Launched in 2015, Social Plastic is a blockchain-enabled program that turns plastics into premiums. Upholding the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the value of recovered plastic is essentially transferred back to collectors, most of which take part in emerging economies. Verified by parent company Plastic Bank, collectors of ethically sourced plastics, as well as their communities, are rewarded with a premium payment known as Plastic Bank Rewards. External businesses seeking to source recycled plastics can partner with Social Plastic, allowing more collectors to take part in the program. These businesses, as well as individuals seeking to neutralize their plastic footprint, can accumulate Social Plastic Collection Credits. These credits allow disenfranchised communities to exchange their plastics for currency, incentivizing the collection and recycling of plastic. Using the Plastic Bank app, Plastic Bank Rewards are authenticated and distributed using blockchain technology so as to ensure that the delivered currency is safe and transparent. In addition, Social Plastic employs a proprietary blockchain backed by IBM to track the journey of the ethically sourced plastics through the supply chain from collection to the final product. While Social Plastic ensures transparency and security in each of their transactions, it is unclear how the disenfranchised communities they partner with for collection are able to access the digital technology needed for each collector to effectively utilize their blockchain and rewards app to the fullest extent. Nevertheless, social enterprises similar in nature to Social Plastic greatly benefit from the safety and trustworthiness of blockchain technology, reducing any doubts that critics and onlookers may have about the workings of their operation.
Social Plastic – Recycled Ocean Bound Plastic. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://plasticbank.com/social-plastic/
Categories
Blockchain, Climate Change, Internet of Things, Lifestyle, Pollution, Psychology, Regulation
Air Pollution Robot
The dangers of air pollution to human health are well documented, though the traditional methodology of collecting and reporting on sample lags behind the need to keep abreast and regulate air pollution in a meaningful amount of time. The use of drones and robots have been identified by researchers as resources that can be tweaked […]
Artificial Life, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Industry/Natural Commodities, Lifestyle, Monitoring
Telematic Rivers
Erica Kermani’s artwork seeks to answer a central question: if rivers were seeing an equal, living entity, would humans take issues like climate change threatening them more seriously? In his year-long art exhibition in 2017, Kermani, in collaboration with Diana Salcedo & Jeana Chesnik, created a new forum of interaction between humans and rivers to […]
Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies
Co-occupied Boundaries
Art is easily found in nature but rarely is what considered art today inherently natural. The concept of co-occupied mediums that serve to be both functional for nature and aesthetically pleasing to people is being actively explored by Asya Ilgun and Phil Ayres, from the CITAstudio at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In […]
Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies