Tag: Tasty Treat

Coffee grounds make for stronger cement. Other types of waste are increasingly popular too. (Using wine residue?) a Toronto-based startup is extracting nanocrystals from chitin, which is found in crab, shrimp and lobster shells. With a formula containing just 1% of chitin nanocrystal, the team has created a sustainable packaging film. A single-layer solution without chemical glue, it can...

For smaller retailers, gaming solutions can help entice in-store customers. Now, a Canadian startup is building a community especially for watch enthusiasts in a bid to strengthen local trade. The platform was created by a French founder who spent many years in the watch industry. It brings together stories from community members that provide insights into how their love...

Records from sugarcane are good for the environment. Chocolate, meanwhile, is good for our mood - even if too much sugar is unhealthy. But who said sugar was necessary to make chocolate? A Zurich-based research team dried the fibre-rich innermost layer of the cocoa hull - called the endocarp - and ground it to powder. Next the pulp from...

In Italy, tomatoes have a life after dinner. Chocolate is another cherished Italian staple. Yet, instead of using cocoa, a regional startup began looking to carob for a more sustainable alternative. Sweet and high-in-fibre, the legume also works against free radicals in the body. The carob tree thrives in the dry, southern Italian climate. If used, 2,400 litres of...

Old furniture can find a new home. And, thanks to a London-based startup, children’s cuddly toys needn’t end up in the trash either. The concept is simple enough: kids inevitably move on, but old toys can still bring joy to someone new. Tired teddies and stuffed animals are donated to the female founder’s startup directly in the post. There...

Insoles with fungal spores help prevent bacteria and foot diseases. Now a Canadian-based startup is also using mushroom spores - to produce large quantities of protein-rich, plant-based food. First step: extract the sugar from agricultural waste. The sugar serves as nourishment for a teaspoonful of spores from different edible mushrooms, which are then fermented in large steel tanks. Next,...

Some loudspeakers purify the air while playing back tunes. But it seems that analogue sound can also make for a cleaner planet. Using mainly sugarcane (and starch as a binding agent), a British startup has succeeded in creating a bioplastic for LPs. It can be pressed like traditional, petroleum-based PVC, yet lower production temperatures reduce energy usage by 15%....

Toddlers’ hearing can be checked by smartphone while future hearing aids could be battery-free. But people with tinnitus hear more than they wish. Help is at hand thanks to a research team’s app which uses a chatbot to help people train their brains to ignore the unwanted noise. Employing solution-focused behavioural therapy, users are encouraged to dispel negative associations with...