Recycling materials is not a new concept, but as our global population continues to grow and our consumption increases, finding newer, creative ways to utilize the space and materials we already have will be vital.

Two companies are thinking ahead and putting this idea to work here in North America already. PressureNet is a Toronto-based data and software company, and Lucid Energy is a Portland-based renewable energy provider. Although the two may be in very different markets, they are both utilizing the same principle — putting our current technologies to work in new ways.

PressureNet has recently developed a mobile phone application that aims to drastically improve weather forecasting. It plans to do so by connecting smartphone sensors and barometers to help aggregate data from the more than 200 million smartphones in Canada and the U.S. The company’s website points out “current weather infrastructure is too expensive and produces inaccurate forecasts.” They hope to fix this by collecting more data from more people, therefore creating the “highest-resolution weather data platform available.”

Having more accurate weather readings is always helpful, but one of the biggest issues today is energy sources and thinking for the future. Lucid Energy has gotten ahead of this problem and has found a way to power more than 150 homes in Portland, Ore. with new water turbines that sit in the water pipes below the city.

Their patented LucidPipe reduces waste, has no impact on the surrounding environment and simply recaptures the energy that is in the flow of the drinking water. The company sees more applications than just municipalities helping keep water costs down and powering homes. It envisions big companies that are normally wasteful taking advantage of its product.

It’s simple economics and the basis for entrepreneurial ideas — find places where people are wasteful or where there is a problem and wrap your brain around it. The next 30 years will hold great advancements in our society. Sometimes it’s not about taking more but being more efficient.