4 incredible innovations that Mother Earth will thank humans for
The world is full of incredible inventions, starting from living chandeliers, solar-powered glow-in-the-dark bike lanes, biodegradable coolers, sportswear made from ocean waste, and transparent solar glass. Some of these inventions and ideas are helping us keep the environment clean and save the planet. Let us take you through some of these brilliant ideas.
Project Tree Book Tree
Every month, millions of books leading to destruction of trees and forest areas. Keeping this mind, the Argentinian children’s book publisher Pequeño Editor created the ‘Tree Book Tree’ initiative in 2015. They wanted to bring awareness and educate young readers about the need for ecologically responsible behaviour. As part of the project, the publication created a unique children’s book that can be planted. After reading it, you can bury it underneath the soil and watch it grow into a tree!
The book’s title is ‘Mi Papá Estuvo en la Selva’, which translates to My Dad Was in the Jungle. Meant for kids between eight and 12 years of age, it is hand-stitched and printed with environment- friendly ink on acid-free paper Another interesting element includes jacaranda tree (a tree with purple flowers) seeds placed in every page. Bookshops have also planted this book, where it can be seen sprouting, and each edition even comes with planting instructions.
A giant smog sucker
The World Health Organization (WHO) regards airborne particles as the most harmful enemy of human beings. According to this world body, early mortality is associated with exposure to high concentrations of fine and ultrafine particles.
A Dutch company proposed a novel solution to this in 2016 in the form of adwvice. This Dutch tech start-up, named The Envinity Group, seeks to sustainably enhance the future of humans, animals and the environment.
The device acts as a massive outdoor vacuum cleaner. It draws a considerable amount of air in, equivalent to 32 Olympic swimming pools of air every hour and removes almost all the toxic particles from it.
The smoke sucker is a five-step, specially constructed device that can capture two types of tiny particles. First, the emissions from burning wood and other fuels that lead to fine particles. Second, ultra-fine particles, such as car and airline emissions, are those smaller than 0.1 micrometres. Although we cannot see these particles, we constantly breathe them in, which results in several health issues. According to the Dutch designers of this device, it can remove 100% of fine particles and 95% of ultra-fine particles from the air. In addition, it purifies 80,000 m³ of air each hour up to a height of seven kilometres in a 300-metre radius.
Biodegradable burials
Cemeteries are a grave business indeed. However, it’s not just because of what lies six feet under. Four million acres of hardwood forests are felled annually to make wood for coffins. Moreover, the wood, synthetic padding, metals, and concrete used to surround the traditional coffins and reinforced graves continue to litter the earth.
However, two Italian artists have come up with a nature-friendly way of burials, and the result is rather beautiful. It is an organic, egg-shaped casket that can hold cremated ashes. Created by Italian designers Raoul Bretzel and Anna Citelli, it was named Capsula Mundi, which means ‘world’s capsule’ in Latin. This biodegradable plastic shell decomposes after being buried, and the leftovers give nutrients to a seedling planted directly above it.
The designers conceptualised the Capsula Mundi in 2003. The destruction of tonnes of furniture occurring after Milan’s renowned design expo, ‘Salone del Mobile’, was their inspiration. The objectives behind this innovation were to eliminate trash, plant trees in cemeteries instead of tombstones, and bring new life out of death.
Edible in-flightfood trays
The single-use plastic in food trays and amenity packages contributes to an estimated 5.7 million tonnes of airline waste produced annually on commercial flights. However, the good news is there might be a solution to this too!
London-based design firm PriestmanGoode has designed the traditional in-flight food trays to be plastic-free, edible, and entirely biodegradable for reducing airline waste. You read that right: On aeroplanes, you can (theoretically) now consume the trays during the in-flight meal!
The tray is produced from used coffee grounds, while the side dish pieces are composed of banana leaves, wheat bran, or algae. The condiment containers, milk capsules, and utensils are made of coconut wood and soluble seaweed. They are enclosed with a bamboo lid to minimise the waste collection and enable more compact disposal. Additionally, paper drinking cups will be swapped for those made of rice husks and coated with algae.
However, the company warns that while everything is edible, you must not expect it to taste delicious. The key to its ‘edibility’ is that the in-flight trays will be compostable and can be dumped as food waste. However, you could try the dessert dish’s lid if you were wondering about the taste because it is made of the same crunchy wafer as ice cream cones. The designs are yet to be commercial and are still under trial and approval stage.