The Women's Safety XPRIZE of $1 million was awarded to Leaf Wearables. The official challenge was to create a device costing less than $40 that can autonomously and inconspicuously trigger an emergency alert while transmitting information to a network of community responders, all within 90 seconds. Leaf had the advantage of having already shipped a product along these lines, the Safer pendant. https://safety.xprize.org/prizes/womens-safety/teams/leaf_wearables
A 2023 start-up aiming to make recycling convenient and accessible to all is about to go national. The aim is to provide people with a home pick-up option for some of the "trickier" items the normal recycling bins can't handle - including soft plastics. https://wastemanagementreview.com.au/recyclesmart-goes-national/
A Kyushu University study (2021) estimated there were 24.4 trillion pieces of microplastics in the world's upper oceans or roughly 30 billion 500-ml plastic water bottles. Microplastics are tiny, toxic and very hard to remove from the environment. But researchers in the US have discovered that some Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents (NADES) can attract and bind microplastics, making it easier to remove them from the environment. And the N in NADES is key - natural - in this instance, think extracts from plants. https://www.research.uky.edu/news/researchers-develop-eco-friendly-magnet-battle-microplastics
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