These entrepreneurs want consumers to reuse wine bottles

Good News Notes: “Americans aren’t the biggest wine sippers in the world — imbibing a mere 3.2 gallons per person in 2020 versus the 16 gallons guzzled by Portuguese residents, according to estimates from the industry’s primary source of stats.  But the habit still translates into a whole lot of single-use bottles: About 4.3 billion of…

West Lafayette improving city sustainability with new food waste collecting bin

Good News Notes: “Food waste is at the forefront for West Lafayette leaders right now. That’s because it’s helping fuel energy for city facilities, in turn, making the city more environmentally friendly. A new food waste collecting bin is really behind this movement. The bin is attached to the back of a city Streets and Sanitation Department…

This Robot Goes Around The Beach Helping To Pick Up Litter

Good News Notes: “Beaches are fun places to go to, but it only takes a few bad apples to ruin the experience for everyone. By that we mean litterbugs, people who don’t think about other people and just dump their trash on the beach. This includes empty bottles, cans, food wrappings, actual food, cigarette buds,…

Just Salad Poised to Take Zero-Waste Dining Nationwide

Good News Notes: “Just Salad — a US-based, fast-casual restaurant chain with a commitment to healthy, sustainable food and zero- waste practices — today announced an infusion of capital, courtesy of circular economy-focused investment firm Closed Loop Partners and returning investor Panda Restaurant Group, parent company of Panda Express®. Just Salad will use the capital to expand its geographic footprint and…

World’s first ‘green’ synthesis of plastics from CO2

Good News Notes: “By combining a CeO2 catalyst with atmospheric carbon dioxide, researchers from Osaka City University, Tohoku University, and Nippon Steel Corporation have developed an effective catalytic process for the direct synthesis of polycarbonate diols without using dehydrating agents. Their method, published in Green Chemistry, does not rely on toxic chemical feedstock like phosgene and carbon…

LanzaTech Makes Products From Carbon Dioxide

Good News Notes: “Climate technology developer and commercializer LanzaTech has been awarded $4.1M from the Department of Energy (DOE) for a project leveraging technology that uses carbon dioxide (CO2)-rich gas, such as from corn grain ethanol refining, to make chemicals and fuels. A major benefit is that the CO2 is captured before it is released to the…

Check out Boston’s first — and only — one-stop-shop for zero-waste products

Good News Notes: “In Boston’s North End, you can get cannolis, fresh pasta, and now, a wide selection of zero-waste products. Though Maria Camila Vasco, 23, originally founded Uvida as an online store while she was a senior at UMass Boston, Uvida now occupies a quaint, colorful storefront on Atlantic Avenue.  Vasco is an immigrant and first-generation…

‘Living shorelines’ becoming more common in CT for erosion control

Good News Notes: “Visitors to East Shore Park in New Haven aren’t easily able to stroll along the beach there. It’s not closed; it’s being physically cut off from the rest of the park by erosion. Getting to the beach requires getting down a steep slope, and there’s a good chance of slipping on the loose sand…