Turning Old Newspaper Into Building Material
From Yesterday's News to Tomorrow's Furniture
Today’s eco snapshot👇🏽
Turning Old Newspaper Into Building Material
Startup of The Week: Naturbeads
5 Sustainable Brands I Recently Discovered
News That Lifted My Spirits This Week
3 Ways I Can Support Your Sustainability Journey
Turning Old Newspaper Into Building Material
NewspaperWood is an innovative sustainable building material that's gaining attention for its clever approach to upcycling. It's created by transforming old newspapers into a wood-like material that can be worked with just like traditional lumber - you can cut it, shape it, and sand it to your heart's content.
The process involves coating newspaper sheets with eco-friendly glue (free from solvents and plasticizers) and rolling them into logs, resulting in a material that even sports wood grain-like patterns when cut into planks.
While it's not intended to replace wood on a large scale, NewspaperWood represents an exciting example of upcycling - turning surplus materials into something more valuable.
What makes it particularly interesting is its contribution to the circular economy, as the material can be recycled after use, giving old newspapers a second (or even third) life.
⌛ Time for the quiz of the week
Answer at the end of the newsletter. No one (including me) can see your response so feel free to vote 😉
✨ Startup of the week: Naturbeads
Plastic's Tiny Trouble…Microplastics are super-tiny plastic particles (smaller than 5mm) that are everywhere now — from the peaks of Arctic mountains to the deepest ocean trenches. These persistent little troublemakers have been around for hundreds of years, causing havoc in our waterways and affecting over 1,300 marine species. They mostly break down from bigger pieces of plastic when we dispose of them.
Shocking…What's particularly concerning is that we deliberately add microplastics to a variety of products, ranging from cosmetics to detergents, adhesives, and paints. An estimated 2 million tonnes of microplastics are added each year to everyday products!
Bead Goodbye to Plastic…Naturbeads, a UK-based cleantech startup founded in 2018 by Giovanna Laudisio and Davide Mattia, is tackling the microplastics crisis with an innovative solution. It has developed biodegradable cellulose microspheres that can replace plastic microbeads in everything from cosmetics to paints and adhesives, delivering the same performance while being environmentally friendly.
Sustainability Max…Naturbeads sources cellulose from certified forestry or agricultural waste uses energy-efficient manufacturing, and works with non-toxic, recyclable solvents.
✅ 5 Sustainable Brands I Recently Discovered
Cruz Foam: Packaging made from upcycled food waste.
SolarMente: Making solar energy accessible for everyone.
Un: Upcycles jeans & other denim clothes.
Loop Biotech: Self-composting, natural coffins that return to nature in 45 days.
Bcomp: Bio-based composites made of materials such as flax.
😹 News That Lifted My Spirits This Week
A Chicago waste facility is revolutionizing recycling with an AI-powered robot that uses lightning-fast optical scanning to rescue recyclables from trash streams. The mechanical marvel has already saved over a million cans from landfills by working on the "last chance" line, serving as the final defense against human sorting errors.
Cambodia's Environment Minister Eang Sophalleth took decisive action by banning forest clearance at the Stung Meteuk hydropower project site. The ban was implemented after reports of illegal logging in a protected area, targeting a project run by a ruling party senator with a track record of environmentally harmful business practices.
Inspired by Avatar and struggling with Delhi's air pollution, environmentalist Jai Dhar Gupta transformed a 32-acre plot into India's first private biosphere. The rewilded sanctuary, nestled between Rajaji National Park and the Raghati River, now teems with diverse wildlife including leopards and elephants and features 132 native plant species - all protected by strict conservation measures.
💁🏼 3 Ways I Can Support Your Sustainability Journey
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Give that 💚 a little tap if this edition helped you learn something new about sustainability and climate change. See you next week :)