All posts by GGRC

Costa Rica Wants to Become World’s First Country to Eliminate Single-Use Plastics

Costa Rica wants to become the world’s first country to achieve a comprehensive national strategy to eliminate single-use plastics by 2021.

The Central American nation intends to replace these wasteful, ocean-clogging items—such as plastic store bags, straws, coffee stirrers, containers and plastic cutlery—for biodegradable or water-soluble alternatives, or products made of renewable materials (think plant starches). More…

Plastics Leave Permanent Indestructible Legacy

Timber rots, cement crumbles, metal corrodes: plastics are there for ever. By 2050 there could be 12 billion tonnes in the world’s landfills.

US scientists have calculated yet another item on the human shopping list that makes up the modern world: plastics. They have estimated the mass of all the plastic bottles, bags, cups, toys, instruments and fabrics ever produced and tracked its whereabouts, as yet another index of the phenomenal change to the face of the planet made by recent human advance. More…

19 Aquariums Pledge to Fight Plastic Pollution, Ban Single-Use Plastic Bags and Straws

A collaboration of aquariums across the U.S. have launched a campaign Monday to reduce ocean and freshwater plastic pollution.

Notably, as of today, all 19 aquariums that belong to the Aquarium Conservation Partnership (ACP) have “eliminated” plastic straws and single-use carryout plastic bags at their facilities. More…

1 Million Plastic Bottles Bought Every Minute, That’s Nearly 20,000 Every Second

A new report highlights the astounding amount of plastic bottles humans go through and the environmental havoc it wreaks.

Citing figures from consumer market research company Euromonitor International, The Guardian reported that 1 million plastic bottles are bought every minute—or about 20,000 per second—around the globe. More…

7 Shocking Facts About Plastics in Our Oceans

The oceans are massive, pulsing, vibrant bodies of water that serve humanity in countless ways—from providing food to enabling commerce to simply being beautiful.

But these powerful expanses of sea are not invincible. Each year, human activity erodes marine life in some way. More…

Plastic Pollution Is Choking the Planet

People who deny that humans are wreaking havoc on the planet’s life-support systems astound me. When confronted with the obvious damage we’re doing to the biosphere—from climate change to water and air pollution to swirling plastic patches in the oceans—some dismiss the reality or employ logical fallacies to discredit the messengers. More…

Plastic Bags and Climate Change

Plastic Bags and climate change are linked in a variety of ways. From air quality to ocean toxicity, plastic bags contribute to eco-system disruption.

Habitat destruction, fossil fuel emissions, and plastic pollution are some of the ways that plastic bags and climate change cannot be separated. More…

Plastics Better Alternatives Now (BAN) List

The Plastics BAN (Better Alternatives Now) List, an initiative of four non-profit conservation organizations— The 5 Gyres Institute, Clean Production Action, Surfrider Foundation, and UPSTREAM— seeks to identify the world’s most dangerous plastics and readily-available alternatives. More…

Cleaning Up Delhi’s Dirty Air Using Jet Engines

Delhi in India is one of the most polluted cities in the world. The widespread use of festival fireworks, the burning of rubbish by the city’s poor, plus farm waste from around the city, vehicular emissions and construction dust, all contribute to the city’s thick fogs.

A team of researchers from the US, India and Singapore will be attempting some time next year to clean up the air around a coal-fired plant in Delhi. More…