Mother Nature Network

Looking to make a positive change this Earth Day? How about reducing your plastic waste?

Plastic is found in virtually everything these days. Your food and hygiene products are packaged in it. Your car, phone and computer are made from it. And you might even chew on it daily in the form of gum. While most plastics are touted as recyclable, the reality is that they’re “downcycled.” A plastic milk carton can never be recycled into another carton — it can be made into a lower-quality item like plastic lumber, which can’t be recycled.

16 ways to reduce plastic waste

It’s time to defend the drain, says Philippe Cousteau Jr.

The water warrior with the famous last name explains the steps we should all be taking to stop toxins from polluting Earth’s waters.

unconsumption:

19-year-old Boyan Slat has unveiled plans to create an Ocean Cleanup Array that could remove 7,250,000 tons of plastic waste from the world’s oceans. The device consists of an anchored network of floating booms and processing platforms that could be dispatched to garbage patches around the world. Instead of moving through the ocean, the array would span the radius of a garbage patch, acting as a giant funnel. The angle of the booms would force plastic in the direction of the platforms, where it would be separated from plankton, filtered and stored for recycling.

More: 19-Year-Old Student Develops Ocean Cleanup Array That Could Remove 7,250,000 Tons Of Plastic From the World’s Oceans | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Via BoingBoing

Also on the ocean-garbage front: We’ve covered various responses to the Pacific Garbage Patch, here, and here.

Want to slow sea level rise? Curb these 4 pollutants

Carbon dioxide remains the most significant threat, but slow government action has scientists looking at other culprits to combat.

utnereader:

The Trouble with Stuff: A Conversation with Annie Leonard

Many things that used to be shared—from open spaces for recreation to support systems to help a neighbor in need—have been privatized and commodified; they’ve been moved out of the community into the market place. This triggers a downward spiral. Once things become privatized, or un-commoned, we no longer have access to them without paying a fee. We then have to work longer hours to pay for all these things which used to be freely available—everything from safe afterschool recreation for kids to clean water to swim in to someone to talk to when you’re feeling blue. Keep reading.

Republicans become more concerned about global warming

More than half of Republicans now agree that most scientists think global warming is occurring, up from a low of 37 percent in 2011.

A ‘great garbage patch’ grows in the Great Lakes

New research finds that the Great Lakes are becoming polluted with the same plastic particles responsible for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Photo of the day: Sacred rivers not immune to pollution

Indian men search for coins and gold on April 2 in the polluted waters of the Ganges river near the Triveni Sangam in Allahabad, India following the Kumbh Mela festival. Drawing massive crowds of devotees, ascetics and foreign tourists, the two-month-long Kumbh Mela festival is celebrated every 12 years at the confluence of sacred Ganges and Yamuna rivers. Although the custom for Kumbh Mela is to bathe in these holy waters, about 426 million liters of domestic sewage pollution from the Ganges and its upstream tributaries are pumped into the Sangam every day.

Wasting away: Our garbage by the numbers

In today’s culture of mass consumption, the things we throw away often vanish from our minds, but all that trash has to go somewhere. Look at the numbers on garbage and you’ll see it’s more than just trashy — it’s appalling. Luckily, there’s plenty we can do about it.

EPA: The nation’s rivers are in sad shape

More than half of the country’s rivers and streams are suffering from nutrient pollution and habitat degradation, but mercury and bacteria are also growing problems.