Are You Giving Flowers with a Side of Plastic? – Hakai Magazine Editorial

Garden Style Flower Arrangement (by Flower Factor CC BY-NC 2.0 via Flickr).

Over a century ago, flower retailer Florists’ Telegraph Delivery group—more recognized as FTD—started the campaign “Say it with flowers” for Mother’s Day. And we’ve been saying it—I love you, I miss you, … congratulations on your new baby/home/job—ever since. Flower person or not, chances are you’ve recently intersected with a bouquet or arrangement… Look closely, and you’ll see the power of flowers; their ubiquity in our day-to-day.

Don’t Overestimate Bioplastics’ Benefits – Hakai Magazine

Pros and cons of biodegradable plastics and bioplastics (by GRID-Arendal CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 via Flickr www.grida.no/publications/749).

Bioplastics may avoid some of the issues associated with non-biodegradable fossil fuel­–derived plastics, but they’re no panacea.

Plastics produced from plants are often considered less environmentally damaging than plastics made from petrochemicals. But scientists are warning that we should be careful making such assumptions…

Clamshells Face the Acid Test – Hakai Magazine

Clam Shells (by Lindsey B. CC BY-SA 2.0 via Flickr).

As acidification threatens shellfish along North America’s Pacific Coast, Indigenous sea gardens offer solutions.   

It’s low tide in Bodega Bay, north of San Francisco, California, and Hannah Hensel is squishing through thick mud, on the hunt for clams. The hinged mollusks are everywhere, burrowed into the sediment, filtering seawater to feed on plankton. But Hensel isn’t looking for living bivalves—she’s searching the mudflat for the shells of dead clams…