Packing peanuts to be banned in NJ under new law

Good News Notes: “More recycled plastic, glass and paper will be used in everyday products — from trash bags to beer bottles — under anew law Gov. Phil Murphy signed Tuesday. The law also prohibits the sale of polystyrene packing peanuts in New Jersey within two years — a move supporters say will help keep the easily blown…

Crisis averted after woman finds thousands of plastic balls in Lake Tahoe

Good News Notes: “An environmental crisis was narrowly averted after a woman found thousands of tiny polystyrene balls covering a beach on Tahoe’s north shore. Alison Toy, the education program manager for UC Davis’ Tahoe Environmental Research Center, was on a walk on Moon Dune beach when she came across the little white balls coating…

This Styrofoam-like packaging is made of popcorn—not plastic

Good News Notes: “Those bits that come inside your packages are called peanuts, but of course they are made from polystyrene, not anything natural. But what if we could send things packaged in popcorn—the actual food, not another plastic-derived counterpart—instead? That’s the hope of researchers at the University of Göttingen in Germany, who have developed the plant-based…

Sayonara, Styrofoam: Champs Downtown Introduces Reusable Cups

 Good News Notes: “Your Dirty Sprites will look a little different starting this summer. Champs Downtown is doing away with its signature double styrofoams and introducing a new set of reusable cups, the bar announced this week. Each cup features two Champs logos and is certainly much more aesthetically pleasing than its predecessor.” View the…

Can Mushrooms Actually Help Save the Planet?

Good News Notes: “In college, Eben Bayer grew mushrooms under his dorm room bed. The mechanical engineering student, who had grown up on a Vermont farm, was convinced the fungus was one of nature’s most effective “technologies” and could be used to overhaul the way we make a range of everyday products. Thirteen years later,…