Charm Trivia
2018
The inaugural Earth Day in 1970 saw 20 million Americans demand action, leading to the creation of this federal agency by year’s end to tackle environmental issuesourair.org
What is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)?
Named after a mineral, this type of solar cell can be tuned to absorb different wavelengths and has achieved over 25% efficiency in labs – offering cheaper, ultra-efficient solar power once stability challenges are solved
What are perovskite solar cells?
Though intended to save the ozone layer, this treaty became extremely impactful: by phasing out CFCs and similar gases it averted an estimated 1°C of warming by mid-century, eliminating ~135 billion tons of CO₂
What is the Montreal Protocol?
Growing crops in this manner with hydroponics and LED light – can produce food year-round while using up to 95% less water than traditional farming, since water is recaptured and recycled
What is vertical farming?
How many values does Charm have - and what are they?
First, Do No Harm, Weird and Full of Wonder, You’re Not Alone, Radical Resilience, Solve the Right Problem, Gigatons or Bust
A massive 1969 oil spill in this City inspired a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin to organize the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 ourair.org
Santa Barbara
In 2021, Sweden’s HYBRIT project delivered the world’s first batch this fossil-free metal – produced with renewable hydrogen instead of coal – a breakthrough for decarbonizing an industry that emits ~8% of global CO₂
What is steel? (the first fossil-free steel)
In 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that greenhouse gases fit the Clean Air Act’s definition of “air pollutants,” obligating EPA to regulate CO₂ emissions for publichealth in this now infamous case.
What is Massachusetts v. EPA?
This building standard uses extreme insulation, airtight design, and heat recovery to slash a building’s heating and cooling energy use by up to 90% compared to typical structures
What is the Passive House standard?
How many conference rooms does the Minifactory have? And What are their names?
6! Ponderosa Pine, Douglas Fir, Zea Mays, Triticum, Giant King Grass, and Sugarcane Bagasse
On its 20th anniversary in 1990, 200 million people across 141 countries and giving a huge boost to worldwide recycling effortsearthday.org
What is Earth Day?
In January 2023, the U.S. NRC certified the design of this – which promises to generate safe nuclear energy in compact units
What is the NuScale SMR (small modular reactor)?
Signed in 2022, an unprecedented $369 billion was dedicated to clean energy and climate programs – the largest climate investment in American history
What is the Inflation Reduction Act?
Practices like no-till farming, cover crops, and diverse crop rotations to restore soil health and capture carbon are exmapled ot this method of farming
What is regenerative agriculture?
In which class of injection well are we authorized to inject only non-hazardous fluids underground?
What is Class V
On Earth Day 2016, leaders from over 170 countries gathered at the UN to sign this landmark climate agreement – the largest one-day signing of any international accord.
What is the Paris Agreement?
In Dec. 2022, scientists at LLNL’s National Ignition Facility achieved a fusion ignition breakthrough – a fusion reaction outputting more energy than the laser energy used to start it.
What is (achieving) nuclear fusion ignition?
At COP27 (2022) in Egypt, nations agreed to establish this fund to help vulnerable countries cope with climate-related disasters – a breakthrough for climate justice after decades of debate
What is a Loss and Damage fund?
A charcoal made by burning waste biomass in low oxygen – can be buried in soil to lock away carbon for centuries. This process (pyrolysis) converts plant carbon into a stable form, effectively sequestering CO₂ and improving soil fertility
What is biochar?
What are the origins of the name Charm?
Char + Farm = Charm
Every year, Earth Day has a theme. what is the theme of Earth Day 2025?
Our Power, Our Planet - calling for everyone to unite around renewable energy so we can triple clean electricity by 2030.
Spraying aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight – mimicking volcanic effects – is a form of this controversial term, proposed to cool the planet and offset global warming
What is solar geoengineering (stratospheric aerosol injection)?
In a 2015 lawsuit brought by 886 citizens, a Dutch court made history by ordering the national government to cut GHG emissions at least 25% below 1990 levels by 2020 – the first case to legally require a country to protect its people from climate change
What is the Urgenda climate case (Netherlands v. Urgenda)?
This philosophy models industrial production on nature’s cyclic processes. Products are designed so that at end-of-life, all materials become “nutrients” – either safely composted or endlessly recycled – resulting in zero waste
What is cradle-to-cradle design?