Plastic Pollution

Nairobi (AFP) - Kenya on World Environment Day barred all single-use plastics such as water bottles and straws from its national parks, beaches, forests and other protected areas.The implementation of the ban, first announced a year ago, was ordered in a letter from Tourism Minister Najib Balala last week.It took…

Credit: CC0 Public Domain Creating sustainable plastics is vital for the future of our environment, a new report says. It calls for urgent research on the impacts that plastic has on the living world right across its lifecycle, from the carbon footprint of the factories that produce it, right through…

It's one of 10 rivers in the world that collectively contribute up to 95 per cent of plastic in the ocean.Running for more than 4,000 kilometres, the Mekong River flows through six countries, starting in China and making its way through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.It is used by…

Sky News has carried out the first ever scientific research into plastic pollution in the River Nile - and discovered that a staggering three-quarters of the fish analysed contained microplastics.The exclusive study - which is the only one of its kind in the world - was done in secret laboratories,…

A new facility in Lancaster, California provides a solution two of the world's greatest problems: climate change caused by greenhouse gasses and plastic pollution.Lancaster, a city located about 70 miles north of downtown Los Angeles, has teamed up with SGH2 Energy Global to build a green hydrogen plant that's three…

Opération Mer Propre (Operation Clean Sea) is looking to raise awareness toward "the beginnings of a new type of pollution" in wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as discarded masks and gloves have been littered on the seabed, BBC News reports.The group's founder, Laurent Lombard, shared underwater footage of the PPE floating off the seaside resort of Golfe-Juan on France's Côte…

A manager at Crustacean Restaurant in California wears a face mask while speaking on the phone | AP Photo California Disposable plates and drinking straws are staging a comeback in California and across the country. too. SAN FRANCISCO — First, reusable grocery bags were lost to the coronavirus. Silverware and…

Plastic pollution in our oceans is a major ongoing global crisis. Researchers estimate that 8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year. Much of the plastic is dumped carelessly, on land or in rivers, and then carried or blown into the sea. Nearly 700 species, including…

In a back room at his home in Santa Cruz, California, George Leonard is amassing a stockpile of plastic bags. Most of the time, he eschews the things. As chief scientist at Ocean Conservancy, an environmental nonprofit based in Washington, DC, Leonard spends his time campaigning against single-use plastics that…

The impact of plastic on the many species that call the ocean home is a huge unknown, but scientists are starting to piece together the kinds of risks this pollution poses to the marine ecosystem. The latest finding in this area concerns a common seafood in blue mussels, which researchers…