Modified Cup Deposit system:
Customer comes to Starbucks and needs a disposable cup. The customer must pay a $1 deposit for the cup. The $1 collected goes back the company that made the cups. Every time the user reuses the iSeacup the coffee patron gets a little discount for using the cup. The cup is tracked via barcode to the users account which calculates overall drink savings by using and reusing the cup as well as environmental impact savings. These figures could be worked into a smartphone app that makes it easy for the user to track. When it is time the iSeacup to be retired the coffee patron gets half of the deposit back. Only half because the more the cup is used the more payback the coffee patron gets.
Now what happens to the other fifty cents? A portion would go to the store as an incentive to take back these cups and rest would ensure that they cups get disposed of properly. In the case of the iSeacup, they would be put back into the ocean where the gigantic mass would create a kind of natural reef for fish, that would eventually be eaten by bacteria as is happens naturally in the ocean.
Useful?
Berkana
Solar power for such a system is a nice ideal, but solar power efficiency right now is at 12-15%, and is not cost effective. The high efficiency solar panels used in satellites and other applications that demand extreme efficiency achieve nearly 40% efficiency, but are not yet cost effective.
Useful?
Adran idea owner
Scientist have already figured out a way to create a form of chitin called Biorock . I think the technology is out there, it just needs to be refocused in this direction in order for us to come up with a solution.
Useful?
Adran idea owner
Scientist have already figured out a way to create a form of chitin called Chitosan. which comes from the exoskeleton of crabs and shrimp. I’m sure there is plenty of research on theoretical ways in which we could create synthetic versions of chitin. However, I think a more practical and less expensive way would be to grow it.
Maybe it would be a single celled organism that would stick to the mold and create a hard shell. Or maybe it would be a sort of crab that could be persuaded to molt its shell. Or maybe the cup molds would be an electrode that sends a small current into the water to create Biorock . I think the technology is out there, it just needs to be refocused in this direction in order for us to come up with a solution.