This is one of the best climate ideas I’ve seen
This is one of the best climate ideas I’ve seen
Plus the newsletter has a whole new section 🤩
Today’s eco snapshot👇🏽
One of the best climate ideas I’ve seen
Addressing Africa’s Plastic Crisis: Kubik
5 Sustainable Household Product Brands
🤩 🤩 New Section 🤩 🤩
News That Lifted My Spirits This Week
🗝️ One of the best climate ideas I’ve seen
In the summer of 2023, a metro station in Paris ran a small experiment.
For 2 days, it converted the turnstiles (the 3-rod electro-mechanical gates that allow only one person to pass at a time) into mini turbines.
Time for some basic science:
As the turnstile rotates, it generates kinetic energy, the energy of motion.
The research group converted that kinetic energy into electricity.
So every time a person went through a turnstile, electricity was generated.
During the experiment, 27,000 people crossed six turnstiles.
But imagine if 1.5 billion passengers do it in a year!
That’s the number of annual metro commuters in Paris.
In that case, these turbines could produce 136 megawatts a year.
Saving 30,000 tons of CO2.
This can power around 20,000 homes.
Now imagine if every building, office, and metro station installs it.
It could be a game-changer.
Sure, there are challenges such as the price and storage of electricity.
But that’s there for any new idea.
⌛ Time for the quiz of the week
Flying is one of the most carbon-intensive activities but it contributes just 2.5% of the world’s carbon emissions. That’s because a very small %age of the population flies every year.
Answer at the end of the newsletter. No one (including me) can see your response so feel free to vote 😉
✨ Addressing Africa’s Plastic Crisis: Kubik
This founder is addressing Africa's plastic and housing crises by constructing homes from plastic waste 👇🏼
Plastic Proliferation…Plastic pollution is a global crisis. Million of tonnes of it is discarded every year, ending up in our waterways and oceans. The story is no different in Africa. The continent is growing at a rapid pace. And so is the plastic crisis there.
Building Blocks…Kubik has found a unique way to solve this. It takes hard-to-recycle plastic waste such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene and turns it into affordable building materials.
These materials can replace bricks, columns & beams.
They can then be used to make residential, commercial & public facilities.
Kubik can make up to 10,000 affordable homes per year while saving 45000kg of plastic every day. And it is just getting started!
✅ 5 Sustainable Household Product Brands
Altered: Creating stylish products that save water.
Blunt Umbrellas: An umbrella that would keep you dry without harming the planet.
Coldharbour Tiles: Converting unwanted fishing nets into tiles.
Everly Candles: Reducing the waste in the candle industry through a refill revolution.
Sirohi: Makes furniture by upcycling textile and plastic waste.
😹 News That Lifted My Spirits This Week
India's Power Shift…For the first time since the 1960s, coal's contribution to India's power generation capacity has dipped below 50% in the first quarter of 2024, marking a significant shift in the country's energy mix.
Investment Surge…In 2023, clean technology manufacturing investments globally experienced a 70% growth, reaching a total of $200 billion.
EV-olutionary Policy…The Philippines is boosting its electric vehicle market by extending a zero-tariff policy on electric vehicles and parts until 2028.
🙋 Community Asks (🤩 🤩 New Section 🤩 🤩)
I often get requests from people who are looking for jobs, investors, co-founders, partners, or customers in the sustainability and climate change domain. So I thought I would put a few of them here, starting this week.
If you’d like me to make intros, I am happy to do so. You just have to reply to this email:
Here are the first bunch of asks:
Dhanyasri is looking for her next role as a Project Manager/Sustainability Manager In Bangalore, India.
The team at Four Fin Creative has a few slots open for their 3-week brand sprint service for conscious brands.
Apoorva is a doctoral research scholar with a focus on women entrepreneurs in sustainable businesses. She’s looking to speak to a few, well, women entrepreneurs in sustainable businesses
If you would like your request to be featured here, please comment below or reply to this email (it’s free!).
💁🏼 3 Ways I Can Support Your Sustainability Journey
Do you want to be featured in this newsletter and on LinkedIn, where I write impactful stories (almost) every day? Submit your story
If you’re a planet-friendly brand, I can help you with your blogs, newsletters, case studies, and whitepapers. Here’s some of my recent work
If you would like to chat about anything related to sustainability and climate change, you can book a free 20-minute call
Click that 💚 if this added some value to you.
Enjoy your weekend, and see you next week😊