Rome is trialling plastic bottle vending machines at its train stations, giving Romans travel credit in exchange for used bottles. The scheme comes at a time when waste pollution in the city has reached a crescendo, affecting the city streets and its residents and triggering calls for sustainability initiatives.

People are keen to recycle, but often don’t because they find it burdensome or inconvenient. As eco action becomes more important to people the world over, how can brands better motivate them to recycle their waste? Canvas8 spoke to Karen Winterich, professor of marketing at PennState, to find out.

As people realise the impact of waste packaging on the planet, they’re making small lifestyle changes through independent brand innovations. But with convenience still high on people’s priority list, how is reusable, recyclable shopping platform Loop taking the circular economy mainstream?

Whether it’s buying a reusable coffee cup, ditching single-use water bottles, or simply recycling, there are countless ways for people to reduce their plastic waste and help to preserve the planet. Canvas8 spoke to eight Americans to find out whether they’re taking such actions and why.