Innovative actions that contributed toward protecting the environment in Brazil

This paper recounts some actions taken that contributed toward solving environmental problems by opening new paths for improving living conditions and stimulating sustainable development patterns. The examples given are projects and solutions conceived in Brazil, but their equivalent in other parts of the world can certainly be identified. The examples described were selected to show the importance of using non-conventional approaches to reach an objective, but their outcomes point to a very interesting conclusion: the innovative approaches also originated several spin-offs that presented, in due time, new solutions for other environmental problems. In this regard a very relevant aspect of such innovative attitudes is the opportunity to transform eventual spin-offs of the solution found into new solutions for other related problems.