#63 One Simple Thing Can Change the World

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 63

One Simple Thing Can Change the World

But you know, this is really not all that unusual. I can easily point out several different things, small things, that have been a defining point and have changed the course of history. In fact, I believe that we are now at one of those points in the our history.

But, if you want to know more, then listen to this episode which is called One Simple Thing Can Change the World

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is Episode 63 One Simple Thing Can Change the World.

Sometimes I think I focus too much on bad news. But today I want to bring you good news in sort of an interesting way in that I want to show you how one simple thing can make a huge difference, it can change the entire course of our lives, and even alter human history.

Throughout history there are numerous events, ideas and innovations that have literally changed the course of the world, resulted in major disasters, improved or worsened the fate of mankind, or even saved countless lives. I’d like to give you several examples of just that.

Fidel Castro

I dare say that 95% of the worlds population has no interest whatsoever in what happens on the baseball diamonds in the United States. Take Babe Ruth for example, who is one of the greatest American baseball icons. Little if anything at all would have been altered in the events of the world if Babe had never even made it out of the amateurs.

Yet in 1947 Fidel Castro came to the United States and attended the tryout camp of the Washington Senators. He was reputed to have a blazing fastball. However, he never earned a spot on a big league roster and returned to Cuba to pursue a career in politics. That event changed the history of the world as he later emerged as one of the most significant leaders in world history. Castro started a socialist revolution and rose to be the charismatic leader of Cuba. He out lasted nine U.S. presidents. Certainly no other ex-baseball player has so dramatically affected the lives and fortunes of millions of people.

The Sinking of the Titanic

The Titanic may have never sunk if it had not been for one forgetful sailor. Second officer David Blair was removed from the ships roaster at the last minute. When he left the ship, he forgot to hand over the key to the locker in the crow’s nest that contained binoculars. After the Titanic sunk, one of the surviving lookouts, Frederick Fleet, stated that with those binoculars the collision with the iceberg could have been prevented. The unsinkable Titanic could have had a completely different history.

The Magnetic Compass

In our modern age, I think it is fair to say that most of us pay little attention to the magnetic compass. With modern GPS and Goggle Maps, a compass is the last thing that most people would even consider using. Yet the invention of the compass altered human history. It was by far one of the greatest inventions and the most important tools for navigation. Before the invention of the compass, people navigated using only the stars, the patterns of migrating birds, or even the waves. Sailors often avoided the open ocean for fear of getting lost.

Around 200 BCE, the Han dynasty in China produced the first ever magnetic compass. The magnetic needle was attached to a piece of cork or wood which was floated freely in a dish of water. It was in 1050 that the compass was first used for navigation. By the 14th century the magnetic compass widely replaced astronomical means as the primary instrument of navigation. Explorers now had a reliable means to traverse the oceans which sparked the beginning of the Age of Discovery.

Fast forward hundreds of years. By the 1980s the US military released the global positioning system, known as GPS, to the public. We can now map every part of the planet.

The Printing Press

Prior to the internet, there is nothing that did more to disseminate information and knowledge than the Johannes Gutenberg printing press. Gutenberg developed his press in 1440 which used a mould to rapidly produce lead alloy type pieces. This press made it possible to produce as many as 3,600 pages a day. By 1500 there were over 1,000 presses operating in Europe which produced over 200 million books by 1600. The Gutenberg press made books affordable for the lower class and helped to start the Age of Enlightenment.

Development of Vaccines

The use of vaccines dates back hundreds of years. In 17th century China immunity to smallpox was conferred by smearing a skin tear with cowpox. But actually Edward Jenner is considered the founder of modern vaccinology. He inoculated a 13 year old boy with cowpox virus and then demonstrated immunity to smallpox. The first smallpox vaccine was developed in 1798. Throughout the 18th and 19th century the use of mass smallpox immunizations culminated in the eradication of smallpox in 1979. Plague vaccines were developed in the late 19th century. The development of viral tissue culture methods developed from 1950 to 1985 which led to the development of two types of polio vaccines. Mass polio vaccinations have now eradicated this disease from many parts of the world.

So from printing presses to vaccines, baseball careers that never got off the ground, sinking ships, and the discovery of magnetism, it is truly the little things that can change the world. And certainly the COVID 19 pandemic is yet another example of a defining point in human history.

But I do think that such things are simply a reminder to us that we are not in as much control as we think. Sometimes Mother Nature has a mind of her own. Climate change and recent disastrous weather events in the United States is testament to that.

But as you know humans have always been a major influence on the affairs of the world, both political and natural. Some would question just what the world is coming to these days. But as I have said before, the world is not coming to anything more than it has always been coming too. As Simon Anholt once said “The only thing that is different is that we now have the power to take all of nature down with us.”

But the interesting thing, as you may well known, part of what influences our live, and even changes the course of our lives, is the choices we make. The same is true with the fate of the world. Not only do we have the technology to take all of nature down with us, we have the technology to save the planet. And some of this technology could actually do just that. It is more than obvious that we have to change what we are doing if we are to save the planet. And there are some very interesting innovations that could do just that.

Fortunately, there is a much greater push for sustainable products and technology today. And that is what I want to focus on, some incredible examples of sustainable technology that could actually save the world.

The Smog Free Project

Air pollution has long been linked to numerous health problems. It can damage cells in your respiratory system, it can exacerbate cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, it can accelerate the aging of your lungs, reduce lung capacity and function, cause you to develop asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and possibly even cancer. It can even shorten your lifespan. Unfortunately air pollution is a product of our industrialized world. But one company may have found an answer.

A man named Daan Roosegaarde has produced the world’s first smog vacuum cleaner. This so called Smog Free Tower is about 7 meters, or 23 feet high. It sucks in and cleans polluted air through a process of ionization. This tower cleans 30,000 cubic meters of air per hour. These compressed smog particles can even be converted to jewelry.

Mr Roosegaarde’s design has won multiple awards and new projects have been launched in Poland, Mexico, the Netherlands, China and South Korea.

The Green Building Initiative

Our residences and businesses are responsible for 35% to 40% of our greenhouse gas emissions and for the consumption of a massive amount of electricity. But the Green Building Initiative is working on changing that.

Now this is an interesting business which is actually an international effort towards creating resource efficient buildings for sustainability. It is sort of similar to producing a net zero home as I have mentioned before. This is a home that produces as much energy as it consumes. The Green Building Initiative has a goal of establishing a standard of best practices for green building globally.

Robotic Bees

I am sure that most of us have heard about the steady decline in the population of honey bees. A lot of this is the result of the use of pesticides. While there are reasons for their use, pesticide residue is commonly found on many plants and this plays a significant role in the decline of honey bee populations. But this decline can also be attributed to pests, disease, pollution, nutritional deficits, habitat loss, climate variability, as well as other factors.

Now the problem is that bees play an important part in almost every aspect of a healthy ecosystem. They support the growth of trees, flowers, plants, which of course serves as a source of food and shelter. Very simply put, bees are a vital link in a complex, interconnected ecosystem that enables multiple species to coexist.

Depending on the sources that you read, there have been a decline in bee populations by as much as 60% to 90%. But, a recent innovation in robotics may change all of that.

Did you ever think you would see robotic bees?

There is this device called a B-Droid, or Robo Bee. Now these are still in development but these tiny little robots will eventually be able to pollinate plants. The vision is that of swarms of small autonomous robots which have the ability to identify and pollinate crops effectively.

What About Sustainable Agriculture?

We already know that our agricultural activities by far have the greatest detrimental affects on our planet compared to anything else we do. But, that could start changing. Recent innovations are now revealing means of agriculture that are far more sustainable.

Supermarket Herb Gardens

There is now a Dutch supermarket chain that actually has in-store herb gardens in order to reduce waste and give customers that freshest possible produce. Herbs are grown at a local farm, then transported completely intact to local stores. Customers can cut as many springs as they need, without buying pre-packaged produced. This is a simple sustainable initiative with some far reaching implications. But, you can also grow you own herbs at home.

SunDrop Farms in Australia

This sustainable agricultural project uses concentrated solar power and thermal desalination as a means of using much fewer resources than traditional farming. The farm is located in Port Augusta, South Australia. Irrigation water is drawn from Spencer Gulf, which is desalinated and used to irrigate crops. It is run entirely off solar power. It is a combination of technologies using the integration of solar power, electricity generation, fresh water production and hydroponics. Such an integrated approach results in the production of fresh produce without the use of fossil fuels, enormous amounts of fresh water and thousands of acres of cultivated farmland. And because they do not need soil, they are able to grow produce on degraded, arid land that would otherwise never be used for agriculture.

Groasis Waterboxx

At this time about 1% of our planet is essentially uninhabitable due to extreme heat. It is estimated that by the year 2070, that will increase to nearly 19%. What most people do not realize is that for much of human history people have lived in areas where food was abundant due to a surprisingly narrow range in temperatures.

But according to a study published the in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, our planet may see an increase in temperature in the next 50 years that is greater than any seen in the last 6,000 years. What that means is there will be a huge increased in the formation of more deserts where there is little water and the inability to cultivate plants. But one man may have found an answer for that. It is called the Groasis Waterboxx.

It was invented by a Dutch flower exporter, Pieter Hoff. It is made from recycled paper and can germinate seeds, incubate saplings and water plants. It uses 90% less water than traditional growing methods.

With this device it is now possible to plant trees, vegetables, shrubs, and flowers in the desert. This has the potential to play an important role in reforestation, erosion mitigation, production of food and wood, and certainly provides that means of preventing further formation of more deserts.

All Natural Food Preservation

In the United States alone it is estimated that 35 to 40% of our food goes to waste. This is a combination of waste throughout the entire supply chain from the farmer to the supermarket. Additionally, most people waste as much as 2 pounds of food per day.

One of the means of reducing food waste in the supply chain is of course with the use of chemical food preservatives. And we already know that many of those chemical preservatives have been linked to numerous health problems.

But there is an Italian start up company called Green Code that produced a product called Demetra. This is an all natural treatment for food preservation. It is made produced 100% from plant extracts. It can increase the shelf life of produce in an all natural way. With Demetra, produce would no longer have to be kept on refrigeration during shipment, which would save a tremendous amount of energy. Additionally, the produce would stay fresher for longer periods of time which would reduce food waste at the supermarket.

Edible Cutlery

One of the most wasteful practices that I see on a regular basis is the use of various disposable products, especially something such as plastic cutlery. Most places where I work have boxes of these things. I get around it by carrying around a set of stainless steel camping utensils. But I truly do not know if anyone else who does this sort of thing and it is such an easy way to reduce the amount of waste you produce.

That said, there are now numerous manufacturers of edible cutlery. So what this means it that you can eat with it and then eat it. And if you decide not to eat it, these products are completely biodegradable.

Now there are various products on the market. Some of made of sugarcane, others from a combination of wheat, oats, corn, and brown rice. Some comes with various flavors. Other are completely neutral.

Biomethane

One thing is for certain, a source of sustainable power is a significant step toward a climate-neutral future. There are numerous options for this to happen. But one of the more promising options, besides wind and solar, is the use of biomethane, also known as biogas.

Biogas is essentially a by product of many waste materials. Things such as animal slurry, manure, diary waste, pruning and plantation residues, sewage sludge, industrial by products, and many types of waste water. This type of gas has a variety of applications, but it easily used to power vehicles instead of gasoline. It can also be used as an alternative to natural gas without any conversion of equipment.

And there are presently 8 large scale businesses in the United States that are developing and promoting the use of biogas.

Alternative Animal Feed

And one last thing I really wanted to mention and that is the development of alternative animal feeds. We already know that our agricultural activities are one of the primary drivers of climate change. Unfortunately, most of the farmland is not actually used to produce food for human consumption. It is used to produce animal feeds. For example, 85% to 99% of all soybeans produced go into animal feed. Furthermore, soybean production tends to promote deforestation.

Now there are a number of companies putting a lot of work into developing and scaling up alternative protein sources in order to replace those with increased environmental risk. One company in the UK is producing black soldier flies to go into animal feed and those flies are fed on food waste from local businesses.

Summary

What I have tried to do in this episode is to simply point out how one small thing can have a significant impact not only on our lives but also on the planet. With our planet truly approaching the point of crisis, some of the technological advancements that are the most beneficial are those that reduce our impact on the environment.

The examples that I have here are only a small selection of the variety of things I discovered. At one end of the spectrum, we truly now have the ability to ruin our world and take all of nature down with us. On the other end of that spectrum, we also possess the ability to change all of that and produce a much brighter and sustainable future.

There is no doubt that the changes in our environment and in our planet are going to get worse before it gets better. But the only way that is going to change is that if we all become more committed to that change than what we are to our comfort zone. As I pointed out in my last episode Pick One, all you have to do is choose one habit that you want to change to something more sustainable and go from there.

There is no doubt that great changes are ahead of us whether we like it or not. As the great teacher and spiritual leader Deepak Chopra once said, “All great changes are preceded by chaos.”

All it takes is one thing. And who would have ever thought that one single teenager, Gretta Thunberg, would get the attention of the entire world.

This is your host Patrick signing off until next week. Always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.

Resources

Eight Green Innovations Set to Shake Up Sustainability

Best Sustainability Innovations

Sustainability Innovations that Just Might Change the World

Patrick

Episode Transcript

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast
Episode 63
One Simple Thing Can Change the World

There are several things that I can look back on and definitively say that those things changed the course of my life. For example decisions and choices I made, unexpected events, simply being in the right place at the right time, and sometimes just plain bad luck. And I am sure that many of you can say the same thing.
But you know, this is really not all that unusual. I can easily point out several different things, small things, that have been a defining point and have changed the course of history. In fact, I believe that we are now at one of those points in the our history.
But, if you want to know more, then listen to this episode which is called One Simple Thing Can Change the World
Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is Episode 63 One Simple Thing Can Change the World.
Sometimes I think I focus too much on bad news. But today I want to bring you good news in sort of an interesting way in that I want to show you how one simple thing can make a huge difference, it can change the entire course of our lives, and even alter human history.
Throughout history there are numerous events, ideas and innovations that have literally changed the course of the world, resulted in major disasters, improved or worsened the fate of mankind, or even saved countless lives. I’d like to give you several examples of just that.

Fidel Castro
I dare say that 95% of the worlds population has no interest whatsoever in what happens on the baseball diamonds in the United States. Take Babe Ruth for example, who is one of the greatest American baseball icons. Little if anything at all would have been altered in the events of the world if Babe had never even made it out of the amateurs.
Yet in 1947 Fidel Castro came to the United States and attended the tryout camp of the Washington Senators. He was reputed to have a blazing fastball. However, he never earned a spot on a big league roster and returned to Cuba to pursue a career in politics. That event changed the history of the world as he later emerged as one of the most significant leaders in world history. Castro started a socialist revolution and rose to be the charismatic leader of Cuba. He out lasted nine U.S. presidents. Certainly no other ex-baseball player has so dramatically affected the lives and fortunes of millions of people.

The Sinking of the Titanic
The Titanic may have never sunk if it had not been for one forgetful sailor. Second officer David Blair was removed from the ships roaster at the last minute. When he left the ship, he forgot to hand over the key to the locker in the crow’s nest that contained binoculars. After the Titanic sunk, one of the surviving lookouts, Frederick Fleet, stated that with those binoculars the collision with the iceberg could have been prevented. The unsinkable Titanic could have had a completely different history.

The Magnetic Compass
In our modern age, I think it is fair to say that most of us pay little attention to the magnetic compass. With modern GPS and Goggle Maps, a compass is the last thing that most people would even consider using. Yet the invention of the compass altered human history. It was by far one of the greatest inventions and the most important tools for navigation. Before the invention of the compass, people navigated using only the stars, the patterns of migrating birds, or even the waves. Sailors often avoided the open ocean for fear of getting lost.
Around 200 BCE, the Han dynasty in China produced the first ever magnetic compass. The magnetic needle was attached to a piece of cork or wood which was floated freely in a dish of water. It was in 1050 that the compass was first used for navigation. By the 14th century the magnetic compass widely replaced astronomical means as the primary instrument of navigation. Explorers now had a reliable means to traverse the oceans which sparked the beginning of the Age of Discovery.
Fast forward hundreds of years. By the 1980s the US military released the global positioning system, known as GPS, to the public. We can now map every part of the planet.

The Printing Press
Prior to the internet, there is nothing that did more to disseminate information and knowledge than the Johannes Gutenberg printing press. Gutenberg developed his press in 1440 which used a mould to rapidly produce lead alloy type pieces. This press made it possible to produce as many as 3,600 pages a day. By 1500 there were over 1,000 presses operating in Europe which produced over 200 million books by 1600. The Gutenberg press made books affordable for the lower class and helped to start the Age of Enlightenment.

Development of Vaccines
The use of vaccines dates back hundreds of years. In 17th century China immunity to smallpox was conferred by smearing a skin tear with cowpox. But actually Edward Jenner is considered the founder of modern vaccinology. He inoculated a 13 year old boy with cowpox virus and then demonstrated immunity to smallpox. The first smallpox vaccine was developed in 1798. Throughout the 18th and 19th century the use of mass smallpox immunizations culminated in the eradication of smallpox in 1979. Plague vaccines were developed in the late 19th century. The development of viral tissue culture methods developed from 1950 to 1985 which led to the development of two types of polio vaccines. Mass polio vaccinations have now eradicated this disease from many parts of the world.
So from printing presses to vaccines, baseball careers that never got off the ground, sinking ships, and the discovery of magnetism, it is truly the little things that can change the world. And certainly the COVID 19 pandemic is yet another example of a defining point in human history.
But I do think that such things are simply a reminder to us that we are not in as much control as we think. Sometimes Mother Nature has a mind of her own. Climate change and recent disastrous weather events in the United States is testament to that.
But as you know humans have always been a major influence on the affairs of the world, both political and natural. Some would question just what the world is coming to these days. But as I have said before, the world is not coming to anything more than it has always been coming too. As Simon Anholt once said “The only thing that is different is that we now have the power to take all of nature down with us.”
But the interesting thing, as you may well known, part of what influences our live, and even changes the course of our lives, is the choices we make. The same is true with the fate of the world. Not only do we have the technology to take all of nature down with us, we have the technology to save the planet. And some of this technology could actually do just that. It is more than obvious that we have to change what we are doing if we are to save the planet. And there are some very interesting innovations that could do just that.
Fortunately, there is a much greater push for sustainable products and technology today. And that is what I want to focus on, some incredible examples of sustainable technology that could actually save the world.

The Smog Free Project
Air pollution has long been linked to numerous health problems. It can damage cells in your respiratory system, it can exacerbate cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, it can accelerate the aging of your lungs, reduce lung capacity and function, cause you to develop asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and possibly even cancer. It can even shorten your lifespan. Unfortunately air pollution is a product of our industrialized world. But one company may have found an answer.
A man named Daan Roosegaarde has produced the world’s first smog vacuum cleaner. This so called Smog Free Tower is about 7 meters, or 23 feet high. It sucks in and cleans polluted air through a process of ionization. This tower cleans 30,000 cubic meters of air per hour. These compressed smog particles can even be converted to jewelry.
Mr Roosegaarde’s design has won multiple awards and new projects have been launched in Poland, Mexico, the Netherlands, China and South Korea.

The Green Building Initiative
Our residences and businesses are responsible for 35% to 40% of our greenhouse gas emissions and for the consumption of a massive amount of electricity. But the Green Building Initiative is working on changing that.
Now this is an interesting business which is actually an international effort towards creating resource efficient buildings for sustainability. It is sort of similar to producing a net zero home as I have mentioned before. This is a home that produces as much energy as it consumes. The Green Building Initiative has a goal of establishing a standard of best practices for green building globally.

Robotic Bees
I am sure that most of us have heard about the steady decline in the population of honey bees. A lot of this is the result of the use of pesticides. While there are reasons for their use, pesticide residue is commonly found on many plants and this plays a significant role in the decline of honey bee populations. But this decline can also be attributed to pests, disease, pollution, nutritional deficits, habitat loss, climate variability, as well as other factors.
Now the problem is that bees play an important part in almost every aspect of a healthy ecosystem. They support the growth of trees, flowers, plants, which of course serves as a source of food and shelter. Very simply put, bees are a vital link in a complex, interconnected ecosystem that enables multiple species to coexist.
Depending on the sources that you read, there have been a decline in bee populations by as much as 60% to 90%. But, a recent innovation in robotics may change all of that.
Did you ever think you would see robotic bees?
There is this device called a B-Droid, or Robo Bee. Now these are still in development but these tiny little robots will eventually be able to pollinate plants. The vision is that of swarms of small autonomous robots which have the ability to identify and pollinate crops effectively.

What About Sustainable Agriculture?
We already know that our agricultural activities by far have the greatest detrimental affects on our planet compared to anything else we do. But, that could start changing. Recent innovations are now revealing means of agriculture that are far more sustainable.

Supermarket Herb Gardens
There is now a Dutch supermarket chain that actually has in-store herb gardens in order to reduce waste and give customers that freshest possible produce. Herbs are grown at a local farm, then transported completely intact to local stores. Customers can cut as many springs as they need, without buying pre-packaged produced. This is a simple sustainable initiative with some far reaching implications. But, you can also grow you own herbs at home.

SunDrop Farms in Australia
This sustainable agricultural project uses concentrated solar power and thermal desalination as a means of using much fewer resources than traditional farming. The farm is located in Port Augusta, South Australia. Irrigation water is drawn from Spencer Gulf, which is desalinated and used to irrigate crops. It is run entirely off solar power. It is a combination of technologies using the integration of solar power, electricity generation, fresh water production and hydroponics. Such an integrated approach results in the production of fresh produce without the use of fossil fuels, enormous amounts of fresh water and thousands of acres of cultivated farmland. And because they do not need soil, they are able to grow produce on degraded, arid land that would otherwise never be used for agriculture.

Groasis Waterboxx
At this time about 1% of our planet is essentially uninhabitable due to extreme heat. It is estimated that by the year 2070, that will increase to nearly 19%. What most people do not realize is that for much of human history people have lived in areas where food was abundant due to a surprisingly narrow range in temperatures.