On Thursday, April 17, a Green Generation event was held in a Japanese Garden located on a college campus. It felt like the Garden of Eden as light from the sun shined down on the people walking around a beautiful koi pond in the middle. Tables were setup along the edges to showcase many unique projects that are being developed by students at CSULB. Described below are just a few ideas that presented themselves at this event:

1) Battery Recycling

If you got old any old 9-volt, AA, or watch batteries lying around, then this service will be perfect for you. Instead of throwing them out, just recycle them.

2) Community Gardens & Kitchens

Good food is becoming harder and harder to come by, especially if you are in poverty. If you live in a place where they don’t even have grocery stores (aka a food desert) and the only option for sustenance is a dirty McDonald’s, then you’re diet clearly isn’t sustainable. To help solve this problem, community gardens and kitchens are popping up everywhere. These places provide a way for those in need of pesticide-free organic vegetables to get them.

3) Liquefied Natural Gas Shipping Infrastructures

As the oil reserves of the world rapidly run out, the need to find alternative fuel sources is ever prevalent. One particularly interesting type of energy is coming from natural gas. Already commercial trucks and buses have integrated CNG systems. Although the miles per gallon are increased this way, the cost of shipping is the most expensive part. It is nice to see that people are attempting to solve this exceptionally hard problem of energy sustainability.

4) Offshore Shellfish Ranches

If the plankton and shellfish of the many oceans decrease exponentially, then a chain reaction of consequences will be set in motion that will change the world in ways that we can only guess the full extent of. Maintaining the delicate balance of those ecosystems is critical. Offshore shellfish ranches increase food security for those who must have this healthy source of protein.

5) Recycling Reward Systems

To go with the battery recycling initiate posted above, recycling reward systems are being put in place to help motivate individuals to recycle more. The information is stored on a server which can be accessed through various web portals and mobile apps. It will be interesting to see what types of perks will be given to those people who recycle. If they aren’t setup in a way to benefit those adding information to the database, then those who generate wealth off these types of systems will only be the people who initiate the servers.

6) Natural Flowing Architecture

As the need to restructure our cities persists, new ideas arise of how to design buildings that reflect the natural flowing elements of the outside world with safety of a suburban culture. The interlaced outcome is an amazing work of art that you can live in.

7) Power Saving Electric Readers

This is by far my most favorite area of energy sustainability. It is the use of personal hardware devices that sense electrical signals and heat waves. It allows just about anyone to know how much power is being used. Internships and job opportunities are being created through student and corporate initiatives to train people to use these types of devices.

Bonus:

8) Koi Pond Music Stages

Music is a driving force that can motivate and inspire just about any emotion in the human spectrum. It can be found in some of the most unusual and extraordinary places. The pure nature of a koi pond makes an amazing platform to jam out some tunes and rhythms.

Article written by Matthew T. : @industrychanger