Sustainable economy, what is it?

The sustainable economy seeks to increase social welfare while promoting sustainable consumption through a financial system based on green businesses. Either through the transformation of existing ones or by creating new businesses. It aims to reduce poverty and ensure quality development for present and future generations, without compromising the health of the planet, i.e. without consuming more than nature generates. 

The development of a sustainable economy in any territory involves policies aimed at promoting the use of sustainable energy sources, fostering competitiveness in sustainable activities and investing in innovation and education. According to the 2011 Sustainable Economy Law, we understand sustainable economy as “a pattern of growth that reconciles economic, social and environmental development in a productive and competitive economy, that favours quality jobs, equal opportunities and social cohesion, and that guarantees respect for the environment and the rational use of natural resources in a way that allows needs to be met”.

Why is a sustainable economy necessary?

The advocates of a sustainable economy base their arguments on the environmental forecasts for the coming decades, which, according to experts, are not very positive. In this sense, the data on the ecological footprint for the future are not very flattering. Those who promote sustainable economy advocate the use of renewable energies such as wind, solar, hydraulic and geothermal energy, to extend the life of the products we consume, second-hand purchases, rental of single-use objects, etc. Preserving the planet’s resources, consuming only seasonal foods, recycling, avoiding plastics, pollution, etc. In this way, the survival of future generations can be guaranteed and, in addition, as it is a model of sustainable development, it is also a model of sustainable development.

But we also have detractors, who are those who feel comfortable or are accustomed to a capitalist economic system, which is the one that currently governs the West, who consider a sustainable economy unrealistic. They believe that it is a production model that is doomed to failure from the outset, due to the inability to supply all the needs of today’s world population.

Characteristics of a sustainable economy

The development of a sustainable economy in any territory involves the development of policies aimed at promoting the use of sustainable energy sources, fostering the competitiveness of green businesses and investing in innovation and development.

Thus, this socioeconomic system is governed by the following fundamental axes:

• Environmental protection: preserving the planet’s biodiversity, minimizing the impact of pollution and fighting against climate change.
• Use of renewable energies: promote the use of alternative sources of energy that do not pollute and minimize the impact on the environment.
• Commitment to efficiency: make the most of the resources we have and take care of scarce resources, such as water, which allows us to achieve another pillar of economic sustainability, which is efficiency.
• Promoting recycling: establishing a circular economy model in which the waste generated is used to create new products, thus reducing the ecological toll of the current production system.
• Limiting consumption: limiting the use of renewable resources so that they are not used at a higher rate than they are generated. Furthermore, non-renewable resources must be progressively replaced by renewable resources. 
• Improve the social standard of living: promote, through education and innovation, equality among people in all territories.

Among the measures that can be implemented by public bodies, we can find the premiums and subsidies to new sustainable economic sectors such as clean energy, or the support to ecological business models. In addition, we must promote the recycling of all kinds of waste, the application of energy efficiency and conservation techniques in all areas of the economy and the promotion of the circular economy as well as new models of more sustainable cities.

The current society is unsustainable, as it consumes resources at a higher rate than nature generates, therefore the relationship between economy and sustainability is very close, if the energy needed for a society comes from resources that are not sustainable, they will become more and more expensive because of their scarcity and that can lead to geopolitical and economic imbalances in the medium and long term.

In Catalonia, and specifically in Manresa, the Ecoviure fair is held every year to show the novelties of a sustainable economy.

This fair was born in 1997 with the intention of serving as a meeting point for people and professionals who, from different fields, work for the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the planet. The fair lasts three days and brings together traders, sustainability technicians, entrepreneurs, and government representatives interested in learning about new developments in the green economy.

They can find stands of food products, renewable energies, household products, water treatment or textile products.

There is also an edition for children and families, with the aim of spreading the values of ecology and sustainability, with activities to experiment, play and learn. There are also several workshops and proposals for the youngest children. They need to become aware that we need to move towards a more supportive, fair and respectful society towards the environment.

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Faced with increasing pressure to reduce CO₂ emissions, the commercial aviation sector is exploring the feasibility of using more sustainable fuels. Although some challenges still exist, SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) and green hydrogen are presented as credible solutions to decarbonise air transport.

While the aviation sector has reduced its carbon footprint by 50% over the last 30 years, it still accounts for 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions, 13.9% of freight emissions, and relies predominantly on conventional aviation fuels.

Within the European framework of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, achieving this milestone will necessarily require an industrial sector that advances the development of cutting-edge technologies for cleaner fuels, driving hybrid aviation engine propulsion and efficient air traffic management.

Unlike what we have seen in the automotive industry, the aviation sector cannot be so easily electrified. Battery-electric propulsion is only feasible for small aircraft or regional aircraft making short journeys and carrying smaller loads, at least for the foreseeable future.

In this regard, Abel Jiménez, chief engineer at engine manufacturer ITP Aero, notes that ‘for at least the next two decades, the main mode of aircraft propulsion will continue to be the combustion engine’. Therefore, the transition to carbon-neutral aviation will require the adoption of more viable and immediate alternatives based on current technological capabilities.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)

SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) can be used in conventional aircraft engines without requiring major technical modifications. It is a fuel produced from organic waste, such as used cooking oil, agricultural waste or residues from the agri-food industry. Proponents argue that it can reduce CO₂ emissions by up to 80% compared to traditional kerosene.

However, producing and distributing SAF is not a simple task. On the one hand, the supply of the necessary feedstock is increasingly scarce, on the other, collecting oil from thousands of kitchens and transporting the fuel from refineries to thousands of airports is expensive, labour-intensive, and time-consuming.

Moreover, in order to maintain the sustainability of this fuel, SAF manufacturers cannot compete with normal food production through the use of prime agricultural land, the use of water or non-waste feedstocks.

This makes the final product currently two to two and a half times more expensive than conventional aviation fuel. Scaling up this process to lower costs involves the creation of new supply chains, and doing so sustainably is not easy either.

Thus, we are far from having the capacity to sustainably produce and distribute SAF in large quantities. Currently, this fuel represents only a tiny fraction of the total needs of the aviation sector and, although, according to the International Air Transport Association, its production will triple this year compared to 2023 levels, it will only cover 0.53% of aviation fuel demand.

Hydrogen, a promising technology

Many aviation industry analysts believe that the use of green hydrogen or hydrogen produced from renewable energy is the way forward. The main advantage of hydrogen is that it does not emit CO₂ during combustion; the end product is water. This makes it an ideal technology for achieving climate neutrality.

It can be used as fuel in combustion engines or in fuel cells that generate electricity to power electric motors. Companies such as Airbus, Rolls-Royce, Safran and MTU have announced plans to develop hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft that could be in operation by 2035.

David Álvaro Granero, Engineering Senior Site Rep (ESSR) at Airbus, indicated that they are working to offer 100% SAF capacity on their aircraft by 2030 and, as for hydrogen, they are evaluating three options: direct combustion of liquid hydrogen with a turboprop or turbofan, hydrogen fuel cells for electric propulsion and a hybrid architecture combining the two options.

Hydrogen produced from renewables is not as affordable as kerosene, but it is not as expensive as SAF and would be much easier to scale up its production. However, as an aviation fuel, it also has some disadvantages, such as its low bulk density and the difficulty of storing and transporting it because of its flammability and risk of explosion. This will require airports to invest heavily in building a whole new infrastructure for its storage and distribution.

Ultimately, it is clear that to be effective, the set of solutions adopted to decarbonise the aviation industry will require the collaboration of all aviation stakeholders globally.

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Un cop s’acaben les festes nadalenques, és hora de posar ordre a tanta decoració. Sovint l’avet, el pessebre o el tió són els objectes més preuats de la casa, però també els més difícils de reutilitzar i reciclar. A 11Onze et donem quatre consells per endreçar per Nadal de la manera més sostenible. 

L’avet, les garlandes, les boles, els llums de colors, els paraments de taula… Abans de posar-nos a recollir tots els guarniments nadalencs, hem de tenir clara una cosa: com més sostenible sigui el material que fem servir, millor. Les vaixelles? De ceràmica! Les estovalles? De fil! Les garlandes i les boles? De paper i de vidre! L’avet? Natural! I el pessebre? El pessebre és per tota la vida.

1. Cada cosa al seu lloc, i quan toca. Sembla una obvietat, però el primer consell per fer endreça de casa, amb tant guarniment i tanta teca, és conèixer bé perquè serveix cada contenidor de residu. Ho repassem: el verd és el per al vidre, el blau per al paper i el cartó, el groc per als envasos plàstics i metàl·lics, el marró per a la brossa orgànica i el gris per a la deixalla sobrant. I recorda, l’oli també es pot reciclar! Si tens dubtes, sempre pots consultar la pàgina web de l’Agència de Residus de Catalunya. A més, aquestes festes també hem de procurar no baixar les deixalles en dies festius, no sigui que la festa de brossa ens la trobem a la vorera l’endemà.
2. No desaprofitis menjar. Els experts asseguren que cada any es malgasten fins a 1.300 tones d’aliment a tot el món. El desaprofitament dels aliments és una de les xacres ecològiques i econòmiques més grans que ha d’afrontar la nostra societat global. Per això, si després de tanta celebració et sobra menjar, potser és una bona idea recórrer a la cuina d’aprofitament. Si realment et sobra menjar sense estrenar, pots preguntar al Banc dels Aliments més proper o alguna entitat social del barri. 
3. Recull l’avet. Els avets, sempre que siguin naturals, i per això és recomanable que així sigui, es poden reciclar cada any. La majoria de municipis de Catalunya posen a l’abast de la ciutadania punts de reciclatge d’avets. S’instal·len l’endemà de Reis. A Barcelona estan oberts les 24 hores del dia, i n’hi ha a cada districte. Consulta la web del teu municipi per saber on estan ubicats aquests centres neuràlgics del reciclatge nadalenc.  
4. Reutilitza tant com puguis. Els paraments de Nadal, les garlandes, les boles i tota la resta de decoració nadalenca, inclosos els estimats pessebres, s’han de poder reutilitzar any rere any. Per això, és una bona idea incentivar compres de qualitat i que tots els guarniments siguin un petit tresor familiar que passa de generació en generació.

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Les dades són clares: el moment d’actuar si volem aturar el canvi climàtic és ara, segons un informe de l’ONU. Per a aconseguir-ho, caldria reduir les emissions de gasos d’efecte hivernacle a gairebé la meitat d’aquí a 2030 i que fossin nul·les a meitat de segle. En cas contrari, la batalla estarà perduda.

Les emissions de gasos d’efecte hivernacle van arribar en la dècada passada a màxims històrics. Tot i que el ritme de creixement ha disminuït, l’informe “Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change” adverteix que només serà possible limitar l’escalfament global a 1,5 °C si es produeix una reducció immediata i profunda de les emissions.

Per a això, són necessàries grans transicions en el sector energètic, segons aquest informe, elaborat pel Grup Intergovernamental d’Experts sobre el Canvi Climàtic (IPCC), que depèn de l’ONU. Aquestes passen per una reducció substancial de l’ús de combustibles fòssils, una electrificació generalitzada, una major eficiència energètica i l’ús de combustibles alternatius com l’hidrogen.

Cal tenir en compte que entre 2010 i 2019, per exemple, el preu de l’energia solar i les bateries de liti va baixar un 85 % i el de l’energia eòlica un 55 %, la qual cosa ha permès l’expansió d’aquestes fonts d’energia alternativa.

“Estem en una cruïlla”, afirmava Hoesung Lee, president de l’IPCC, després de la publicació de l’informe. Lee veu factible aturar el canvi climàtic si existeix la voluntat política: “Les decisions que prenguem ara poden assegurar un futur habitable. Disposem de les eines i els coneixements necessaris per a limitar l’escalfament”.

Anys crítics per davant

El problema del canvi climàtic és que ens estem quedant sense temps. Segons l’informe, per a limitar l’escalfament a uns 1,5 °C, és necessari que les emissions mundials de gasos d’efecte hivernacle comencin a baixar a partir de 2025, en tan sols tres anys, i es redueixin a gairebé la meitat pel 2030. A més, les emissions netes de diòxid de carboni a nivell mundial haurien de baixar a zero a principis de la dècada de 2050.

“Comptar amb les polítiques, la infraestructura i la tecnologia adequades per a permetre canvis en els nostres estils de vida i comportaments pot suposar una reducció del 40-70 % de les emissions de gasos d’efecte hivernacle per al 2050”, explicava Priyadarshi Shukla, un dels autors de l’estudi.

A més, Shukla indicava que “si prenem les mesures necessàries per a limitar l’escalfament a 2 °C o menys, el Producte Interior Brut (PIB) mundial seria només uns pocs punts percentuals menor al 2050 que si mantenim les polítiques actuals”.

Múltiples mesures possibles

Segons l’informe, la reducció de les emissions a les zones urbanes pot aconseguir-se mitjançant un menor consum d’energia (amb ciutats més compactes i peatonals), l’electrificació del transport en combinació amb fonts d’energia de baixes emissions i una major captació de CO₂ gràcies als espais verds. Un dels líders de la recerca, Jim Skea, destacava en particular la importància de l’eficiència energètica dels edificis per a reduir les emissions urbanes.

A més, algunes solucions fins i tot poden ajudar a limitar els impactes associats al canvi climàtic. Per exemple, les xarxes de parcs, els aiguamolls i l’agricultura urbana poden reduir el risc d’inundacions i els efectes de les illes de calor.

La reducció de les emissions en la indústria, que suposen una quarta part del total, requerirà nous processos de producció, generació d’energia elèctrica de baixes o nul·les emissions, hidrogen i, quan sigui necessari, la captura i l’emmagatzematge de carboni, segons l’informe. També un ús més eficient dels materials i la reducció de residus.

En el cas de materials bàsics com l’acer, els materials de construcció i els productes químics, l’informe adverteix que ja s’estan assajant processos de producció amb emissions de gasos d’efecte hivernacle baixos o nuls.

L’informe mostra que, si bé els fluxos financers són entre tres i sis vegades inferiors als necessaris per a limitar l’escalfament per sota dels 2 °C al 2030, hi ha suficient capital i liquiditat a nivell mundial per a aconseguir la inversió requerida. Per això, reclama senyals clars a governs i institucions internacionals, així com una major coordinació.

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Com és possible que contamini una cosa que no existeix físicament? El cert és que les criptomonedes requereixen gran quantitat d’energia per a les granges de minat. De fet, si el bitcoin fos un país, se situaria entre els 30 principals consumidors d’electricitat del món, com explica l’agent d’11Onze Aitor Canudas.

Tan sols uns dies després de la primera transacció de bitcoins, que es va realitzar al gener de 2009, el pioner de la criptografia Hal Finney mostrava a Twitter la seva preocupació sobre les emissions de CO₂ que generaria aquesta criptomoneda. I no anava errat.

Un estudi de la Universitat de Cambridge calcula que la xarxa bitcoin consumeix més de 121 TWh d’energia anualment, la qual cosa vol dir que, si fos un país,  se situaria “entre els 30 principals consumidors mundials d’electricitat”, segons Canudas. De fet, per a que ens fem una idea de la magnitud de les dades, l’agent d’11Onze indica que aquesta criptomoneda gairebé consumeix tanta electricitat com Suècia i genera més emissions de CO₂ que Las Vegas.

La raó és que els processos necessaris per a les operacions de les criptomonedes requereixen una gran quantitat d’equips informàtics, les “granges de minat” i, per tant, una enorme quantitat d’energia. “Aquest conjunt de processos informàtics necessaris per validar les transaccions i generar nous blocs representa un 0,2 % del consum mundial d’electricitat”, especifica Aitor Canudas.

El problema és especialment greu en el cas del bitcoin, ja que, com advertia recentment Bill Gates, aquesta criptomoneda és la que consumeix més electricitat per transacció. D’aquí que, segons estimacions del Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), l’ús dels bitcoins generi una petjada de carboni cada any d’entre 22 i 22,9 megatones.

L’origen brut d’una energia neta

Si bé normalment veiem l’electricitat com una energia neta, això depèn bàsicament del seu origen. Sobretot a Àsia, i especialment a la Xina, gran part de l’electricitat generada prové de la combustió de carbó, que resulta molt contaminant. Per això, el fet que un altíssim percentatge de les granges de minat se situïn en aquesta regió per aconseguir els preus de l’electricitat més assequibles multiplica la petjada de carboni.

De cara a preservar el medi ambient, Aitor Canudas assenyala la necessitat d’augmentar el percentatge d’energies renovables en l’electricitat que s’utilitza “per crear els nous blocs i fer les transaccions del bitcoin”. Una altra alternativa que apunta l’agent d’11Onze seria recórrer a criptomonedes alternatives, com el cardano, “que en teoria contaminen menys que el bitcoin”.

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In the face of natural (or pandemic) disasters, society is forced to change and evolve. There is no option to do anything. Uncontrollable circumstances force the creation of change-resilient communities.

Global warming and climate change make us more vulnerable to natural disasters. The UN’s head of Disaster Risk Reduction, Mami Mizutori, warned that in the next twenty years the number of disasters or catastrophes will double, and the cause for 90% of these will be related to climate change.

Added to this are factors such as poverty, air pollution, population growth, and uncontrolled or risky urbanization. The result: more hazardous areas and more people at risk. Our present and future will be marked by constant change, whether natural, technological, political, or social.

We are condemned to live in a changing world, but are we prepared for it? We analyse how adaptation, an intrinsic human characteristic, will be key to building resilient societies of the future.

Avoiding change or preventing it?

In the face of a disaster, or a situation of general change, the worst thing we can do is to do nothing. This is why Margareta Wahlström, UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, stresses the importance of taking action to minimize disasters. Some, such as those related to climate change, we have the capacity to help to prevent. But for those we cannot avoid, we need to build societies that are resilient to change, and the urgency is to do so before the next disaster strikes, as Wahlström describes in her article.

Teaching this is essential at all levels. Every euro invested in prevention can save up to seven euros in recovery. And here the resilience of the population is a key factor. We must train our minds to make them more resilient to change, and leave behind the traditional view that links change with fear and a refusal to evolve.

Back to the point of equilibrium

Adaptation to change is a human characteristic, even from a biological point of view. This is what is known as homeostasis, a concept created in 1865 by the physician Claude Bernard, and which refers to the general tendency of an organism to re-establish balance and internal stability. From a psychological point of view, the reading is that in situations of change, people tend to find equilibrium again, i.e. that both change and stabilization are two undeniable constants in human life.

For his part, Darwin also came close to this idea in his evolutionary process, arguing that evolution is nothing more than having the ability to adapt to new environments.

Change is evolution

The psychologist Jean Piaget theorized that the main characteristic, and therefore the distinguishing feature of living beings, is precisely this ability to self-regulate. Our system, from the most biological to the psychological part, is capable of recovering or restoring damaged structures. Therefore, a living being is dynamic and active by nature, and change is nothing more than the survival response of our body in an attempt to adapt to the environment.

Piaget differentiated between two ways of adaptation: assimilation, which consists of including novelties in our already defined schemas. And accommodation, which modifies the schemas to adapt them to new demands. Putting theory into practice, in the pandemic era we may have felt identified with one system or the other depending on our behaviour: have we incorporated the new habits into our daily routine, or have we modified it to create a new routine based on the current moment?

Whichever way we have positioned ourselves in the face of change, the important thing is to have gone through the process of adaptation. This is what can save us from constant change: action, fleeing from denial and stagnation, and opening up the possibility that each change presents us with a new scenario that is challenging enough to force us to rethink everything, with no alternative but to evolve.

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The world is facing a food crisis. Food prices are soaring and consumers are changing their habits. The new situation is both a challenge and an opportunity for the Catalan agri-food industry.

The anticipated CPI for September stood at 8.9%, mainly due to higher fuel and food prices, according to the INE. And it rains on wet weather if we analyse the evolution of the prices of the shopping basket, despite the fact that the year-on-year inflation of food and non-alcoholic beverages was 6.2%, decreasing two tenths of a percentage point compared to the previous month. Particularly noteworthy were the high prices of basic products such as meat, bread, cereals, pulses, vegetables, milk, cheese and eggs.

The majority of consumers in Spain have noticed these changes and 75% have already changed their shopping habits, according to a survey by the consultancy firm McKinsey. Between April and May, half of them have tried the supermarket’s own brand, 30% have changed brands and 26% say they have changed shops or distributors. Undoubtedly, the main reason is the search for better prices.

Moreover, according to a report by the insurance company Allianz, if producers end up passing on the increase in their costs to the final price of foodstuffs, especially due to the rise in fuel, electricity and fertilisers, the shopping basket will become 13% more expensive this year in Spain. It should be borne in mind that European households already spend on average between 12% and 25% of their income, depending on the country, on food and drinks. Many family economies could therefore be strangled.

A stimulus for local shops

The major impact of fuel prices on distribution chains could be a boost for local commerce, as reflected in the report “The agri-food sector in Catalonia”, produced by Acció and Prodeca. In this sense, both producers and distributors will have to adjust their strategies to become more competitive.

The food crisis represents an opportunity for the sector in Catalonia, although it is not without risks. Led by the meat industries, the agri-food sector is one of the clear benchmarks of the Catalan economy, as it generates 19.2% of GDP, with a global turnover of 43 billion euros. The primary sector accounts for almost 11% of the total; the food and beverage industry, 70%; and the auxiliary industry more than 19%.

In this new context, some local producers and distributors, especially those in the primary sector, will be able to increase their market share in Catalonia, as their products will become more competitive with imported products. In any case, no one can overlook the major trends and challenges in the sector that the Acció and Prodeca report points out. 

Three areas of action

To begin with, in regard to the environmental impact, it will be necessary to take into account the importance of a sustainable production, based on the circular bioeconomy and precision agriculture, or aspects such as the reduction of plastic waste. Food traceability will make it possible to identify its sustainability and ensure its authenticity.

Opportunities for new products in the field of healthy eating also stand out. This includes products that contribute to reducing the incidence of certain diseases (diabetes, cardiovascular pathologies, etc.), functional products and the area of nutrigenetics, which tends to increasingly personalise food according to the genetic characteristics of the consumer.

A third field of action is innovation. Technology should facilitate the launch of new ingredients, additives and food supplements. Moreover, the implementation of Industry 4.0 in the sector should preclude taking advantage of Big Data or the Internet of Things.

More difficulties for exporting companies

In general, companies with a greater dependence on exports will suffer the most in adapting to a change in the market. It could be said that the Catalan agri-food sector has eaten up the world in recent years, as its foreign sales are close to 13,000 million and account for 16% of Catalan exports. 

In some cases, therefore, it will be difficult for growth in the domestic market to balance the loss of presence abroad. A clear example is meat and sausages, whose exports are equivalent to almost 4.6 billion euros (36% of the total), highly concentrated in pork.

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The sustained decline in birth rates and the consequent population ageing are causing a global demographic decline, especially in developed countries. This trend is a cause for concern because it calls into question the sustainability of the current socio-economic system.

Since the 1950s, fertility rates have been declining as societies have modernised. Recent studies suggest that fertility rates will continue to plummet until the end of the century, leading to profound demographic change with global consequences.

By 2050, more than three-quarters of countries will not have fertility rates high enough to maintain their population ratios over time. This figure is projected to rise to 97 per cent by 2100 when only six of 204 countries and territories (Samoa, Somalia, Tonga, Niger, Chad, and Tajikistan) will have fertility rates above 2.1 births per woman.

Most of the world is thus approaching a natural population decline, known as a demographic winter, in which the number of deaths exceeds the number of births. This means that there will be more old people in need of care, but fewer young people working to finance pensions and the welfare state.

The European fertility crisis

In the case of Europe, the number of births has fallen below 4 million for the first time since 1960, one of the lowest birth rates in the world. In 1990 there were 5.1 million births, the last year in which births exceeded 5 million. Likewise, the fertility rate has also fallen, approaching levels of two decades ago.

Spain has the second-lowest fertility rate in the European Union, behind only Malta, according to Eurostat data. In 2022, the Spanish rate was 1.16 children born per woman, below countries such as Italy (1.24) or Portugal (1.43), which were also below the European average.

Even so, the data on the evolution of births provided by the INE suggest that the fall observed in recent decades could be coming to an end and that 2024 could mark a turning point for the stabilisation, if not recovery, of the birth rate in Spain.

Unfounded scaremongering?

The world population has reached almost 8.2 billion by the middle of this year and is estimated to grow by about 2 billion over the next 60 years, reaching a peak of about 10.3 billion around 2080. After that, it is expected to fall to 10.2 billion, 700 million less than was projected a decade ago.

Indeed, overall population growth or decline is not the only part of the demographic equation that should concern us: the age structure of the population, the gender imbalance, the accelerated process of urbanisation, the huge disparities between regions and environmental sustainability are all factors to be taken into account if we are to escape from a false dichotomy.

The most dystopian neoliberal scenarios are based on a system that has made continued economic growth its reproductive strategy, leaving aside environmental sustainability and the necessary reconfiguration of the balance between work and family life. Likewise, part of the fatalism stems from the most conservative sector of the population that yearns for the traditional family model and sees immigration as a cultural threat.

In the same way that the justification for the fear of uncontrolled and unlimited population growth has faded, the alarmism about the demographic decline and the falling birth rate will possibly be appeased by the realisation that there are viable alternatives to the current production model, which can ultimately be beneficial for society as a whole.

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The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industries on the planet. Can it be avoided? Is ‘slow fashion’ a solution? Is it possible to buy in a more sustainable way? The president of BASI Group, Nuria Basi, and the CMO of 11Onze, Gemma Vallet, discuss this in a new Territori 17 of La Xarxa.

One of the great lessons learned from the pandemic is that we can enjoy our shopping while remaining sustainable. But how to do it, in the case of fashion? “Buy wisely, with common sense and a lot of information. The great advantage is that we consumers are the ones who choose what we want to buy,” Basi says. She heads one of the largest fashion distributors on the Iberian peninsula, serving brands such as Armand Basi, Lacoste and Cole Haan.

Functionality, quality, durability, necessity? There are several factors to take into account when choosing the clothes we wear. “As the British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood used to say, buy what you like, wear it and make it last for a long time,” Basi sums up. The BASI Group CEO is a strong advocate of mending clothes and appreciates how past generations took care of their clothing. 

“We are mistaken if we think that buying new clothes is cheaper than mending them. We buy it, wear it, get tired of it and throw it away or, at best, recycle it,” she complains. According to Basi, we often have habits that don’t help either: it may seem very practical, but in the long run it is not, such as leaving clothes in the washing machine and not hanging them out until you get home in the evening, or using cleaning products that are not of high quality and that spoil the fabric.

Being consistent, being responsible

“It is very important that products come with a traceability label, so that we know where they were made,” Basi says, who believes that this is an increasingly intense debate in the fashion world. The president of BASI Group also reminds us that sustainability is not only about the quality of the product, but also about all the socio-economic processes through which the clothes are made. 

And she exemplifies consistency in purchasing with a concrete case: “If we go into a shop and find that an item of clothing only costs three euros, maybe we should ask ourselves if the entire value chain has been executed with criteria of responsibility,” she says. In the end, as Nuria Basi confirms, it is about producing and consuming much less, but better.

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Scientific research has shown for the first time that microplastics are already flowing through our bloodstream, the river of life in our bodies. The next step will be to see to what extent they are deposited in organs such as the brain and what their effect is.

Microplastics have been found in remote places such as the Himalayas and the Vatnajokull glacier, Europe’s largest ice cap. Even traces of plastic had been found in the human placenta. However, there was still no scientific evidence that microplastics were running through our veins. Until now. 

A study led by Heather Leslie and Marja Lamoree of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam has found for the first time that tiny bits of plastic from our environment can be absorbed into the human bloodstream. The results of her research were published at the end of March in the scientific journal ‘Environment International’.

Three out of four

The research team tested the blood of 22 people for the presence of five different polymers, which are the building blocks of plastic. The result indicates that three-quarters of the subjects tested had nanoplastics or microplastics, i.e. plastic particles smaller than five millimetres, in their bloodstream. Only one out of four participants were free of detectable amounts of plastic.

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene and polymerized styrene were the most abundant in the blood samples, followed by polymethyl methacrylate. For polypropylene, concentrations were too low for accurate measurement.

PET is widely used in beverage and food packaging, as well as in the textile industry; polyethylene is used, among many other things, in supermarket bags; polymerized styrene is present in lightweight packaging; and polymethyl methacrylate is mostly used in medicine.

From blood to organs?

Lead researcher Heather Leslie said this study shows that “our bloodstream, our river of life, has plastic in it”. The next step would be to find out to what extent these particles pass from the bloodstream into organs such as the brain. This will allow us to better determine to what extent exposure to plastic particles poses a threat to public health.

This research has been funded by the NGO Common Seas and the ZonMw Microplastics and Health programme, which aims to determine the effects of plastic particles on our health. It is one of a number of European initiatives to establish the extent to which exposure to microplastics is harmful to human health. In this context, a group of Italian scientists published research earlier this year that also found the presence of microplastics in the human placenta.

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