You’ve probably seen them on plastic containers, the little numbers contained in a three-arrowed recycling symbol triangle. These are a code that tell you what sort of plastic you have. They were started in the late 1980s by the plastic industry to help with recycling.

There are seven codes and they’re listed below.

1. Polyethelene or PET – polyester fibers, pop and water bottles and the plastic straps that hold bundles together
2. High-density polyethelene or HDPE – the hard plastic found in bins, equipment and other rigid plastics
3. PVC – water and electrical pipes
4. Low density polyethelene or LDPE – plastic bags, tubing and some bottles
5. Polypropelene – ducting, auto parts, food containers
6. Polystyrene – styrofoam, rigid knick-knacks, video cases
7. None of the above – yes none of the plastics above.

There have been several recent innovations in solar technology that has have brought everyone to the brink of affordable solar power. Now flexible film solar can be built into most things, including awnings and bikinis. New advances by an American company has made the prints of solar cells onto a substrate at super fast rates.

Another solar product on the horizon is solar paint, Swansea Solar Paint project at Swansea University in Wales by Dave Worsley and his team who have looked into ways of getting energy from the sun. Soon you will be able to purchase solar paint from your local hardware store.

The next step to getting solar everywhere is advances in storage technology, and then cheap solar power electricity will be for us all.

Contaminated freshwater is a major concern for most cities, even in places where the municipal water supply is reused many many times before being discharged into the environment. This increases the level of contamination each time it passes through our homes and cities.

Conserving water also decreases the amount of energy used on pumping. It also decreases the reliance upon our source water, meaning lakes, streams and rivers. These can be pumped too low so that animals suffer or they can become polluted.

Laundry uses much of a household’s water intake, so it makes sense to look into water usage as the source becomes more limited due to climate change, also water supply and service is very costly. Some washing machines have been designed to use a fraction of the wash water since the 1970’s by recycling there gray-water from one load to another and only using fresh water to rinse.