Here is another article I wrote for Cleantechies, this time tackling a vital sustainability issue : our waste, and what we do with it. This post takes a look at what share we are recycling and composting. Here is the introduction : ” According to the European statistics agency, Eurostat, in the 27 members of […]
Recycling and composting are progressing in Europe Read More »
I recently wrote a post on how we could turn urine and feces into energy thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I also wrote about some similar efforts that are being done in Singapore. Now, according to Grist and Ecogeek, four African teenage girls created a generator that runs on pee, turning one
Turning urine into electricity Read More »
Within my current involvement with the local JCI, I have been collecting information about biodegradable waste and composting. This is a question of importance as more than 30 percent of French waste could be biodegradable. Meanwhile, recyclable waste – paper, cartons, glasses – represent just one percent more and are sorted out and recycled. I
Composting matters Read More »
Here is a smelly question : why are we putting together what Nature separates ? This is the question asked by a Swedish researcher about toilets. Putting urine and feces together is not a good idea as it is simply a waste of resources. Moreover, flushing with liters and liters of perfectly drinkable water is
Here come the toilets of the future Read More »
The French TV channel France 5 dedicates a week to food waste [Fr]. This is due to sensitize people as French people throw away a staggering 21 percent of the food they buy. What a shame ! This amounts to six million tonnes of wasted food, up to twenty kilograms per year per person. Supermarkets
French people waste food too… Read More »
This seems to come straight from a nightmare. According to Grist, the Pacific Garbage Patch has gotten a hundred times bigger in only forty years. This is a huge problem as all this pollution directly harms the local biodiversity. Turtles and fishes are the first victims but all this could also endanger zooplankton in the
Pacific Garbage Patch has gotten 100 times worse Read More »
To Ecogeek : “ A team of engineers at the University of Illinois have figured out how to create self-healing circuits in electronics and batteries, a discovery that could lead to longer equipment life ” ” As electronics have become more complex, one small circuit failure can render a device useless, especially since it is hard or often impossible to
Engineers discover self healing circuits Read More »
The French magazine Science & Vie [Fr] published this month a lengthy series of articles on thorium-based nuclear, and how it could solve the various issues encountered with uranium-based energy generation. Much more safer, without the need to be enriched, Thorium is also four times more abundant than Uranium. Molten salt reactors could also recycle
Toward risk-free nuclear with Thorium ? Read More »
I would like to share with you some personal experience on energy efficiency and sobriety as I got back for a few days to visit my parents. I then noticed my dad has the bad habit of letting some CFLs on. I told him that this really wasn’t good for their purse and our common
A reflection on CFLs and leaving them on Read More »
As Sustainable Business notes : ” As part of its new sustainability goals, 3M aims to improve its energy efficiency 25% by 2015. 3M’s 2015 Sustainability Goals build upon its record of environmental achievements, which go back to 1990. “ ” Since 1990, the company has cut greenhouse gases 72% and reduced solid waste indexed to sales by 66%.
3M announces new efficiency targets for 2015 Read More »
