Cookies help us run our site more efficiently.

By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. View our Privacy Policy for more information or to customize your cookie preferences.

Processing waste biomass to reduce airborne emissions

News Feed
Thursday, September 29, 2022

To prepare fields for planting, farmers the world over often burn corn stalks, rice husks, hay, straw, and other waste left behind from the previous harvest. In many places, the practice creates huge seasonal clouds of smog, contributing to air pollution that kills 7 million people globally a year, according to the World Health Organization. Annually, $120 billion worth of crop and forest residues are burned in the open worldwide — a major waste of resources in an energy-starved world, says Kevin Kung SM ’13, PhD ’17. Kung is working to transform this waste biomass into marketable products — and capitalize on a billion-dollar global market — through his MIT spinoff company, Takachar. Founded in 2015, Takachar develops small-scale, low-cost, portable equipment to convert waste biomass into solid fuel using a variety of thermochemical treatments, including one known as oxygen-lean torrefaction. The technology emerged from Kung’s PhD project in the lab of Ahmed Ghoniem, the Ronald C. Crane (1972) Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. Biomass fuels, including wood, peat, and animal dung, are a major source of carbon emissions — but billions of people rely on such fuels for cooking, heating, and other household needs. “Currently, burning biomass generates 10 percent of the primary energy used worldwide, and the process is used largely in rural, energy-poor communities. We’re not going to change that overnight. There are places with no other sources of energy,” Ghoniem says. What Takachar’s technology provides is a way to use biomass more cleanly and efficiently by concentrating the fuel and eliminating contaminants such as moisture and dirt, thus creating a “clean-burning” fuel — one that generates less smoke. “In rural communities where biomass is used extensively as a primary energy source, torrefaction will address air pollution head-on,” Ghoniem says. Thermochemical treatment densifies biomass at elevated temperatures, converting plant materials that are typically loose, wet, and bulky into compact charcoal. Centralized processing plants exist, but collection and transportation present major barriers to utilization, Kung says. Takachar’s solution moves processing into the field: To date, Takachar has worked with about 5,500 farmers to process 9,000 metric tons of crops. Takachar estimates its technology has the potential to reduce carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by gigatons per year at scale. (“Carbon dioxide equivalent” is a measure used to gauge global warming potential.) In recognition, in 2021 Takachar won the first-ever Earthshot Prize in the clean air category, a £1 million prize funded by Prince William and Princess Kate’s Royal Foundation. Roots in Kenya As Kung tells the story, Takachar emerged from a class project that took him to Kenya — which explains the company’s name, a combination of takataka, which mean “trash” in Swahili, and char, for the charcoal end product. It was 2011, and Kung was at MIT as a biological engineering grad student focused on cancer research. But “MIT gives students big latitude for exploration, and I took courses outside my department,” he says. In spring 2011, he signed up for a class known as 15.966 (Global Health Delivery Lab) in the MIT Sloan School of Management. The class brought Kung to Kenya to work with a nongovernmental organization in Nairobi’s Kibera, the largest urban slum in Africa. “We interviewed slum households for their views on health, and that’s when I noticed the charcoal problem,” Kung says. The problem, as Kung describes it, was that charcoal was everywhere in Kibera — piled up outside, traded by the road, and used as the primary fuel, even indoors. Its creation contributed to deforestation, and its smoke presented a serious health hazard. Eager to address this challenge, Kung secured fellowship support from the MIT International Development Initiative and the Priscilla King Gray Public Service Center to conduct more research in Kenya. In 2012, he formed Takachar as a team and received seed money from the MIT IDEAS Global Challenge, MIT Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship, and D-Lab to produce charcoal from household organic waste. (This work also led to a fertilizer company, Safi Organics, that Kung founded in 2016 with the help of MIT IDEAS. But that is another story.) Meanwhile, Kung had another top priority: finding a topic for his PhD dissertation. Back at MIT, he met Alexander Slocum, the Walter M. May and A. Hazel May Professor of Mechanical Engineering, who on a long walk-and-talk along the Charles River suggested he turn his Kenya work into a thesis. Slocum connected him with Robert Stoner, deputy director for science and technology at the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) and founding director of MITEI’s Tata Center for Technology and Design. Stoner in turn introduced Kung to Ghoniem, who became his PhD advisor, while Slocum and Stoner joined his doctoral committee. Roots in MIT lab Ghoniem’s telling of the Takachar story begins, not surprisingly, in the lab. Back in 2010, he had a master’s student interested in renewable energy, and he suggested the student investigate biomass. That student, Richard Bates ’10, SM ’12, PhD ’16, began exploring the science of converting biomass to more clean-burning charcoal through torrefaction. Most torrefaction (also known as low-temperature pyrolysis) systems use external heating sources, but the lab’s goal, Ghoniem explains, was to develop an efficient, self-sustained reactor that would generate fewer emissions. “We needed to understand the chemistry and physics of the process, and develop fundamental scaling models, before going to the lab to build the device,” he says. By the time Kung joined the lab in 2013, Ghoniem was working with the Tata Center to identify technology suitable for developing countries and largely based on renewable energy. Kung was able to secure a Tata Fellowship and — building on Bates’ research — develop the small-scale, practical device for biomass thermochemical conversion in the field that launched Takachar. This device, which was patented by MIT with inventors Kung, Ghoniem, Stoner, MIT research scientist Santosh Shanbhogue, and Slocum, is self-contained and scalable. It burns a little of the biomass to generate heat; this heat bakes the rest of the biomass, releasing gases; the system then introduces air to enable these gases to combust, which burns off the volatiles and generates more heat, keeping the thermochemical reaction going. “The trick is how to introduce the right amount of air at the right location to sustain the process,” Ghoniem explains. “If you put in more air, that will burn the biomass. If you put in less, there won’t be enough heat to produce the charcoal. That will stop the reaction.” About 10 percent of the biomass is used as fuel to support the reaction, Kung says, adding that “90 percent is densified into a form that’s easier to handle and utilize.” He notes that the research received financial support from the Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab and the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, both at MIT. Sonal Thengane, another postdoc in Ghoniem’s lab, participated in the effort to scale up the technology at the MIT Bates Lab (no relation to Richard Bates). The charcoal produced is more valuable per ton and easier to transport and sell than biomass, reducing transportation costs by two-thirds and giving farmers an additional income opportunity — and an incentive not to burn agricultural waste, Kung says. “There’s more income for farmers, and you get better air quality.” Roots in India When Kung became a Tata Fellow, he joined a program founded to take on the biggest challenges of the developing world, with a focus on India. According to Stoner, Tata Fellows, including Kung, typically visit India twice a year and spend six to eight weeks meeting stakeholders in industry, the government, and in communities to gain perspective on their areas of study. “A unique part of Tata is that you’re considering the ecosystem as a whole,” says Kung, who interviewed hundreds of smallholder farmers, met with truck drivers, and visited existing biomass processing plants during his Tata trips to India. (Along the way, he also connected with Indian engineer Vidyut Mohan, who became Takachar’s co-founder.) “It was very important for Kevin to be there walking about, experimenting, and interviewing farmers,” Stoner says. “He learned about the lives of farmers.” These experiences helped instill in Kung an appreciation for small farmers that still drives him today as Takachar rolls out its first pilot programs, tinkers with the technology, grows its team (now up to 10), and endeavors to build a revenue stream. So, while Takachar has gotten a lot of attention and accolades — from the IDEAS award to the Earthshot Prize — Kung says what motivates him is the prospect of improving people’s lives. The dream, he says, is to empower communities to help both the planet and themselves. “We’re excited about the environmental justice perspective,” he says. “Our work brings production and carbon removal or avoidance to rural communities — providing them with a way to convert waste, make money, and reduce air pollution.” This article appears in the Spring 2022 issue of Energy Futures, the magazine of the MIT Energy Initiative.

MIT spinoff Takachar converts agricultural waste into clean-burning fuel, and wins Earthshot Prize.

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

Silicon mountain: Our obsession with electronics is drowning the world in e-waste

A new UN report finds that our problematic relationship with electronic trash is worsening, but solvable

Whether it's for work, school or keeping up with friends and family, we all rely on electronic devices for our daily lives. It's likely you are reading this article from a device that uses a battery or plug. Unfortunately, our phones and laptops contain some toxic elements and when they break or become obsolete, where they end up next can have big impacts on the environment. This isn't a failure on the individual level so much as an overarching problem with our society's disposable culture. This trash differs from plastic and other types of pollution however because of the uniquely dangerous toxic metals and other materials, plus the fact that this category of electronic waste, or e-waste, is growing faster than any other. "Most countries in the world do not yet have e-waste regulation in place." According to a recent report by the United Nations (UN), humanity's e-waste production is a major environmental problem. Indeed, the UN's fourth Global E-waste Monitor (GEM) announced on Wednesday that human beings are creating five times more electronic waste than we are recycling. In 2022 alone, human beings created 137 billion pounds of e-waste and recycled less than a quarter of it. According to the report, this is enough e-waste that it equals the weight of 107,000 of the world's largest, heaviest 575 tonne passenger aircraft, enough to be connected head-to-tail from New York City to Athens, Greece. Even worse, the number is only increasing, with the 62 million tonnes produced in 2022 expected to rise by 32% to 82 million tonnes by 2030. "E-waste presents very visible and obvious challenges to the environment and human health, while many of the solutions can be extremely effective but less visible," said report co-author Vanessa Gray, who heads the Environment and Emergency Telecommunication Division at the Telecommunication Development Bureau at the UN's International Telecommunication Union. "This includes the need for more and better e-waste regulation. Although this is an important first step to address the e-waste challenge, and helps drive recycling rates, most countries in the world do not yet have e-waste regulation in place." Without proper regulations, people are likely to be exposed to the hazardous substances that allow our electronic inventions to work. Think of mercury, which can cause brain and nervous system damage and is present in some batteries. Lead poisoning is also common among those exposed to these materials, which can similarly cause brain and neurological damage. These devices may also contain dioxins that can harm a person's lungs, or cobalt that irritates the skin, eyes, nose and throat. E-waste also usually contains plastic, which never degrades and therefore creates pollution associated with myriad diseases that effectively remains in the environment indefinitely. Research indicates that children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the negative health effects of being exposed to these materials, especially in poorer regions of the world, where much of this trash is exported. Even though economically disadvantaged regions like Africa generate less e-waste, it can be lucrative scavenging electronic products for a living. But this is often done without proper personal or environmental protections. When this is combined with an inferior e-waste management infrastructure, one is left with a recipe for a widespread health crisis. "African countries generate the lowest rates of e-waste but struggle to recycle it; their recycling rates are below 1 per cent," the authors of the report write. By partial contrast, Asia generates nearly half of the world's e-waste (at a staggering 30 billion kg) and yet has likewise made only "limited advances" in controlling its e-waste problem. In contrast, the report notes that in 2022, the regions that generated the highest amount of e-waste per capita were Europe, Oceania and the Americas. Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes. "Buy less electronics you don’t need." There are glimmers of hope in the report. For one thing, the researchers found that although only a small amount of e-waste is recycled, that was enough to spare the planet from being mined for 2 trillion pounds of ore for virgin metal. This is because recycling e-waste allows humanity to create new gadgets from old ones, an act which in turn lowers the high carbon footprint associated with mining and manufacturing. Currently the Americas, for example, release 30.9 billion kg CO2 equivalents through their poor management of electronic products; Europe releases 16.6 billion kg of CO2 equivalents; Asia releases 82.4 billion kg of CO2 equivalents; and Africa releases 12.4 billion kg of CO2 equivalents. Safely repurposing electronic products automatically eliminates the greenhouse gas production associated with creating new devices. As the United Nations observed, people avoided emitting 93 million tonnes of CO2 emissions through their formal waste management efforts. This means that the problem of e-waste pollution, though very serious, is not unsolvable. When people safely recycle their electronic products, it does indeed reduce the environmental harms from further exploitation and pollution. Each individual can take important steps to solve the problem of e-waste pollution. To elaborate on this, Salon spoke by email with Kees Baldé, the report's lead author and a senior scientific specialist of Sustainable Cycles at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). "You have an old refrigerator and want to discard it," Baldé said, highlighting a common source of e-waste. "You decide to place it on the [curbside] for the municipality or a company to be collected." Usually someone will remove the copper compressor in the back to sell the valuable metal before the waste collector takes away the refrigerator. But if someone wants to reduce e-waste, this is not helpful. "This compressor contains refrigerants and are immediately released," Baldé explained. "This may deplete ozone layer, if it’s an old fridge [but] newer refrigerants also contribute significantly to global warming. The emissions of gasses in one compressor equals one flight for one person of around 5,000 kilometers [3,106 miles]." For other sources of e-waste, Baldé had a pointed observation for people who need to dispose of small devices that run on batteries. If "you throw it in the residual waste bin" instead of recycling it, the result is that "it will be incinerated or landfilled, instead of being recycled." As for people who live in low and middle income countries, Baldé said that "waste pickers" who see e-waste "as a valuable resource and selectively scavenge and ‘recycle’ valuable components" need to be careful. Currently thousands of people do this "without the necessary protection and getting heavy metals persistent chemicals in their bodies, and releasing toxic fumes and other emissions to the environment." Baldé said that people need to "separate their e-waste, repair more and buy less electronics you don’t need." Gray also closed on a hopeful note, describing how we may be able to fix the problem. "Regulation can help ensure that producers and distributors of electrical and electronic equipment take on a responsibility for the products they put on the market. It can further help make it easier for products to be re-used, repaired, as well as recycled," Gray said. Read more about environmental issues:

Turning mushroom waste into a resource for sustainable farming

The mushroom industry explores the potential of spent substrate, a byproduct of mushroom cultivation, for various environmental and agricultural applications.Doug Bierend reports for Civil Eats.In short:Spent substrate, the leftover material from mushroom farming, holds potential for compost, soil decontamination, biofuel, and further mushroom cultivation.Small and large mushroom farms alike face the challenge of managing the increasing amounts of spent substrate, seeking innovative solutions for its disposal and reuse.The Central Texas Mycological Society has created a community network for free spent substrate pickup, supporting local farms and environmental projects.Key quote:"If you're gonna do it, awesome, but account for this waste stream you're producing and how you're gonna get it off of your property."— Amanda Janney, founder of KM MushroomsWhy this matters:Incorporating spent substrate into farming practices supports the principles of circular economy by recycling waste products into valuable resources. This not only reduces waste but also minimizes the environmental impact of farming by decreasing the reliance on synthetic inputs.The way we eat and grow food has to dramatically change if we're going to feed the world's increasing population by 2050 and protect the planet, according to a major report released in 2019 from the EAT-Lancet Commission.

The mushroom industry explores the potential of spent substrate, a byproduct of mushroom cultivation, for various environmental and agricultural applications.Doug Bierend reports for Civil Eats.In short:Spent substrate, the leftover material from mushroom farming, holds potential for compost, soil decontamination, biofuel, and further mushroom cultivation.Small and large mushroom farms alike face the challenge of managing the increasing amounts of spent substrate, seeking innovative solutions for its disposal and reuse.The Central Texas Mycological Society has created a community network for free spent substrate pickup, supporting local farms and environmental projects.Key quote:"If you're gonna do it, awesome, but account for this waste stream you're producing and how you're gonna get it off of your property."— Amanda Janney, founder of KM MushroomsWhy this matters:Incorporating spent substrate into farming practices supports the principles of circular economy by recycling waste products into valuable resources. This not only reduces waste but also minimizes the environmental impact of farming by decreasing the reliance on synthetic inputs.The way we eat and grow food has to dramatically change if we're going to feed the world's increasing population by 2050 and protect the planet, according to a major report released in 2019 from the EAT-Lancet Commission.

Biden administration warns states of cyberattack threat to water, wastewater systems

The Biden administration warned governors on Tuesday that “disabling” cyberattacks are targeting drinking water and wastewater systems throughout the country and urged them to help identify and address any vulnerabilities. Water and wastewater systems can represent an “attractive target” for cyberattacks because of their essential nature and frequent lack of “resources and technical capacity to...

The Biden administration warned governors on Tuesday that “disabling” cyberattacks are targeting drinking water and wastewater systems throughout the country and urged them to help identify and address any vulnerabilities. Water and wastewater systems can represent an “attractive target” for cyberattacks because of their essential nature and frequent lack of “resources and technical capacity to adopt rigorous cybersecurity practices,” Michael Regan, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan said in a letter. “Even basic cybersecurity precautions – such as resetting default passwords or updating software to address known vulnerabilities – are not in place and can mean the difference between business as usual and a disruptive cyberattack," Regan and Sullivan said. They called on the governors to help ensure that all their state’s water systems identify any significant vulnerabilities, put in place practices to reduce cybersecurity risks and exercise plans to prepare for a potential cyber incident. Cyber actors affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and China have recently targeted critical U.S. infrastructure, including drinking water systems, Regan and Sullivan noted. IRGC-affiliated actors targeted and disabled operational technology at water facilities that failed to change a default manufacturer password late last year, while a Chinese state-sponsored cyber group has compromised the IT environments of several critical infrastructure organizations and appears to be pre-positioning itself to disrupt operations. “Drinking water and wastewater systems are a lifeline for communities, but many systems have not adopted important cybersecurity practices to thwart potential cyberattacks,” Regan said in a press release. The administration is inviting state environmental, health and homeland security secretaries to a meeting to discuss cyber threats to water systems and plans to form a Water Sector Cybersecurity Task Force, according to the letter. “EPA and [National Security Council] take these threats very seriously and will continue to partner with state environmental, health, and homeland security leaders to address the pervasive and challenging risk of cyberattacks on water systems,” Regan added.

Turning Libya's plastic waste into community support

In Libya, a grassroots effort to recycle plastic waste is rejuvenating communities and aiding cancer patients.Radwan Khashim reports for Ensia.In short:Mustafa Balhaj, a retired teacher, initiated recycling projects in Libya to combat plastic pollution and support those in need.These initiatives not only clean the environment but also fund cancer treatment and empower vulnerable populations.The efforts have gained traction, creating jobs and offering new hope in areas affected by war and economic downturn.Key quote:"I felt it was my calling to clean the beaches and the city. I pursued that."— Mustafa Balhaj, retired teacherWhy this matters:In a country fragmented by conflict, these recycling projects are a silver lining, improving health outcomes and community well-being. Beyond environmental impact, they demonstrate how grassroots movements can fill gaps left by governmental instability, offering lessons in resilience and community care.Lost fishing nets, plastic twine, plastic packaging, balloon string, plastic chairs - all this trash is rising in our oceans.

In Libya, a grassroots effort to recycle plastic waste is rejuvenating communities and aiding cancer patients.Radwan Khashim reports for Ensia.In short:Mustafa Balhaj, a retired teacher, initiated recycling projects in Libya to combat plastic pollution and support those in need.These initiatives not only clean the environment but also fund cancer treatment and empower vulnerable populations.The efforts have gained traction, creating jobs and offering new hope in areas affected by war and economic downturn.Key quote:"I felt it was my calling to clean the beaches and the city. I pursued that."— Mustafa Balhaj, retired teacherWhy this matters:In a country fragmented by conflict, these recycling projects are a silver lining, improving health outcomes and community well-being. Beyond environmental impact, they demonstrate how grassroots movements can fill gaps left by governmental instability, offering lessons in resilience and community care.Lost fishing nets, plastic twine, plastic packaging, balloon string, plastic chairs - all this trash is rising in our oceans.

Opinion: Ours is the most wasteful civilization in history. Here's how to stop that

The average American throws out three times more trash today than in 1960, and what we squander is killing us. But we can choose differently.

What if the looming calamities of climate change, plastic pollution, the energy crisis and our whole environmental doom-scroll are symptoms of just one malady and it’s something we actually can fix?That’s right, the planet is fighting a single archvillain: Waste.Americans live in the most wasteful civilization in history. This goes way beyond what we roll to the curb each week. It’s rooted in what we eat and drink and how we cook. It’s the main thing you pay for in your utility bills and at the gas pump. Waste is so deeply embedded in our economy, products and daily lives that it’s hard to see clearly, or to see at all.Thinking of seemingly unsolvable Earth-destroying crises as byproducts of waste is powerful and hopeful. There’s no partisan divide where one side says, “Yay waste!” Instead there are ordinary blue state and red state people at work in our neighborhoods right now, showing us how to tackle waste and the catastrophes it drives — and saving, even making money while doing it.The best opportunity for healing our economy, quality of life and the planet begins with reframing the entire doom-scroll as waste. What we choose to use is important, but it’s what we squander that’s killing us.Don’t believe it? How is it “normal” that 40% of what our industrial farm and food system produces ends up as garbage? Where’s the outrage over a fossil-fuel-dominated energy system that wastes two-thirds of the $1.3 trillion we spend each year on fuel and electricity? Why no protests over miles-per-gallon fuel economy ratings that ignore how every gasoline car wastes $4 out of $5 we spend at the pump?The average American throws out three times more trash today than in 1960. Pin much of that garbage growth on plastic waste, so pervasive now that tiny bits of it are in food, water, beer and even human hearts, lungs and newborn babies’ poop. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that we swallow up to a credit card’s worth of plastic every week! Yet we keep buying it and chucking it, because that’s “normal.”But wastefulness at this level is neither normal nor inevitable. We can make different choices. Start with some (or all) of these five waste-fighting moves that aren’t about giving up stuff you love, but upgrading to things you’ll love more:Kill your lawn and plant a vegetable garden. It’s one of the best things you could do for the planet’s health and your own, and you’ll get tastier, more nutritious veggies with no trips to the grocery store. You could also support the fight against what Jamiah Hargins calls “food apartheid.” His South Los Angeles nonprofit, CropSwapLA, builds front-yard urban microfarms in food deserts that can turn 1,000 square feet of grass into enough veggies and fruit for 25 to 40 families a week. “Why mow your yard,” Hargins asks, “when you can eat your yard?”Turn off your gas stove. The main thing we’re cooking with gas is the planet — and our kids’ lungs. So cut it out. Gas stoves waste 70% of their fuel and create a 42% higher risk of childhood asthma. Not up for a major appliance upgrade? Try an inexpensive countertop induction cooker (as little as $65) for everyday, and reserve gas stoves for feasts (windows open, please). Chef Rachelle Boucher, once George Lucas’ private chef and now with the Bay Area’s Building Decarbonization Coalition, became a superfan of induction stoves (cooking with magnets, not flames) after switching off the gas all but ended her husband’s asthma attacks.Just say no to disposable plastics. Plastics are waste incarnate, says Bay Area-based Anne-Marie Bonneau, the Zero Waste Chef. Most plastics are rarely recycled and bags and wraps never are. (Yes, we’ve been lied to for decades.) Plastic containers can release toxins into food, she says, especially when heated — so don’t ever microwave in plastic! Go with glass or metal containers, whether reusable or single-use. Save money on bags and wraps by reusing peanut butter, pickle and jelly jars for food storage. Bring your own grocery bags.Support “polluters pay” laws. Officially known as producer responsibility laws, these statutes shift the cost of recycling (or lack thereof) from taxpayers back to the producers of things like plastic soda bottles. Maine stepped up first, and other states followed. California’s “polluters pay” law doesn’t go live until 2028, and you can bet all kinds of industries will spend that time trying to water it down. It’s up to us to keep the pressure on officials to hold the line. This isn’t regulation, says environmentalist Sarah Nichols, architect of the breakthrough Maine law. It’s pay-for-what-you-break capitalism — an incentive to make less polluting and more reusable products.Drive the real vehicle of the future: Take advantage of the fact that the average driver travels only 37 miles a day, and most of our trips are 10 miles or less. Which means EV “range anxiety” is a marketing and media creation. Why not try parking your gas-wasting car for short trips and ride-share, borrow or buy an eBike, e-scooter or street-legal electric golf cart. Just ask Mayor Kim Learnard of Peachtree City, Ga., where 39,000 residents have made mini-EVs their money-saving, traffic-dodging mainstay: “It’s made driving fun again.”Once you start seeing waste clearly, you won’t be able to stop. And once you experience the benefits, you won’t want to. This is how change spreads and how we turn the tide. Rethinking waste as our archvillain isn’t just a word game — it’s the secret sauce that turns anxiety and inertia into hope and action, because waste is the one big problem anyone can do something about.And collectively, our choices do matter: They can drive the policies we need and overturn ones we don’t, they can move markets, they can make harmful products lose to beneficial ones, and they can make, break or remake economies. And, yes, they can help save the planet, too. Just by being less trashy.Edward Humes is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. His latest book, “Total Garbage: How We Can Fix Our Waste and Heal Our World,” will be published in April.

Suggested Viewing

Join us to forge
a sustainable future

Our team is always growing.
Become a partner, volunteer, sponsor, or intern today.
Let us know how you would like to get involved!

CONTACT US

sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

Subscribers receive a free day pass for streaming Cinema Verde.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.