New Zealand became the latest country Friday to outlaw single-use plastic shopping bags, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying they will be phased out over the next year as a "meaningful step" towards reducing pollution.
Source: japantoday.com
With the EU Green Deal in place, the role of natural and renewable gases for transport decarbonisation must be recognized. Gas in transport is ready to complement a set of solutions that will gradually change our way to move and to transport freights around the world.
More than 100 billion tons of resources enter the economy every year – everything from metals, minerals and fossil fuels to organic materials from plants and animals. Just 8.6% gets recycled and used again. Use of resources has tripled since 1970 and could double again by 2050 if business continues as usual. We would need 1.5 Earths to sustainably support our current resource use. This rampant consumption has devastating effects for humans, wildlife and the planet. It is more urgent than ever to shift from linear, use-it-up-and-throw-it-away models to a circular economy: where waste and pollution are designed out, products and materials are kept in use for longer, and natural systems can regenerate. A circular economy isn’t just about fixing environmental wrongs, though: Evidence shows it can bring big opportunities and positive impacts across industries, sectors and lives.
As a lifelong West Michigan resident and avid beach walker whose hometown draws its drinking water from Lake Michigan, Arthur Hirsch has always loved spending time along the Great Lakes. That’s how he spotted something worrying in the water three summers ago. Thousands of plastic pellets littered the beach’s sandy shore, just a small sampling of the 22 million pounds of plastic waste that enters the Great Lakes annually, much of it in the form of tiny “microplastics” small enough to be ingested or embedded in flesh. Hirsch had discovered nurdles, tiny plastic pellets that are melted down to create products ranging from clothing to water bottles. “I was pissed that this unknown sourced plastic material was polluting Lake Michigan and my beach environment,” said Hirsch, an activist with the West Michigan Chapter of the Climate Reality Project.
As the 2010s draw to a close, edie has analysed the key movements and announcements that push sustainability and climate action from a niche activity to a global necessity. Cast your vote to decide which of the seven moments was most profound.
Oxford’s environmental programs are designed to benefit the community and the surrounding ecosystem using more than 200,000 of its 1.5M ft² real estate.
With single-use face masks discarded on beaches and streets, the COVID-19 environmental waste problem is as concerning as coronavirus itself. To encourage to choose eco-friendly mask alternatives, here’s a list of ethical and sustainable face masks that are washable and reusable.