All of us are aware of the ill effects of air pollution, traffic congestions, food wastage and increased industrialization. In fact, we can even say that the awareness among people today is much more than it ever was. But the damage caused is massive and it is going to take a lot of hands, and a lot of initiatives to set things right. While the earth has been deteriorating multi-fold, on the side, interesting changes have been happening on the technology front. Our tech abilities have grown to new heights, making things that were once impossible, a practicality today.
The newest and most reliable weapon to combat environmental damage is IoT. IoT (Internet of things) connects everyday objects to the internet enabling us to gather, investigate and scrutinize large amounts of data that was previously unmanageable. Unlike any government initiative or large social programmes, IoT devices and gadgets can use this newfound data to help identify, curb and solve the biggest problems faced by our society, helping us make large, visible improvements to the present situation.
Here’s a list of Sectors that have Seen Positive Change due to IoT:
- Smarter Cities
As more and more people are moving to cities for a slice of the growth pie, the cities themselves are drowning under the heavy baggage of over-population, garbage, traffic and pollution. IoT is the answer to tackle and improve the health of a city.
Gaia is one such Indian based IoT company that launched Gaia Water1 – a unique initiative for Smart Water Metering as a Service in India. Gaia’s automated metering infrastructure provides end to end measurement and management of water from source to destination by embedding intelligence into household water systems to prevent wastage. Altuix is another IoT organization that found an intelligent solution to parking problems in cities; using IoT they connected private parking spaces to the general public.
- Pollution Control
Delhi has seen unnatural levels of pollution in the last couple of years. The alarming rise has caused several deaths and health problems for the large Delhi population. Recently, an Odisha-based IoT startup Phoenix Robotix came up with Aurassure – an innovative environment monitoring device that helps industries know the level of their pollutant emission. The device provides a complete solution for real-time air and weather quality monitoring.
- Smart Farming
IoT is helping farmers check soil, decipher weather conditions and predict rain to prepare better for good quality crops. KisanHub is one such platform that is launching an ambitious programme of sensor and weather station deployment. This will enable farmers to make educated decisions about important activities like when to sow the seeds, rain conditions, soil condition and other crop intelligence.
- Reducing Food Waste
Researchers have found that maximum amount of food wastage occurs even before the raw material reaches retailers. This could be occurring at various distribution points. Placing sensors at food source points of origin, distribution points, and on trucks, trains, and planes was one method. However, newer IoT tech is allowing industries to trace the freshness of food at different stages of the packaging process, in different storage containers and so on aiming to provide solutions that help keep food as fresh as possible till it reaches the customer. ATSUYA’S KRYOTM allows retailers to monitor food temperature real time to prevent wastage and ensure optimal cooling, thereby reducing energy bill even as they adhere to regulatory requirements on food storage
- Recycling Plastic Waste
Indian cities are known for litter on the streets. Used plastic bottles, polybags, food containers and so on. Trashin is a Bangalore based organization that’s working towards creating sustainable cities by eliminating post-consumer plastic through efficient technology-driven sourcing and recycling methods.