EU Confirms Plastic Bag Reduction
The new EU law will require governments to cut annual use of lightweight plastic bags. This represents a reduction from current use of 50% by the end of 2019 and 80% by the end of 2025. This is an historic moment for all of Europe.
EU Set to Approve Historic Deal to Cut Plastic Bag Use
A “historic” deal to cut Europe’s throwaway plastic bag culture is expected to be approved on Monday, which would cut the number of bags Europeans use each year by more than three quarters in just over a decade’s time…
NOAA Removed 57 Tons of Marine Debris from Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
A team of 17 NOAA divers sailing aboard NOAA Ship Oscar Elton Sette has returned from a 33-day mission to remove marine debris from Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaii, a World Heritage Site and one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world.
Balkan ‘Wild Beauty’ Montenegro Faces Waste Woes
Montenegro takes pride in its majestic Adriatic coastline and towering mountains rising from the sea, lined with rivers, streams and lakes. But the so-called Balkan Wild Beauty is now faced with the problem of waste disposal that is threatening both its natural wonders and its lucrative tourism industry.
Embracing a Low-Impact Lifestyle
Lifestyle changes are never easy, especially when it concerns a choice that is a common part of everyday life. Switching to a life free of all single-use plastics is something that takes commitment, dedication and careful planning.
Plastic Nanoparticles Also Harm Freshwater Organisms
Organisms can be negatively affected by plastic nanoparticles, not just in the seas and oceans but in freshwater bodies too. It is the first time that such effects of plastic on freshwater organisms have been studied.
Marine Litter: Plunging Deep, Spreading Wide
With an average of 13,000 pieces of plastic litter estimated to be afloat every single square kilometer of ocean globally, and 6.4 million tonnes of marine litter reaching the oceans every year according to UNEP, researchers and scientists predict a bleak future for the great bodies of water that are vital to our planet’s existence.
Paradise Lost: Filmmakers Document the Maldives’ Trash Island
It may be known as a tropical paradise, an archipelago of 1,200 coral islands in the Indian Ocean. But the traditional image of the Maldives hides a dirty secret: the world’s biggest rubbish island: Thilafushi.
UN Meeting Hears Call For Greater Marine Protections As Plastic Waste Accrues In Oceans
The steady build-up of garbage in the world’s oceans is a “tremendous challenge” and a growing threat to the planet’s marine ecosystems with the potential for “significant socio-economic consequences,” the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) heard at the 16th Global Meeting of the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans, held in Athens, Greece.