By Christopher Thompson Morris Friedman, CEO of Friedman Recycling, said it’s the question he is asked the most: “What is the most problematic recycling issue for a recycling processor?”  There was a slight lean forward from the audience at the Regional Recycling Market Development workshop in Albuquerque as Friedman paused. “Really, it’s food contamination,” he […]

By Christopher Thompson Pledges to phase out ‘unabated’ coal-fired power aren’t enough, researchers say  PPCA members are wealthy nations with small electricity demand, they found These countries rank higher in terms of government transparency and openness Major coal users such as China, where electricity demand is rapidly growing, coal power plants are young ranks lower on […]

By Christopher Thompson Are you hosting a 4th of July party this year? You may be feeling overwhelmed by the entire process…  from finalizing the invite list, to planning the menu, to purchasing decorations, organizing games, and of course—cleaning up the mess. There are so many moving parts that you probably haven’t considered how to […]

By Ryan Johnson Stuff journalists Andrea Vance and Iain McGregor have just returned from a expedition to clean-up plastic from a remote uninhabited Pacific island. Will a New Zealand’s ban on grocery bags help tackle the world’s plastic pollution problem?  Six tonnes of rubbish. 151 hours of hiking. And 351 man hours over 11 gruelling days. Joining […]

By Ryan Johnson Early this month, the World Wide Fund for Nature announced a major push in Singapore to reduce the use of plastic disposables in the food and beverage industry, with more than 270 restaurants and businesses involved. As part of this Plastic ACTion initiative, the businesses – which include catering companies – are […]

By Christopher Thompson PepsiCo announced plans to sell canned water Thursday in an effort to reduce plastic waste. Pepsi, which owns Aquafina water, will start selling water in cans at stadiums, restaurants and some retail stores in 2020. Aquafina is one of the largest water brands in the U.S., so a move to get rid […]

By Christopher Thompson In a mission to clean up trash floating in the ocean, environmentalists pulled 40 tons (36 metric tons) of abandoned fishing nets this month from an area known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Mariners on a 140-foot (43-meter) cargo sailboat outfitted with a crane voyaged from Hawaii to the heart of […]

By Ryan Johnson If you want to understand just how badly climate change was handled in the Democratic debates, start by looking at a good answer on another subject. When former HUD Secretary Julián Castro was asked about immigration during the first night of this week’s debates, he went full force, giving an overview of […]

By Christopher Thompson The plastic contamination of the natural world flows from three main sources: complacency, apathy and ignorance, a poisonous trinity that is itself the result of a narrow and destructive approach to living. While there are signs of a shift in attitudes among many people, resistance to changing the lifestyle habits that feed […]

By Ryan Johnson Approximately 12.7 million tons of plastic pollute the ocean each year, with reportedly 5 trillion pieces of plastic floating around altogether — that’s enough plastic to wrap around the planet more than 400 times. Since only roughly 9 percent of plastic is actually recycled, it’s crucial that we do our part in […]