Intermediate 
When it comes to climate change, we usually just focus on the  rst part of the story, the part about the problem. We usually forget the second part of the story about the many available solutions. These solutions are speeding up recycling, slowing down emissions and providing sustainable alternatives to plastic, air conditioning, smartphones and fast fashion.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change met recently in Copenhagen to present its latest report on the impacts and speed of climate change. Climate change is now measured on all continents. Our efforts to lower emissions must be intensi ed to avoid climate change getting out of control. Copenhagen looked at the risks and challenges but also the solutions.
Focusing on what can be done, Sustainia Award, chaired by Arnold Schwarzenegger, celebrated ten leading sustainable solutions used in 84 countries. From food to fashion, energy to transportation, education to health, the awards showed that there is an alternative to the grim-future scenarios we so often read about.
From California, we saw how we can now produce plastics from greenhouse gases that are competitive with normal oil-based plastics in price and quality. From Switzerland, we learned how we can recycle and reuse old clothes and shoes more effectively. And from Canada, we learned how smartphones can make bike-sharing more convenient.
The ten projects each offered unique solutions to sustainability challenges but it was the Nigerian initiative, Wecyclers, that won Arnold Schwarzenegger and the rest of jurys vote. It won the Sustainia Award 2014.
Wecyclers allows poor communities to make money on waste in their streets. By using bicycles to collect and recycle waste in Lagos, Wecyclers lets families exchange garbage for consumer goods via an SMS-based point system.
Recycling companies purchase Wecyclers sorted waste and make it into products such as mattresses, pillows and trash bags. Wecyclers is a response to local waste problems, where its estimated that only 40% of the citys rubbish is collected. According to the World Bank, only 46% of municipal waste in Africa is collected. More than 5,000 households are involved and there are plans to extend the initiative to other cities throughout Nigeria.
Solutions to deal with climate change are often hi-tech innovations focused on cutting emissions. However, to successfully solve the variety of challenges, we need variety in our solutions as well. Sustainability is not just about bringing down emissions, it is also a question of using our natural resources more intelligently and creating healthier lives for ourselves. These initiatives might be low-tech in innovation, but they are high-impact when it comes to creating sustainable change for entire communities.
With a wide range of solutions for the wide range of challenges, we must focus more on the important part of the story that creates enthusiasm, momentum and that helps to create positive change.