Going digital is not as green as it might seem. The big push to go digital – paying with an app, not a note; e-bank statements; the paperless office – resonates with some people concerned about the environment. However, it is increasingly apparent that some of the companies espousing these ideas are motivated more by profit than ecology. So […]

barcelona based studio, FOS, is a brand of sunglasses that allow their clients to make their sunglasses themselves. by choosing the color of the plastic waste flakes and their quantity, according to a formula provided by FOS or made by the client, a unique pair of sunglasses is manufactured within an hour. made from 100% recycled […]

Basic logic demands agricultural production increase as Earth’s population grows. But the ever-expanding impacts of climate change, exacerbated by that population growth, will inevitably drive agricultural productivity downward. Food shortage solutions are crucial everywhere, though are perhaps most necessary in geographically isolated places such as Hawaii. Only 13 percent of food consumed in the state […]

Walmart promises move toward 100 percent recyclable, reuseable or compostable packaging Not all packaging is created equal. Go inside any Walmart and survey all the plastic packaging: There’s that flexible plastic used to box phone chargers, makeup, and socks. There are the clamshell-style plastic containers used for berries and tomatoes. And plastic shrink wrap. And […]

China’s decision to no longer be the dumping ground for the world’s recycled waste has left municipalities and waste companies from Australia to the U.S. scrambling for alternatives. But experts say it offers an opportunity to develop better solutions for a growing throwaway culture. It has been a year since China jammed the works of […]

Americans are consuming more and more stuff. Now that other countries won’t take our papers and plastics, they’re ending up in the trash. After decades of earnest public-information campaigns, Americans are finally recycling. Airports, malls, schools, and office buildings across the country have bins for plastic bottles and aluminum cans and newspapers. In some cities, […]

In Philadelphia, people like to recycle. Together, all 1.6 million of us generate about 400 tons of recyclable material each day. But since last fall, roughly half of the bottles and cans my neighbors and I have placed dutifully curbside in our blue bins every week haven’t made their way to a sorting facility. They’ve […]

With the recycling industry in flux, the rules surrounding recycling plastic aren’t always a given (at least, in the U.S.). For one, you can’t recycle plastic bags or straws and now black plastic is even becoming a problem. How will we ever know the right way to recycle? Given the confusion, it makes sense that […]

It’s easy to underestimate the significance of what’s been happening this year. That’s just the way mainstream media pundits and politicians want it. Thousands of children in Europe and Great Britain walked out of school to protest climate change inaction. In rallies and interviews with contentious and cynical reporters, they articulated the science, economics, and […]

California lawmakers introduced legislation this week to phase out single-use plastic food containers and other packaging that can’t demonstrate it’s recyclable or compostable. Proponents of the legislation say it could help reduce the problem of plastic littering beaches and oceans. Last year the Golden State became the first in the nation to restrict the use […]