Happy Wednesday 👋

Here are the impactful insights that I have for you today:

• How a new technology determines produce ripeness to reduce food waste 🚯
• How Amazon is funding a recycling robots startup 📦
• The worms that can aid in human cancer research 🧬
• And more… 💚

Did you know that we waste roughly 1.3 billion tons of food every year?

And wasted food is just as much of an environmental concern as it is a humanitarian one…

When we waste food, we also waste all the energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package it. Preventing food waste could cut global greenhouse gas emissions by 6-8%.

For me, one of the trickiest parts is when it comes to fresh produce… Some of these just turn so quickly from “not-ripe-yet” to “way-too-ripe”

But luckily, it seems like there’s a new technology that’s all about fixing this problem 🥳

🚯 How Wireless Technology Can Fix Our Food Waste Problem 

1️⃣ The big picture: Researchers at Princeton University and Microsoft Research are using high-frequency, wireless technology to determine the quality of fruit. Fruit is scanned with sub-terahertz signals to reveal sugar and dry matter content, which can be used to determine ripeness. 

2️⃣ Why is this good news: Current methods of determining fruit ripeness rely on unreliable visual inspections or are too time-consuming or expensive to implement at commercial scales. This wireless gives suppliers a fast and accurate way to sort fruit based on ripeness, helping to improve the quality of fruit being distributed, and cut food waste in the process. 

3️⃣ What’s next: Our global food systems profoundly impact human and environmental health. Researchers believe that this technology could be expanded to other kinds of foods including meat and beverages, which would further cut down on food waste.

Related: If you want to learn more about how you can reduce waste, including food waste, check out our article about Waste Management Carbon Offsets.

📢 More Good News…

🏠 Why New York is installing heat pumps in apartments:

• The New York City Housing Authority is installing window-mounted heat pumps in apartments.
• The project aims to reduce energy costs and cut greenhouse gas emissions in apartment buildings, where traditional heat pumps may not be feasible.
• This pilot project could lead to a wider adoption of heat pumps in apartment buildings, saving money for consumers and reducing emissions for the planet.

📦 How Amazon is funding a recycling robots startup:

• Amazon has announced they are backing the San Francisco startup, Glacier, which develops AI-guided, recycling robots.
• So far, Glacier has raised over $13 million to build robots that can sort up to 30 different types of materials.
• Glacier is paving the way to develop a future where materials can be recycled at scale.

🧬 How worms could aid in human cancer research:

• Researchers at New York University found that microscopic worms exposed to chronic radiation from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986 exhibited no genetic damage.
• The Chernobyl disaster turned the land around into the most radioactive place on Earth, yet these worms have persisted unaffected.
• This finding could help us understand how to protect our DNA from carcinogens and why some people with genetic predisposition to cancer get the disease while others do not.

🤝 Three Important Awareness Events

♻️ March 18: Global Recycling Day:

• This day was founded in 2018 by the Bureau for International Recycling (BIR) as a recycling initiative that encourages us to see our trash as an opportunity to save our planet. 
• Today, the event is used to help recognize and celebrate the important role recycling plays in preserving precious natural resources and protecting the diversity of our planet.

😀 March 20, International Day of Happiness:

• Recognizing that happiness and well-being are universal human goals, the UN launched this day in 2012. 
• It draws attention to the need for a more inclusive, equitable, and balanced approach to public policy to achieve happiness and well-being for all.

🌳 March 21, International Day of Forests:

• From purifying water to fighting climate change, forests provide priceless ecological, economic, social, and health benefits. 
• This day was created to raise awareness of the important role of forests and encourage people to join conservation efforts.

Related: You can discover all the 115 most important awareness events (for the month, days, weeks) in our awareness calendar for March 2024!

📜 This Week in History

🇺🇲 March 20, 1854: The Republican Party was founded in the northern US by those opposed to the spread of slavery in the south. The US Civil War cemented the Republican Party as the party of the North, and it is still one of the main political parties in the US today.

✊🏾 March 21, 1960: Police opened fire on a group of unarmed Black South African demonstrators protesting apartheid laws. This inspired Nelson Mandela to abandon his non-violent stance, resulting in his imprisonment and ultimately his presidential election.

💭 Quote of the Week

“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

– Nelson Mandela; South African president, anti-apartheid activist, and politician

Share the news with your friends to make a bigger positive impact on the world and society!

Stay impactful 💚