India has the world's worst air pollution. Home to 21 of the world's 30 most polluted cities, its poisonous air kills more than one million people each year.

Being the world's second largest brick producer, India's brick kilns (砖窋) account for of black carbon emissions globally. Architect Tejas Sidnal was astonished to discover the construction industry's role in the pollution crisis. "That was a crazy eye opener," he says. "As architects, we are responsible for so much air pollution."

Determined to make construction more sustainable and tackle India's air pollution, Sidnal launched Carbon Craft Design in 2019. The startup takes black carbon extracted from polluted air and upcycles it to make stylish, handcrafted building tiles (瓷砖).

To create the carbon tiles, Carbon Craft Design, together with Graviky Labs, uses a filter device to capture carbon soot (碳黑) from tail gas and fossil fuel generators, removes pollutants such as heavy metals and dust from the soot, and gives the purified carbon to Carbon Craft Design in powder form. The company then mixes the captured carbon with cement and marble waste from quarries to produce monochromatic tiles. The company aims to ensure each tile contains at least waste material. It sells the tiles to architects and retailers (零售商) for per square meter-a high price compared to regular tiles.

As the company expands production, Sidnal hopes to lower prices and produce a cheaper range of carbon tiles. "We want to hit the affordable sector," he says. "Sustainability is not only for the elite (精英)."

Since launching its first tiles a year ago, Carbon Craft Design's customers have included global fashion brands and architecture firms in India. In November 2020, an Adidas store in Mumbai covered the walls and the floor with its carbon tiles. Inquiries from in and out of India came flooding in.

Architect Manan Gala describes the carbon tile as a "winner", which, apart from being sustainable, has better strength than conventional cement tiles due to the carbon content, and the raw and rustic feel adds to the overall charm.

Tariq Qaiser, an architect, is trying to protect mangroves (红树林). The trees could save Pakistan’s largest city Karachi, sitting on the Arabian Sea, from natural disaster. He comes to Bundal Island several times a week to document the illegal cutting of mangrove trees. Very often, “you can’t hear a single bird because the chain saws are so loud. The trees are cut down illegally for firewood,” he says, shaking his head. Besides, developers clear the mangroves to make room for construction.

Karachi has a hot climate, and its concrete buildings and paved roads make it even hotter. Offshore, there are islands where mangroves grow. They could be the key to slowing climate change. Mangrove forests pull carbon dioxide out of the air, holding four times as much of the planet-warming gas as other forests can. They support diverse ecosystems. As sea levels rise with global warming, the trees could play a big role in protecting coastal cities like Karachi from flooding. Karachi’s mangroves are disappearing. But its numbers are rising in other parts of Pakistan. With replanting efforts, the country has tripled (三倍于) its mangrove coverage over the past 30 years.

Qaiser’s work may have worked. Recently, a court in Karachi declared Bundal Island’s mangroves to be protected forests. But unforested parts of the island remain unprotected, and developers want to build there. City officials say this could provide much-needed housing and bring in billions of dollars. They claim that some of that money could be used to plant mangroves in other parts of Pakistan.

Ecologist Rafiul Haq appreciates Qaiser’s “extraordinary work” educating the public about mangroves. But he wishes Qaiser would look at the bigger picture. “Only 7% of Pakistan’s mangroves are in Karachi,” Haq says. He thinks it’s wrong “to focus on the losses in 7% of the country while ignoring the success in 93%” of it. But Qaiser believes it’s important to protect every bit.

In the United States alone, 119 billion pounds of food is wasted each year according to the nonprofit organization Feeding America. Yet, over 44 million Americans go hungry every day. If this seems like a huge gap, this is due both to the process of distributing the food and to the food waste that affects the world’s ability to sufficiently raise its entire population. However, several New York City(NYC) communities have found an effective way to reduce food waste—community fridges.

These fridges represent a grassroots way to increase access to food and fight against food waste. The community fridges offer a way for people to give fresh food that they will not eat to others who need it. They first surfaced in New York City in 2020. These community fridges offer a ray of hope to people who were struggling to afford or find food during supply chain issues and rising food prices.

Community fridges offer a way for food that would otherwise be wasted to be redistributed. However, another wonderful effect of reducing food waste is the ability to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change. As food gets bad in landfills, it gives off methane, which is the second most common greenhouse gas. This means that food waste is responsible for up to ten percent of global emissions—which is a pretty large number! Placing food that would otherwise go uneaten in a community fridge can help to reduce these emissions.

Although there are some negative side effects of community fridges, their benefits usually outweigh their negatives. Volunteers clean and maintain the fridges. Some community fridge nonprofits even use renewable energy to power the refrigerators. Although the community fridge may be misused by some, these instances are sparse. Now, the idea of the community fridge has spread. These fridges, also known as “friendly fridges”, will be found in cities throughout the United States.