Nowadays everyone is keen to do their part to help the environment, from sorting their rubbish between items to recycle and food waste, to using reusable coffee cups, people are slowly but surely doing their bit. So here’s some added inspiration to really help you let your Eco-warrior with the intent of saving the planet.
1. Goby – The Plastic Eating Fish
First up, a huge fish made of metal named Goby that asks passersby to ‘feed it’ with their plastic waste. Yes, that’s right. Goby the Fish was made to attract not only people’s attention but also their rubbish. A much better sight than broken and dirty bins, Goby has been a huge success at keeping the surrounding beaches clean and is helping to save the local marine life.
2. Edible Water Blobs / Shampoo Pods
Recently handed out to thousands at the London 2019 marathon, edible water bottles are pouches made from seaweed that contain water and can be fully consumed. The casing also bio-degrades within six weeks if not consumed. Made by Skipping Rocks Lab the pouches have been used at supermarkets and festivals for juices, cocktails and even for sauces at fast-food restaurants.
Source: Skipping Rocks Lab
Similarly, Benjamin Stern invented the Nohbo Drops when he was just 14 years old! These pouches or ‘drops’ contain shampoo made from all-natural ingredients and hold enough to wash any length of hair. “NOHBO’s philosophy is to treat your body and the earth with equal care” the shampoo is claimed to be “salon quality”, contain no harsh chemicals and free from parabens. The pods are also robust enough to take away on any travels.
3. Mr Trash Wheel
With his own Twitter and plushie range the large water wheel known as ‘Mr Trash Wheel’ is a local celebrity in Baltimore City Harbour. And he’s a hard working guy! He has collected up to 38,000lbs of rubbish in a single day. This waste is then incinerated to generate electricity.
He’s also caught enough cigarette butts to stretch out over 70 miles when lined up. Powered by the river’s current and a solar panel Mr Trash Wheel is a great, clean way to collect the rubbish within the Baltimore waters.
Source: https://www.baltimorewaterfront.com/healthy-harbor/water-wheel/
4. Saving the planet with Eco Six Pack Rings
Made from compostible materials the Eco Six Pack Rings produced at Saltwater Brewery in Florida are a brilliant replacement for the much more damaging plastic counterpart. The rings are made from the same ingredients used in the malting process; malt, barley and wheat. So not only is the brewery’s waste being used but it is also suitable for marine life to eat!
The Brewery also works closely with several ocean charities. As Head of Operations Dustin Jeffers says “One of the biggest issues is plastic in the ocean. Being able to tackle that was great for us. It went right along with our mission.”
5. Plastic bag that dissolves in water
With 350 million bags ending up in the environment per year, the people at Chilean company Solubag were inspired to take action. The bag was “invented from a new raw material made by synthesis from calcium carbide and natural gas”.
This new material means that the bag, when in water, will dissolve completely within 5 minutes, instead of polluting the waters for, potentially, hundreds of years. The company is currently working to make alliances with producers of plastic bags to help launch the soluble bags worldwide.
6. Man Plants A Tree Every Day For 40 Years
He started in 1979 by planting simple plants like bamboo and cottonwood but today Jadav Payeng has grown a forest that is bigger than Central Park in New York. Known by locals as the ‘Forest Man of India’ Payeng has transformed what was once a bare landscape into a vibrant forest full of hundreds of animals, including rhinos, birds and elephants.
Since planting the trees Payeng has diligently been protecting the forest from possible poachers and people who may seek to destroy what he has created “Humans consume everything until there is nothing left…cut me before you cut my trees”. You can watch the short documentary ‘Forest Man’ here.
Source: ‘Forest Man’ by William D McMaster (Polygon Window Productions & Title Media)
7. Denmark Opens A Store For Surplus Food
Wefood opened their store selling only food that supermarkets can no longer sell. This means food that is past the ‘best before’ dates or in damaged packaging. The food is all still edible and sold at a 30-50% discount. Run by DanChurchAid, the aim of the store is to reduce the amount of food waste in Denmark and to raise funds for the organisation’s work in developing countries.
Staffed by volunteers the store served more than 10,000 customers in its first two months. The main aims for the store are to help to fight famine and also reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere from food waste.
8. Japanese Robot Bees
Fascinating but scary at the same time, robot, or drone, bees have been created to help with the cross-pollination of plants. Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology have created tiny drones, about 1.5 inches long, which are taking on the duties of the honey bee.
In order to not damage the plants, the base of the drone is covered in a sticky gel-covered horsehair that the pollen can both stick to and rub off of. With the bee species in decline, mainly due to pesticides, it’s hoped that these drones will help the pollination crisis. There are even efforts to make the drones autonomous using GPS and high-quality cameras. Inventor Miyako explains: “We hope this will help to counter the problem of bee declines. But importantly, bees and drones should be used together” (Source: Buzzworthy).
9. Seabin
This amazing invention is able to catch half a ton of plastic each year, as well as absorbing surface oil! Proclaimed as “a revolution in ocean cleaning technology, helping to create cleaner oceans with healthier marine life”.
hWater lovers Andrew ‘Turtle’ Turton and Pete Ceglinski quit their jobs in order to create and launch ‘Seabin’ installing their first bin in Mallorca, Spain in 2016. Since then their invention has won multiple awards and 719 seabins have been installed globally, catching 114,916kg of debris (as of June 2019).
10. TetraBIN
Probably one of the most entertaining bins out there. The TetraBIN was invented by Steven Bai after studying the use of digital technology and encouraging positive behaviour in people.
Turning disposal of waste into a light-based game, the TetraBIN produces a retro 8-bit game on it’s outer shell and the object of the ‘game’ is to control the light blocks by depositing your rubbish at the right time. Initially launched in Sydney this revolutionary bin is a fantastic way to get people to keep their cities clean.
By Tania Lawrence:
