Ask HN: How to start a startup that helps combat global warming?
I'd really like to build a start up that helps combat climate change.
The YC advice is to address a problem you are experiencing yourself. I find recycling frustrating and often think about setting up a service that helps with the collection of hard to recycle items like laptops, soft plastic and bubble wrap. My aim would be reduce friction when trying to recycle these items, e.g. someone comes to your home and picks them up. Does anyone else find recycling frustrating and want to do more? Any other challenges in this space that could be addressed?
9 comments
Recycling isn't really a pickup problem but a commodities pricing and market forces one. Most of that stuff is worthless because it costs more to recycle than it does to make them new. So we end up subsidizing them for the feels while ultimately accomplishing nothing.
Some materials are worth it (aluminum) but a lot of it just gets dumped in poorer countries after sorting. It's just a way for first world nations to export their waste streams while lessening consumer guilt over single use items. Because environmental protections differ so much between countries, it's often cheaper (but environmentally worse) to export those materials than to just bury them here in modern landfills. Problem is, once they're exported, our environmental regulations no longer apply, and they're free to be dumped in the waterways or in poor villages.
I'd say overall recycling is a scam, and making pickups easier would actually worsen climate change by encouraging individual pickups (Doordash style) instead of a shared route on fewer recycling trucks (UPS style).
That said, the waste management industry as a whole (bigger than recycling) is interesting, like landfills and incinerators and mob contracts and zero waste diversion quotas etc.
Climate tech is booming though, everything from batteries (especially) to solar PV "balance of system" components like inverters. There are also niche companies working on algae and hydrogen and of course wind, etc., but by and large solar PV seems to have won out in terms of dollars.
There are a few software companies working on streamlining the design and permitting processes, using a combination of aerial imagery and photogrammetry plus human design to automate rooftop solar module (panel) layouts for optimal production, and making applying for permits easier. Google's Project Sunroof is a good example of the former tech, and Aurora and Opensolar are examples of more integrated design project management solutions.
Beyond low hanging fruit like that, there are of course the much harder problems of battery chemistry (and storage in general) , EV charging networks, nuclear acceptance, megahydro removal, micro hydro for communities, etc.
Check out Appropedia.org sometimes for a wiki of DIY sustainability stuff that people around the world are tackling. Might give you some ideas?
Some materials are worth it (aluminum) but a lot of it just gets dumped in poorer countries after sorting. It's just a way for first world nations to export their waste streams while lessening consumer guilt over single use items. Because environmental protections differ so much between countries, it's often cheaper (but environmentally worse) to export those materials than to just bury them here in modern landfills. Problem is, once they're exported, our environmental regulations no longer apply, and they're free to be dumped in the waterways or in poor villages.
I'd say overall recycling is a scam, and making pickups easier would actually worsen climate change by encouraging individual pickups (Doordash style) instead of a shared route on fewer recycling trucks (UPS style).
That said, the waste management industry as a whole (bigger than recycling) is interesting, like landfills and incinerators and mob contracts and zero waste diversion quotas etc.
Climate tech is booming though, everything from batteries (especially) to solar PV "balance of system" components like inverters. There are also niche companies working on algae and hydrogen and of course wind, etc., but by and large solar PV seems to have won out in terms of dollars.
There are a few software companies working on streamlining the design and permitting processes, using a combination of aerial imagery and photogrammetry plus human design to automate rooftop solar module (panel) layouts for optimal production, and making applying for permits easier. Google's Project Sunroof is a good example of the former tech, and Aurora and Opensolar are examples of more integrated design project management solutions.
Beyond low hanging fruit like that, there are of course the much harder problems of battery chemistry (and storage in general) , EV charging networks, nuclear acceptance, megahydro removal, micro hydro for communities, etc.
Check out Appropedia.org sometimes for a wiki of DIY sustainability stuff that people around the world are tackling. Might give you some ideas?
Thanks for the above feedback, I greatly appreciate it. I agree on your comment regarding a shared route as opposed to individual pick ups.
The idea of a "zero waste diversion quota" sounds interesting as well.
A lot of food for thought....
Thanks for the appropedia link as well.
The idea of a "zero waste diversion quota" sounds interesting as well.
A lot of food for thought....
Thanks for the appropedia link as well.
Don't know. Starting to think that all trade activity must result in ecological trouble, and that technology always leads to ecological trouble.
This also applies to recycling because there's still no way to get the job done without causing further damage.
Is it OK to be baffled? Is there any way we could follow our dreams of plenty without destroying our own lives?
Is it OK to be baffled? Is there any way we could follow our dreams of plenty without destroying our own lives?
I am not sure as well, difficult times and there doesn't seem to be a clear path forward.
I am not sure if we can create an app to fix this one...
Maybe generative AI can help, or some sort of social movement.
I am not sure if we can create an app to fix this one...
Maybe generative AI can help, or some sort of social movement.
As I said, I'm baffled; I've been unable to conceive of a way forward towards our present goals without self-destruction.
I'm really hoping for a non-technological solution, although I know that people's minds are hard to change. I'm hoping that us people can find a way to be content with what we've already got.
I'm really hoping for a non-technological solution, although I know that people's minds are hard to change. I'm hoping that us people can find a way to be content with what we've already got.
> Ask HN: How to start a startup that helps combat global warming?
If your goal is to combat global warming, focus on how to do that.
If your goal is to make a scalable business that returns money to investors, focus on a startup.
Unless you have a clear solution to global warming that seems like it would also support a scalable business without compromising its effectiveness, don't try to do both (and if you do have that, incorporate the solution into your question.)
If your goal is to combat global warming, focus on how to do that.
If your goal is to make a scalable business that returns money to investors, focus on a startup.
Unless you have a clear solution to global warming that seems like it would also support a scalable business without compromising its effectiveness, don't try to do both (and if you do have that, incorporate the solution into your question.)
Thanks for the feedback.
Don't they both go hand in hand? How can it be an effective organization if it is not revenue generating?
In a capitalist world it is not often you see effective organizations that are non profits.
Maybe I am being a little naive here.
Don't they both go hand in hand? How can it be an effective organization if it is not revenue generating?
In a capitalist world it is not often you see effective organizations that are non profits.
Maybe I am being a little naive here.
> Don’t they both go hand in hand?
No.
> How can it be an effective organization if it is not revenue generating?
Revenue is not the same as profit (return to investors).
> In a capitalist world it is not often you see effective organizations that are non profits.
In a capitalist world, it is not often that you see organizations that are effective at things other than generating profits and externalizing harms.
When you do, they generally are nonprofits.
No.
> How can it be an effective organization if it is not revenue generating?
Revenue is not the same as profit (return to investors).
> In a capitalist world it is not often you see effective organizations that are non profits.
In a capitalist world, it is not often that you see organizations that are effective at things other than generating profits and externalizing harms.
When you do, they generally are nonprofits.