#solution for recycling

[sutras1]

Sustainable Progress Assessing Sustainability in Brooklyn, NY

In the bustling borough of Brooklyn, New York, sustainability is emerging as a key focus for both residents and policymakers alike. As the global community grapples with the challenges of climate change and environmental degradation, local initiatives and assessments are essential to ensure a sustainable future. Brooklyn, known for its vibrant communities and diverse neighborhoods, has been proactive in evaluating and enhancing its sustainability efforts.

One significant aspect of sustainability assessment in Brooklyn involves evaluating the ecological footprint of the community. This includes measuring and analyzing energy consumption, waste generation, and water usage. By understanding these metrics, local authorities can identify areas for improvement and implement targeted strategies to reduce environmental impact. Community-wide awareness campaigns have also played a crucial role in encouraging residents to adopt eco-friendly practices and reduce their carbon footprint.

Green spaces and urban agriculture are integral components of Brooklyn's sustainability agenda. Assessing the availability and accessibility of parks, community gardens, and green infrastructure is vital in promoting biodiversity and enhancing overall environmental health. These spaces not only contribute to cleaner air and water but also foster a sense of community engagement and well-being.

Transportation is another critical factor in Brooklyn's sustainability assessment. The borough has been investing in public transportation, cycling infrastructure, and electric vehicle charging stations to reduce reliance on traditional fossil fuel-based transportation. By evaluating the efficiency and accessibility of these initiatives, Brooklyn aims to create a more sustainable and eco-friendly urban mobility system.

Economic sustainability is also a focal point in Brooklyn's assessment strategy. Local businesses and industries are encouraged to adopt sustainable practices, from sourcing eco-friendly materials to implementing energy-efficient technologies. This approach not only benefits the environment but also enhances the long-term resilience of the local economy.

[reasonsforhope]

"As the world grows “smarter” through the adoption of smartphones, smart fridges, and entire smart houses, the carbon cost of that technology grows, too. 

In the last decade, electronic waste has become one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world. 

According to The World Counts, the globe generates about 50 million tons of e-waste every year. That’s the equivalent of 1,000 laptops being trashed every second. 

After they’re shipped off to landfills and incinerated, the trash releases toxic chemicals including lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and so much more, which can cause disastrous health effects on the populations that live near those trash sites. 

Fortunately, Franziska Kerber — a university student at ​​FH Joanneum in Graz, Austria — has dreamed up a solution that helps carve away at that behemoth problem: electronics made out of recyclable, dissolvable paper. 

On September 11, Kerber’s invention “Pape” — or Paper Electronics — earned global recognition when it was named a national winner of the 2024 James Dyson Awards. 

When she entered the scientific competition, Kerber demonstrated her invention with the creation of several small electronics made out of paper materials, including a fully-functional WiFi router and smoke detector. 

“Small electronic devices are especially prone to ending up in household waste due to unclear disposal systems and their small size, so there is significant potential to develop a more user-friendly end-of-life system,” Kerber wrote on the James Dyson Award website. 

“With this in mind, I aimed to move beyond a simple recycling solution to a circular one, ensuring long-term sustainability.” 

Kerber’s invention hinges on crafting a dissolvable and recyclable PCB board out of compressed “paper pulp.” 

A printed circuit board (PCB) is a board that can be found in nearly all modern electronic devices, like phones, tablets, and smartwatches.

But even companies that have started incorporating a “dissolution” step into the end life of their products require deconstruction to break down and recover the PCB board before it can be recycled. 

With Kerber’s PAPE products, users don’t need to take the device apart to recycle it.

“By implementing a user-friendly return option, manufacturers can efficiently dissolve all returned items, potentially reusing electronic components,” Kerber explained. 

“Rapidly advancing technology, which forms the core of many devices, becomes obsolete much faster than the structural elements, which are often made from plastics that can last thousands of years,” Kerber poses. 

PAPE, Kerber says, has a “designed end-of-life system” which anticipates obsolescence. 

“Does anyone want to use a thousand-year-old computer?” Kerber asks. “Of course not. … This ensures a sustainable and reliable system without hindering technological advancement.”"

-via GoodGoodGood, September 13, 2024

[hope-for-the-planet]

From the article:

“We really kind of refer to this as our third aqueduct,” says John Bednarski, an interim assistant general manager at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — a powerful agency, as the largest wholesale provider of water in the nation and owner of the Colorado River Aqueduct. The “third aqueduct” Bednarski is referring to is not another man-made appendage stretching to the Colorado River Basin or into Northern California but rather a project that’s designed to stay local — and sustainable: Pure Water Southern California would recycle wastewater, treat it and produce 150 million gallons of water each day, accounting for about 10 percent of the agency’s local water demands, according to Bednarski. “So it’s going to be a major contributor,” he says. [...] The L.A. Department of Water and Power is pursuing a similar recycling project. And in 2022, 26 cities and wholesale water providers that pull from the Colorado River wrote a memorandum of understanding committing to focusing on water recycling and reuse. The signatories, including Metropolitan, often point to Las Vegas as a model for recycling wastewater to reduce its total Colorado River use and increase the amount of water available for use. Nevada has long faced scarcity; of all the states, it receives the smallest share of the river: just 1.8 percent of all the water rights. By treating and reusing nearly all of its indoor water, the Las Vegas water purveyor effectively uses the same water over and over, expanding its supply. Now Las Vegas officials, along with Arizona water managers, are looking to the Pure Water project to further shore up supplies on the Colorado River. Their thinking: If Metropolitan can reduce its Colorado River use, its unused water could flow to Nevada and Arizona, providing a needed boost in an era when there is little to spare.  In that way, water recycling projects in one area can have consequences across watersheds."

[wachinyeya]

https://news.ku.dk/all_news/2024/06/researchers-invent-one-hundred-percent-biodegradable-barley-plastic/

From the article; Enormous islands of it float in our oceans and microscopic particles of it are in our bodies. The durability, malleability and low cost of plastics has made them ubiquitous, from packaging to clothing to aircraft parts. But plastics have a downside. Plastics contaminate nature, are tough to recycle and their production emits more CO2 than all air traffic combined.

Now, researchers at the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences have invented a new material made from modified starch that can completely decompose in nature – and do so within only two months. The material is made using natural plant material from crops and could be used for food packaging, among many other things.

"We have an enormous problem with our plastic waste that recycling seems incapable of solving. Therefore, we’ve developed a new type of bioplastic that is stronger and can better withstand water than current bioplastics. At the same time, our material is one hundred percent biodegradable and can be converted into compost by microorganisms if it ends up somewhere other than a bin," says Professor Andreas Blennow of the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences.

Only about nine percent of plastic is recycled globally, with the rest being either incinerated or winding up in nature or dumped into enormous plastic landfills.

Bioplastics already exist, but the name is misleading says Professor Blennow. While today’s bioplastics are made of bio-derived materials, only a limited part of them is actually degradable, and only under special conditions in industrial composting plants.

"I don't find the name suitable because the most common types of bioplastics don't break down that easily if tossed into nature. The process can take many years and some of it continues to pollute as microplastic. Specialized facilities are needed to break down bioplastics. And even then, a very limited part of them can be recycled, with the rest ending up as waste," says the researcher.

Starch from barley and sugar industry waste

The new material is a so-called biocomposite and composed of several different substances that decompose naturally. Its main ingredients, amylose and cellulose, are common across the plant kingdom. Amylose is extracted from many crops including corn, potatoes, wheat and barley.

Together with researchers from Aarhus University, the research team founded a spinoff company in which they developed a barley variety that produces pure amylose in its kernels. This new variety is important because pure amylose is far less likely to turn into a paste when it interacts with water compared to regular starch. Cellulose is a carbohydrate found in all plants and we know it from cotton and linen fibers, as well as from wood and paper products. The cellulose used by the researchers is a so-called nanocellulose made from local sugar industry waste. And these nanocellulose fibers, which are one thousand times smaller than the fibers of linen and cotton, are what contribute to the material’s mechanical strength.

"Amylose and cellulose form long, strong molecular chains. Combining them has allowed us to create a durable, flexible material that has the potential to be used for shopping bags and the packaging of goods that we now wrap in plastic," says Andreas Blennow.

The new biomaterial is produced by either dissolving the raw materials in water and mixing them together or by heating them under pressure. By doing so, small 'pellets' or chips are created that can then be processed and compressed into a desired form.

Thus far, the researchers have only produced prototypes in the laboratory. But according to Professor Blennow, getting production started in Denmark and many other places in the world would be relatively easy.

"The entire production chain of amylose-rich starch already exists. Indeed, millions of tons of pure potato and corn starch are produced every year and used by the food industry and elsewhere. Therefore, easy access to the majority of our ingredients is guaranteed for the large-scale production of this material," he says.

Could reduce plastic problem

Andreas Blennow and his fellow researchers are now processing a patent application that, once it has been approved, could pave the way for production of the new biocomposite material. Because, despite the huge sums of money being devoted to sorting and recycling our plastic, the researcher does not believe that it will really be a success. Doing so should be seen as a transitional technology until we bid fossil-based plastics a final farewell.

"Recycling plastic efficiently is anything but straightforward. Different things in plastics must be separated from each other and there are major differences between plastic types, meaning that the process must be done in a safe way so that no contaminants end up in the recycled plastic. At the same time, countries and consumers must sort their plastic. This is a massive task that I don’t see us succeeding at. Instead, we should rethink things in terms of utilizing new materials that perform like plastic, but don’t pollute the planet," says Blennow.

The researcher is already collaborating with two Danish packaging companies to develop prototypes for food packaging, among other things. He envisions many other uses for the material as well, such as for the interior trims of cars by the automotive industry. Though it is difficult to say when this biofriendly barley-based plastic will reach the shelves, the researcher predicts that the new material may become a reality in the foreseeable future.

“It's quite close to the point where we can really start producing prototypes in collaboration with our research team and companies. I think it's realistic that different prototypes in soft and hard packaging, such as trays, bottles and bags, will be developed within one to five years," concludes Andreas Blennow.

[3ggbed]

the nation is so scared of tiktok banned and chinese spying when im literally lookin thru their windows and they dont care. im stealing things from their recycling box (perfectly good intact things) and they dont CARE>

[mokeonn]

Before I go to sleep I leave you all with this piece of advice: sometimes you don't actually have to answer big political questions, sometimes you can just say "I am not smart enough to know that, I just know the small things I do to help." Like you can often times completely avoid making a fool of yourself if you just say you don't know.

[impetuousdesigns]

Did some small (literally small; they are like an inch across) experiments with plastic bits we picked up at the beach. I arranged them on shrinking plastic pieces and melted it together in the oven. I wanted to test what temp is good for melting the plastic just enough to stick together, not so hot it melts into blobs. Of course, different plastics are softer or harder, but I think I got a feel for that too.

[soilthesimpletruth]

Follow the positive dreams because dreams turn into reality.

[iamthepulta]

Making my own post because now capitalism is just revolving in my brain and I want to respond, but I've intruded more than enough. ^^"

I do think capitalism can be solved, and history actually gives me hope because it shows the fundamental need of society. Humans aren't inherently greedy or cruel. The greed and the cruelty are symptoms of a long-standing human need to make things better than they were before: to live comfortably, and without fear.

Capitalism is merely the current expression of this need that we live in.

Solving the need is absolutely possible by establishing a baseline standard of living and resource allotment. And that's comparable to an amount of 'work' that we deem acceptable in our daily lives. Because if you think about it, making coffee every morning with a Keurig gets you a similar product to making coffee every morning with a hand grinder and cold press: one just takes more resources and time than the other.

However, this needs to be flexible because humans are individuals with different needs, and the premise is also questionable because who's setting this baseline anyway?

I personally think it has more to do with government setting a cap on resource imports. (I think it should be stronger than tariffs, personally. Just a hard cap for the year.)

You can't really control demand. That's what most socialists do, and it always fails because humans fundamentally want to make their lives easier. But you can control resource management. If the government says we can only import 20 tons of cotton this year, and we produce 80 tons of cotton, so companies get 100 tons of cotton to do whatever with, and that's it. If we want more cotton, we have to axe some other import.

It 1) makes management visual. 2) gives citizens a personal reason to be invested in their government. 3) will not allocate resources fairly, but will show the true value of a product for the region it's in and prioritize local resources [i.e. if your country does not produce garnets, garnets will be more expensive than gold]. 4) increases jobs since there's far less incentive to outsource work, overall decreasing inequality. 5) encourages a circular economy.

In which case, I suppose I'm for some form of socialist autarky and I think that would solve a decent number of capitalist problems. Companies could no longer overrun workers and there's individual choice behind jobs, work, and some form of style of living.

It IS bad in like- fifty million other ways though. You can't just go from a country used to living in a capitalist society to imposing tariffs and screaming about autarky. Natural resources WILL be destroyed on your own soil and the biggest nation will have the highest quality of living. Imports have to be on a factor of population growth and this might only be possible with nations for a declining population rate. If at all. You also have to add a judicial angle for the people who will inevitably try to take over that system. And, most of all, you have to commit to not going to fucking war over state expansion for resources. Looking at you, Russia.

So I suppose we COULD solve capitalism, at the expense of a whole lot of other problems that are equally meh-to-bad.

Governments are fundamentally resource management machines though, and it's really stupid to pretend they aren't. With resource management, comes capping the fuck out of companies (specialists) that abuse the system (monopolies/oligarchies). When a government doesn't do that (whatever the method), it's failed its purpose as a government and also needs to be put down (revolution).

[lemongogo]

question . what do u guys do w ur old sketchbooks

[zerotometal]

Dumpster Diving / Alley Picking

Almost every weekend I find myself pulling my youngest one in a cart up and down the block in an effort to take him to and from the playground up the street. Sometimes he's not down for the playground, but rather likes to be carried around like some sort of small prince. I indulge this because I need the exercise and it gives me a change to do one of my favorite free activities - alley picking.

Here in Chicago we don't have a lot of dumpsters to garbage thrown onto the curb like in NYC, but we do have alleys. People will leave out perfectly good items on the side of the trashcan in a nod to "I think this is nice stuff, just not nice enough for me to donate to Goodwill". Case in point, this weekend I was walking down the alley when these cup and plate combos came to my attention. I scooped them up, ran them through the dishwasher and are planning to use them for movie nights, and picnics in the park. In the past I've scored under cabinet storage systems (new in the box), didgeridoo's, original pyrex dishes, jumpers, and lots of clothes. Most of it is resold on postmark, Facebook marketplace etc, but sometimes I keep things for myself.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

SURPRISE Burger Truck with PRINCE WILLIAM

30 July 2023

Is this our biggest collab ever?

Today, the boys are set a challenge by ACTUAL PRINCE WILLIAM to review some of the winners of The Earthshot Prize, setup by The Prince to discover, accelerate and scale groundbreaking solutions to repair and regenerate the planet.

They then hit the road together to serve up an “Earthshot Burger” from a food truck to unsuspecting members of the Sorted Community!

[stellamancer]

suguru's existence has caused at least two of my wips to come to a standstill because hE GETS IN THE WAY LIKE COME ON DO NOT DO THIS TO MEEEEEE.

[personal-blog243]

If there is anyone in Pennsylvania who is undecided please send this to them. Or anyone who think that renewable energy is inherently bad for “the economy”.

Would it help if I pointed out Taylor Swift was born in Pennsylvania? 🙄

[wachinyeya]

An Infinitely Recyclable Plastic Could Solve the World’s Pollution Problem https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/an-infinitely-recyclable-bio-plastic-could-solve-worlds-pollution-problem/