SUSTAINABILITY

Want to be more green? Consider buying an electric car, washing and shopping more mindfully, and making a rain garden.

Tips and tricks on being sustainable.

SMARTER SAND

A team of engineers from the University of California Berkeley has developed a mineral-coated sand that can purify contaminated water. The coated sand material can not only soak up toxic metals like lead and cadmium from water, but also destroy organic pollutants such as Bisphenol A (BPA). Cities often discard stormwater as pollution because it picks up contamination like lead particles left behind from leaded petrol or pesticides. To make the stormwater usable, the Berkeley researchers say their coated sand material could be installed in rain gardens in places like parking lots where stormwater can be collected, cleaned and reused.

RAIN RAIN, COME & STAY

A rain garden is a garden bed that is capable of filtering stormwater using particular types of soil, plants and microbes before it enters the waterways. Incorporating a wide range of features based on the principles of bioretention, they can be installed at home to reduce water pollution. According to Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, the best rain garden plants include native rushes, sedges and flaxes as they form a dense, weed-suppressing cover and tolerate dry conditions as well as short-term flooding.

TAKE ONE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

According to findings in IBM’s recent study of 19,000 consumers in 28 countries, nearly 60 per cent of consumers surveyed are willing to change their shopping habits to reduce environmental impact. For the nearly 80 per cent of respondents who said sustainability is important to them, more than 70 per cent would pay a premium of 35 per cent on average.

IKEA WIN

Fast furniture is slowing down with IKEA announcing it has committed to using only renewable and recycled materials by 2030 and to reducing the carbon footprint of its production systems by 80%. Currently 60% of the IKEA range is based on renewable materials and 10% contains recycled materials.

CLEAN CARS

A ban on selling new petrol, diesel or hybrid cars in the UK has been brought forward from 2040 to 2035. Boris Johnson announced the plan at the UN COP26 climate summit. The new date comes after experts said 2040 would be too late if the UK wants to achieve its target of emitting virtually zero carbon by 2050. People will only be able to buy electric or hydrogen cars and vans, once the ban comes into effect.