Climate change and enivornmental waste are relatively new concerns in the scope of history, but ones which have gigantic consequence. Though the idea of overcoming these problems may seem to require herculean effort, market solutions are already making strides in denting the negative impacts.
As millennials and generation z become an increasing size in the market share of consumers, companies are adapting to becoming more eco-conscious in order to ingratiate themselves to potential customers. Socially conscious businesses have multiple options to purchase carbon offsets from copanies like Nori or Bonneville International Foundation allowing carbon to be stored in the soil and compensating the farmers who do so. Purchasing offsets like this can help businesses put a small amount of their profits to become carbon neutral or negative, helping to attack the problem of climate change and win social clout.
Recyling is another area where the market has made important strides. Not every region has access to reliable recyling but companies like Recyclops provide convienant pickup services to help make sure waste is being efficiently reused. In Italy, startup Scandit created the app "Junker" in order to help people find easy ways to recycle their products simply by scanning their barcode, with future plans to incorporate a feature to help you find products with the most green packaging.
As we continue into the 21st century, facing new challenges will always be a constant, but solutions driven by markets will always prove to be a more sustainable, efficient path to pushing human flourishing even further.
