Technology is rapidly creating more sustainable options in the fashion world. Fabric is being made from fungi, seaweed, and cow dung, while a robot in Japan can now create a T-shirt in 22 seconds! Zero-waste design is impressive and promising as well. 3-D laser scans take 43 measurements of a client, then make clothes that … Continue reading Slow Food Meets Slow Fashion in Eco-Warrior Princess
When asked if climate change is real, we're much more likely to say “yes” if it’s hot outside that day. In fact, if you are holding a hot beverage when someone is discussing climate change, you're more likely to be a believer as well. People’s beliefs can be fickle that way. I spoke with Dr. … Continue reading The Psychology of Climate Change Denial
You’ve probably been told at some point that your plastic bags are piling up in landfills, or escaping into the sea to join that giant trash monster swirling around the south Pacific. But what about our gadgets? Maybe there’s something about the sleek retina display, or the fact that we rarely ever throw them directly … Continue reading What Happened to Your Last iPhone?
“Blotting” is what it’s called – creating a farm on a piece of abandoned urban land that's smaller than a city block, but larger than a single house plot. With 40 square miles of abandoned land, a chunk the size of Miami, Detroit is prime blotting territory. Over 1,000 urban gardens now dapple the landscape, growing about … Continue reading Motown Goes Green
Fashion trends and cheap clothes are draining the planet of water, and leaving tons of wasted textiles that resale and donations can’t keep up with. The once vast Aral Sea, which is now a tenth its original size, is a testament to the amount of water needed to grow cotton. As early as 2030, water … Continue reading When Your Old Clothes Are Respun into Your New Clothes
Robbie Orvis works for a sustainability think tank that’s basically an office full of battle-hardened climate-change warriors.The San Francisco based Energy Innovation consults everyone from the central government of China to small-town city planners on how to most effectively “de-carbonize” their societies. For Robbie, our energy future depends on smart and flexible grids, performance-based … Continue reading Forget What You Know About Energy
Less than one tenth of plastic actually gets recycled worldwide. Most of the 300+ million tons that we pump out every year is dumped in nature, landfilled, or incinerated. Among the many reasons our recycling rates continue to lag, the quality of recycled plastic is a big one. To make a new plastic bottle out … Continue reading Unlocking a New Way to Recycle Plastics
Jamie Rhodes cut his teeth as a canvasser against mercury pollution. He went door to door, raising awareness on the staggering amount of heavy metals that make it into our food supply. It was through this experience that he got involved in the extremely important world of electronic waste, and became a policy wonk on … Continue reading How to Fix a Culture of Waste
Ronin 8’s technology uses sound energy to separate all the different materials in electronics waste. I spoke with founder, Peter Holgate to learn more about their work. Our conversation ventured into his vision for the future of electronics – a world where phones upgrade themselves, and brands become the stewards of materials rather than the … Continue reading A Glimpse into the Future of Electronics Recycling
