So-called « low-tech » technologies are useful, sustainable, and accessible solutions designed to meet the fundamental needs of individuals or communities (water, food, energy) while minimizing their environmental impact.
With about one-third of all food produced being discarded, food waste worldwide is a (sadly) perfect example of holistic (un)sustainability, with broad and interconnected environmental, economic, and social ramifications. For one, the decomposition of organic waste, the largest stream in landfills, increases emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas significantly more potent than carbon dioxide.
‘You break it, you fix it’. In retail stores, this seems common sense (as well as a source of anxiety if one is with a toddler in the shop in question). But this logic is rarely applied when it comes to responsibilities for climate change.
Let’s do a little experiment: Google “1960s child’s car seat.” Done? It’s easy to chuckle half amused - half scandalized—at human practices from the past and wonder how could “they” be so oblivious. Well, the thing is, it's still actually "us", and as the song goes, “The times, they are a-changin’.”
The next time you feel lazy about recycling your trash, think of Kamikatsu, a Japanese municipality where its 1,400 inhabitants - mostly elderly - sort waste into more than 45 categories. (Yes, 45).
