In the dialogue of climate change, waste takes up a huge space. How can we avoid waste and how can we create less of it? Today, more and more companies and entrepreneurs are asking: how can we REUSE it? These unique (some, unheard of) ideas may be putting us on the right track to save our planet before it’s too late.
This London based company is reinventing the future of protein. Did you know that just 55 percent of the world’s crop calories are actually eaten by humans? Thirty-six percent is used for animal feed and the rest (nine percent) goes towards bio-fuels and other industrial resources. Some of that animal feed goes back into humans, but it takes 100 calories of grain to produce a mere 12 calories of chicken or three calories of beef. Doesn’t seem very productive – does it?
That’s where Entocycle, an insect farming company, comes in. They take pre-consumer food waste (such as spent grain from local breweries or used grounds from local coffee roasters) and feed it to their Black Soldier Fly Larvae in their indoor, controlled environment. In just six days the larvae consume the organic waste and convert it into high-protein body mass. These insects are then processed into a flour when they are 45-65% protein and this flour can be combined with other products and turned into feed pellets.
With our current water usage, experts predict that we will only have 60 percent of the water we need to survive by 2030. Cotton, grown mainly for the apparel industry, uses three percent of the total water consumed by agriculture. This doesn’t seem like a huge percentage, but over 5,000 gallons of water is needed just to produce one t-shirt and a pair of jeans. When it comes to a life resource, any way to cut down usage is a step in the right direction.
After learning about how a spider spins its web, co-founder of Spinnova Juha Salmela wondered if wood fibre could be spun into textile fiber in the same way.
He was right. While still in their pilot stage, their process uses about 99 percent less water than cotton production and zero harmful chemicals. Using FSC certified wood, they’re promoting responsible forest management and creating a sustainable and recyclable fibre choice for the textile industry.
American women’s clothing brand, EILEEN FISHER, has started a program to extend the life of the clothing pieces they create and love so much. Their philosophy couldn’t be more simple: Buy quality pieces, wear them as long as possible – and when you’re done with them, pass them onto someone else.
Bring your original EILEEN FISHER pieces in any condition to one of their retail stores and receive a $5 gift card for each piece. The amazing renew team then sorts, cleans and sometimes even redesigns to make one-of-a-kind creations! You can find these sustainable, affordable and unique garments online and in select EILEEN FISHER stores.