An Overview Of Our Solution
Psychological and contextual drivers of human behavior are multidimensional contributors to climate change. Hindsight of environment turning climate change needs as equitable change in human behavior as needed in modification of current portfolio of science and technology for climate smart development in compliance to Paris Agreement 2015. Solid refuse handling plastic bags have severe GHG interaction with climate change through fouling of water resources, LULUC, and floral-faunal reproduction. Plastic pollution is such a serious concern that EU has launched multi-billion Euro R&D for circular economy related to it. This project evaluates the global misery for penny-less populations and attempts to offer handy for all solutions.
- Population Impacted: Whole populations corresponding to community types
- Continent: Asia
Last name
Organization type
Context Analysis
CO2 as respiratory cycle gas has historically supported floral growth worldwide for human and animal food and feeding alongside vegetation serving as an important GHG sink. Accordingly, prior to entry of plastics and artificial fertilizer eras world food security and biodiversity was under the human behaviours which are no more in practice anymore. Reverting to given up attitudes is need of time to comply 17 SDG 2030 UN – Agenda goals. Chances of failure or risks involved are almost nil. The proposed practice is unique in the sense that a new start has to be initiated under climate change compulsion. Operational context of the projects include but are not limited to the under mentioned actions;
a. Avoiding contact of plastic with biomass.
b. Safe delivering the biodegradable refuse from individual dwellings, cattle farms, fruit/vegetable markets, slaughter houses, poultry/cattle farms, food processing units, etc. in non-plastic containment farm to nearby compositing sites.
Describe the technical solution you wanted the target audience to adopt
Individual or community human behaviour switchover from disposable plastic bags to reuse of strong empty paper sacks such as from cement, reused cotton bags, and paperboard recycled boxes can solve a lot of CCM problem. Suggested human habit is not new as it used to be worldwide practice during pre-plastic entry into domestic life. Food wastes irrespective of being floral or faunal origin are bio-degradable turning to CO2 and CH4 under relevant conditions of decay. Plastics tight packing generally speedup confined decay destroying important nutrients like Nitrogen, Phosphorous and hindering otherwise possible compositing or organic fertilizer when mixed with dry and green straw and windfall stuff. Unlike plastic bags which are not biodegradable paper, paperboard and cotton are as biodegradable as the discarded foodstuff itself.
Type of intervention
Describe your behavioral intervention
Emotional appeal is for safeguarding the biosphere in jeopardy. Not only current but future generations have to rely on naturally performing segments of the biosphere known as atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. As far as social incentives are concerned the proposed solution is not cost-intensive but more cost-effective than the human attitude deformed by 200 years old initiative of modernism which has caused GHG concentration in the atmosphere unprecedented in past 800,000 years.
As needed, please explain the type of intervention in more detail
In addition to spot composite generation for raised bed home backyard or community cooperated farming, climatically conformed food waste can be picked up at cost or free by nearby medium to large scale composite makers for gardening and commercial cultivation. In this manner a lot of GHG can be avoided from stray emission and CO2 redeployed for socioeconomic uplift. This spectacular behavioral intervention and rather improvement can lower a lot of techno-economic burden on artificial fertilizer companies which alongside promoting crop yield also spoil soil, water and human activity through POP pollution. Plastics are abundant but paper, paperboard, and cotton made bags and boxes are also not too short in waste management sphere.
Describe your implementation
• Specific activities and/or specifically what your solution does to address the identified problems above in the Context Analysis section
Municipal and agro-forestry solid waste management and GHG curtailment with added socioeconomic
gain. The project is a unique compound of CCM-CCA Engineering successfully designed and pilot scale tested.
• How you ensured your solution was adopted and promoted change in behaviour
Yes at demonstrated scale for general public acceptance.
• Enabling conditions
Almost available everywhere except urban scale enlargement through private investors in compositing, organic farming and raised bed cultivation.
• Key success factors
Continued interest in the altered, reverted and upgraded human behaviour.
Obstacles:
Not too significant at pilot to prototype scale. However, mega scale CCM – CCA actions require substantial fixed and operating costs depending on size and location of the facility.
External connections
It is important to note that this individual scale human behaviour change is responsible for mega scale mechanized environmental projects. Vitality of human attitude upgrading in this particular context is that till plastic stabilizing microbe entry into market or EU like circular economy apparatus is not mobilized climate change would continue aggravating unchecked. Project beyond individual boundary has remarkable externalities, partially available and partially to be brought into environmental industrial spheres. Municipality is one externality which despite wasting millions of dollars annual budgets worldwide couldn’t achieve significant success in solid waste management. Partners and stakeholder list tends to touch national EPAs, water and wastewater, agro-forestry authorities, semi-governmental/private sector investors in natural fertilizer manufacturing, raised bed agriculture, and governmental departments of relevance.
Who adopted the desired behaviors and to what degree?
Had it been an instant profit rewarding reintroduction many could have followed immediately. It is universal climate change affair overburdened by thoughts, schools of thought, international institutions and world at large. Hence CCA should be looked upon as universal goal not localized magic game.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
Soil and water resources would be positively impacted through properly engineered solid waste management under recycling. GHG from biodegradation is virtually uncontrolled bio-gas. So when biomass would be protected against stray decay it would not release CO2 and CH4 direct to atmosphere but would reroute it for carbon source-sink equilibrium.
What were some of the resulting co-benefits?
Co-benefits within multiple benefits sounds a bit irrelevant to this R&D because the following merits are welded with climate change control as;
1. CCM , CCA, LULUCF and REDD+
2. Community health and welfare.
3. Low cost management of solid refuse.
4. Enhanced socioeconomic gains from water, soil, commercial output;
5. Food security at reduced costs and biodiversity increase instead of fatality caused by poisonous pollution.
Sustainability
Climate change actions are more confusedly ignored or delayed in poor countries than in industrialized world. So it is self managed initiative of TWREEC as a universal service to nature and mankind. No funding, support or encouragement of any sort neither available nor foreseen under given set of circumstances. This award amount however would be quite promotional to the undertaken project.
Return on investment
Very high return on investment if undertaken under favorable circumstances because wastes are recycled with minimum cost for valuable organic composite and valuable crops.
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
This is not exclusively a Pakistani solution despite national origin deserving the top priority. The project is an outcome of researcher’s international academic and field exposure to environment and climate change complexities. Any country can avail this universal solution without any hesitation. Compositing and organic gardening are quite popular in many countries however, mega scale CCM – CCA projects are not so due to multiple reasons outlined in relevant sections.