We’re happy that you reached our website. Here you will find a series of articles that promote well-being and a sustainable way of life. Explore our site so you find inspiration to make a positive change in your life. Our reading material includes travel and tips plus ways to contribute in the making of a better world.
Experts believe that cultured meat companies, such as Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods, may be the future of the meat industry around the world, bringing enormous benefits to the environment with it. The production of the traditional meat industry has brought many ethical and environmental issues to the table, as it provides 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The industrial meat production requires a huge amount of land to sustain itself, including forests deliberately destroyed which causes the release of billions of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and accelerates global warming. For example, the United States alone consumes three times the global average of meat, and swapping to lab-grown meat would reduce emissions by 61% to 73%. Moreover, animal agriculture is responsible for the release of more greenhouse gases emissions compared to all the world’s transportation systems combined.
One solution to this issue, taken into consideration that by 2050 the world population would reach 10 billion or more, is to farm seaweed which is protein-rich, low fat and rich in vitamins, zinc and iron. But for people who love the taste and texture of meat, nurturing meat cells that multiply its tissue similarly to the one from a living cow.
Another benefit of lab-grown meat is it could help solve the worldwide shortage of protein-rich foods following the coronavirus pandemic, and many countries could embrace the idea of having lab-grown beef while also slowing the effects of climate change.
Technology has changed the world for the positive by, for example, allowing millions of people to work remotely, order groceries online and even use the help of Artificial Intelligence in our day to day tasks. As the COVID-19 outbreak accelerated contactless solutions around the city, smart parking has been one the initiatives to reduce exchanging cash and parking meter use.
Governments and tech companies are now creating platforms that allow people to check parking occupancy anywhere in the city and pay for it online right from their smartphones. Now, instead of having to interact with a real person on having to wait in line to pay for the service, users can even add more funds to their reservation without having to even be close to the parking space where they left their car in.
Digital parking technology is another component of smart cities that are quickly changing the way we interact with our city spaces. Additional benefits of digital parking include space optimization as users have higher visibility into parking spaces surrounding each area, as well as unloading some of the city traffic that is caused by drivers looking for a place to park.
Whether you are looking for a parking space at malls, schools, parks around the city or in your office, regular parking causes an impact to the environment and stress to people who simply cannot find a space. With the introduction of these technologies, people are able to find where to park more efficiently and without having to interact with real money.
A group of German chemists have developed a sustainable plastic alternative that allows it to be chemically recycled 10 times more efficiently than normal plastic. Derived from plant oils, this is a more environmentally friendly option when compared to the conventional fossil fuel-based plastic that has polluted Earth so much for decades.
Nowadays, recycling is mostly done by sorting and slicing plastic into pellets that are used to create new materials at a temperature of at least 600 degrees Celsius, and is chemically recycled at a rate lower than 10%. With these plant-based plastics, the long polymer chains of plastic are broken down with heat or solvents to get the material back to its initial components in a more efficient manner. For example, they require a temperature of 120 to 150 degrees Celsius and retain a 96% of the initial material.
These plant-based plastics come in an appropriate time, as landfills and warehouses struggle to keep up the never-ending increase of disposed plastic waste. Chemical recycling will play a significant role in a circular economy by reducing plastic waste and repurposing it into new products.
The new plant-based plastics are very similar to high-density polyethylene, which is mostly known for its recycling number 2, and is better suited for 3D printing as it retains its properties even after the recycling process after reusing it. They also biodegrade in nature more quickly than common plastic types.
Hopefully in the not-so-far-away future we can all gain access to these plant-based plastic solutions.
