With drone photography, "we can track all of the trash in a creek, river, or stream, examine how it's distributed, and then apply machine–learning …

Ever since the industrial chemist Leo Baekeland began synthesizing phenol and formaldehyde in 1907, the world has developed a love-hate relationship with the resulting polymer: plastic. While plastic is convenient, durable, and cheap, 50% of all plastics (about 150 million tons every year, worldwide) are used only once and then thrown away. Even for those who dutifully recycle our plastic water bottles and sandwich bags, we're only tackling a small part of the problem. "Considering the size of the problem, there's relatively limited infrastructure in place to capture and treat stormwater," says Tony Hale, program director for environmental informatics at the nonprofit San Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI). That's where SFEI is looking to use research and data--and most recently, drones--to make a difference.

There is no questioning that we as a species have entered a new age -- the age of information, or big data. Human beings are creating and consuming more and more data on an annual basis. Data that is not only becoming increasingly valuable but increasingly more energy-intensive. This problem is being addressed to some degree by switching to renewable energy sources like wind and solar but to truly tackle the issue, consumption needs to be reduced through technological innovation. Blockchain networks, in particular, have drawn criticism recently for their inefficient design and excessively high power consumption.