Sustainia wants us to start acting today, not tomorrow

Advantix air conditioning systems use 40 percent less energy than conventional systems by leading air through nontoxic fluid saltwater instead of chilling air to remove humidity and then reheating. When looking to the future of appliances, motors and air-conditioning units in developing countries, the implications for Advantix are far reaching. 

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With a phone made from conflict-free minerals, a company that provides fair wages to workers at production facilities and a transparent supply chain, the social business Fairphone is hoping to bring ethics to its industry. So far it has sold 25,000 phones, with an eye on the entire life span — from mining to reuse to recycling.

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By partnering with large retailers, I:CO has created a clothing take-back system, where apparel, footwear and other textiles can be redeemed by customers for financial rewards. The collected clothing can then be sold secondhand, recycled or upcycled depending on how it fares against a list of 350 criteria.

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Using gravity to distribute water and nutrients to the root zone of crops from an elevated tank — which minimizes the need for electrical infrastructure — the Netafim irrigation system provides smallholder farmers a low-tech way to increase yields and address water scarcity.

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Instead of creating products like chairs, cell phone cases and bags from oil-based plastics, AirCarbon captures greenhouse gases that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere and turns them into plastic, thus creating goods that are carbon negative even after you account for the emissions from energy used in production.

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Keeping up with the Joneses can work for sustainability, as Opower shows through its cloud-based software for utility companies, which creates customer-facing applications that compare customers’ energy usage to that of their neighbors. This results in monetary savings for the customer and fewer carbon emissions for the planet.

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More than 1 million Bangladeshis could be displaced by rising sea levels by 2050.  The Bangladeshi non-governmental organization Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha has secured year-round education in floodprone regions by building a fleet of solar-powered school boats — and the model has been replicated in Nigeria, Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam and Zambia.

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Available in cities in North America, Australia and Europe, Spotcycle from 8D Technologies is a bike-sharing app that helps cyclists find bike-sharing stations and map routes, encouraging the use of programs that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to transportation.

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The lack of light in many developing countries leads to many preventable medical situations turning dire, such as mothers dying in labor. So We Care Solar created the Solar Suitcase, which provides solar electricity for medical lighting, mobile communication and medical devices for rural areas.

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Photo by Bradly Wong

In developing countries, much of the waste in urban areas isn’t even collected, much less recycled. The Wecyclers bicyclers pick up, collect and recycle garbage in low-income neighborhoods in Lagos, Nigeria, offering incentives to participants through points delivered to cell phones that can redeemed for goods.

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