Worldcrunch
Manufacturers of toys are now finally working to reduce the environmental impact of their products, using more eco-friendly materials and promoting recycling and repairs. But are parents ready to buy second-hand toys or pay more for an eco-designed product? And do kids actually care?
Fishermen bemoan dwindling catches as contamination by industrial waste and other pollutants raises concerns about the safety of food and drinking water.
The Made in Tunisia clothes industry for the European market consumes large amounts of water and pollutes Tunisia’s coastline. In Ksibet El Mediouni, the population is paying the price of the environmental cost of fast fashion.
Each year, millions of trees are sacrificed for the sake of Christmas — an ecological disaster and a denial of what trees represent for humanity. There are, however, some green alternatives to buying (and killing) your own private tree each year.
Shyamanand Singh crafts sculptures from discarded paper, bottle caps and other materials. He’s opened a free museum in his house to inspire others.
The melting of the sea ice in the Far North has accelerated in recent years. The Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard has become the focal point of the environmental drama gripping the Arctic as well as the geopolitical tensions it is causing there, with Russia in particular.
As a paramunicipal organization takes over water services from local councils, residents face high costs, shortages, contamination — and a foul odor that’s sullying the area’s reputation as a coastal paradise.
Deep structural problems were already pushing it to breaking point. And with teleworking becoming the new normal after COVID, Paris’s La Défense business district stands as a melancholic shadow of its old, buzzing self. Can it find a way to reinvent itself?
On this day in 2010, the Copiapó mining accident in Chile comes to a happy end as all 33 miners arrive at the surface after surviving a record 69 days underground. What was the 2010 Copiapó mining accident? The 2010 Copiapó mining accident, also known as the “Chilean mining accident,” was a mining disaster that […]
Follow a coffee enthusiast and professor of marketing who studies justice in capitalist systems through the aisles of all the java claiming to be doing the right thing. Not all so-called *ethical coffee merits the label.
The European Union has just banned glitter, among many other microplastics. Still, that doesn’t necessarily mean the end of ‘sparkle’ — we’ll just need to look for more environmentally-friendly alternatives.
Twenty years of American military intervention and occupation have left vast ecological damage that may never be repaired.
An orchid rehabilitation project is turning a small Mexican community into a tourist magnet — and attracting far-flung locals back to their hometown.
Human-made shelters don’t always keep creatures out of harm’s way. Can technology help design a better protect birds and possums?
Slovakian elections set for later this month have been shifting towards an unexpected issue. Bears have been threatening people living near the Tatra Mountains, and how to respond has been dividing politicians.
Dry soil, hardly any rain — this summer’s drought is making life difficult for farmers. In one of the driest regions in Germany, environmentally friendly farmer Benedikt Bösel is turning his fields into a laboratory, experimenting with an exciting new approach.
The Puszcza Białowieska, one of Europe’s oldest forests, has become a battleground, with environmentalists increasingly concerned about widespread logging in the forest, which is also ground zero for heightened tensions with neighbor Belarus and the ongoing migration crisis. And, all across Poland, increased logging with political motivations has been stirring activist tensions.
A fire involving a hazardous waste dump has brought attention to the hundreds of illegal waste dumps across Poland. Yet the government has failed to offer an adequate response.
The streets are deserted until 7 p.m., air conditioning for those lucky enough to have it blasts constantly, and locals dream of leaving the arid desert that has become of their hometown.
Italy has experienced a difficult summer of climate disasters, but the country is experiencing a boom in turtles’ nests, with Sicily leading the way.
Threatened with extinction, these little creatures, often feared, nonetheless provide us with significant ecological services.
India’s “untouchables” still face violence and discrimination for drinking or using water they are not supposed to. For the author, a Dalit himself, it’s time for Indian environmentalists and researchers who are striving to provide equal water access to acknowledge the role caste is playing.
Like many creatures, hummingbirds consume alcohol, which they’re able to metabolize quickly. A new study explains how they do it — and how it might just helps us understand why humans are so attracted to alcohol.
A study shows that a rising tide of consumers are prioritizing their wallets over organic products, switching to more budget-friendly, non-organic options as the cost of living crisis continues.
The Smart Green Bees project aims to tackle the bee crisis by repopulating Spain with a symbolic 47 million native bees, one per every Spaniard. The challenge will be ensuring the project is done responsibly.
Since last year, over half of the fish in the river have died, and Germany’s environment minister has said that Poland has not done enough to prevent a repeat of the incident. Now the Oder, which runs through the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany, is experiencing fish death en masse once again. Was this catastrophe doomed to repeat itself? Reporters from German newspaper Die Zeit and Polish newspaper Gazeta Wyborcza looked for answers.
Canada’s subsoil is among the world’s 10 richest in graphite, lithium and cobalt. Only China can say the same. A report from Quebec, home to North America’s biggest graphite mine project.
The Salton Sea is a 316-square mile, shallow glaze of water in Southern California that has been receding in recent years. Scientists believe the toxic dust kicked up from the exposed lakebed is contributing to respiratory disease in the region. It now offers a tableau of dead wildlife, toxic dust, and neglect.
Sick of dealing with dangerous marauding elephants, farmers in Mechinagar are changing their crops and focusing on livestock, but conservationists warn that pivoting won’t solve the problem for good.
As Brazil’s President Lula da Silva wields limited power over parliament and his multi-party cabinet, he may be unable to fulfil many of this campaign promises, including protecting the environment.
Scientists are increasingly seeing evidence of “dark extinction” in museum and botanical garden collections.
June is the best time to spot a dragonfly. Here’s why it’s worth looking for one common species.
Even with months to go before the next COP, debate rages over who will chair it. Is it a miscalculation or a masterstroke to bring the head of an oil company to the table?
Wild moose have been spotted on Polish beaches and even near cities. They’re a rare example of successful conservation efforts, but they’re increasingly coming into contact with people.
“Oh, to sleep as soundly as a man,” marvels our Naples-based psychiatrist.
Floods have hit northern Italy after the longest drought in two centuries. Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini explains how these increasingly frequent events are being exacerbated by human activity.
Climate quitting is a lasting residue of the larger mass resignation since the pandemic. The phenomenon mostly involves young people who change or quit their jobs if they consider it harmful to the planet.
In Bolivia, the coca leaf was once reserved for ancestry rituals and practices. Now it is being combined with other substances, especially amongst the very young, to create a toxic experience and dangerous concoction.
The species of pig evolved into ultra-resilient, disease-free predators while isolated on Auckland Island that could be a boon for state-of-the-art xenotransplantation, a medical procedure in which cells, tissues, or organs from one species are transferred into another species, which could reduce the need for human organ donors.
Election day is approaching in Turkey. Unemployment, runaway inflation and eroding rule of law are top of mind for many. But one subject isn’t getting the attention it deserves: the environment.