There’s just too much plastic in the world. We’re drowning in it. But an enterprising French company hopes to change all that with the invention of a compound called Evanesto. The enzyme based material is added to conventional PLA plastic at the manufacturing stage, which then turns it into something which can be composted in less than 200 days. Proper compost. The company, called Carbiolice, claim that the enzymes can be used for all forms of plastic packaging, tableware or…
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Plastic That Breaks Down In The Ocean Can Happen – but there’s a catch
Making plastic that degrade in the ocean isn’t impossible, it’s VERY doable in a number of different ways in fact! But it turns out that implementing such things in a cost effective manner is a bit beyond us at this time so lets not ignore immediate benefits of the Three R’s, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
Read MoreCooking Oil to 3D Printing – new research develops a way to recycle oil
If you cook you’ve probably got a jar of used oil sitting somewhere near your stove. Hopefully you’re not dumping it down the drain. Most people put it out with the trash but what if you could recycle it? Researchers from the University of Toronto have devised a way to turn used oil from McDonald’s into 3D printing resin that is biodegradable.
Read MoreManufacturers To Be Charged for Their Packaging – money to support recycling
Recycling in the US is often times a nice idea in theory but in practice, is more trouble than some counties are finding it’s worth which has led to many places ending their recycling pick up. To keep this from happening, some think that the onus for the bill should be on the producers of the plastic.
Read MorePlastic Guide – check out this info-graphic on plastic
Plastic is in everything. It’s in EVERYTHING. Look around you, just thinking about how much plastic surrounds you, how much you’re literally holding if you’re reading this on a mobile device. We can all agree that it’s not great but it’s all not created equal. Here’s a handy chart of each of the major plastic types.
Read MorePlastic Recycling Isn’t What You Think – most ends up in landfills
It’s time to get a reality check about recycling. There’s nothing wrong about it but it’s not the cure all to the plastic problem and in fact, most plastic ends up in landfills or burnt, not made into new products. In 2020, people should strive to purchase less plastic rather than counting on recycling to fix everything.
Read MoreRecycle or Trash? – check out this guide to the blue bin
Recycling won’t solve every pollution issue we have but it will help in some cases. Not everything we use can be recycled and there are even more things that we think can be, but really shouldn’t go into the blue bin. Here’s a quick list of some common items that should just be thrown in the trash.
Read MoreGive Back Box – do some charity with your old shipping boxes
It’s boxing week and if you’ve been accumulating boxes from all your deliveries or have a bunch of empties sitting around from gift giving, don’t just put them out for the recycling to pick up. Check out Give Back Box and help some folks in need.
Read MoreWe Need To Think About Stuff – and buy less of it
All the stuff we have in our lives has to go somewhere. Eventually, no matter how sturdy and well made it is, it will end up in the trash and given that cold hard reality, we need think more about our stuff. The second thing we need to realize is, nobody wants your stuff and these are the big ideas behind Secondhand by Adam Minter.
Read MoreDo Personal Acts Matter – if everyone does a little, we can do a lot
Do personal choices affect climate change outcomes? That’s one of the big questions for the climate crisis. We know that the major factors come from industry and obviously, a private person forgoing air travel or cutting meat from their menu won’t change that. But, even so, making personal changes can have an impact, just not exactly in the way we think.
Read MorePlastic Roads – from bags to blacktop
There’s a lot of plastic in the world and most of it ends up in landfills and the environment, not in a recycling center. This is a very bad thing. One solution is to just take some of that plastic and make roads out of it.
Read MoreCan You Recycle That – check out this guide to see what to do what that plastic
Plastic recycling is hard. It’s time we all admitted it. It’s not as easy as just tossing your plastic into the right bin. Most people end up with a lot of plastic just from grocery shopping and not all of these can be recycled. This handy guide will let you know what can and can’t be recycled.
Read MoreKenyan Plastic Bag Ban – two years on, there are some ups and downs
Plastic bag bans are much talked about but do they really work? Kenya banned plastic carrier bags two years ago and so far, it’s been pretty positive. If for nothing else, plastic bags have stopped showing up in cows’ stomachs.
Read MoreGoogle Commits To Sustainable Manufacturing – recycled plastics will be in all their hardware by 2022
Google is jumping on the sustainable bandwagon and pledging to use recycled materials in all of it’s hardware by 2022 and by 2020 for it’s deliveries to be carbon neutral. A tech giant of such caliber taking a stand against emissions and pollution are solid steps in the right direction.
Read MoreKaffeeForm – the coffee cups made from coffee grounds
Coffee grounds are great for throwing in your garden and also, as it turns out, for making coffee cups. Kaffeeform is the startup that turns used coffee grounds into reusable coffee cups. So you can have your coffee from a cup made out of coffee.
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