By Elias Marat Whether we like it or not, our society has become completely reliant on plastic. From food preservation to water transportation, computer technology to healthcare and medicine, plastic can be found in nearly every facet of the human experience. But as we well…
By Mayukh Saha Plastic Plastic Plastic! The world is slowing getting overwhelmed with the rampant use of plastic. You walk into a supermarket and all you see is heaps of plastic. Even single pieces of fruits and veggies these days are wrapped all around by…
By John Vibes The UK’s annual Glastonbury Festival draws over 135,000 people each year. As with many events of that size, garbage left behind after everyone goes home has become a serious concern. In previous years, Glastonbury has attempted to encourage a “leave no trace”…
By Julia Conley A year after researchers at a New York university discovered microplastics present in sea salt thanks to widespread plastic pollution, researchers in South Korea set out to find out how pervasive the problem is—and found that 90 percent of salt brands commonly used in homes…
Anh Phan, Newcastle University In the adventure classic Back to the Future, Emmett “Doc” Brown uses energy generated from rubbish to power his DeLorean time machine. But while a time machine may still be some way off, the prospect of using rubbish for fuel isn’t…
By Heather Callaghan, Editor I wish we could say that there are only 88,000 tons of plastic in all of our oceans. But really, there is 88,000 tons of plastic in an area known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Luckily, each journey of a thousand steps…
By Andy Coghlan Many plastic bottles are sold as “BPA-free” — meaning they don’t contain bisphenol A, an ingredient known to disrupt reproduction in mice. But now it seems that the additives used in place of BPA are potentially just as harmful. “The discovery could…
Kate O’Neill, University of California, Berkeley A global plastic waste crisis is building, with major implications for health and the environment. Under its so-called “National Sword” policy, China has sharply reduced imports of foreign scrap materials. As a result, piles of plastic waste are building…
By Matthew J. Hoffman, Rochester Institute of Technology and Christy Tyler, Rochester Institute of Technology Awareness is rising worldwide about the scourge of ocean plastic pollution, from Earth Day 2018 events to the cover of National Geographic magazine. But few people realize that similar concentrations…
By Richard Gross, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Synthetic plastics have made many aspect of modern life cheaper, safer and more convenient. However, we have failed to figure out how to get rid of them after we use them. Unlike other forms of trash, such as food…
By Catherine J. Frompovich With just about everyone in food services and food distribution tripping over themselves about plastic straws, which they should have done ages ago, there now comes a new problem to affect individual rights. Those are the rights of incapacitated individuals who…
By Phillip Schneider Last week, German clothing company Adidas announced its commitment to begin making their products with 100% recycled plastic by 2024. As reported by the Financial Times and picked up by CNN and other outlets, the company has pledged to fully “eliminate the use of ‘virgin’ plastic” in…
By ANH-USA Many Americans drink bottled water, the market for which has grown to $147 billion in recent years. Despite this rapid growth, there are emerging health concerns with drinking bottled water, notably from the chemicals used in the production of plastic which, as our friends…
By Heather Callaghan, Editor Scientists accidentally created a super enzyme that eats plastic for breakfast… Or did they? While the discovery is real and it was happenstance – it was in the process of engineering bacteria that the surprising, plastic-engulfing results were revealed. However, the enzyme doesn’t…
By Kathleen Rogers By now most of us have read that plastic, that incredibly useful product that all of us use every day, is fast becoming public enemy number one. We have been using plastics for decades and as a result, plastic is everywhere: in our…
By Heather Callaghan, Editor The average person swallows up to 68,415 possibly dangerous plastic fibers a year, according to scientists who tested the particles that fall on our dinner plates. We have been reporting on the startling accounts detailing how we are now drinking plastic nanoparticles in…
By Heather Callaghan, Editor Thanks to an Indonesian company with a penchant to clean up the world… The plastic pollution crisis is so bad, that it’s actually coming back to haunt us in the form of plastic nanoparticles now in our tap water. It’s simply ridiculous to…
By Jason Erickson More attention is finally being given to determining the ill effects that microplastics (microbeads) are having on human health and the environment. Previous concerns have been raised in everything from toothpaste to beer to the wider ecosystem where it was found to…
By Anna Hunt Plastic, once regarded as convenient and versatile, has actually become one of the biggest environmental problems of our time. It’s easy to see the extend of the contamination when you visit the oceanside. Even the most remote beaches are often littered with plastic…
By Heather Callaghan, Editor OrbMedia asks: If microscopic plastic is in oceans, lakes, and rivers, is it in drinking water as well? “In the first public scientific study of its kind, we found previously unknown plastic contamination in the tap water of cities around the world,” they wrote recently…
