Sunday, October 23, 2011

Today's puzzler: What combination of bra manufacturing strategy and CO2 rip-offset purchase prevents the most hurricanes?

Green bra made in green factory shoots Lankan to fame
The making of a Carbon Neutral Bra

To produce the Carbon Neutral Bra first required that the team chart the carbon footprint of each section of the bra’s life – from the sourcing of the raw materials, onto distribution and marketing and even further, into how customers would use and then dispose the product
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This comprehensive ‘lifecycle footprint’ took nearly a year to complete...
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Once the carbon footprint was reduced as much as possible it was time to buy the offsets. In theory, these would serve to balance out the fossil fuel and energy expenditure the bra would use over its lifetime. Working with Rainforest Rescue International (RRI), the team chose to focus on building a ‘biodiversity corridor’ between the Polgahakanda and Kinneliya Forest Reserves that would allow the movement of animals and ‘gene flow’ between the two. Nine farmers were chosen and 6500 trees, all indigenous species, were planted to create a real physical link. With the RRI to supervise, the farmers in charge will receive a monthly stipend for the next 20 years. Whatever produce is harvested from the trees will serve to supplement their income. In addition, the plants are GPS tagged and monitored regularly.

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