A chemical breakthrough could eat the plastic pollution crisis

In order to encourage people to properly dispose of their waste, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has installed smart vending machines for recyclable waste at Connaught Place and India Gate. In return for making the sustainable waste choice, users receive monetary rewards via e-wallet.

Although commonplace in many parts of the world, Berlin has recently adopted the practice of using water fountains to cut back on plastic bottle usage. Not everyone supports this environmental push, but the mayor is hopeful they will at least catch on with tourists who are accustomed to the invention already as well as act as a resource for refilling plastic bottles rather than throwing them away.

What do you get when you combine the efforts of an engineering company with an energy company? In the Netherlands, you get a new type of environmentally sustainable roads. PlasticRoads, a piloted initiative in the city of Zwolle, uses discarded plastic to build bike paths that help cut down on plastic waste.

Plastic is a leading cause of much of the world's pollution problem. But thanks to a discovery in a Japanese recycling center, scientists believe they may have identified a substance that can drastically reduce the amount.

When North Carolina cities shifted from using small bins to large carts for recycling, there was a statewide increase in recycling collections. Now in Omaha, Nebraska, where a curbside recycling program has been implemented, advocates of the program think they would see much more success if they too adopt carts in place of the bins.

Package-free shopping encourages more sustainable consumption. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cleenland offers package-free household products, including shampoo and cleaners. Customers use their own containers and pay by weight. Asking consumers to pay more attention helps reduce waste generated by packaging and contributes to municipal zero waste strategies.

In Eskilstuna, Sweden, there is a different kind of shopping mall – one that sells used and upcycled goods. In an effort to combat consumerism and bolster sustainability, the mall, called ReTuna, is nicely curated and organized, making second-hand shopping mainstream. The mall sees 700 people each day, on average, and has sold nearly $3.5 million worth of items.

Fly ash bricks help reduce construction waste by utilizing the powdery by-product of burning coal. They are a green replacement for red clay bricks, which contribute to 5-15% of India’s emissions. They also utilize waste from coal-based thermal plants, which often gets disposed of by being dumped in water bodies and on roadsides. In comparison to red clay bricks, fly ash bricks are less expensive and the production process doesn’t emit smoke or use the more fertile top soil. Their use has been mandated by some regions and about 150 small fly ash enterprises have emerged.

Securecycle is a nonprofit working to reduce the number of young students not attending school in Ogun State, Nigeria. The organization collects old jeans to turn into bags and finds students who are, or will likely, drop out of school to teach them bag production and give them a scholarship to finish primary school.

Volunteer citizen seismologists in Haiti are collecting data on earthquakes and aftershocks with equipment provided by researchers to better understand seismic hazards and fault locations in the country.