UK supermarket plans on going plastic-free by 2023 LONDON (Reuters) – British supermarket Iceland plans to eliminate plastic packaging from all of its own brand products by the end of 2023 and called on the industry to follow its lead. Theresa May pledged to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste within 25 years as part of the…
Harvard’s remarkable new battery can run for more than a decade Researchers have discovered a way to make the promising flow battery much more practical. Flow batteries store energy in liquid-filled tanks. Prior to this most recent discovery, flow batteries, after a number of charge-discharge cycles, would suffer from rapid storage capacity degradation. In order to…
Nikki Reed and Dell create gold jewelry line from recycled computers Dell has partnered with designer Nikki Reid to create a jewelry line that has 99% less impact on the planet than if it were traditionally mined. Did you know that only 12.5 percent of electronics are responsibly recycled globally? Many of these devices…
China will plant over 16 million acres of forest in 2018 The pollution-beleaguered country plans to increase forest coverage to 23 percent of its total landmass by the end of the decade. I’ve always wondered how China could sit by as its air, water and other natural splendors were being turned into the stuff of…
Young engineers discover genius solution to restore Gaza Could ‘Green Cake’ help rebuild the besieged Gaza Strip? Majd Mashharawi has invented environmentally friendly, cheap and lightweight blocks that use ash instead of sand. With an all-female team of engineers in Gaza she’s developping an affordable new way to produce concrete from the leftover rubble of homes destroyed…
Intergenerational senior homes More retirement and nursing homes are asking college students to move in, an arrangement that benefits everyone. On his way home from class, Jurriën Mentink takes a slight detour to pick up some fresh fillets from the fishmonger. His neighbor has an affinity for fish and, since he cycles by the market…
US: 1 million smart thermostats to low-income families Smart thermostats like Nest do appear to pay for themselves in energy savings, but the upfront cost of several hundred dollars can be pretty hard to swallow for many households. That got a little easier recently with the launch of Nest Thermostat E (review coming soon), which…
Bhopal Junction, 1st India’s railway station to install a sanitary napkin vending machine While it is common to see most railway stations equipped with ticket counters, passenger helpdesks, toilets, refreshment stalls and waiting rooms, Bhopal has made yet another necessity available for its women commuters by making low-cost sanitary napkins available at the railway station.…
Iceland: January 1, it’s now illegal to pay male more than women for the same job On January 1, Iceland implemented a new law that makes it illegal for companies to pay male employees more than women for doing the same job. As a result, Iceland is now the first country in the world to ensure equal…
Bike-sharing systems: Philadelphia integrate equity strategies Bike-sharing systems have been growing in popularity across the U.S. in the past decade. Since the launch of Smartbike DC (now called Capital Bike Share) in Washington D.C. in August of 2008, residents in many major American cities now have access to a bike-share system. That’s the good news.…