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?
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.
States and technology have failed to stop the destruction of the natural world, but a deceptively simple rethinking of our habits could turn the tide.
Fishing nets, industry and other human-caused dumping are poisoning Russia’s Lake Baikal, the world’s largest, deepest (and oldest) lake. Bigger than all the North American Great Lakes combined, it’s at risk after 25 million years of life.
In our digital era, having a pretty face is more important than ever. We spend our workdays staring at ourselves on Zoom cameras, and our off-time watching TikTok and Instagram videos. Applying online face filters for slimming noses, tucking cheeks, perfecting skin is always an option. Of course, there are also more, well, permanent effects […]
Plastic pollution has contaminated our oceans to the point where a new ecological niche of anthropic origin has been coined: the ‘plastisphere’. The bacteria that proliferate there could lead to the next health crisis.
In normal times, we might be writing this month about the annual momentum gathering for the Plastic Free July challenge. Launched in 2011 by the Australia-based Plastic Free Foundation, the idea is simple: refusing single-use plastics, from bags to packaging, for 31 days. But in 2020, that simple desire to go fully plastic-free for at […]
For areas like the Mediterranean basin, tourism is huge business. But it’s also an inordinate source of plastic pollution.
Since June 23, the Indian state of Maharashtra has been verbalizing distributors and users of non-reusable plastic. In Mumbai, more than two hundred inspectors are on the hunt.
The Honduran island of Utila, in the Caribbean Sea, is using the copious amounts of trash that wash ashore to build roads.
Over the past decade, there have been countless reports about the boom in cosmetic surgery in Asian countries such as China, Japan and South Korea. Names have even been given to particular facial features in vogue, including the term “red net face,” taken from the “red net” young female internet celebrities making a mark in […]
COLÓN ISLAND — As the world continues to bury itself in plastic bottles, a few pioneers are coming up with clever ways to put all that refuse to good use. One of those people is Canadian innovator Robert Bezeau, who decided after a visit to Panama to build an entire plastic-bottle village — presumably the […]
The streets of Mexico’s capital are littered with plastic and styrofoam, the constant remnants of an irresponsible culture of consumption, an essayist writes. If we can’t change simple habits only we can control, no summit or government in
Social media and advances in cosmetic medicine are pushing beauty standards to new limits and putting anyone who dares ignore their looks at risk of being rude.
LÜBECK — The scourge of plastic litter in the oceans is measured in billions of floating tons of pollution, estimated to affect some 40% of the world’s waterways. But a solution to this massive environmental problem may be coming from a small shipyard in Northern Germany, where an ingeniously designed catamaran is being built to […]
BEIJING — The world now produces over four billion tons of waste every year. China buys some of it — mainly scrap metal, plastic and paper — to feed demand from factories and construction companies. Here on Dongzhimenwai, a street in downtown Beijing, people gather to sell their waste. Old ladies line up with carts of plastic bottles, stacks of newspapers and even bits of toys and metal kitchenware they’ve collected. The plastic bottles are melted down to make everything from acrylic clothing to electronics. Buyer Liu Aiguo explains what happens to this so-called trash once it’s in his hands. […]
If you want milk or Berlin-made vodka, bring your own bottles. At Original Unpackaged, there’s no cardboard or shrink wrap, nothing jarred or canned. Is this the smart consumer of the future?
With no electricity or gas, enterprising locals in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta have begun extracting fuel products by melting plastic scavenged from destroyed buildings.
Most plastic bags have suffocation warnings on them, but that’s no good for whales who can’t read them. Vets from Argentina’s Patagonian National Center (CENPAT) had to remove a giant plastic bag that could have suffocated a whale who was apparently “playing” — or, rather, struggling — with it, in waters off Puerto Madryn, Clarín […]
A common archaeological theory holds that ancient Greeks threw their trash in the fields, which would explain the abundance of ceramic shards. But a dissenting narrative has emerged.
A new study finds plastic debris on the floor of the once pristine Arctic Ocean, the latest sign of environmental damage of global waste.