Plastic Waste Causes $13 Billion In Annual Damage To Marine Ecosystems, UN
Concern is growing over widespread plastic waste that is threatening marine life – with conservative yearly estimates of $13 billion in financial damage to marine ecosystems, according to two reports issued at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations Environment Assembly.
19-Year-Old Is Ready to Build an Ocean Cleanup Machine
Boyan Slat, a 19-year-old Dutch aeronautical engineering student, is raising $2 million to build an ocean cleanup contraption he designed to passively funnel garbage to specific collection points. Working with a team of over 100 people, he recently released a 528-page feasibility study (PDF) detailing how the complex technology works.
In Developing World, Pollution Kills More Than Disease
Pollution, not disease, is the biggest killer in the developing world, taking the lives of more than 8.4 million people each year, a new analysis shows. However, pollution receives a fraction of the interest from the global community.
Amazing Plastic Waste Labyrinth Made From 6,000 Recycled Bottles
The anonymous art collective Luzinterruptus has realized a ‘Labyrinth of Plastic Waste‘ for Poland’s Katowice Street Art Festival. By using 6000 discarded water bottles artists created a 7 by 5 meter maze. The labyrinth speaks volumes about the large amount of plastic bottles that are wasted every day around the globe.
With Millions of Tons of Plastic in Oceans, More Scientists Studying Impact
Consider this: The amount of global trash is expected to rise every year for the rest of the century. With no intervention, the growing garbage heap won’t even peak by 2021.
Plastic Legacy: Humankind’s Trash Is Now a New Rock
Melted plastic trash on beaches can sometimes mix with sediment, basaltic lava fragments and organic debris (such as shells) to produce a new type of rock material, new research shows…
England to Announce 5p Bag Levy
The Queen announced to the English Parliament yesterday that the government would be introducing a 5p levy on plastic bags distributed at large stores and supermarkets beginning next year.
Trash-Scooping Wheel Cleans Up Garbage From Baltimore Harbor
A new contraption is helping to clear trash and debris, up to 50,000 pounds of it each day, from the Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
Plastic pollution: Another Threat For Seabirds
Plastic pollution is known to be a threat for marine ecosystems around the world, but it has not been much studied yet. This study is the first assessment of plastic ingestion in Mediterranean seabirds. The Mediterranean Sea has been recognized as a singularly sensitive ecosystem because its coast is very industrialized…