The environment is in danger. Deforestation, ocean acidification, and rising temperatures are just a few of the less-than-beneficial effects that humans have caused and are now dealing with.
Although the facts are complicated, the patterns cannot be simply refuted. But these days, the subject of global catastrophe might make people angry and may cause readers to hunch over it in defence. Perhaps it’s because we’re constantly bombarded with the worst of everything and seldom ever given the chance to celebrate the answers. In this article, we have the Top 10 Innovations Solving Environmental Challenges. They help us save our environment.
1. Organic Burial Pods
To make the wood for coffins, 4 million acres of hardwood forest are felled every year. After that, the lawns of cemeteries need constant irrigation and synthetic fertilization. However, two Italian artists are reconsidering how we do funerals, and the result is pretty lovely. Thanks to the biodegradable Capsule Mundi, your body might become the “seed” of a new tree when you pass away. A live memorial to your life is also created by your death; this is a tree, which is a far more lovely memorial than a concrete slab.
2. Plastic-Free, Edible Flight Meal Trays
Even while we’re flying through the skies, people still manage to produce garbage. In actuality, trash from passenger flights—including single-use plastics, food waste, and other materials—amounts to 5.7 million tonnes annually. Because of this, PriestmanGoode’s environmentally friendly flight food trays are a huge boon to the aviation sector and our overall carbon footprint. The trays come with edible packaging, including reusable bowls made of wheat bran, covers made of banana leaves, and utensils made of coconut wood, as well as being biodegradable, plastic-free, and commercially compostable.
3. Plastic-Eating Caterpillars
Researchers from Cambridge University have found that moth larvae can gnaw through plastic. It’s a ground-breaking discovery considering that plastic debris covers over 40% of the ocean’s surface area. Additionally, it puts marine life in peril, including fish, seabirds, turtles, whales, dolphins, and seals, who are hurt or killed when they mistakenly ingest plastic or get caught in it. Despite their little size, these microscopic superheroes have bio-degrading abilities that might be crucial in reducing plastic waste, an ecological necessity for safeguarding our seas.
4. Biodegradable Coolers
Hate the sound polystyrene makes, like nails on a chalkboard? The detested content seems just as harmful to the environment as it is to our ears. Extruded polystyrene, sometimes known as Styrofoam, is just extruded polystyrene that has been given a trademarked name by Dow Chemical. This foam adds to greenhouse gas emissions, doesn’t disintegrate for hundreds of years, and has the potential to harm turtles, fish, and other animals who mistake it for food. Fortunately, you may continue to preserve your beverages’ coldness while simultaneously protecting the environment. RECOOL is a biodegradable cooler developed by Igloo out of recycled paper and paraffin wax. It may be reused often because of its water resistance, and once it has served its purpose, it can be recycled, composted, or used for dry storage.
5. Partially Biodegradable Vegan Leather
Why spend money on conventional leather when you can get longer-lasting, cruelty-free leather? Desserto, the first vegan leather manufactured from nopal (prickly pear) cactus, was introduced by two Mexican company entrepreneurs. The environmentally friendly substitute for typical leather is devoid of the hazardous substances and phthalates that, after entering streams, contaminate our seas. Additionally, the leather made from cactus leaves is flexible, breathable, and will endure for ten years or more, making it equally as durable as regular leather while being far more eco-friendly.
6. Solar-Powered Glow-in-the-Dark Bicycle Path
Poland has a history of having bike-friendly cities, and with solar-powered glow-in-the-dark bike lanes, their cities may become even safer at night for bikers. These luminescent cycling strips were developed at a research facility in Pruszków and are constructed of blue luminophores, a man-made substance that produces light after receiving a solar charge. The solar-powered strips can emit light for 10 hours at a time, which means they may stay lit throughout the night without a separate power source.
7. Drainage Pipe Nets
Australia’s Kwinana has developed a brilliant yet straightforward method of reducing water pollution. When garbage and plastic are caught in nets that are installed over stormwater drainage pipes, they are prevented from entering the city’s waterways. When the nets are full, they are sent to a waste management facility where recyclable and non-recyclable items are sorted. The nets managed to catch a remarkable 815 pounds of trash in the first three months. We hope additional towns will adopt this cost-effective but effective pollution reduction strategy since dirty rivers are harmful to people, animals, and the environment.
8. Living Chandelier
Glass chandeliers, move aside. An eco-friendly lighting design by a biotechnologist and engineer from the UK has established the model for environmental elegance. Algae-filled leaves used to create the living chandelier cleanse the air by collecting carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. The designer is working hard to extend the idea of photosynthesis to larger structures, allowing them to reduce their carbon footprints as well, even if this chandelier is still in the prototype stage.
9. Sneakers & Sportswear Made From Plastic Ocean Waste
The Adidas Futurecraft Loop is the name of the footwear of the future, which is already here. To transform marine debris into footwear with these 100% recyclable shoes, the sportswear industry behemoth teamed up with the environmental group Parley for the Oceans in 2015. You may return your worn-out trainers to Adidas, who will recycle the materials to make a brand-new pair. Given that the apparel sector is the second-largest polluter in the world, their aim of producing 11 million pairs of shoes from recovered ocean plastic is a significant step in the direction of sustainable design.
10. Solar-Powered RV
Your upcoming road trip might be more affordable and environmentally friendly, thanks to the work of the RV firm Dethleffs. Their solar-powered RV uses the sun’s energy to run, so you won’t need fuel or a charging station to get where you need to go. After travelling 100 miles on the 3,000 watts of power, you both get to pause and enjoy some sunshine before continuing your expedition.
