Uneven Access to Toilets Living in one of China’s major cities, it’s easy to take certain goods and services for granted. Every street has at least one convenience store, a bank, a major café chain, and a public restroom. So long as you stay in the city, you can access all your basic necessities - money, food, clean water, and flushable toilets. It’s difficult to imagine, then, that th…
Smelly. Useless. Truck. Bin Man. Trash. Annoying. These are all words that popped into people’s heads when asked what they first thought upon hearing the word "waste." A quick Google search reveals other phrases like “worthless,” “no purpose,” “no longer useful or required,” “the unusable remains.” While I don't deny the legitimacy of the definition, it is striking to me how many items and pr…
Yesterday, Green Initiatives sponsored a Zero Waste forum featuring Collective Responsibility’s Research Manager, William Morris. Alizée Buysschaert, Will Morris, and Antoine Moussali encouraged participants to embrace a zero waste lifestyle and look at innovative trends in waste reduction. Green Initiatives Director and event host Nitin Dani opened the event with two simple questions: “How ma…
Our populations are exploding. Our needs are expanding. Development of new products and services advances at a rapid clip by the day. Now, we need our urban planning and sector innovation to keep up. How do we move the world forward by reducing waste and emissions in our food supply, construction projects, and even our flights around the globe? We at Collective hosted a series of Beyond Busi…
This article is in continuation of our previous blog post on the state of e-waste management in China. In our previous article, we highlighted a disconnect between China’s formal and informal recycling channels, as well as areas of potential growth for both e-waste innovators and Chinese officials: If the Chinese government wants to encourage a more dominant formal recycling system, it will…
"As China’s 'graying population' grows exponentially, the elderly population will be a major economic target for growing markets and services. While both the public and private sectors have made efforts in addressing this issue, current policies and services have been insufficient in addressing elderly demands, and many economic, social, and political challenges facing these systems still persist.…
On August 26, Collective Responsibility released a blog post about innovative e-waste processors. We highlighted the Japanese Olympic Committee and its use of old cell-phones and tech to create Olympic medals, as well as TES-AMM Shanghai, which accepts and processes e-waste. On a larger scale, a few industry leaders have gone the extra mile to improve East Asia’s formal recycling processes. Hua…
What is the best design? How do you create the perfect product? How do you engage your audience and generate user uptake? These are questions that all entrepreneurs, companies, and organizations ask themselves when conceptualizing new products or services. It is the ability to tap into the fundamental motivation of consumers that dictates whether or not a product “works”, and for some it remain…
“A critical time is soon approaching, as the number of elderly is predicted to overtake the number of youths by around 2020... The urgency towards action is illustrated by the recent repeal of the OneChild Policy in China’s 13th Five-Year Plan, which states that “the change of policy is intended to balance population development and address the challenge of an aging population”. With this challe…
Technology is central to daily life across China and, in recent years, the smartphone has become the king amongst the tech savvy across the country and smartphone connections in China are predicted to reach one billion by 2020. Mobile technology and smartphones are not only becoming vital to personal communication, but are becoming integral in producer and consumer engagement. Individuals perform…
China’s healthcare industry has reached a crossroads. In Tier-1 cities, public hospitals are overcrowded. Patients wait in long lines and receive at best 6-7 minute consults. The elderly and patients with chronic illness travel long distances for treatment and are often turned away because of doctor shortages. In terms of health insurance, the picture is no better, as a majority of Chinese citizen…
According to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), providing widespread sanitation is one of the world’s most urgent challenges. Although sanitation is considered a basic human right, 2.5 billion people, almost 1/3 of the world’s population, lacks access to clean and functioning toilets. This challenge poses significant risks to public health; spreading disease through untreated human waste,…
Consumer-based companies have long predicted that the future of consumerism rests in the wants and needs of the next generation. China, however, is presenting an entirely different story. The Chinese market suggests that the elderly are the next big source of consumers, and are spending in new and unique ways. Not only are the elderly in need of community center clinics and nursing homes, but are…
Following the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, COP21 supporters seem optimistic about China’s emissions. The U.S. and China agreed to ratify the Paris Climate Agreement and sent a strong signal to other countries about their commitment to reform. Under the agreement, China must reach three concrete goals by 2030: 1) reduce carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60-65% (compared 2005 levels); 2) reach its peak…
While it is common for Chinese citizens to find the sky covered in hazy smog, in the week leading up to G20, the skies were a crystal-clear blue. China’s white clouds and blue skies caused by the shuttering of manufacturing companies are a rare sight that has grown to synonymous with country’s most important conferences. The skies show the incredible power of the government to cease operations wit…
