How Technology Is Helping Us to Eat and Live Cleaner

How Technology Is Helping Us to Eat and Live Cleaner

Submitted by Chris Jones @TurnOnVPN

The quest to create a better life for ourselves has been working for the longest time now. However, the moves that we make in these regards do not come without their side effects too.

At this time, the world is waking up more to see the impacts of our various actions on the environment. Fortunately, the same technology that was at the root of most of these environmental damages has now been equipped to help us stop the ruin too.

From the way we get to places to how we eat, here are some of the ways by which technology is making the world a better place for us again.

Transportation Moves

Image from pixabay.com

The transportation industry is one of the biggest generators of greenhouse gases but we are glad to see that technology is trying to rival that.

The first point of call will be in the development of electric cars which have been confirmed to emit far fewer gases than their fossil fuel-using counterparts. While many might see Tesla as the only one doing anything in this market, you should know that conventional automakers are also starting to switch to electric trains for their vehicles.

Speaking of trains, the laying of extensive train networks and the development of fast trains are making people dump the roads for the rails. Since more people can be fitted in a single train than a car, this means that the rate of emission per passenger is pushed to the lower limits even more.

While we are not at the stage of electric airplanes yet, sensitization on packing light, taking nonstop flights and more is also helping to cut back on the emissions from the aviation industry.

Stopping Poachers

Poachers are not known for killing animals that have been considered endangered species alone, but for the indiscriminate felling of trees also.

On the front of animals, driving more of these species into extinction will lead to an imbalance in the ecosystem. Likewise, deforestation is a huge problem that sets the world up for erosion, leaching, and other problems.

Image from unsplash.com

One way by which technology is being deployed here is by the application of sensors.

These sensors have been developed and trained such that they can listen for sounds commonly associated with poaching and alert the relevant authorities in real-time. Some of the sounds that they are trained to sense are that of heavy machinery, vehicular movements in the area, gunshots (and other gun sounds), etc.

Seeing as these sensors are operated on the IoT network, they sometimes face the risk of being hacked and manipulated by motivated poachers. That can easily be curbed if a secure VPN is installed to encrypt the network which they are on.

This way, the data streams of the sensors are well protected and prevented from getting manipulated by hackers.

Eating Right

Eating doesn’t start from our tables. It starts from where the meals are sourced in the first place. Putting that in mind, it is easy to see how technology is helping us eat in a way that is right for the environment.

Certain environmental studies have seen that the larger percentage of debris in the Pacific Ocean comes from fishing gear. This is a problem that will lead to a lower quality of life for the fishes, increase the pollution in our waterways, and increase the general pressure on an already fragile ecosystem.

Image from unsplash.com

That is why blockchain technology has kicked into place to act as a tracker for fishing parties. With blockchain, it is easy to know the amount of fishing gear that each party went out with and track if they came back with the same number. When sanctions are imposed on those who flout this rule, it deters others from doing the same.

Smart contracts on the blockchain network can also be used to stamp out the cases of illegal fishing.

Some fishermen will catch more fishes than the quota allows for and mislabel them just to get out of the quota sanctions. At other times, some fishermen may even mislabel fish for the sole aim of getting a higher price on them.

Again, these smart contacts will be used to identify what each type of fish is and establish stronger measures for the quota.

Finally, the rate at which the world consumes meat is something of concern too. With most of the agricultural land already being diverted towards the production of livestock food, deforestation will keep happening when more lands are needed. That can be cut back on with meat alternatives such as vegan meat.

Funny as it sounds, this vegan meat is made from entirely plant-based ingredients. The meat is cultured with specially grown yeast so that it has the aroma and cooking properties of actual meat when it is done.

Besides being generally healthier, that also means we have to put less stress on the environment and animals to get our daily dose of meat.

More Moves to Come

These are just some of the laudable things that technology is doing in the way of bettering the environment. If there is anything that we know, it is that tech will keep playing a huge role in this matter. While humans are more aware of how to keep the environment safer for the coming generation, we can rest easy knowing that additional forces are also in this fight for a better planet with us.

Cover photo from freepik.com

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