Video: How Nigeria is Dealing with its e-trash

With technology improving, there’s bound to be an increase in e-trash along the way. With developing countries like Nigeria being bombarded with old electronics, most of them have come up with solutions to deal with them. Ifeanyi Ochonogor founded E-Terra Technologies Limited, a company in Nigeria that sorts through electronic parts, pick out components to be properly thrown away or sold for profit, and help clean up for their communities.

Not only are they preventing from any hazardous chemicals from getting into their soil and natural resources, but they are demonstrating to their community of taking action against trash.

Article: Googly-Eyed Trash Eaters May Clean a Harbor Near You

While there is trash on land to pick-up, there is trash in our water ways that needs the attention. Plastic bottle, cigarette buds, and even tires flow along the water ways and into the ocean. Well in Baltimore, John Kellett decided to take action and clean up their ports and water ways by creating a water wheel at the end of Jones Falls River. It is solar- and hydro-powered, which promotes cleaner energy for a cleaner cause. Not only did it collect thousands of pounds of trash from the water way, but the public supports it to the point where John Kellett was able to create a second wheel.

For more of this story, click on this link:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/mr-trash-wheels-professor-trash-wheels-baltimore-harbor-ocean-trash-pickup/

I also found a video from NBC News about the water wheel that I suggest you should check it out.

Article: Adidas creates swimwear range made from recycled ocean plastic as part of partnership with Parley for the Oceans

On July 14, 2016, I did a post about the upcoming problem of the amount of trash becoming greater than the population of fish with the current rate of disposed trash in the ocean. Cleaning up is one way, but what to do with it? Well recently, Adidas partnered up with Parley for Oceans to save marine life and clean water by creating swimwear range made from recycled ocean plastic, such as fishing nets.

This reminds me of a conversation that my dad and I had over the Christmas break while running at my grandma’s house in Colorado Springs.  We discussed using old t-shirts for building the backpacks.  My dad knows someone that has a business of taking someone’s old t-shirts and creating underwear for them (Kori Jock – La Vie en Orange). We can possibly do that with one of the designs of the Pick’n Run backpacks.

If you want to read on about the partnership between Adidas and Parley for Oceans, and their swimwear products, click on the link.

Time to Pimp up for Picking up Trash

There are invisible heroes, walking around the streets that you may not know about. They are the catadores. They go around cities, picking up trash off the streets and into their carroça, and then selling the trash at a very low price for a form of currency. Mundano, a graffiti artist and TED Fellow, created a project called “Pimp My Carroça” in order to promote the catadores through art and community.  He wants people to recognize these heroes in not only Brazil, but around the world. Click on this link to listen to the whole video about Mundano’s inspiration in forming this worldwide project.

His project is actually very similar to what Pick’n Run is trying to do.

Giving e-Trash a Second Chance

Isidore Electronics Recycling, a recycling company and social enterprise, believes in giving e-trash a second chance. They have been creating jobs for incarcerated people, while at the same time trying to reduce the amount of e-trash that is increasingly going to the landfill (15% of waste is electronics, but 75% of the toxics produced in the landfill are from electronics). Their mission is “to save the planet and give back to society at the same time”

For more information about this company and what they do, click this link.

Pokemon Go is Having a Large Impact on Communities; Can it Impact Trash Cleanup?

How many of you play the new Pokemon Go app game? I bet the majority of you who own it, play it every hour and day to catch those digital creatures in areas within your community that you may or may not have visited before. What if I told you that local businesses, animal shelters (only the Muncie Animal Shelter so far), and national parks are starting to take advantage of this game to promote business, exercise with dogs, and exploration for nature’s beauty. Very recently made articles explain how the benefits Pokemon Go bring to the community through exploring and exercising of the consumer.

Pokemon Go is Driving Insane Amounts of Sales at Small Local Businesses. Here’s How it Works

Animal Shelter Wants Pokemon Go Players to Walk Dogs

National Park Service Video: Go #FindYourPark & catch ’em all! #Pokemon Go

Now how can Pick’n Run take this enthusiasm the consumers are having while playing Pokemon Go and get them to pick up trash whenever they go outside to play? That is a question that we are thinking about as we are developing  our PnR mobile app.

Creating High Quality, Simple Houses by Using Discarded Plastic

Since plastic is a big part of our daily lives, it is also a common material found on streets (trash). With the Pick’n Run initiative, we would pick up the plastic (trash). That plastic can be recycled and be used in a different form.  What if I told you the plastic that you pick up from the streets could be used for something to help decrease the homelessness.

A young man, Oscar Mendez, is proving that there is a way to create decent homes for homeless people while reducing waste plastic. He is creating building blocks to build houses for homeless people.  This link leads to a video that describes his workings: This Man is Building Homes for the Homeless Using Discarded Plastic 

Here is another link to an article more about him and his works: Oscar Mendez – Providing Decent housings for the Homeless while Reducing Waste Plastic

 

Boosting up Plastic Recycling Through Your Own Plastic Business

A website called astc states that “we recycle only 5% of all plastic, but 45 % of the type of plastic used to make soda bottles.” Only 95% are thrown into the landfill, or even worse, go into our environment to cause massive amount of damage to species. That plastic is free money for the public to use in anyway, including making new products. People who have creative product designs now-a-days rely only on recycled plastic. The problem with producing them is the cost of machinery to produce the products. Only big corporations could purchase the expensive machinery, which in the end, would or would not use as often to promote recycled products.

Well no need to fear, for there is a company that allows you to build the machinery from blue prints and guides to produce your own merchandise from recycled plastic (you can change it up in anyway possible that fits you). This little company is called Precious Plastic. Their goal is to “Spread the know-how, boost plastic recycling!” If you want more information about his company and how to create your own plastic-product company, click this link: Precious Plastic.

More Trash Than Fish

During my high school Environmental Science class, my teacher shared an article with us about trash in our oceans. I asked her for the link and she sent me this:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/24/oceans-more-plastic-than-fish/79267192/

I found it interesting that our thrown daily material could have such a big impact when not handled properly. Along with my research of this situation, I found similar articles from different sources that explain the situation.
In the abc 3340 article (my personal favorite), an elementary school teacher, who scuba-dives in the ocean, challenges her students to reduce the amount of daily trash they make after showing pictures that she took during her dives. The images are shocking to the kids to the point that they are switching from nonrenewable products to renewable products.

VOA News: http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/oceans-could-hold-more-plastics-than-fish-2050/3166848.html
BBC News: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35562253
abc 3340: http://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/more-plastic-than-fish-in-our-oceans

Situations like this is something that can be prevented if we pick up trash off our streets, beaches, neighborhoods, and parking lots. And dispose them properly. That is what Pick’n Run is aiming for.

Catching Loggers with Sound

Have you ever heard what a rain forest sounds like? If so, what do you hear? Are you able to hear the sound of chainsaws in the background? If not, then that is a problem. Illegal logging are going around cutting beautiful trees behind our backs, all while the sound is blending with the sound of nature.

What is the solution for this? Topher White came up with a solution that involves the sun, trees, environmental friendly materials, and used cell phones. That’s right, cell phones that can catch a chainsaw frequency and notify people around the area to stop the loggers in their cutting process.

If you want to hear more about Topher White’s idea, below is the TED talk video. Take the time to hear what YOU can do to help with his startup Rainforest Connection and save the rain forest.