Good News Notes: “Apoll commissioned by compostable packaging supplier Tipa has revealed 78 per cent of Australian adults believe the most effective solution to the plastic waste crisis is compostable packaging, not recycling. Some nine-in-ten (89 per cent) of survey respondents are said to be concerned about the plastic waste generated from packaging, and a…
Tag: plastic pollution
India to ban single-use plastics but experts say more must be done to
Good News Notes: “India will ban most single-use plastics by next year as part of its efforts to reduce pollution — but experts say the move is only a first step to mitigate the environmental impact. India’s central government announced the ban in August this year, following its 2019 resolution to address plastic pollution in the country….
Ocean Cleanup pilots ‘the first scalable technology’ to remove plastic waste from Earth’s waters
Good News Notes: “Each year, 8 million tons of plastic— the equivalent of a garbage truck load every minute — is dumped into the ocean, according to the World Economic Forum. The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit engineering environmental organization based in the Netherlands, is attempting to remove as much of that plastic as is feasible. “Our strategy…
Air New Zealand goes greener with new eco-serviceware
Good News Notes: “Air New Zealand is going greener with new eco-serviceware for its international economy cabin in a new trial to reduce plastic and carbon emissions. Air New Zealand recently tested two different casserole dish materials, bagasse, and rotatable plastic, along with a birchwood cutlery alternative on four of its Rarotonga flights. The move…
Tiny Robots Could Clean Up Microplastic Pollution
Good News Notes: “Microplastics—minuscule, hard-to-degrade fragments of clothing fibers, water bottles and other synthetic items—have made their way into air, water and soil around the world. Now new research published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces shows a way to promote their deterioration, at least in water, with technology on an even smaller scale: microrobots. When added to water along with a bit…
Check out Boston’s first — and only — one-stop-shop for zero-waste products
Good News Notes: “In Boston’s North End, you can get cannolis, fresh pasta, and now, a wide selection of zero-waste products. Though Maria Camila Vasco, 23, originally founded Uvida as an online store while she was a senior at UMass Boston, Uvida now occupies a quaint, colorful storefront on Atlantic Avenue. Vasco is an immigrant and first-generation…
Study suggests bacteria in cow’s stomach can break down plastic
Good News Notes: “Bacteria found in one of the compartments of a cow’s stomach can break down plastic, research suggests. Since the 1950s, more than 8bn tonnes of plastic have been produced – equivalent in weight to 1 billion elephants – driven predominantly by packaging, single-use containers, wrapping and bottles. As a result, plastic pollution is all-pervasive, in the…
Goldman Environmental Prize Winner Inspired By Plastic-Bag-Eating Goats
Good News Notes: “For Gloria Majiga-Kamoto, her great awakening to plastic pollution started with goats. She was working for a local environmental nongovernmental organization in her native Malawi with a program that gave goats to rural farmers. The farmers would use the goats’ dung to produce low-cost, high-quality organic fertilizer. The problem? The thin plastic…
Lego develops first bricks made from recycled plastic bottles
Good News Notes: “Lego has unveiled its first bricks made from recycled plastic bottles and revealed that it hopes to include the pieces in sets within two years. The Danish company, which takes its name from the Danish words for “leg godt”, meaning “play well”, makes billions of bricks a year, most of them from…
Coca-Cola Joins The Ocean Cleanup in Tackling Ocean Plastic Pollution
Good News Notes: “As part of the effort to stem the tide of plastic pollution entering the world’s oceans, the Coca-Cola Company is joining with The Ocean Cleanup to expedite the deployment of cleanup systems in fifteen rivers around the world. The partnership is part of the Dutch non-profit foundation’s efforts to stop plastic pollution…