How to stop using single-use plastic

If you worry about all the waste generated by the annual rush of holiday shopping and gift giving, it is nothing compared with the mountains of discarded packaging that comes from a single event in China.  On Nov 11 each year, the world’s biggest consumer market goes into overdrive as e-commerce giants like Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com lure shoppers with huge bargains during the Singles’ Day sale.
On Nov 11 each year, the world’s biggest consumer market goes into overdrive as e-commerce giants like Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com lure shoppers with huge bargains during the Singles’ Day sale.

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has announced the launch of a new campaign geared at tackling environmental challenges such as waste and pollution in Nairobi. The Nairobi City County Environmental Sustainability and Circular Economy awareness campaign seeks to promote sustainable consumption among members of the public, to reduce waste generation. In an exclusive interview with Capital Business, the Ministry’s Chief Administrative Secretary Mohammed Elmi said the campaign whose theme is ‘Taka ni Mali’ is also designed to promote recycling of 99 percent of things used in homes.

For decades, architects and designers have generally approached sustainability goals by focusing on operational energy—energy consumed for heating, cooling, and lighting. But while building performance has become more efficient over the years, embodied carbon—the carbon footprint of a material, which considers the greenhouse gases released to produce it—has grown exponentially. “We need to think about designing products with their end in mind,” says Franco Rossi, president of Aquafil USA, which produces completely regenerated nylon carpet yarn from waste, called ECONYL® nylon. “Many times, that end is the landfill. So, what do you do with this information?” According to Rossi, tackling the problem of material waste is a long-term effort, but a necessary one. Each year, four billion pounds of carpet—one of the primary uses for nylon—are discarded in landfills.