The Cup Hero separates coffee pods for recycling and composting

We’ve written about the problems with single-use coffee pods before — a majority of these little capsules end up in landfills and contribute to the world’s growing plastic pollution issues. There are plenty of alternatives, from biodegradable and compostable pods to refillable pods, but for coffee lovers reluctant to switch to sustainable alternatives, there’s the Cup Hero. Inventor Connor Feeney got the idea while watching his family make their morning cups of coffee using popular disposable coffee pods, and upon taking one apart discovered that the components were all either recyclable or compostable.

At the same time, the process of separating the plastic, foil, and organic materials by hand was too difficult and messy to do on a regular basis. Armed with a masters degree in engineering from Northwestern University, Feeney designed the Cup Hero himself, later performing the marketing, intellectual property, distribution, and finance, as well. 

Related: Xoma Superfoods delivers coffee options in single-serve, plant-based pods

The Cup Hero uses one simple tool to separate the plastic cup, aluminum foil lid, paper filter, coffee grounds, and internal plastic ring in under 10 seconds. Simply insert the tool to the top of the pod, twist, and detach the different parts. That way, every component of the single-use pod can be sorted, processed and recycled (the plastic and aluminum going into the recycle, and the coffee ground and paper filter into the compost).

According to the company, its primary objectives are “to reduce the amount of single-use, disposable plastic that enters our landfills, empower individuals to adopt sustainable practices, and spotlight a significant environmental issue that millions of people contribute to each day – often without realizing the larger impact.” The Cup Hero will be available through a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter in the fall.

+ The Cup Hero

Images courtesy of Connor Feeney

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England plans single-use plastic ban

England has announced a planned ban on polystyrene cups and single-use plastic cutlery and plates. But frustrated activists say the government is moving way too slowly.

This autumn, the English government will start coming up with a plan to curtail single-use plastic and polystyrene perhaps within a couple of years. Meanwhile, the EU banned these same items in July.

Related: 4ocean and Poralu Marine present BeBot, the beach cleaning robot

The English government has a firmer plan for a plastic packaging tax, which will go into effect in April 2022. Companies that use plastic with less than 30% recycled content will have to pay a tax of £200 per ton of plastic. This measure seeks to encourage the use of recycled material.

“We’ve all seen the damage that plastic does to our environment,” said George Eustice, environment secretary, as reported by The Guardian. “It is right that we put in place measures that will tackle the plastic carelessly strewn across our parks and green spaces and washed up on beaches. We have made progress to turn the tide on plastic, now we are looking to go a step further.”

England has already successfully limited some plastics. Since supermarkets started charging for plastic bags in 2015, their use has dropped by 95%. In 2018, England banned plastic microbeads from use in washing products. In 2020, it was goodbye to plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton swabs — or cotton buds, as they’re called in England. However, England is still lagging on charging deposits on plastic bottles, which probably won’t happen until 2024 or 2025.

Americans and British people lead the world in per person plastic waste. According to British ministers, the average person uses 37 single-use forks, knives and spoons and 18 disposable plastic plates each year. Plastic litter is blamed for killing more than 100,000 sea mammals and turtles and 1 million birds annually worldwide.

Vegetable and fruit stickers, PVC cling film, teabags, plastic coffee pods and crisp packets may also find themselves forbidden in the future.

Via The Guardian

Lead image via Pixabay

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Buinka designs worlds first 3D-printed parkour playground

Building Society Stavební spořitelna Česká spořitelna (Buřinka), the Czech Republic-based organization that brought us Protozoon, the country’s first 3D-printed house, is adding to its list of 3D construction innovations with a new project. A cooperation between the private sector, the public sphere and research ventures, the new 3D-printed parkour playground is the first of its kind.

Spanning 14 by 12 meters in size, the parkour playground uses cast rubber for the impact area with individual obstacles made of concrete. Obstacles are printed on a frame printer with materials from Master Builders Solutions CZ to highlight safety and strength. The foundations are printed out of recycled concrete, known as rebetong, in collaboration with researchers from the Brno University of Technology.

Related: Czech Republic’s first 3D-printed floating home will take just 48 hours to build

The playground, which is designed by Buřinka architect Daniel Samek, is set to open at the end of September 2021 and will be included in the new leisure area at Kupecký Elementary School in Prague. Samek said he was drawn to the project for its accessibility, as parkour doesn’t require any expensive equipment and can be enjoyed by both children and adults. “The playground that is now being created is unique in that it works with rounded shapes,” said the architect. “It brings a revival to parkour.”

In an industry facing many challenges, such as worker shortages and rising building materials, Buřinka maintains that robotics and 3D printing could provide necessary solutions among Czech construction companies. “Housing does not mean just four walls,” said Libor Vošický, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Buřinka. “It is also essential to have a possibility to spend free time outdoors, safely, close to home. There are many playgrounds for preschoolers, but older children don’t have many options, so we decided to use innovative 3D printing technology to create a parkour playground. At the same time, we want to confirm the benefits of using recycled concrete, so-called rebetong. It is another milestone in the use of this innovative technology.”

+ Buřinka

Images courtesy of Buřinka

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MINI Strip car uses 3D printing and recycled materials

With a focus on the future of sustainability in automotive design, the MINI Strip is a one-off car that resulted from a collaboration between two British brands. MINI and Paul Smith custom-made the vehicle, which premiered to the world in London in August 2021.

The MINI Strip stands as a driving force behind innovations in sustainable auto manufacturing. The name comes from the starting point, which was a stripped-down Mini Cooper SE. From there, the entire design focuses on the theme of ‘Simplicity, Transparency, Sustainability,’ so only the final product only included the most essential components.

Related: Maintaining an electric vehicle costs less than gas or hybrid counterparts

The automotive background from MINI was an obvious contribution, but the team is quick to acknowledge the advantage of Smith’s outside-the-industry perspective, with Oliver Heilmer, head of MINI Design, saying, “Paul asked essential questions right at the start of the design process with his non-automotive and therefore fresh perspective. We are proud to have developed such a strong character statement together.“ 

Smith agreed, saying, “I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to rethink the iconic MINI. I know and love the existing car, but by respecting the past and looking to the future we have created something very special…Together I think we have created something truly unique, by going back to basics, reducing things down and stripping the car.”

The car now represents a minimalist mindset, where less is more. This is seen in the raw exterior finish, where factory grinding marks were left to highlight that point. A thin film of clear paint protects the surface, but the exterior is otherwise unfinished. Visible screws incorporated into the design spotlight ease of maintenance and the ability of the car to be dismantled and the panels recycled at the end of useful life. The steering wheel is wrapped in handlebar tape, and the open spaces expose the airbags. The doors are covered in the same meshing as the airbags, showcasing the inner workings.

The team chose to 3D-print sections of the car using recycled plastic. Recycled Perspex was used for the grille trim, roof and wheel covers for a lightweight and eco-friendly solution.

The interior of the car is more minimalist still, with stripped-down trim and little more in the way of controls than a space for a smartphone, switches for the power windows, and a start/stop control button.

Material selection inside the car avoided leather and chrome in favor of seats upholstered in knitted fabric and floor mats made from recycled rubber. Recycled cork adds texture and visual interest to the dashboard topper pad, door shoulders and parcel shelf. Material selections are mostly recyclable and serve as an example as a substitute for foamed plastics.

+ BMW Group

Via Automotive World

Images via BMW Group 

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The International Garden Festival presents new 2021 installations

Magic lies outside is the theme of the annual International Garden Festival, which aims to “bring us hope, to exalt creativity and to add colour to this world that is struggling to overcome this global pandemic and to come out of several months of confinement.”

Now in its 22nd year, the 2021 edition at Reford Gardens in Quebec, Canada features five new installations, submitted from Canada, the United States, France and Sweden. These additions extend the current gardens, creating an outdoor museum of art.

Related: Casa CBC incorporates greenery at every level 

Choose Your Own Adventure

Balmori Associates from New York present this work, inspired by the effects of global warming. The fight against climate change, coupled with the impact of the pandemic, drove the team to rethink the human/nature connection. 

This contemplation is represented in simple lines of plants crisscrossing with hard materials. The message simplifies our relationship with the soil, water, air, plants and animals. Choose Your Own Adventure sets out to encourage visitors to feel the hot ground underfoot, smell the moisture or dryness in the air and hear the crunch of gravel as they walk.

Hässja

Architect Emil Bäckström from Stockholm, Sweden presents Hässja, a traditional hay-drying technique that offers shelter and a connection to nature. Each of the three structures is made up of millions of pieces of straw, transforming a once-living grass into a cozy and protected space for contemplating the resurgent need to intermingle human needs with those of nature. A press release explains the installation by saying, “The covid-19 pandemic has taught us a lot. It has exposed a disconnection from nature, agriculture and the importance of biodiversity. All around the globe, a regained interest in traditional, sustainable ways of inhabiting the earth is emerging.”

Miroirs Acoustiques

Presented by landscape architects Emmanuelle Loslier and Camille Zaroubi from Montreal (Quebec) Canada, Miroirs Acoustiques gives visitors the chance to experience sound in a newly presented way. Inspired by sound mirrors used across the coast of Great Britain during WWI to detect approaching enemy aircraft, the installation allows sounds to bounce and focus, amplifying them via two parabolic reflectors (recycled aluminum antennas) planted in the ground.

Open Space

A team of architectural interns for Quebec, Canada (Gabriel Lemelin, Francis Gaignard, Sandrine Gaulin) delivers an open space in the outdoors. The premise is a completely unboxed house, loaded with endless possibilities. It not only provides an open space but a way for the mind to openly roam with new consideration for the doors, staircases, windows and walls around us every day.

Porte-bonheur

David Bonnard, DE-HMONP architect, Laura Giuliani, landscaper, and Amélie Viale, visual artist, represent Lyon, Villefranche-sur-Saône and Lissieu, France with Porte-bonheur, an installation about reopening the doors firmly shut during the pandemic lockdowns.

“Porte Bonheur is a rite of passage between reality and potentiality. The installation invites visitors to dare to throw open the door, cross thresholds, go outside and explore their surroundings with all the wonder of a small child.”

The Reford Gardens will be open daily from May 29 to October 3, 2021, in addition to being accessible to members in the low season.

+ Jardins de Métis

Images via JC Lemay, Martin Bond, Nancy Guignard and Antoine Proulx

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Higg provides a sustainability report for consumer products

The race is on to battle climate change in notable and impactful ways. While every citizen can help by reducing emissions and lowering their carbon footprint, the largest contributors to the problem are businesses. Even companies with good intentions when it comes to monitoring materials and manufacturing may be contributing to the problem more than they think. Higg is a technological solution to this problem that addresses the issue by providing a score for a product’s impact.

To understand the solution, we must first consider the problem. The life-cycle of a product begins with material selection, goes through production and moves onto delivery before it ever reaches consumer hands. Along the way, every decision can weigh heavily on the planet’s resources by stripping the land, using valuable resources like water and contributing to waste and pollution. Higg is a data-driven system that gives businesses the information they need when making eco-friendly decisions. This data allows them to avoid these contributing factors and instead rely on the most innovative solutions for a low carbon footprint at every level.

Related: PaperTale app shows the ethics and sustainability of clothing with a simple scan

Higg CEO Jason Kibbey says, “Higg has spent the last couple years working with consumer goods facilities, brands, and retailers to collect valuable data that helps companies measure their social and environmental impacts in a comparable way.”

Higg works with companies to input and analyze data, giving them the power to better understand the environmental and social impact of each step in the cycle. Take, for example, a clothing company. With Higg tools, companies can measure the footprint of the plant where fabric is made. This includes water consumption, electrical usage, pollution and more. From there, the company can evaluate the manufacturing process of the product in the same categories and others, like wages, working conditions and safety. Post production, the clothing is shipped, so the analysis further tracks the impact of packaging, transport emissions and the environmental burden at the retail level. 

The culmination of this information provides a critical tool for transparency in consumer goods industries. Providing a macro and micro view of the cradle-to-grave impact of individual products not only gives consumers more purchasing power but provides companies valuable, data-based information to share with investors, partners and customers. 

“In order to achieve true sustainability change at the pace necessary to reach climate goals, consumer industries need access to rich, comparable, and actionable data. Without knowing true environmental performance, it’s impossible to know which steps companies should take to reduce impact, which actions make the biggest difference, or if industries are moving fast enough,” Kibbey added. 

Along the way, the systems maintain a database of information that businesses can tap into when making decisions. For example, through data collection, a company can quickly see the energy efficiency of a particular manufacturing plant or compare the waste from different production facilities. Rather than individual reports that may be slanted in favor or disfavor of a particular company, Higg’s system is standardized for reliable comparisons of information that can be measured, managed and shared within and outside the company.

This information is a powerful tool in the effort to enable true sustainability in corporate actions. “Higg provides easily synthesized data which makes it simple for companies to take meaningful action towards positive environmental and social impacts,” Kibbey said.

While Higg is an essential tool for the decision-making process of eco-minded businesses, it’s equally valuable for the everyday consumer who is looking to make wise purchasing decisions. With these tools at its disposal, any apparel company can clean up its act. The information is now out there to understand a product’s impact. From there, it’s a company’s responsibility to evaluate and improve every step of its processes. This includes choosing the least-impactful materials to supporting manufacturing plants with fair trade policies and renewable energy investments to selecting packaging that is recycled and recyclable. With what equates to a sustainability score, consumers will be able to directly compare the actions of an increasing number of companies when choosing what products best align with their personal environmental goals. 

Higg is a spinoff of a prior partnership between Patagonia and Walmart that set a mission to reduce the footprint of the apparel and footwear industries. This nonprofit industry association, called the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, resulted in the “development of the Higg Index, a suite of tools for the standardized measurement of supply chain sustainability,” according to Higg.

The team at Higg comes from varied backgrounds, yet they all center around the same belief in making it easier for businesses and consumers to contribute to the solutions for a sustainable future for the planet. Mimi Frusha, COO at Higg, says, “We have a global crisis on our hands. Being part of Higg is how I contribute to what we all have ahead of us.”

Josh Henretig, VP Global Partnerships, reinforces that thinking saying, “The urgency and complexity of the climate crisis is simply too large for any single organization to solve alone. We need the collective action of partnership and the speed and scale of technology if we are going to reverse the harmful impacts of human activity on the environment.”

+ Higg

Images via Higg 

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Piki Poma's conscious fashion line uses 100% recycled fibers

Clothing company Piki Poma’s founders, sisters Mirna Litovic and Ida Babic, both come from a fashion design background. Last year in 2020, Litovic and Babic decided to begin creating natural and eco-friendly bags, shoes and clothing made using sustainable, cutting edge materials (including 100% recycled fibers). To prevent waste, all products in the conscious fashion line are crafted by hand in Croatia in small batches, adding high quality and a custom feel to each piece.

Designed with a lightweight construction for multiple seasons, Piki Poma pieces are made for lasting comfort year-round from day to night. Parts of the collection are permanently crushed and pleated to give it additional texture and playfulness.

Related: Ecologyst is a truly transparent fashion brand

The fabrics are crafted from REPREVE yarns, UniFi’s recycled fibers and PET plastic bottles. The REPREVE yarn is especially innovative as it eliminates the need to reuse petroleum, helping to reduce greenhouse gases, save water and save energy during production.

Some of the pieces include the Baal skirt with a detachable rope-like belt that’s pleated horizontally, the Fabela dress that combines classic with modern style, the Tago shirt which can be worn as both a dress or a tunic, and the Moni textured scarf that’s designed to catch the light whether it’s worn tied, twisted, looped or folded. 

In addition to skirts, slip-on dresses, tunics and scarves available in black, nude, red and gray, the collection incorporates Wild As A Wind clogs and Corky bags that are handmade from natural vegan leather. An extra environmentally conscious jewelry collection uses materials like tree veneer and recyclable, sustainable materials using the bentwood method — by soaking a small strip of wood veneer and wrapping the thin sheet around itself. The jewelry is dyed with organic colors, using a blend of natural oils, creating tones of gold, red, purple and blue.

+ Piki Poma

Images courtesy of Piki Poma

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Urban gardens don't get much greener than El Terreno

El Terreno is a community garden center that does more than grow food. It brings an urban population together and puts the ideas of community support, educational enrichment and purpose in serving the greater good all together in rows of plants and flowers.

Based in Mexico City, a project called El Terreno began during the COVID-19 outbreak. During this time of social isolation, developers felt it was crucial to remain connected. They started the gardens not only to provide a social outlet for youth but to connect all levels of the community.

Related: RHS Hilltop opens its wings to the study of horticulture

Another primary goal was to provide education about the environment. The hands-on experience puts kids in touch with the source of their food supply and provides an opportunity to better understand the foundation of sustainable living.

In collaboration with organizer Michelle Kalach, Vertebral is the architecture and landscaping studio behind the project. Based in Mexico City for the past five years, the company has been drawn to landscape design as a way to bring the forest into the vibrant city. Vertebral believes in using local products and thinking long-term when it comes to developing an area. With this in mind, El Terreno includes a pavilion made from recycled materials sourced from other construction projects. The building is also 100% recyclable. The pavilion serves as a source for rainwater collection, which is pumped into the orchard with energy produced from solar panels. 

Architects on the project explained, “We focused on avoiding any user predispositions when entering this new space, designed for plurality and versatility. It is a space that can only gain significance through user engagement, and through the cultivating and sharing of new ideas directed towards a healing environment.”

In addition to providing an educational and social outlet, El Terreno has provided a self-sustaining economy. The plants grown onsite are sold to local cafes and stores, which in turn funds more educational opportunities. 

+ VERTEBRAL

Photography by Ricardo de la Concha 

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