Dear friends,
We've seen unimaginable changes to our lives in the wake of COVID-19. Orb Media's latest investigation focuses on small change that many of us are making around the world may have far-reaching consequences to our bodies and our world.
COVID-19 has forced many of us to take out and order in more, often without the option of using reusable containers.
Online meal delivery revenues in the United States are projected to reach $26.5 billion this year, a 20 percent increase over 2019. DoorDash, which serves the United States, Canada, and Australia, has seen business skyrocket during the pandemic and was valued at more than $39 billion upon going public on December 9.
Many of us are aware of at least some of the impacts that disposable food packaging has on our environment. But new information is emerging about how packaging affects us as humans. On November 30, the Food Packaging Forum, a Switzerland-based nonprofit foundation, published a new database of more than 12,000 chemicals that may potentially be used in food packaging by manufacturers around the world. The database reveals:
More than 600 of these chemicals as highly hazardous to humans and the number of food-contact chemicals that have not been subject to any toxicological research.
The food packaging industry has been hesitant to disclose chemicals used in its products and existing regulations to ensure food packaging is safe are limited.
Can we still get takeout from our favorite eatery to support them during this tough economic time? Can we minimize both our chemical exposure and the broader environmental impacts associated with disposable containers, tableware, and cutlery?
Orb Media’s new reporting package addresses how to evaluate and mitigate some of the negative impacts of this global trend.
In addition to providing some details from our new investigation with you now, I'm excited to share that at the time of you receiving this email, media organization partners in almost a dozen countries have committed to do local reporting in their communities on this issue, informing millions and validating the impact of Orb Media's unique support and distribution model.
We've also produced a companion white paper for impact investors to consider while making investments in alternative materials. Note that you'll need to login (registration is quick and free) to view the entirety of both reports.
This, and all the work we do, is all thanks to your ongoing support. If you have any feedback or would like to introduce us to someone who would benefit from our work, don't hesitate to reach out directly to me at victoriaf@orbmedia.org.
Warmly,
Victoria Fine
CEO, Orb Media
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Hey there!
Thanks for continuing to support fact-based journalism during this precarious time in the world. The world needs folks like you more than ever.
I wanted to take a moment to share with you Orb's latest effort, SHOCK/WAVE, a groundbreaking sustainability innnovation discovery tool.
We know it's easier to envision a more resilient and sustainable world after COVID-19 with examples. With this in mind, Orb Media presents a global database of the ways humans are innovating in this time of massive change. We hope to make sustainable innovation simpler to find, report and act on.
ACCESS.
By gathering projects from around the world in SHOCK/WAVE, media can source stories and experts more easily. Investors, directing funds, can do the same.
CONNECTION.
Collaborators can easily find like-minded interventions, organizations events and leaders, so they can scale more quickly.
PROGRESS.
By collecting big-picture data on COVID-19 sustainability work, we can map where and how successful action is being taken, so everyone can play a role in accelerating what works.
As you check it out, take note of some of the site's unique features.
We're excited for you to try out our beta product and let us know what you think. As always, I invite you to email me at victoriaf@orbmedia.org to share ideas for how to make this platform even better.
Warmly,
Victoria Fine
CEO, Orb Media
Links:
Dear Orb Community,
Just a few short months ago, Orb Media renewed its dedication to building a more efficient media system by doubling down on the investigative and data-driven sustainability reporting we provide for our network of media partners.
Little did we know how important it would be to hold space for future-facing and long-term visioning in the face of the crisis that was about to come.
Today, Orb takes our renewed mission and we apply it to the world that COVID has wrought. While our global community shares similar challenges and uncertainty, we also have a once-in-a-generation chance to refocus societal development to more sustainable means.
To that end, Orb Media is focusing our efforts to support the journalists and media organizations working tirelessly to keep their communities informed, while working on ever-smaller budgets.
As they continue to tell the story of this pandemic from the ground up, we will support them with globally minded resources and research to help all of us make changes toward a more regenerative future.
Here are a few ways we'll be supporting stories for a more sustainable world:
A Virtual Summit
In conjunction with several multi-sectoral sustainability partners, Orb is co-hosting a series of conversations on how future-minded leaders across multiple sectors can envision COVID-19 as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move their industries toward sustainability.
Media Production & Distribution on A More Sustainable Future
We're setting a yearlong agenda of research and data packages built around big, interesting and global questions rooted in understanding our world’s progress toward sustainable development in the face of COVID-19's challenges.
A Global COVID-19 Sustainable Solution Database
We're building a living database of global post-COVID-19 sustainability efforts, and the entities working on them. An objective master collection of multi-sectoral efforts enhances visibility and collaboration of actors across sectors, for more sustainable COVID-19 rebuilding. We'll use this platform as part of a multi-step research and reporting effort to connect collaborators, funnel attention, and build a greater global understanding of where successful actions are being taken and how we can learn from them.
We'll keep you up to date as these new projects roll out on our newsletter.
In the meantime, we hope you'll consider supporting dozens of media organizations' ability to report on what's to come by sharing this work with others or making a donation to support our work.
All the best to you and your loved ones.
Victoria Fine
Hello Orb Community!
I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Victoria Fine, Orb Media’s new CEO. Since the end of last year, I’ve been working alongside Orb’s founder, Molly Bingham, to learn from Orb’s work. I come to Orb as a seasoned journalist, entrepreneur and leader in purpose-driven content growth, from a career spent at places like The Huffington Post, Slate and Upworthy. My career has been focused on how to get massive amounts of people to think more about how we can better treat the planet and each other. So, it's been an absolute pleasure to dig into all the lessons Orb's innovative work has to offer.
The Orb team and I are confident that our work will be key to making the media industry more effective over the next 10 years.
Ambitious, you say? You bet! Necessary? Absolutely. I joined Orb because I believe that in the fight for a more sustainable world, humans don’t need another media company. We need all media to effectively prepare the public for our future.
That’s why, in this new decade, Orb is doubling down on our ability to catalyze global change through attention. We’ll be growing our existing media network and expanding to new markets in innovative ways, so we can better tackle the biggest global problems of the next 10 years.
In short, we'll be helping media organizations around the world:
And in the process, we hope to spark a global conversation that makes working toward a healthier and happier world feel doable, for each of us.
We have a lot in the works for this year and I'm excited to be able to update you in upcoming months.
And as we glide into 2020, I invite you to join us in considering how we all can adapt to and thrive in this new decade.
Warmly,
Victoria Fine
Hi Friends!
First of all, thanks so much for supporting Orb Media as we work to inform, empower and connect individuals and communities around the world on issues that impact billions of people. Our unique method of working with global scientific findings, stake holders and leading media companies around the world connects big issues to daily life. When we each see our role and responsibility in an issue, we are empowered to take action to shape the world we share.
And it is truly happening because of Orb's work!
I'm sharing a screen grab I took this morning; a search on Google News for "Microplastics AND Water" returning results from the last seven days. As you can see, the work we published on microplastics in September 2017, March 2018 and again in December 2018 has truly catalyzed an ongoing conversation about how our society creates, uses and disposes of plastics. As a result, people around the world are better informed and taking the appropriate action for them and their community.
Building on our 2018 success, this has been a year of transition at Orb as we identify the best route to fulfilling our mission and the organization's potential for massive impact. We have some exciting news to share about our leadership team - but not just yet - so, stay tuned and we'll be sure to update you soon!
Best wishes for a wonderful day and we'll be in touch,
Molly
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