Reinvent the tyre

Tyres are under-considered environmental pariahs – mainly because most people use them, and right now there’s no viable alternative. Research into the origin of small, tubular and uniformly black particles showing up in microplastic samples revealed their origin to be vehicle tyres, and may account for anything between 10 and 28 per cent of the plastics found in our oceans. Research is ongoing into alternatives on both sides of the problem – from more sustainable materials in their manufacture to a reduction in the abrasiveness of the surface they roll on. Will the next 50 years see a contender emerge? The race is on.

Adopt an island mindset

Being by their nature contained with borders of the hardest kind, it’s understandable several islands have been lauded for their notable approach to waste management. In a little over two decades Taiwan went from bearing the nickname ‘garbage island’ thanks to its inability to balance consumption with waste, to an island where the recycling rate is amongst the highest in the world – reportedly over 55 per cent – and its landfill the lowest, at around 1%. Here, residents are charged for waste, recycling trucks play tunes like ice cream vans and plastic is put to novel re-use – from cups made from iPhone screens to bricks made from bottles.

Closer to home, the Isle of Man recently gained recognition as the first nation to be granted UNESCO Biosphere Reserve status for its co-operative attitude towards clean-ups and sustainability – and being a model for how any community could take ownership of its waste. “Every town, or street can be an island,” reported National Geographic UK in its report from the Isle of Man. “And in that way, the capacity to tackle a plastic problem looks more manageable.”

According to National Geographic explorer and environmental educator Lillygol Sedaghat, critical to this mindset is for people “to realise a) they are a part of a waste system, b) they could make a difference and live a more sustainable lifestyle, [and] c) that our trash doesn’t disappear, it goes somewhere and affects someone.”