Tag: plastic pollution

  • How To Cut Down On Single-Use Plastics Before They’re Banned

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    By Ryan Johnson If you’re trying to be a good global citizen who does their part to stop the impending end of the world, plastic is probably already on your list of waste no-nos. We haven’t been suffering through the flimsy, soggy, melt-after-one-suck abomination that is the paper straw for nothing! It seems like every […]

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  • Zero Waste: The Global Plastics Crisis

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    By Ryan Johnson Plastic pollution is everywhere, it litters beaches, clogs up oceans, chokes marine life, is ingested by seabirds that then starve to death, and has even been discovered embedded in Arctic ice. It’s in the air we breathe, the water we drink (bottled and tap), and last year plastic was found in human […]

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  • Most alternatives to single-use plastics are worse for the environment

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    By Christopher Thompson While banning single-use plastics may seem like a “strong environmental move,” contrary to popular belief, the alternatives are seemingly worse. One of the alternatives is biodegradable plastic. It delivers convenience and returns the waste to the earth after use, but the concept isn’t as utopian as it seems. Biodegradable plastics put the […]

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  • We hate single-use plastics but don’t want to pay for compostable packaging

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    By Christopher Thompson More than 65 per cent of British Columbians actively seek non-plastic packaging, the highest in Canada. When Elaine Carter and Jim Leedham walk their dogs, they do double-duty picking up the coffee cups, plastic straws and fast-food cutlery by the side of the road. “It’s ridiculous,” said Carter. “They are filling up […]

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  • Japan to ban free plastic bags at stores to fight pollution

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    By Ryan Johnson Japan plans to make it mandatory to charge for plastic shopping bags at supermarkets, convenience stores, drugstores and department stores as the country combats marine pollution by plastic waste. Environment Minister Yoshiaki Harada said at a press conference on Monday his ministry plans to introduce a new law banning the practice of […]

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  • Plastic waste in our oceans: The invasion we don’t see

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    By Christopher Thompson The recent death of a young sperm whale, filled with plastic, could be another warning sign of what is happening in our oceans, and how we need to intervene to protect our marine animals. Since the beginning of 2019, according to Greenpeace Italia, five sperm whales filled with plastic have washed ashore […]

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  • Bees In Argentina Are Building Nests Using Plastic Waste

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    By Christopher Thompson Researchers have found that wild bees in Argentina are building their nests using strange materials. The insects have been building nests made entirely of plastic waste. Bees Build Nest Made Of Plastic Materials Study researcher Mariana Allasino, from the Argentina’s National Agricultural Technology Institute, and colleagues set wild bee “hotels.” These are […]

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  • Plastic Ban protecting the marine population

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    By Christopher Thompson Government’s recent ban on single-use petro-based plastics has been highlighted as an “urgent” measure the Caribbean should implement to tackle marine pollution,  a World Bank report said Thursday. Marine pollution threatens not only the region’s resistance to climate change, but also its economic prosperity and sustainable development, the report argues. According to […]

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  • Leave Our Beaches BETTER Than You Found It This Summer

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    By Ryan Johnson With the first day of summer just around the corner, millions of Americans are flocking to the beach. In addition to being a family-friendly source of outdoor recreation, our beaches contribute billions of dollars to local economies across the country. In Florida alone, tourists spent an estimated $2 billion dollars from 2012 […]

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  • These tiny microbes are munching away at plastic waste in the ocean

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    By Ryan Johnson Plastic makes up nearly 70% of all ocean litter, putting countless aquatic species at risk. But there is a tiny bit of hope—a teeny, tiny one to be precise: Scientists have discovered that microscopic marine microbes are eating away at the plastic, causing trash to slowly break down. To conduct the study, […]

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