for some, recycling is all about being environmentally conscious. for others, it is a means of survival. recycling is becoming a way of life and the benefits reach beyond the individual doing it. although it is often promoted as a way to save the environment and rescue the planet, recycling can also give hope and a helping hand to so many impoverished communities.

given that can-collectors often experience 24-hour workdays, sifting through trash on the street, and no guaranteed income; can-collecting is often considered the lowest form of work. but for many canners, recycling is an opportunity to take what they can get when more conventional opportunities are inaccessible or not available.

recycling helps individuals feel pride in their work which is honest, difficult, and gives them some financial power to pay for food, housing, and transportation. because there is a stigma around can-collecting, it is important to note that how collectors choose to spend their earnings is their business, as is the case with any line of work.

can-collectors/recyclers/canners are improving recycling initiatives and materials management in new york state. by sorting and taking cans and bottles directly to recycling facilities, they are preventing recyclable goods that have been mismanaged and littered from entering landfills and burn facilities. if you recycle one plastic bottle, that is one less piece of non-biodegradable plastic that will end up in a landfill or as litter in the ocean.

• cop26 goals, straight from the event’s website: what do we need to achieve at cop26?

• 10 charts explaining the economic benefits of climate change mitigation in the u.s. as leaders discuss environmental policy, learn more about how advancing climate policy will help our country economically. file some facts away to teach others who are more economically motivated during conversations about sustainability!

• what is ‘net zero’ and why does it matter? find out what net zero means and the current scientific conversations surrounding it.

• feminism and environmentalism go hand in hand. look back at this commentary from gender day at the global climate talks in 2018 to learn more about how feminism and environmentalism intertwine.

check back tomorrow for more info on what is being explored at cop26 — and good reads to keep you informed!

think of the creature you most despise: something you think has no purpose or that simply freaks you out. you might ask, what’s the point of that organism? if anything this creature is unwanted or pesky. we might not think twice before we step on it or try to get rid of it. true, these species might be unsightly or frightening, however they are just as important to your livelihood as the food on your plate or the roof over your head and here’s why:

the florida keys are making changes as sea levels rise, and every change comes with an immense cost. for example, people are adapting to nuisance flooding by elevating the roads, which is an expensive process for the keys government. in fact, it can cost about $10 million to elevate a mile of road two feet, and the county has over 300 miles of roads.

residents face the expense of elevating their homes, as well. currently, regulations about raising homes are intended to prevent flooding from hurricane storm surges, but this will also help protect homes from the effects of sea level rise: higher storm surges and more permanent flooding in the future.

additionally, if sea level rise deters tourism to the keys, every level of the economy from the government to businesses to individuals would be affected. 

in this podcast episode, hear about economic impacts of sea level rise in the florida keys.

the previous episode covered what sea level rise looks like in the keys. next, in the third and final episode of this series, i talk to keys residents about their opinions on sea level rise. you can find that episode here.

the medaka eco-commuter ferry will use a simplified hybrid electric marine propulsion system that will be easy to maintain and make the overall vessel a cost effective alternative to vessels powered by diesel engines alone.

the solar modules mounted on the roof of the medaka will use a marine solar panel concept developed by eco marine power which will allow them to be raised or lowered. in normal operation the panels are at a slight angle and the overall vessel is low enough with the panels in this position to pass under low bridges or other obstacles. the solar panels can also be mounted in a fixed position in the roof of the vessel.

the basic philosophy behind the medaka design is to make the vessel as environmentally friendly and flexible as possible. this means that the design can be altered so that it can fulfil a variety of roles such as an urban commuter ferry, a sight-seeing vessel or even to transport goods.

it can also be configured to use a variety of power sources (in addition to the solar panels) such as an lng or biofuel generator. it will also be possible to rapidly recharge the onboard batteries when the vessel is alongside a pier or wharf.

a state-of-the art power management system will optimise battery performance and manage energy onboard the vessel to make best use of the available power generated onboard or gathered via the solar panels.

several variations of the basic medaka design are currently being studied by eco marine power including a simplified version for use in emerging economies.

eco:nomics: creating environmental capital

by jeffrey ball

one thing is certain in the race for a cleaner energy system: nothing is going to be certain for quite a long time.

energy secretary steven chu explains to wsj’s robert thomson why it takes so long to approve loans and take other steps needed to move policy toward next-generation energy.

in washington last week, the obama administration abandoned the long-running plan to bury nuclear waste below nevada’s yucca mountain, another potential barrier to new nuclear power plants in the u.s. big questions loom about the viability of electric cars and of futuristic power plants that would shoot their greenhouse-gas emissions underground instead of skyward. and concerns about unintended environmental consequences are thwarting plans for wind and solar farms from wyoming to the mojave desert.

don’t expect clarity from the government, the financial world or even the scientific lab, said the chief executives and entrepreneurs who gathered last week at eco:nomics, the wall street journal’s third annual conference on the business of the environment. but, they advised each other, don’t dally in trying to dominate the new energy market, because the spoils will go to those who exploit the uncertainty the best.

when the journal held the first eco:nomics conference, in march 2008, things seemed clearer. oil prices were high, investors were showering money on renewable-energy developers, and federal lawmakers were pushing to limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. the intergovernmental panel on climate change recently had won the nobel peace prize for a report concluding that global warming was “unequivocal” and was “very likely” caused by human activity, so the debate over climate science appeared largely done.

all that has changed. oil prices, though rising again, are just above half their mid-2008 highs. tough economic times are pinching clean-energy investment and prompting new opposition to a mandatory carbon cap. and the ipcc has said it will appoint an independent committee to investigate questions raised recently about its widely watched climate-science reports

“it’s frustrating, but scientists are human beings,” energy secretary steven chu said at the conference. society has produced “a greenhouse-gas layer that is absolutely, positively due to humans,” he said, but the precise impacts remain unclear. “the uncertainties are quite large.”

the uncertainties about what technologies might slash greenhouse-gas emissions remain just as big.

consider just the race for an alternative to the petroleum-powered car. peter voser, ceo of royal dutch shell, predicted that by 2050 electric cars might account for 40% of autos worldwide. t. boone pickens, oilman-turned-energy reformer, said the government should subsidize big trucks that burn natural gas. and craig venter, a self-described “life designer,” is trying to make fuel from newly created organisms that consume co2.

each of these options could become a disruptive technology—something that really rocks the world. it will take years to know. the action playing out amid this uncertainty is today’s real energy shift.

write to jeffrey ball at jeffrey.ball@wsj.com