Sustainability

The arms of two people over an industrial-sized kitchen warmer, which holds a pot of green puree, two pans of pasta, a cast iron skillet of mushrooms, another cast iron skillet of fish with a spatula on top, and a bowl of multi-colored carrots. A stack of bowls sits off to the left of the image.

A farm-to-table meal at Penn, in photos

Honoring Earth Week, Penn Dining and the Penn Food and Wellness Collaborative teamed up to create a vegetable-forward menu for Quaker Kitchen, sourcing produce from local purveyors to highlight what’s currently growing on the quarter-acre Penn Park Farm.

Michele W. Berger ・

ben franklin bridge at twilight with philly skyline

The Clean Water Act at 50

Approaching the half-century mark of this landmark piece of environmental legislation, Penn students, staff, and faculty share their reflections on its legacy, both strengths and shortcomings.

Katherine Unger Baillie ・

Windmills on the coast of Chile.

Turning Latin America green

Santiago Cunial, a doctoral candidate in political science, investigates issues surrounding green energy in Chile and Argentina.

Hands working the soil around a new plant

Understanding climate stories

In the latest episode of Penn Today’s “Understand This …” podcast series, Bethany Wiggin of the School of Arts & Sciences and Jennifer Pinto-Martin of the School of Nursing discuss climate stories, climate grief, and climate literacy.

Brandon Baker ・

A large pile of discarded shirts.

How consumers and retailers can reduce returns

Wharton’s Gad Allon looks at how both retailers and consumers alike can improve the reverse supply chain and increase awareness of the toll that a massive rate of returns takes.

From Knowledge at Wharton ・



In the News


Los Angeles Times

A sport-fishing boat pollutes ‘as much as 162 school buses.’ Will boat businesses survive regulation?

Cary Coglianese of the Law School weighed in on the potential impact of proposed boating regulations in California, which some argue could negatively affect mom-and-pop sport-fishing and whale-watching businesses. “You could say society is subsidizing these businesses,” Coglianese said. “We are incurring the cost of this harmful pollution.”

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The Washington Post

Fighting food waste, one apple at a time

Strella Biotechnology, a company housed in Pennovation and co-founded by then junior Katherine Sizov, a winner of the 2019 President’s Innovation Prize, is working to reduce food waste using biosensors to monitor ethylene, a natural gas that ripens fruits and vegetables. “If we don’t solve this food waste problem now, it will become a lot more expensive later,” Sizov said. “As our climate becomes more volatile, this is going to crop up more and more.”

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The Wall Street Journal

How I cut my use of fossil fuels: Tips from the pros

Arthur van Benthem of the Wharton School said he’s reducing his carbon emissions by taking fewer flights, riding his bike more, buying less clothing, and heating and cooling his home more conservatively.

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The New York Times

When bad news about the climate is good for green stock

Robert F. Stambaugh of the Wharton School said that by driving up the price of green stocks investors may be inadvertently increasing the expected returns for less environmentally friendly stocks. Stambaugh co-authored a paper on the dynamic with Wharton colleague Lucian Taylor.

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NPR

Can the Fed help solve climate change?

Christina Parajon Skinner of the Wharton School discussed how central banks like the Bank of England have shifted toward green investments. The U.S. Federal Reserve, she said, could have a significant impact on climate change: “People say, Well, we’ve got gridlock in Congress, and we have an effective institution that maybe could do something to bring us toward greener equilibriums. And that's really a fundamental question that is about climate change, but it's also about, you know, American democracy.”

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Scientific American

A better way to cool ourselves

Dorit Aviv of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design and international collaborators wrote an opinion piece about their work developing a healthier and more sustainable alternative to air conditioning.

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