our current materials economy creates rampant pollution, climate change, and growing inequity. Shifting from harmful practices to healthful solutions will require cross-sector partnerships, holistic thinking, and exciting new approaches that reduce the burden of industry on people and our planet.
Watch Habitable’s special Earth Month webinar featuring leading global voices, including:
- Dr. Bethanie Carney-Almroth
- Dr. Veena Singla
- Martha Lewis
Moderated by Gina Ciganik, CEO of Habitable
HealthPlanetary Boundaries
Resource
This website explores the concept of planetary boundaries, a framework of nine key Earth system processes that humanity must stay within to ensure long-term sustainability and avoid irreversible environmental harm.
Climate ChangeProject Drawdown
Resource
Project Drawdown is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing effective, science-based climate solutions, fostering bold new climate leadership, and promoting new narratives and voices to help the world stop climate change.
PollutionGlobal Framework on Chemicals: For a Planet Free of Harm from Chemicals and Waste
Resource
The new Global Framework on Chemicals envisions a planet free of harm from chemicals and waste, covering the life cycle of chemicals, promoting initiatives for their sound management, and involving stakeholders from various sectors and levels to ensure a safe, healthy, and sustainable future.
Climate ChangeMultisolving for Climate, Chemicals & Health
Resource
This podcast conversation explores the intersection of climate change and chemical pollution.
Highlighting opportunities to address both crises simultaneously while improving public health, equity, and economic vitality, featuring experts Dr. Elizabeth Sawin and Beverley Thorpe.
PollutionHumans Have Crossed 6 of 9 ‘Planetary Boundaries’
News
This article discusses the latest update to the planetary boundaries model, highlighting the inclusion of numerical guideposts for each boundary and emphasizing the interconnected factors influencing Earth’s habitability beyond climate change.