Pique Behind the Curtain Vol. 30

A newsletter for those who are interested in climate solutions, media and film production

May 18, 2022

Which Came First, The Chicken or the Chicken-Free Egg?

Welcome back to our weekly newsletter, Pique Behind the Curtain. If you’ve come in search of climate content, new film features, and all-around positive vibes, then you’ve come to the right place.

New Release: Ep. 27 EVERY

Switching to a plant-based diet is considered one of the most effective climate actions that individuals can take - but it isn’t a simple one.

We use animal products like eggs in so many recipes and dishes. Egg whites are responsible for everything from making cakes rise to sticking ingredients together so that your cookies don't fall apart when you bite into them. They are the holy grail of functionality in the culinary world. If you’ll believe it, it takes over 636 gallons of water to make a dozen eggs. There's so much demand for these products that cutting them out completely isn’t a viable option; we have to produce them in some shape or form.

Enter: Arturo Elizondo, Founder and CEO of EVERY. He had a crazy idea. What if we could produce eggs without using chickens?

EVERY is accelerating the world’s transition to animal-free protein, starting with the world’s first animal-free egg. By fermenting real animal protein without using a single animal, this company is expanding the number of options that people and companies have to work with and creating uncompromised vegan alternatives for diet staples like eggs and protein.

Siblings and Co-Founders

What happens when a father raises two kids in an electrical supply store?

Zora and Steven Chung grew up surrounded by energy. Literally. Their parents ran their own electrical supply store, and the Chung’s childhood was defined by 5:30 am wake-up calls to open shop. But at that age, they never imagined their playground would turn into their profession.

As they grew up, Steven learned how to cut wire, look for inventory, and manage data entry, and Zora became the go-to person to set up electronics at home. Years later, having been immersed in the world of batteries and electrical workings, they recognized an incredible oversight - there was no convenient way to figure out the health of a battery. Not until them, anyway.

With years of experience and a seed of an idea, Zora and Steven Chung went on to co-found ReJoule, a company creating advanced technology that gathers data, unlike any other system, setting a new standard for battery diagnostics. By streamlining the battery’s value chain and optimizing its life cycle, the Chungs are using their family legacy to help fight climate change.

Good Climate News!

This week in good climate news 🌍:

Indigenous Ingenuity

For thousands of years, Indigenous people have cultivated a culture that values sustainability and encourages respect and reciprocity in regard to the natural world. They are known to be caretakers of the environment, protecting their land, respecting wildlife, and utilizing traditional knowledge passed down from generations. While many groups have been forced from their homes over the years as a result of colonization, today indigenous groups continue to safeguard some of the most diverse areas on the planet.

A new study has shown that the best-preserved (and recovering!) sectors of the Brazilian Amazon are those under the care of these types of traditional communities. It found that rates of native vegetation loss between 2005 and 2012 were 17 times lower in Indigenous-managed lands than in the unprotected areas of the Amazon. Beyond their ability to prevent deforestation, the Indigenous conservation efforts also encourage the regrowth of forests at double to triple the times of those same unprotected areas.

They use regenerative tactics such as slash-and-burn agriculture, which involves cutting down a small forest area (about 1 hectare), burning it, and planting on it. After a while, they harvest their crops and leave the area, allowing it to regenerate naturally. While this particular strategy isn’t sufficient to support the large-scale industrial agriculture required to feed the global population, observing sustainable communities and exploring how to adapt their practices could point to promising climate solutions in the near future.

https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/in-brazilian-amazon-indigenous-lands-stop-deforestation-and-boost-recovery/

What We’re Watching, Reading, and Listening to

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