The desire to “go green” is spreading in the face of an uncertain future. Climate change has forced the hands of scientists and engineers on the matter of developing ecologically responsible alternatives to traditional resource usage. Science and technology have risen to the challenge, however, and have offered up a number of innovations that are set to mitigate the damage of climate done to the environment, but only with widespread adoption. Here are a few examples of technological solutions ecological issues.

Recycling

Recycling is a crucial part of undoing damage done to the environment, as the production of garbage is out of control with no means to dispose of it all. By recycling what would otherwise be garbage, old, discarded items can be broken down into new “raw” materials with which new products can be created. This reduces the amount of waste in general, but it also specifically reduces instances of materials that are designed in such a way that they don’t decompose in a timely manner littering valuable land and creating hazardous conditions. The technology that is already in use, as well as new developments like vibratory equipment, can be put to use in the process of recycling one person’s trash into another person’s treasure. Recycling is currently not widespread enough to affect real change, but it is growing in popularity in many regions, 

Clean and Renewable Energy

Traditional fuel and energy sources like coal and oil pose two logistical problems for the ecologically minded. For one thing, these fuel sources must be combusted in order to convert them into energy for use in automobiles and electrical generators, and that process necessarily emits carbon dioxide, the most prominent of the greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. These fuel sources are also nonrenewable resources, meaning that the earth will eventually produce more, but the process takes thousands of years. Human consumption of coal and fossil fuels far outpaces the Earth’s natural process of production, meaning that these resources will effectively cease to exist if they continue to be consumed at the current rate.

Clean and renewable energy is on the horizon, however. While these technologies are still very much in their infancy, solar panels and wind turbines offer theoretically infinite energy with only minor pollution. Solar panels are much less efficient than current fuel sources, but they are versatile and affordable enough to see rapidly growing usage. Turbines are fairly energy efficient, but large enough and costly enough that they don’t see much use outside of infrastructure. Both of these fuel sources are also reliant on fairly inconsistent natural occurrences, which limits them greatly, but they are often paired together to alleviate these restrictions. However, the technology is there; it just needs to be refined.

Public Transit

Public transportation has seen scattered usage over the years, but it offers a secretly ingenious solution to multiple problems. Public transit, or mass transit, was designed with affordability for the masses in mind, a purpose that has more than been fulfilled where it has been implemented. However, it also serves the additional function of reducing carbon emissions by simply having fewer vehicles on the road or forgoing cars entirely for subway systems, both of which also reduce traffic. Public transit is also not as widespread as it needs to be in order to result in global change, but it has had promising results and has been in the process of receiving a much needed expansion in recent years with more on the horizon.

While the current problems of litter and climate change bearing down on us are daunting, there are solutions on the table with even more waiting in the wings. Science and technology seem almost to have minds of their own, because they always seem to rise to the challenge when change is needed. However, the process of developing new technology is only possible when there is a demand for it. With these examples in mind, it’s easy to see the benefits of adopting these systems into your life, when applicable, in order to move society forward.