Quote of the Day: “The bird dares to break the shell, then the shell breaks open and the bird can fly. This is the simplest principle of success. You dream, you dare and and you fly.” – Israelmore Ayivor (on the 115th Audubon anniversary)
Photo: by enjoiskate8, CC license
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To learn new things, we must sometimes fail. But what’s the right amount of failure? New research led by the University of Arizona proposes a mathematical answer to that question.
Educators and scholars have long recognized that there is something of a “sweet spot” when it comes to learning. That is, we learn best when we are challenged to grasp something just outside the bounds of our existing knowledge. When a challenge is too simple, we don’t learn anything new; likewise, we don’t enhance our knowledge when a challenge is so difficult that we completely fail or give up.
So where does the sweet spot lie? According to the new study, which was published in the journal Nature Communications, it is when failure occurs 15% of the time. Put another way, it’s when the right answer is correctly given 85% of the time.
“These ideas that were out there in the education field—that there is this ‘zone of proximal difficulty,’ in which you ought to be maximizing your learning—we’ve put that on a mathematical footing,” said UArizona assistant professor of psychology and cognitive science Robert Wilson, lead author of the study.
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Wilson and his collaborators at Brown University, the University of California, Los Angeles, and Princeton came up with the so-called “85% Rule” after conducting a series of machine-learning experiments in which they taught computers simple tasks, such as classifying different patterns into one of two categories, or classifying photographs of handwritten digits as odd versus even numbers, or low versus high numbers.
The computers learned fastest in situations in which the difficulty was such that they responded with 85% accuracy.
“If you have an error rate of 15% or accuracy of 85%, you are always maximizing your rate of learning in these two-choice tasks,” Wilson said.
When researchers looked at previous studies of animal learning, they found that the 85% Rule held true in those instances as well, Wilson said.
When we think about how humans learn, the 85% Rule would mostly likely apply to perceptual learning, in which we gradually learn through experience and examples, Wilson said. Imagine, for instance, a radiologist learning to tell the difference between images of tumors and non-tumors.
“You get better at figuring out there’s a tumor in an image over time, and you need experience and you need examples to get better,” Wilson said. “I can imagine giving easy examples and giving difficult examples and giving intermediate examples. If I give really easy examples, you get 100% right all the time and there’s nothing left to learn. If I give really hard examples, you’ll be 50% correct and still not learning anything new, whereas if I give you something in between, you can be at this sweet spot where you are getting the most information from each particular example.”
Since Wilson and his collaborators were looking only at simple tasks in which there was a clear correct and incorrect answer, Wilson won’t go so far as to say that students should aim for a B average in school. However, he does think there might be some lessons for education that are worth further exploration.
“If you are taking classes that are too easy and acing them all the time, then you probably aren’t getting as much out of a class as someone who’s struggling but managing to keep up,” he said. “The hope is we can expand this work and start to talk about more complicated forms of learning.”
Reprinted from the University of Arizona
Help Your Friends Learn About This Intriguing Research By Sharing It To Social Media — File photo by Josh Davis, CC
Some bad weather turned into the “best Christmas Day ever” for one Canadian who chose to give up hours of holiday fun with his family to help 75 stranded strangers.
High winds diverted a WestJet airline on Dec. 25, a flight intended for St. John’s, Newfoundland that only made it as far as Deer Lake on the other side of the island province—roughly 400 miles (600 km) from its destination.
Local resident Brian Snow was friends with one of the passengers and realized that due to the national holiday, all the restaurants and shops in town were closed.
On top of that, the hotel where almost 80 people had been dropped off had no restaurant. Mr. Snow, who happens to be the community services coordinator for the Salvation Army, posted a call to action on social media: “Let’s show the true Christmas spirit.”
Within an hour, the Facebook post was shared 60 times and the community had spontaneously organized a delightful potluck in the hotel lobby. Residents brought sandwiches, platters of their own turkey dinner leftovers, freshly baked breads, and, of course, lots of cookies and desserts.
“I, as well as my entire family are beyond thankful for the beautiful souls who helped make a Christmas away from home just that much better!” wrote Kate Sexton from St. John’s, with gratitude that her aunt and uncle were being cared for.
With their bellies full and their spirits renewed, the kindness from the Deer Lake community didn’t end at the dinner table.
Dave Power, one of the stranded passengers who was flying with his wife to be with family in St. John’s, told CBC News, “When we finished eating, they said as soon as you’re ready, let us know, and we’ll take you to the airport.”
They organized a motorcade to get everyone back to the airport for their delayed flight.
“It was truly like a ‘Come from Away Christmas’,” said David’s brother Robert Power on Facebook. “That’s what the season is all about.”
Power was referring to the Tony Award-winning musical Come From Away, which tells a similar true story of the small Newfoundland town named Gander where nearly 6,600 passengers were welcomed after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 grounded 38 planes there. The famous news story details the efforts of community members in Gander and surrounding towns who took care of the thousands of travelers in churches, schools, and community centers for several days.
The loving care displayed by Deer Lake residents left some passengers ”bawling.”
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A “breakthrough” treatment plan for type-2 diabetes has the British National Health Service (NHS) bustling as they position themselves to adopt a new standard of treatment.
The course of treatment consists of a liquid diet of 800 calories to be taken as a soup or shake daily for a set amount of months depending on the time since the patient developed type-2 diabetes.
The breakthrough research arose out of Newcastle University which seems to have stuck a pin in many of our assumptions about type-2 diabetes—as well as proven almost beyond a shadow of a doubt that type-2 diabetes is actually reversible, especially in newer patients.
The treatment is basically a prescription for a reduction in calorie intake—a potential intervention that has shown incredible results for many different conditions.
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The Diabetes Remission Clinical Trial, (DiRECT) recently published these findings as a means of demonstrating the massive potential of DiRECT as a general treatment plan.
One-third of all people taking part in the trial were free of diabetes at 2 years. Around three quarters of everyone who was in remission at 1 year stayed in remission at 2 years. Furthermore, the group who embarked on rapid weight loss had fewer serious medical problems in the second year of DiRECT.
Official statistics from the NHS place the number of Brits with type-2 diabetes at 4 million, and rising. Meanwhile, in the United States, the CDC reports that 1 in 10 Americans—roughly 30 million people—have diabetes, 90% of which is type-2. Many people also go undiagnosed for years.
Recent studies carried out by Professors Mike Lean and Roy Taylor of Newcastle University showed that type-2 diabetes is triggered by fat spills. These fat spills, which came from the liver, traveled to the nearby pancreas where it wreaked havoc in the efficiency of the organ to produce insulin.
Insulin is needed to command your cells to absorb excess carbohydrates circulating in your body after a carb or sugar-dense meal.
“The liver fat, astonishingly high in type 2 diabetes, falls to normal,” explains Dr. Taylor in an interview with Medscape. “The pancreas fat comes down gradually, gradually, and the pancreas recovers gradually, gradually. And that’s amazing because we always thought that the pancreas had to go downhill inevitably in type 2 diabetes.”
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In April 2020, the NHS will begin trials with a liquid diet as per the DiRECT research with 5,000 participants helping to test whether the program can benefit the public. If the trials are successful, the breakthrough diet will become the new standard of care in a remarkably rapid frame of time for the chronic ailment that’s been causing amputations, blindness, and heart complications for decades.
The widely-taken drug Metformin has been the standard of care for the treatment of diabetes in France since 1957 and in Canada since 1972. Illustrative of how long it can take to approve a treatment in the U.S., Metformin didn’t receive approval by the FDA until 1994, even though 5.8 million Americans were diagnosed with diabetes in 1980.
Like all professional men and women of science, Taylor feels more research is needed before the liquid diet intervention is widely prescribed.
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“We need to follow up this group,” said Taylor. “We follow them up for a total of 2 years in the proper randomized controlled trial.”
“We have funding to follow up the intervention group participants for a total of 3 years. And we’ve applied for further funding because we need to see what happens to these people as time goes on.”
But, he admits it is “heart-warming” hearing all the stories about remissions. “It’s all about the individual and all about helping people back to this state of relative health and happiness. And that does seem to be happening in quite large numbers of people who are able to do it.”
Cure Your Friends Of Negativity By Sharing The Good News To Social Media – (Photo by PracticalCures.com, CC license)
(All photos distributed and licensed by SWNS.)
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Quote of the Day: “The quantum field responds not to what we want; it responds to who we are being.” – Joe Dispenza, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself: How to Lose Your Mind and Create a New One
Photo: by vincent Angler, CC license – cropped
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When this young man was trying on a new pair of basketball shoes at a Walmart in Dayton, Ohio, he managed to convince an older woman to help him put the sneakers to the test.
After the guy had nailed some practice dribbles with the new kicks, he called out to the woman as she was walking past his aisle and asked if she could help him practice.
Although the woman said she was on her way to a meeting and she “had no idea” how to play basketball, she did join in to “play some defense” before walking away with a smile.
Since the man uploaded the adorable video to YouTube back in November, it has been viewed by thousands of people—and it’s not hard to see why.
(WATCH the endearing video below)
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Canada will soon be welcoming the largest operating solar energy project in the country—and it is also being hailed as “one of the largest in the world”.
Back in August, Greengate Power Corporation received approval from the Alberta Utilities Commission (AUC) to construct and operate its $500 million Travers Solar project with a total generating capacity of 400 MW.
The company now expects to begin construction of the project sometime during the first half of 2020, with full commercial operations targeted for 2021.
Greengate is an industry leading, privately-held Canadian renewable energy company based out of Calgary. Since 2007, Greengate has successfully developed close to 600 MW of operating—or near-operating—wind energy projects in Alberta and Ontario, including the 300 MW Blackspring Ridge Wind Project, which is currently the largest operating wind energy project in Canada.
These projects represent well over $1 billion of investment and provide a clean source of power to more than 250,000 homes. Greengate is currently pursuing the development of close to 1,000 MW of new solar and wind energy projects as it continues to grow as an industry leading producer of clean renewable energy.
For perspective, the two biggest solar power facilities currently operating in Canada maintain a capacity of about 100MW. Since Alberta averages about 300 days of sunlight per year, the Travers Solar project is expected to power as many as 110,000 homes and offset 472 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year.
The project will utilize about 2.5 million PV modules across 4,700 acres (1,900 hectares) of land in Vulcan County, Alberta.
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The AUC conducted an extensive review of the project and found that its approval is in the public interest considering its social, economic, and environmental effects, particularly in accordance with the Alberta Hydro and Electric Act.
“We are very pleased to have received approval for what we expect will be Canada’s largest solar energy project and one of the largest in the world,” said Dan Balaban, President and CEO of Greengate. “This continues our successful track record, having already developed some of the largest renewable energy projects in the country. We anticipate that Travers Solar will bring significant investment, employment and clean renewable energy to Alberta while strengthening the province’s position as a global energy and environmental leader.”
Power Up With Positivity By Sharing The Good News With Your Friends On Social Media — File photo by Intel Free Press, CC
It has been over a year since Laura Seymour first fell in love with a neglected neighborhood dog who was always chained up to a doghouse—and now, they have become virtually inseparable.
After Seymour summoned the courage to approach the akita and introduce herself last year, she was surprised to discover that the pup was extremely friendly and well-behaved. However, she was also heartbroken to see that the dog did not have food or water in its bowl.
Seymour began stopping by the pup’s doghouse three times a week so she could fill up its food and water bowls. She also began calling the pup Takia.
When she could no longer stand to see Takia left out in the doghouse every day and night, she called animal control. To her dismay, the officers called her back later the very same day and informed her that as long as Takia had food, water, and a doghouse, then she was not necessarily being neglected.
Regardless, Seymour continued to take care of Takia for a full year through rain and snow, although she had given up on ever trying to rescue the friendly pup from the neighbor’s ownership—at least until she introduced Takia to her mother.
Since Seymour had already been worried about Takia surviving through the heat of summer, her mother encouraged her to phone animal control one more time.
The very next day, Seymour received a call from animal control officers informing her that Takia’s owner had been forced to surrender the pup. Not only that, they were looking for someone to adopt Takia—and Seymour was delighted to volunteer.
Since adopting Takia into her home, Seymour says that the 5-year-old akita is now a “changed dog” who delights in sleeping on her bed every night and roaming around Seymour’s property in Virginia.
“There’s just something about her, I got super lucky, I really did,” Seymour told The Dodo Soulmates in the video below. “It’s like, 100 per cent she is so appreciative of everything.”
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A neighbor of Takia’s former owner recently commented on the video and praised Seymour for rescuing the lucky pup.
“I am so glad [Seymour] got her!” wrote the neighbor. “I live next door and we also fed her and called animal control and they would tell us the same thing about the house. My husband would bring her food and water and my sister-in-law across the street would too. So animal control must have thought the owner was, but they never did.”
(WATCH the adorable video below)
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This week, the nation of Palau has officially banned ecologically harmful sunscreens, making it the first country in the world to ban the chemical-laden lotions.
The ban specifically targets sunscreens that contain oxybenzone and octinoxate, two chemicals that are found in common sunscreens. Studies have found the ingredients cause coral DNA to mutate while its still in its larval stage, which prevents it from growing properly and makes it more susceptible to bleaching.
Palau is a diving hotspot for tourists located in the western Pacific Ocean between Australia and Japan. The country maintains a population of about 20,000 people spread across 340 islands, and its reefs are notoriously beautiful—one of its lagoons has even been named an official Unesco World Heritage Site.
RELATED: World’s Second Largest Coral Reef Has Just Been Removed From Endangered List
The nation approved the ban back in 2018 after they identified ten different chemicals that have been linked to coral bleaching and marine pollution. As of Wednesday, common sunscreens containing any of the chemicals are now prohibited from being used or sold within the country.
“We have to live and respect the environment because the environment is the nest of life,” Palau’s President Tommy Remengesau told the AFP news agency. “When science tells us that a practice is damaging to coral reefs, to fish populations, or to the ocean itself, our people take note and our visitors do too.
“We don’t mind being the first nation to ban these chemicals, and we will do our part to spread the word,” he added.
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Although Hawaii became the first region in the world to introduce legislation against toxic sunscreens back in May 2018, their ban will not go into full effect until 2021.
Thankfully, BBC reports that the number of sunscreens containing the toxins has been steadily declining since their environmental dangers became so widely publicized in 2018.
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Uber driver Latonya Young has given rides to hundreds of passengers—but there is one particular car ride she will never forget.
The 43-year-old single mother from Atlanta, Georgia had been studying criminal justice at Georgia State University until she was suddenly barred from continuing her classes due to an unpaid $700 balance on her account.
“Every time I got ready to pay the money, my kids needed something,” Young recalled to WIST-TV. “I said, ‘Okay, I’ll just wait.’”
Young, working as a hair stylist by day and an Uber driver by night, had been driving a passenger to a soccer game one night when she mentioned her financial struggles with the university.
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A few days later, she received a call from Georgia State University saying that she was free to reenroll in more classes since her Uber passenger, Kevin Esch, had paid off her remaining balance.
“I was literally blown away. A stranger has never done that or done anything like that for me,” Young told reporters. “When he paid the balance, I had to do this for him. I maintained my grades, As and Bs, just trying to do everything to make sure he knows I appreciate him.”
Esch was in the audience when Young graduated with her associate’s degree a few weeks ago—and he is still serving as an inspiration to her as she prepares to study for her bachelor’s degree.
(WATCH the news coverage below)
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Quote of the Day: “The truth you might be running from is so small. But it’s as big as the promise, the promise of a coming day.” – Stephen Stills (turns 75 today)
Photo: by Dennis Yang, CC license – cropped
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For the last four decades, Josh Simpson has been meticulously crafting intricate little “planets” out of glass—and they are hidden all over the world for people to find.
The glass artist from Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts has made more than 3,000 “Infinity Planets” since he was inspired by Apollo astronauts taking their iconic photo of the Earth back in the 1970s.
His colorful little creations are now hidden all over the world so that unsuspecting strangers can experience the joy of their discovery.
If you want to suggest a place for Simpson to hide a planet—or if you want to look for one yourself—you can visit his Infinity Project website.
(WATCH the Great Big Story video below) – Photo by Great Big Story
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As companies like Amazon, Walmart, and Target begin to dazzle us with the growing possibility of same-day delivery, it’s becoming harder for small businesses to compete in ways that provide the same speedy delivery without relying on high-emission forms of commercial storage or transportation options like renting space in large warehouses and air delivery.
That is all now changing thanks to an organization called Ohi—a US-based warehousing and delivery service that allows small businesses to offer speedy, sustainable delivery options.
Speaking with Fast Company, Ohi CEO Ben Jones detailed the problem that many small US businesses face when attempting to compete with nationwide distributers.
“The problem that we’re solving for is that consumer expectations for e-commerce are getting faster and faster, driven primarily by Amazon, but also now by Walmart, by Target, and by all these other big brands enabling same-day delivery,” said Jones.
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“For smaller brands, it’s almost impossible for them to do that at low cost. If we’re going to build a replacement that will last for the next 60 years, we have to have sustainability as one of our core values.”
Ohi’s service allows small, growth-stage companies to expand their network of fulfillment centers across the United States in a unique way that saves money and energy.
Since a small business might have only one pallet’s worth of product in any given city, Ohi allows them to expand their next- and same-day delivery capabilities by renting out space in “micro-warehouses” in unused office building spaces and retail parks.
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The micro-warehousing means that brands can avoid the much higher environmental costs of maintaining traditional warehouses or offering next-day or two-day shipping on a plane. This also eliminates the much higher costs of long-term leases and fees associated with air travel.
Ohi’s clients are also able to ensure sustainable next- and same-day shipping by cutting out various forms of middle men and extra steps between storage.
“When you’re not throwing parcels around between various trucks in between the different distribution centers, you eliminate the need for a cardboard box,” said Jones.
If you order something from one of Ohi’s clients, it may be delivered to you on a bike, rather than from a truck—and it may be delivered in a in a recyclable cardboard bag rather than a cardboard box.
Jones also said that this sustainable alternative to the standard fulfillment protocol has helped reduce cardboard, plastic, and paper waste associated with packaging and shipping by 75% compared to if Ohi used standard fulfillment practices.
The service is currently only based out of New York City and Los Angeles, but the company hopes its success will help to expand their platform to other US cities within the next few decades.
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Earlier this week, the FDA approved an ovarian cancer drug as a new maintenance treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer—a notoriously dangerous form of cancer.
The drug, Lynparza (olaparib) was developed by pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca and Merck & Co as a maintenance treatment for patients with a specific gene mutation whose cancer spread beyond the pancreas and whose disease did not progress after at least 16 weeks of chemotherapy. Patients will now be selected for therapy based on an FDA-approved companion diagnostic for Lynparza.
The approval follows the recommendation from the US FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee last month for Lynparza in this indication, and was based on results from the pivotal Phase III POLO trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
POLO is a Phase III randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, multi-centre trial of Lynparza tablets (300mg twice daily) as maintenance monotherapy versus placebo. The trial randomized 154 patients with the aforementioned disease traits to receive either Lynparza or placebo until disease progression. The endpoints of the trial included overall survival, time to second disease progression, overall response rate and health-related quality of life.
Results showed a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in progression-free survival, where Lynparza nearly doubled the time patients with gBRCAm metastatic pancreatic cancer lived without disease progression or death. The safety and tolerability profile of Lynparza in the POLO trial was in line with that observed in prior clinical trials.
“Patients with advanced pancreatic cancer historically have faced poor outcomes due to the aggressive nature of the disease and limited treatment advances over the last few decades,” said Dave Fredrickson, Executive Vice President of the Oncology Business Unit. “Lynparza is now the only approved targeted medicine in biomarker-selected patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.”
Pancreatic cancer is a deadly cancer with a high unmet medical need. It is the 12th most commonly occurring cancer and the 7th leading cause of cancer death globally. The disease has the lowest survival rate of the most common cancers and is the only major cancer with a single-digit five-year survival rate (2-9%) in nearly every country. As there are often no symptoms, or symptoms may be non-specific in the early stages, it is most commonly diagnosed at an incurable stage. Around 80% of pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed when the disease has metastasized and for these, the average survival is less than a year.
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Despite advances in treatment, few improvements have been made in diagnosis and treatment over the decades. Current treatment is surgery (for which approximately only 10-20% of patients are eligible), chemotherapy and radiotherapy, highlighting a critical unmet medical need for more effective treatment options.
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network President and CEO Julie Fleshman, said: “Metastatic pancreatic cancer patients have been waiting a long time for new therapy options for their devastating disease. Today’s approval of Lynparza provides an exciting new treatment option for patients with germline BRCA-mutated metastatic pancreatic cancer.”
Lynparza is currently approved in several dozen countries for the maintenance treatment of various forms of ovarian and breast cancer and it has been used in over 25,000 patients worldwide. Lynparza also has the broadest and most advanced clinical trial development program of any PARP inhibitor drug.
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It’s always good to recognize hardworking employees—but this 20-year-old fast food worker has gone viral for his infectiously positive attitude.
Since Jeremiah Murrill began working at the Chick-Fil-A restaurant in Wilmington, North Carolina a few years, he has become somewhat of a local celebrity.
Every day that he is on the clock, rain or shine, Murrill is taking customer drive-thru orders outside of the restaurant with a cheerful smile and amiable attitude. He even tries to remember the names of repeating customers as a personal labor of love.
Murrill recently gave permission for a doting customer to film him as he took their order last month—and since she uploaded the video to Facebook, it has been viewed almost half a million times.
If Murrill’s friendly disposition isn’t enough to convince you of the young man’s character, then maybe the video’s comment section will—there are dozens of comments from local customers praising the young man for always striving to make them smile.
“My favorite guy! Literally the most positive person, rain or shine,” wrote one social media user. “I’m so happy that he is getting the recognition he deserves and has earned simply for being an upbeat and genuine human being. You’re a rare find, friend.”
Another commenter wrote: “You could literally be having the worst day and he would turn it around! I truly miss this location because of him!”
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When WWAY reporters asked Murrill about what inspires him to show such kindness to his customers, he simply said: “Your actions, your behavior, or the way you interact with people matters, and it transforms a day.
“Seeing these lives transform just by talking with them and taking their orders and being kind and nice—it’s awesome.”
(WATCH the sweet news coverage below) – Photo by WWAY News
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Quote of the Day: “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not blame the past (but) accept our own responsibility for the future.” – John F. Kennedy (launched presidential run 60 years ago today)
Photo: by Eve Chan, CC license – cropped
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She was homeless just one year ago. But, after packing up and leaving Detroit so she could start a new life in northern Michigan, this 31-year old woman now has confirmation that she’s in the right place.
Danielle Franzoni moved to Alpena and settled into a homeless shelter to stay sober—after struggling with an opioid addition. Now a waitress, a generous tip is helping her build on her dreams after reaching two-years sober.
According to The Alpena News, Franzoni was working her Sunday shift at the waterfront Thunder Bay River Restaurant, when two regulars gave her the surprise of a lifetime, leaving a tip that made her burst into tears.
The total amount of the bill before the unexpected tip was just $23.33, yet the pair gifted her more than two thousand dollars more.
The handwritten note on the the receipt read: Danielle… Happy New Year… ‘2020’ Tip Challenge.
Franzoni told The Alpena News she was shocked, “They don’t know where I’ve come from, they don’t know how hard it’s been. They’re really just doing this out of the kindness of their heart.”
When asked what she plans to do with the money, the mother of three who just moved into a new house, explained that she’ll use some of it to obtain the last piece of the puzzle on her road to recovery—a driver’s license, something she hasn’t had for ten years.
With the bulk of the money going into a savings account, Franzoni will “build a future because of this.”
“My kids have a future,” she told WXYZ. “It’s a big deal. It’s a really big deal.”
Franzoni didn’t waste any time paying it forward, too. She went out to dinner that same day to celebrate, and joined the #2020TipChallenge by leaving a $20.20 tip for her server.
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She reportedly hopes to one day open a sobriety house for women and children to show others facing similar struggles that change is possible with the right support.
You might want to pay forward some kindness by joining the so-called #2020TipChallenge and spreading some extra love in your community, without asking for anything in return.
(WATCH a video from WXYZ News) – Featured photo via video screenshot
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Last month, internationally renowned tequila brand Jose Cuervo unveiled their latest eco-friendly initiative: salvaging the leftover agave fibers from their distilling process and upcycling them into a more sustainable alternative to regular plastic straws.
The company is hailing their “Agave Project” straws as a first-of-its-kind biodegradable, bio-based drinking straw that will decompose up to 200 times faster than regular plastic.
Developed in partnership with the scientists at BioSolutions Mexico and the production team at Mexico-based PENKA, the creation of the agave-based straws sets out to offer a more sustainable alternative for the beverage industry, and utilizes the tons of fibrous material left over from the tequila-making process.
In 2020, millions of Jose Cuervo biodegradable agave-based straws will be rolled out at bars, restaurants, and Jose Cuervo events across the US and Mexico in a bid to reduce the consumption of regular plastics from the tequila-drinking experience.
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As a family-run company with 225 years of tequila distilling experience, and the largest producer of agave by-product globally, Jose Cuervo has reportedly spent years exploring the potential of agave fiber as an alternative to plastic, paper, housing bricks, and fuel. Working with new partners like BioSolutions Mexico and PENKA marks the beginning of the rapid innovation needed to produce these sustainable items at scale and drive meaningful environmental impact.
“The past, present, and future of Jose Cuervo is tied directly to the agave plant – without it, we would not exist,” said Alex Coronado, Master Distiller and Head of Operations at Jose Cuervo. “It takes an average of 6 years to grow an agave plant before it is mature enough to harvest for tequila production, and we have to be committed to finding more ways to use the agave fibers once that process is complete. The debut of our biodegradable, agave-based drinking straws is a new step in utilizing the full potential of this very special Mexican agricultural product.
“As the tequila industry worldwide booms, it is our company’s responsibility as the leader to take care of the agave plant and ensure that we are producing tequila sustainably,” added Coronado.
Made with an agave bio-based and FDA-approved composite, the new straws replace around a third of the polymers used in traditional straw production, and at the end of its lifecycle can be consumed by microorganisms to fully biodegrade within one to five years in landfill conditions. This is a significant improvement over ordinary plastic drinking straws, which takes considerably more years in the same landfill conditions.
“As a by-product of the tequila industry, agave fiber is a rich resource we have harnessed to create an everyday, more sustainable alternative to plastic,” said Ana Laborde, CEO and Founder of BioSolutions Mexico and PENKA. “The agave fiber in our bio-based composites is an ideal material that not only works as a replacement to plastic, but simultaneously reduces the dependency on petroleum-based polymers, fossil fuels and water for the production of our straws.”
The agave-based straws feature a mouthfeel and texture similar to traditional plastic straws, with the agave fibers visibly creating a natural, organic tan color. The use of agave fiber by-product is a transformative improvement on other plant-based materials as the natural resources needed for growth is very low compared to plant-based materials coming from corn or potato crops.
“Sustainability isn’t just about biodegradability—that’s the end of the story, but not the beginning. It’s also about the life of the plant and how much energy and resources you need to create the biomaterial. Jose Cuervo’s upcycling of agave fibers generates a virtuous circle, and is the start of creating bio-based hybrid products that offer a meaningful improvement over traditional plastic materials,” continues Laborde.
Toast The Good News With Your Friends By Sharing It To Social Media…
Are you stumped on what you should try to accomplish this year? Do you need some advice from an expert on how to overcome life’s challenges?
Well, it’s a good thing that Simon Tofield has created another amusing animated video about the relatable New Year’s resolutions of a cat owner.
RELATED: Need a Laugh? Watch Award-winning Short Film About Forcing a Cat to Go to the Vet
Whether it’s learning to relax, face your fears, or pick up a new hobby, this new installment of Simon’s Cat has all the best tips on facing 2020 with optimism—despite the cat-astrophic obstacles along the way.
Simon’s Cat is a beloved animated web series featuring a conniving cat who exhibits all the typical feline antics we know and love, but with the purrrfect hilarity of cartoon ridiculousness. If you enjoy the series, be sure to check out the Simon’s Cat coloring book series on Amazon.
(WATCH the video below)
Click To Share This Purrrrfect Advice With Your Friends
