Arziyah

We keep on trying to find solutions to cease global warming. But has anyone thought of phones being harmful?  The components of the phones (screens, batteries, circuits, speakers) are mass produced. They emit heat, carbon footprints and their own sort of pollution. For a phone to be sustainable: It needs to have parts that can be easily replaced and repaired.   It needs to have a low radiation emission.  It needs to be made from recyclable materials.  It needs to be designed to last longer than typical smartphones.  And there are some phones that fit neatly into these categories. Example: Teracube, Fairphone and Shift.  So, are you going to become sustainable by using one of these? 

Once the glory of Uzbekistan and the fourth largest lake; now a wasteland: this is the story of the Aral sea. Due to unsustainable efforts to grow cotton by the Aral Sea by the Soviets, which included badly constructed water allocations and improper canal maintenance, the Aral sea started drying up . Stretching to 68,000 km² in its prime, and now 28,627 km², it has reduced by more than half its size in just 80 years . This damage has taken a massive toll on wildlife, as the increasing shortage of water in the Aral sea increased salinity levels, leading to  dead wildlife . It wasn't just the old shores of the Aral Sea that was harmed, destruction strayed to faraway lands. The salt left by the dried-up sea was carried by the winds and transported to the ret of Uzbekistan. This salt harmed the crops of farmers over 500 km away and is making people sick. This story of the Aral Sea goes to say how many lives depend on one sea . It shows us how a natural disaster can still affect peopl...

 From the era of global warming, we have been putting our efforts into seamlessly blending the 5rs with our daily lives. From recycling metal to reducing plastic to reusing bottles, our technology and creativity have no limits. Just like we reuse plastic bottles, food can be reused to avoid food waste. Introducing to you... the story of the crouton! The crouton is a hard, crunchy and savoury bread,  which can be served fried, grilled or baked, and is story of reusing in itself. The crouton lives as the legacy of stale bread: saving bread that otherwise might be thrown. Croutons also last longer than regular bread, giving us more time to consume it, and reducing food waste. Croutons can also be be powdered to make breadcrumbs, which are used in a variety of dishes. Just like reimagining bread to become a new snack, innovation and creativity can pair up to produce amazing results. It is upto us to take advantage of the technology we have at hand to reimagine, recreate and innova...

  There are kinds of people. In terms of passions, there are some people who like arts and crafts. Or journaling. Or both. But, to buy the appropriate books and stationery, they need money. And for most art-craft-journalists, the only problem is - budgets. So, they came up with a new idea. To put all their skills at work. Meet Mr. Junk Journal. No! He isn’t a junkyard! Or any kind of yard. He’s a book. Ahem. A recycled book to be precise. The people took various old junkies. They put them together and made a neat and recycled book. This simple way of making a homemade book saved many trees - and animals - from dying.  The above picture is of my junk journal. I use many different things, made little pockets, stuck some stuff that would have ended up on a landfill. If you are art-craft-journalist, try making this. It’ll be your part in recycling and using free time to put your talent into use. (P.S: This helps not just our planet, but your creativity too!)

  Aquarius Reef Base Imagine an underwater habitat where you can live and work below the surface just like an astronaut would do in space. The luxury of that thought. The Aquarius Reef Base is just that — the world’s only underwater research station. Operated by Florida International University, it sits 60 feet below the surface in a “Research Only Area” within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Created in 1993, marine biologists, scientists, students and even NASA astronauts use this habitat to research and study a range of areas relating to the ocean. The Ocean Agency team was invited to dive this site and visit inside the habitat, but it was a tight fit. Aquarius is about the size of a school bus and can only hold six to eight people at a time. 

 78.93 million tons of waste, in the form of packaging, is thrown away every year. That's a shocking statistic, especially accounting for the fact that only 38% of plastic packaging waste is recycled every year. That's a lot of unnecessary waste lying down in landfills. Since most of packaging is plastic, a lot of plastic packaging will be lying out there without decomposing, and polluting the environment with its chemicals at the same time. Changing our packaging system to make it biodegradable, is therefore, an important action, but one company has gone one step forward. Wikicell uses edible packaging to sell yogurt, ice cream, juice, desserts, coffee and soups. Wikicell's packaging is inspired by nature, with film-like membranes made with fruit, nuts and grains. Chocolate is sometimes used to make a more solid outer cover, as well as small amounts of algae to solidify its skin. This outer cover, though soft, can support weight and most food without breaking. With technol...

 The disposal of plastic is a well-known problem of today. It is common knowledge that plastic is bad for the environment as it never decomposes. Plastic takes a long time to decompose, and even then, it has not fully biodegraded but is turned into tiny particles called micro plastics that seep into the surroundings and further damage the ecosystem.  But the reason why plastic is still widely used despite its threat to the environment is cheap cost, easy production process and availability. Plastic is waterproof and shock resistant, which makes it a ideal material to work with. But a new material, Notpla- short for Not Plastic, provides a solution. Made from brown seaweed, which is highly biodegradable, decomposing in 4-6 weeks, which makes it a sustainable product which helps the environment. Brown seaweed, which Notpla is made from, doesn't need fertilisers, which reduces the need for more resources, especially ones that can be harmful. This new material could be the solut...

  On a tree in the forest, a fungus called Fomes fomentarius grows. We have been using this fungus as tinder for thousands of years. Only now do scientists realize its true potential.  This unique fungus has three layers, which have different properties and can be useful in many amazing ways. Fungi are made up of a unique structure called mycelium, which are like the roots of a tree. They grow in search for food. The Tinder fungus has three layers of mycelium, which are different from each other in many aspects. First comes the hard outer structure, below comes a leather like layer, and lastly a collection of Hollow tube like structures. The various parts have different feels, like wood, leather, et cetera, except lightweight. These properties of the fungus can help us to create sustainable and renewable alternatives for clothing, packaging and architecture.  The fungus, however, cannot be taken directly from the wild, since that would result in overuse of the fungus. Sci...

The Vaquita. A magnificent (not to forget cute) yet the smallest cetacean on our planet. Its resemblance is close to a dolphin, but it is not one. It is present in the northern end of the Gulf of California in Baja California, Mexico.  The gorgeous Vaquita decreased in number. Ever since 1996, it was considered as Critically Endangered by the IUCN. All because of us. We are not just talking about Vaquitas. There are so many beautiful creatures that face the end of their dynasty. Some of them already on the brink line of extinction. More already passed the line and have vanished from the face of earth. Go back to the memories of 1662. The dodo. That's right. Hunting left the last sighting of dodos after 80 years after it's discovery. We cannot do anything about the past extinct animals, we have to work on the future of currently endangered animals.

  Soft silk. We all love feeling their smooth texture, don't we? But how do we get silk in the first place? It all begins in silkworm farm. They rear the tiny creatures until their cocooning days. The worms slowly bind themselves into tight bindings called cocoons. But how does silk form from this? Well, it is really simple. Simple and treacherous. They boil the cocoons until every single one is... well, boiled. We know. So many lives at stake. Which is why silk is becoming more rare than ever. As if killing the silkworms isn't bad enough.