Here’s a roundup of some of the stories that have captured Life & Soul Magazine’s attention this week:
1. LivingPackets hopes to nurture a circular economy with its smart parcels – A Berlin-based startup aims to replace the familiar cardboard box with an alternative that’s smarter, more secure and possibly the building block of a new circular economy. The primary product created by LivingPackets is called The Box. This one is reusable, durable, digitally locked and monitored, with a smartphone’s worth of sensors and gadgets that make it trackable and versatile, and an E-Ink screen so its destination or contents can be updated at will, Tech Radar reports.
2. Musicians’ Union and artists call for universal basic income to support the arts – The Musicians’ Union and major artists have called on the UK government to introduce a universal basic income to support performers left unpaid during the coronavirus pandemic, The Independent writes.
3. An abandoned British island reclaimed by nature – With no permanent residents and millions of animals, South Georgia island is one of the world’s most biodiverse places. Though the crescent-shaped island is technically a British Overseas Territory, it’s also claimed by Argentina and is so remote and hard to get to that many people in the United Kingdom have never even heard of it. South Georgia’s remote location is the island’s secret blessing, because here, well away from humans, nature is flourishing, according to the BBC.
4. How to bring more wildlife into a small garden – Country Living talks to TV gardener Danny Clarke about how to garden more sustainably and increase biodiversity in outdoor spaces.
5. Bay Area startup pioneers zero-waste restaurant delivery with reusable containers – ABC7 meets with Bay Area entrepreneur Lindsey Hoell, founder of zero-waste business Dispatch Goods, to see how she is putting the brakes on an epidemic of waste.
6. Vodafone teams up with Defra for digital tree monitoring trial – The UK government is teaming up with Vodafone to carry out a three-month study using specialist sensors to monitor tree growth and the impacts of environmental change on the UK’s forests, Business Green reports.
7. ‘World first’ full-electric delivery vehicle to be trialled in London – DPD and Volta Trucks have joined forces to pilot a full-electric delivery vehicle in London. The Volta Zero is the world’s first purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne vehicle designed for inner-city freight deliveries, reducing the environmental impact of freight deliveries in city centres and eliminating an estimated 180,000 tonnes of CO2 by 2025. The vehicle will be tested by DPD within London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone at the beginning of 2021, supporting their micro-depot strategy, Climate Action writes.
Image Credit: LivingPackets
Rosa Medea is Life & Soul Magazine’s Chief. She writes about lifestyle including sustainable and green living.
