Plastic is coming back to bite us It is no longer news that the world has a huge plastic problem. Every year we send about 8 million tonnes of plastic into our oceans. This plastic breaks down into microplastics which is ingested by sea life and later by sea food eaters. Studies show that microplastic […]
Air travel makes it possible for many people to work, study or visit many other parts of the world. However, there have been concerns about its associated emissions and contributions to climate change. The United Nations aviation body forecasts that airplane emissions of carbon dioxide, a major greenhouse gas, will reach just over 900 million […]
By the early 1980s, only 26% of Costa Rica had forest cover. Like other countries in Latin America, uncontrolled logging for agriculture and livestock production – especially cattle – had led to severe deforestation. This is a far cry from Costa Rica in the 1940s, when more than three-quarters of the country was covered in […]
As essential as they are, over 2 billion people in the world lack access to basic sanitation facilities such as toilets or latrines. Out of these, up to 892 million still defecate in open places such as in street gutters, behind bushes or into open bodies of water. Poor sanitation is linked to transmission of […]
Although various forms of second-hand goods and markets exist around the world, stereotypes about second-hand shopping are mostly unflattering. Second-hand products are often regarded to as inferior or less preferable to newer alternatives. But our untamed production, consumption and waste patterns are pushing the earth to its brink by pushing vast amounts of greenhouse gases […]
Globally, the past few months have witnessed a surge in the use of the diverse forms of personal protective equipment (PPE) as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Production and consumption of surgical face masks, hand gloves, hand sanitizers and other PPE have increased drastically. It is now mandatory to use a face mask in […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated certain lifestyle changes for humans around the world. Because of the way that the virus is spread, health experts advise the use of face masks, frequent hand washing and maintaining physical distancing as part of measures to curtail the spread of the disease. In fact, face coverings are now a […]
Although it is popularly cited that an estimated 70% of Nigeria′s population is engaged in agricultural production, this has sadly not translated into food security for the nation or improved standard of living for its farmers. The reasons are many: agricultural production is mostly at subsistence level agricultural holdings are mostly small and scattered inadequate […]
Many people in rural Africa lack access to electricity and have little hopes of getting connected to the grid in the near future. With the usually high temperatures in sub-Saharan Africa, it is extremely difficult to preserve fresh vegetables, meat and dairy products in such communities. Brazilian company Youmma is solving the problem with it′s […]
A startup in Ghana is helping to address some of the challenges that farmers face by using drone technology. The company called Acquahmeyer rents out drones that help small-scale farmers check the health of crops and use pesticide only where it is needed, reducing pollution and health risks. Although a large portion of Africa′s population […]