By Ryan Johnson We’re going to go ahead and be party poopers: Balloons are bad, and now it is scientifically proven. A recent study published in Naturereveals that those plastic party decorations are the deadliest plastic out there for seabirds. To make that determination, the researchers looked at the stomach contents of more than 1,700 marine birds, comparing […]

By Ryan Johnson The city and Waste Management of Hawaii will pay $425,000 as a part of a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA said that storms in December 2010 and January 2011 overwhelmed temporary pipes at the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill. Flooding at the site sent water contaminated with trash into the ocean. […]

By Christopher Thompson Inspired by plastic bag bans, jurisdictions have set their sights on a much bigger target: the to-go coffee cup The People’s Republic of Berkeley, Calif., takes pride in its leadership on all things civic and environmental. The small liberal city east of San Francisco was one of the first U.S. cities to adopt curbside […]

By Ryan Johnson The waters of the Gulf of Mexico are warm and welcoming. Even during the dead of winter, Floridians enjoy higher temperatures swimming than New Yorkers on land in spring. We share the area with a marvelous array of wildlife, including dolphins—long, strong sleek creatures who speed by in pods, their jutting fins, […]

We have all seen the damage plastic waste is doing around the world – but sales of bottled water have continued to grow For all the innovation and choice that define the food and drink industries, if you want to make money, you could do a lot worse than bung some water in a bottle […]

Actor Jason Momoa on Wednesday released a video in which he shaved off his signature beard and mustache in order to promote recycling. He started by saying farewell to his “Game of Thrones” and DC characters Drogo and Arthur Curry. Momoa said he thought he last shaved in 2012. The 39-year-old says he wanted to do it […]

Like perms, gaucho pants, and bump-it clips, plastics appear to be trending downwards in the court of public opinion. Why? To be reductive, because the news about plastic is getting scarier, more of us are seeing it, and we lead an increasingly large portion of our lives on public forums (such as Instagram) that generate […]

These plastics can easily be disassembled to chemical building blocks. Recycling sounds great in principle (because it is), but a frustrating number of devils lurk in the details. For example, while some materials like aluminum can readily be melted down and turned right back into new aluminum cans, recovered plastics tend to be lower quality […]

Microplastics have been found in some of the most remote aquatic ecosystems on earth, including in the deepest parts of the ocean. Now, scientists have discovered that these tiny pieces of plastic can also be carried by the wind into secluded terrestrial regions, such as the French Pyrenees. The research, led by scientists at the […]

McDonald’s is being called on to stop its roll out of paper straws in the UK and Ireland, amid claims that they “dissolve” in drinks. The fast food giant is switching from plastic to paper straws at their 1,361 restaurants after customer pressure. An online petition calling for a return to plastic straws has so […]