Octopuses Are Increasingly Using Trash For Shelter, Harrowing Study Shows

Human waste has become so ubiquitous in the ocean, it’s becoming easier for octopuses to shelter in our trash than in seashells or coral. A systematic review of underwater photographs and videos from around the world has tallied 24 cephalopod species making their homes in marine litter.   For years, divers and scientists have observed … Read more

Endlessly recyclable materials could fix our plastic waste crisis

Untold amounts of plastic waste is polluting our land and seas. Now, we’re using chemical tricks to design infinitely and easily recyclable materials Technology 2 March 2022 By Katharine Sanderson Graham Carter One thing chemists do superbly is make bonds between atoms. We are now wading through the consequences of that success: plastic waste that … Read more

Plastic pollution: Ambitious global treaty agreed in Nairobi

A legally binding agreement between 175 countries encompasses all stages of plastic’s life cycle, from production to consumption and disposal Environment 1 March 2022 , updated 2 March 2022 By Adam Vaughan Plastic garbage collected on Eastern Island in Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge All Canada Photos / Alamy One hundred and seventy-five countries have … Read more

Plastic pollution: Global treaty drafted to end plastic pollution

A top UN official says a draft treaty to address plastic pollution will be the “biggest multilateral environmental deal” since the 2015 Paris climate agreement Environment 1 March 2022 By Adam Vaughan Plastic garbage collected on Eastern Island in Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge All Canada Photos / Alamy Nearly 200 governments have provisionally agreed … Read more

World’s nations start to hammer out first global treaty on plastic pollution | Science

Each year, an estimated 11 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean, equivalent to a cargo ship’s worth every day. The rising tide—in the oceans and beyond—is just a symptom of much wider problems: unsustainable product design, short-sighted consumption, and insufficient waste management, scientists say. To curb the flood, says Jenna Jambeck, an environmental … Read more

We Need a Global Plastics Treaty to Stop an Environmental Disaster

A dump truck’s worth of plastic enters our oceans every minute. Tiny bits of plastic are in many of the foods we eat, to the point we may be ingesting about a credit card’s weight of the material every week. As with climate change, we’re running out of time to solve the plastics problem. According … Read more

Crop yields could be boosted up to 37 per cent by covering plants in red plastic

A simple, cheap technology could help to boost food production and possibly allow crops to be grown in different places in order to cut down on food miles Environment 18 February 2022 By Alice Klein Trial of the LLEAF material in a greenhouse at Western Sydney University Alexander Soeriyadi/LLEAF Pty Ltd The yields of some … Read more