Vincente Sargues/Shutterstock
Recently washed cups could be safer than single-use containers that could have been sitting around for ages.
Huguette Roe/Shutterstock
We shouldn’t try to banish waste entirely. We need to rethink it.
A litter trap in Cook’s River.
James HItchcock
To inner west Sydneysiders, the Cooks River is known to be particularly polluted. But after a storm, microplastic particles increased more than 40 fold.
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Used PPE needs to be incinerated for safety reasons, but once this pandemic is over we should consider more sustainable options.
Rubbish piling up in Bristol, March 31 2020.
Ben Birchall/PA Wire/PA Images
Lockdown has exposed real problems with the circular economy which urgently need to be addressed.
Waste pickers are increasingly taking action to oppose policies that exclude them from their source of livelihood.
Swampa (South African Waste Pickers Association)
Waste, once freely available to the poor, is being appropriated for business purposes.
Riverine plastic pollution is new science but necessary to stop overflowing waste coming to oceans.
Mast Irham/EPA
The study also finds the weight of plastic waste from all rivers in Jakarta totals 2.1 million kilograms equivalent to 1,000 Tesla Model S cars.
The outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia encourages customers to co-create value through repair workshops, clothing swaps, and more.
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The social and environmental costs of rampant consumerism are becoming ever clearer, and we’re all encouraged to use less and recycle more, but how can we shift more sustainable model?
Hy-Fi, The Living, MoMA. Jessica Sheridan/Flickr
Our climate is changing – and so must architecture.
In many cases, it just seems easier and cheaper to replace than repair broken devices. But it needn’t be that way.
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Right to Repair laws make it easier for consumers, repairers and tinkerers to fix their broken goods. It’s an attractive alternative to the dangers of overflowing e-waste.
Melbourne is one Australian city that’s moving to improve its waste management and reduce its reliance on trucks to collect waste.
TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock
Cities around the world are struggling to manage their mountains of waste. We can use the Internet of Things for smart waste systems that collect, sort, reuse and recycle most of what is thrown out.
Changing incandescent light bulbs (right) to LEDs (left) is an example of eco-efficiency, but it can also have unintended consequences.
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Often presented as one of the best ways to save energy, eco-efficiency often proves to be less effective than one might think.
Home-baked cookies are a great gift for someone with a sweet tooth.
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Consumerism reaches a frenzied peak as the holidays approach, but it’s not too late to put on the brakes.
Many Australian consumers are concerned at the environmental impact of their shopping habits, especially at Christmas.
AAP
Australians spent $400 million on unwanted Christmas gifts last year. There must be a better way.
In some countries, as much as half of the generated electricity is lost in transmission.
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Due to inefficiencies in global energy systems, energy falls short of even making it to the consumer, often lost in the form of waste heat.
A collapsed building in Mayfield, Ky., after a tornado hit the town on Dec. 11, 2021.
Brett Carlsen/Getty Images
Government agencies have detailed plans for responding to disasters, like the Dec. 10-11, 2021 tornados. But one issue doesn’t get enough attention: cleaning up the mess left behind.
Plastic washed up on the seashore in Lagos, Nigeria.
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Nigeria’s government must encourage citizens to embrace a system where plastic never become waste.
Thinking big.
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Old buildings aren’t just waste – the materials can be reused to create the cities of the future.
More of this, please.
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Americans recycle only about one-third of the solid waste we generate. A behavioral scientist argues that with the right motivators, we could do more.
Plenty of ink has been spilled over Australia’s recycling and waste problem, but real action remains frustratingly out of reach.
AAP Image/James Ross
An inconclusive COAG meeting comes after years of inquiries, announcements, initiatives, investigations and reviews. Australia is no closer to actually tackling our waste problems.