Posted in Sustainable Living

Sustainable Technology: Q&A with TODAY App Creator

Born from a desire to bring big changes to the world via our ever increasing reliance on technology, Seb Berry created the TODAY App, offering users the chance to take on small sustainable challenges that have big impacts on our planet.

We got the chance to speak with Seb about sustainability, solutions and the big challenges in today’s society.

Q: What inspired you to create the TODAY App?

A: For me, the first thing was to try and figure out how to bring the world’s most monumental challenges into some kind of framework that feels personal and relevant.

We live with one of the most powerful pieces of technology in our pockets, 24hrs a day. Many of us also recognise the need to make change towards sustainable alternatives, and technology can help make it more fun and easy to share.

I saw so much power in the small choices we make as individuals, which play into broader systems and dynamics with environment & climate as much as business & governance – and imagined how we might recognise our own potential in our daily habits.

I’m inspired by the incredible things people are capable of, and brought the TODAY App to life to provide a platform to empower people with the personal difference they can make on many of the biggest issues facing our generation.

Individually and collectively we share many common goals, and we can work toward them by focusing our energy and attention into what we know is important – but we tend to get distracted and forget about those things in our day-to-day lives.

 Q: Tell us a little bit more about the app. What’s your favourite feature?

A: TODAY is a sustainable living app that gives people one small challenge that they can make each day. It gives people feedback on the positive impact they’re having. It prompts little habit hacks and changes we can easily make – like going meat free for a day or grabbing a reusable coffee cup.

The vision of the TODAY App is to create a lifestyle tool that motivates us to take up more sustainable habits. You can see daily quotes alongside active challenges, personal impact and collective impact.

My favourite feature for the App right now is ‘Invite Friends’, which allows people to start building teams and a support crew around taking on positive new habits and having the support network to keep up with them.

 Q: Do you think we’re becoming more or less sustainable in today’s society? Why?

A: There is much happening that is positive. It’s an interesting and tough question to answer though, as there equally are signs that as a global community the net shift is still heading in the wrong direction.

There’s huge groundswell in awareness and action around sustainability. In media, government and non-government organisations, business, community and then of course ratified commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 by 150 world leaders.

As individuals (consumers if you will) we also drive the agenda though – and that’s a critical factor. There is something of a reliance on support structures such as government to provide answers to how we will turn the tide on unsustainable human practices. However, the Catch-22 is that consumer behaviour is the very thing that motivates business and drives policy. Equal pressure is needed from both sides to find balance with the natural world and arrive at a healthy and sustainable future.

As a business owner myself, I would say there is a real change in the air with organisations realigning with deeper values and taking the initiative to shift the goal posts around people and planet as much as profit. In this respect I would highly recommend all organisations to go through the process of B Corporation Certification and involving as many of their teams in that process as possible.

 Q: What’s your favourite TODAY challenge? Why?

A: There are so many things we can do, and I’ve only incorporated a small number of the hundreds of habit hacks that I’d like to have in there. 

My favourite challenge would also have to be the most impactful. And one of the most significant habits we can get into is reducing the amount of meat in our diets.

What I hope people get out of the App is a sense of:

Personal motivation – consider it a sustainable living buddy.

Connection with friends who also want to make a positive impact, since you can log into the app through Facebook.

Access to products and services that can help to support more sustainable living in the long term.

 Q: Tell us your top three tips for sustainable living

  1. A: Try going VEGAN
  2. Buy nothing else NEW in 2018
  3. Move all your services to GREEN

 Q: Can we look forward to TODAY for Android in the future?

A: Good question! Further work is going into the App to make it more awesome. First thing’s first, we need to help people form the sustainability habits that they’re going for, and support them with the community, information, products or services they need to maintain them.

While an Android version would be great to make available, we’re looking for resources to be able to make that happen.

To help accelerate TODAY on its journey, we’ve just built a chatbot game for Plastic Free July on Facebook Messenger. The idea here is for us to keep testing and making things better while finding the money to be able to continue App Development.

If it’s not too late, please go to https://m.me/thetodayinitiative and simply click Get Started to get involved in the Plastic Free July game – you’ll get little daily reminders to keep up the good work!

Check out the TODAY App here and download it from the Apple Store here. 

If We Can’t Recycle It, Why Not Turn Our Waste Plastic Into Fuel?

Australia’s recycling crisis needs us to look into waste management options beyond just recycling and landfilling. Some of our waste, like paper or organic matter, can be composted. Some, like glass, metal and rigid plastics, can be recycled. But we have no immediate solution for non-recyclable plastic waste except landfill.

At a meeting last month, federal and state environment ministers endorsed an ambitious target to make all Australian packaging recyclable, compostable or reusable by 2025. But the ministers also showed support for processes to turn our waste into energy, although they did not specifically discuss plastic waste as an energy source.

The 100% goal could easily be achieved if all packaging were made of paper or wood-based materials. But realistically, plastic will continue to dominate our packaging, especially for food, because it is moisture-proof, airtight, and hygienic.

Most rigid plastic products can only be recycled a few times before they lose their original properties and become non-recyclable. Even in European countries with strict waste management strategies, only 31% of plastic waste is recycled.

Worldwide plastic production is predicted to increase by 3.8% every year until 2030. Flexible, non-recyclable plastic materials are used in an increasing range of applications like packaging, 3D printing, and construction.

We need to expand our range of options for keeping this plastic waste out of landfill. One potential approach is “plastic to energy”, which unlocks the chemical energy stored in waste plastic and uses it to create fuel.

How plastic to energy works

Plastic is made from refined crude oil. Its price and production are dictated by the petrochemical industry and the availability of oil. As oil is a finite natural resource, the most sustainable option would be to reduce crude-oil consumption by recycling the plastic and recovering as much of the raw material as possible.

There are two types of recycling: mechanical and chemical. Mechanical recycling involves sorting, cleaning and shredding plastic to make pellets, which can then be fashioned into other products. This approach works very well if plastic wastes are sorted according to their chemical composition.

Chemical recycling, in contrast, turns the plastic into an energy carrier or feedstock for fuels. There are two different processes by which this can be done: gasification and pyrolysis.

Gasification involves heating the waste plastic with air or steam, to produce a valuable industrial gas mixtures called “synthesis gas”, or syngas. This can then be used to produce diesel and petrol, or burned directly in boilers to generate electricity.

In pyrolysis, plastic waste is heated in the absence of oxygen, which produces mixture of oil similar to crude oil. This can be further refined into transportation fuels.

Gasification and pyrolysis are completely different processes to simply incinerating the plastic. The main goal of incineration is simply to destroy the waste, thus keeping it out of landfill. The heat released from incineration might be used to produce steam to drive a turbine and generate electricity, but this is only a by-product.

Gasification and pyrolysis can produce electricity or fuels, and provide more flexible ways of storing energy than incineration. They also have much lower emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides than incineration.

Currently, incineration plants are viewed as an alternative energy supply source and a modern way of driving a circular economy, particularly in Japan, South Korea and China, where land is valuable and energy resources are scarce. In other countries, although waste incineration is common practice, the debate around human health impacts, supply issues and fuel trade incentives remains unresolved.

This article was originally published by The Conversation. Click here to read the entire piece.

Interested in the future sustainability practices of our cities?

The 2018 Liveable Cities Conference heads to Melbourne this July for two days of inspiring speakers, captivating presentations and a variety of networking activities.

Now in its eleventh year, this Conference will continue to explore the livability of our metropolitan and regional urban centres.

Find out more about this year’s program here.

Q&A With Project Seabin Co-Founder Pete Ceglinski

After seeing one too many pieces of plastic in the ocean, two avid surfers decided to do something about it, creating a “Seabin” that would collect trash, oil, fuel and detergents from the water.

We had the opportunity to chat with co founder and CEO Pete Ceglinski about the Seabin Project and the ultimate goal of pollution free oceans for future generations.

Q: How did the idea for Seabin Project come about?

A: It came about from being sick of seeing floating debris in the water of marinas around the world. We needed a practical solution that was based upstream so we could catch the litter before it went out to sea and into our oceans.

Q: How does the Seabin work?

A: It is very simple, the Seabin is attached to the floating dock and then it simply draws in water from the surface, and we then pump it out the bottom of the Seabin. As the water passes through the filter, it traps all the plastics, and litter. We are also catching surface oils with the addition of a very simple oil filter.

Pete Ceglinski

For myself and the team at Seabin, its very important to point out that Seabin’s will not fix our ocean plastics problem nor will the technology stop people from littering. We have decided to focus on a “whole solution” strategy where we have created Educational and Scientific programs combined with technology and community events.

Q: Why don’t fish and sea life get caught in the Seabins?

A: There is a possibility of marine life being pulled into the Seabin, but it is a very rare occurrence. If any fish did get pulled into the Seabin, they are normally alive as the filter is submerged in water and can be thrown back into the water. The fish tend to stay away from the surface of the water and seem to sense the current of the water near the Seabin.

Q: How much rubbish can one Seabin hold?

A: Each catch bag can hold 20Kgs of debris, the catch bag can be changed as needed and it is possible to capture up to 120Kgs of debris per day. The Seabin was designed for ergonomics of one person holding a catch bag by their side. If we go any larger then we need to reassess how the catch bag will be changed.

Q: How long do Seabins last?

Image: Instagram (@seabin_project)

A: The warranty is for two years but we are looking at a 3-5 year or more life span. The materials are extremely robust and 100% reyclable

Q: Who should be investing in Seabins?

A: Everyone! Haha, just kidding. Not everyone can buy a Seabin as they are designed for Ports, Marinas and Yacht clubs. These are our main clients. However, we have created a crowdfunding kit where its possible for people to raise money to donate a Seabin to a local marina.

Q: The Seabins have hit Australian shores – where can we expect to see them?

A: We have two demonstration purpose Seabins arriving this month and are in the process of setting up events in Australias major cities with marina access. We will be inviting everyone to come see them in action around June. The commercial Seabins should be available around Sept – Oct this year. We have some delays as the certification process is a lot more detailed than Europe and other countries.

Find out more about Seabin Project at seabinproject.com. 

Interested in sustainability projects going on around Australia?

The 2018 Liveable Cities Conference is heading to Melbourne this July.

Over two days, listen to and be inspired by presenters from varied disciplines who continue to explore the liveability of our metropolitan and regional urban centres.

Find out more here

 

Tinder for Food: App Shares Leftovers for a Healthier Planet

Too many leftovers from dinner? Vegetables forgotten in the fridge or cans gathering dust at the back of a cupboard? Instead of tossing them out, why not share them with friends and neighbours and care for the planet at the same time?

That is the premise of OLIO, a mobile phone app founded in Britain and part of a wave of businesses using technology to cut waste and help the environment.

OLIO is the brainchild of two women entrepreneurs aiming to tackle food waste, “one of the biggest problems facing humanity today”.

If that sounds sensationalist, Tessa Cook, the company’s co-founder, can rattle off a list of eye-popping statistics to back up her claim.

Globally, one third of all food produced, worth nearly $1 trillion, is thrown away, and in the UK alone, an average family throws away 700 pounds ($945) worth of food each year.

Tinder for Food: App Shares Leftovers for a Healthier Planet

Image: article supplied

All of this is “environmentally catastrophic”, Cook said. Not only does it waste land and water to produce it, when left to rot in landfill, food waste releases methane, a greenhouse gas more harmful to the environment than carbon dioxide.

“That whole set up is clearly, absolutely bonkers and needs to be fixed,” Cook told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from London.

And since more than half of food waste occurs at home, it also means consumers can be an important part of the solution.

An app was born

Growing up on a dairy farm in Yorkshire in northern England, Cook said she learnt early on how much hard work goes into producing food.

So when removal workers told the former corporate executive to throw away the leftovers in her fridge – sweet potatoes, a cabbage and some yogurt – while packing to move back from Geneva to London nearly three years ago, the seed of an idea grew.

She set out into the street to find someone to give the food to – but failed.

“I thought, ‘This is perfectly delicious food. I know there is someone within 100 metres who would love it. The problem is they don’t know about it’,” she recalled.

When she discovered there were no mobile apps to share food, Cook teamed up with Saasha Celestial-One, an American former investment banker, to launch OLIO, raising $2.2 million from two rounds of investor funding.

Users download OLIO on their phones, create an account and upload a picture and a short description of the food they want to give away, from bananas to fresh herbs to lactose-free baby powder.

This was originally published by Eco Business.

Click here to read the entire article.

Hobart City Council To Phase Out Plastic Takeaway Food Containers

Plastic food containers and utensils used by takeaway stores are set to be phased out by the Hobart City Council in what it is calling a nation-leading move.

The council voted 10-12 to amend draft environmental health bylaws, banning single use, petroleum-based plastic containers and utensils by 2020.

plastic container ban in hobart

Photo: article supplied

The architect of the change, Greens Alderman Bill Harvey, said they would be replaced by compostable items.

He said the proposal had attracted broad public support.

“People are aware now; so many Australians watched War on Waste on the ABC and that’s influenced their understanding of plastic pollution, so this is something that I think now communities expect,” said Alderman Harvey.

“We’re responsible for waste management in the city, so we’ve taken a lead.

The ABC initiative War on Waste explored the toll on the environment from plastics and other rubbish, and how individuals and communities could help.

Under the plan, which is part of the council’s Zero Waste to Landfill strategy, a special facility will be built to deal with the waste.

Alderman Harvey said one-third of Hobart’s food retailers already used compostable items and he did not expect much resistance.

“Eventually we’ll have a compost system for commercial outlets and all the compostable organic material from cafes and restaurants will go off to a facility,” he said.

“But we haven’t got that yet. That’s one of our ambitions.”

Alderman Harvey said the council would also lobby the State Government to look at broadening the scope of its plastic shopping bags laws introduced in 2013.

“While they’re reviewing the bag ban they should also consider how they could help prevent other forms of plastic pollution entering the environment,” he said.

Business worried about cost burden

Stakeholders and the public will have input on amending the by-law but Steve Old from the Tasmanian Hospitality Association was upset his organisation had not be warned about the move.

This article was originally published by ABC.net.au.

Click here to continue reading entire article.