Ubuntu Studio’s positive news round-up
Ubuntu Thoughts / 5 Min read
Friday 11th March, 2022
Callum Berry
Content & Media Manager
Content & Media Manager
Hello readers. Well, we’ve done it! We’ve reached Friday. Once again to put a bit of pep in your step as you glide into Saturday, we’re here to give you some good news. So grab a cup of whatever you like and take a seat.
Kenya’s heart and sole
Artists in Kenya and turning old, washed up flip flops into works of art. Ocean Sole – a charity based out of Florida in the U.S. that operates in Nairobi, Kenya – collects and washes the old footwear that pollute local beaches, before condensing and pressing them into blocks. The blocks are then sanded, smoothed, and carved into sculptures before final details are added.
Ocean Sole have recycled 750,000 flip flops in the last year alone, whilst creating job opportunities for over 1,000 local Kenyans. 10-15% of their revenue is donated to beach clean up initiatives, educational programmes, and conservation projects.
We really love how communities can come together and create job opportunities whilst helping the environment. You can check them out here and shop the collection online.
Ocean Sole have recycled 750,000 flip flops in the last year alone, whilst creating job opportunities for over 1,000 local Kenyans. 10-15% of their revenue is donated to beach clean up initiatives, educational programmes, and conservation projects.
We really love how communities can come together and create job opportunities whilst helping the environment. You can check them out here and shop the collection online.
The future is down the road
We’ve heard about the promise for “smart roads” for some time now, but the city of Detroit in Michigan State has taken it to a new level. With the explosion of electric cars on the market (thanks largely to the mandates from major countries including the UK and U.S. to phase out their reliance on the combustion engine vehicles), the infrastructure side has been lagging behind.
Detroit is one of the first cities to create a road that will charge vehicles as they drive along. By embedding magnetic coils within the road itself, electromagnetic frequencies are sent to a charging pad within the chassis, charging up the vehicle as it passes over it – similar to how wireless charging pads send power to a phone.
The coils do not react to or harm gas-powered vehicles, according to the manufacturer Electreon, and are safe to passers by. The road, to be built in the Motor City, will be able to charge all electric vehicles, including electric buses, and the first phase is expected to be completed and ready for use as early as next year.
We’re excited by the prospect of such roads becoming the norm up and down the country, helping to encourage the adoption and uptake of electric vehicles even further. As they become more mainstream, cost efficiencies will quickly kick-in just as the cost of solar energy has greatly decreased over the past decade.
Detroit is one of the first cities to create a road that will charge vehicles as they drive along. By embedding magnetic coils within the road itself, electromagnetic frequencies are sent to a charging pad within the chassis, charging up the vehicle as it passes over it – similar to how wireless charging pads send power to a phone.
The coils do not react to or harm gas-powered vehicles, according to the manufacturer Electreon, and are safe to passers by. The road, to be built in the Motor City, will be able to charge all electric vehicles, including electric buses, and the first phase is expected to be completed and ready for use as early as next year.
We’re excited by the prospect of such roads becoming the norm up and down the country, helping to encourage the adoption and uptake of electric vehicles even further. As they become more mainstream, cost efficiencies will quickly kick-in just as the cost of solar energy has greatly decreased over the past decade.
Fin-ally!
It’s with great joy that we report that Iceland will end whale hunting in 2024, due to dwindling demand and public awareness around the practice, according to its fisheries minister. “There are few justifications to authorise the whale hunt beyond 2024, there is little proof that there is any economic advantage to this activity,” Svandis Svavarsdóttir, a member of the Left Green party, wrote in Morgunblaðið newspaper.
Iceland is one of only a few countries (alongside Norway and Japan) who still regularly hunt whales, so we’re hopeful that this move will encourage others to follow suit.
In another positive move for the animal kingdom, fashion retailer Dolce and Gabbana has announced that it will finally stop using real fur in its fashion collections, instead moving to an eco-friendly faux alternative. Dolce and Gabbana has long been the ire of animal welfare activists, so it’s nice to see them finally move on with the times (even if it did take them long enough…)
Iceland is one of only a few countries (alongside Norway and Japan) who still regularly hunt whales, so we’re hopeful that this move will encourage others to follow suit.
In another positive move for the animal kingdom, fashion retailer Dolce and Gabbana has announced that it will finally stop using real fur in its fashion collections, instead moving to an eco-friendly faux alternative. Dolce and Gabbana has long been the ire of animal welfare activists, so it’s nice to see them finally move on with the times (even if it did take them long enough…)
Well that’s all from us at Ubuntu, we hope that we gave you the lift you needed to power through the last few hours of Friday! Have a great weekend, and be sure to follow our socials so you know when the next PNR comes out (every Friday).
Got an interesting story you’d like us to highlight? Feel free to send in your ideas to callum@ubuntustudio.co.uk and you could be featured in an upcoming PNR!
Got an interesting story you’d like us to highlight? Feel free to send in your ideas to callum@ubuntustudio.co.uk and you could be featured in an upcoming PNR!
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We appreciate that all life on earth is under threat, so we’re using the resources we have—our business, our investments, our voice and our imaginations—to do something about it. Reducing the negative impact on people and the planet.
If you're looking to make a change in how you market your business, we'd love to chat. Find out more at ubuntustudio.co.uk.
We appreciate that all life on earth is under threat, so we’re using the resources we have—our business, our investments, our voice and our imaginations—to do something about it. Reducing the negative impact on people and the planet.
If you're looking to make a change in how you market your business, we'd love to chat. Find out more at ubuntustudio.co.uk.
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