News

Consensus forming for ambitious climate goal: Net zero pollution

Photo Credit: Public Domain Image Article by Derek Walker, The Hill The first step in achieving a goal is setting a target. For the challenge of climate change, congressional leaders are increasingly finding consensus around a mark of zero — that is, net-zero climate pollution. Zero does...

How ultra-processed food took over your shopping basket

Image by Ulrich Dregler from Pixabay Article by Bee Wilson, The Guardian Nearly three decades ago, when I was an overweight teenager, I sometimes ate six pieces of sliced white toast in a row, each one slathered in butter or jam. I remember the spongy texture of the...

To make a burger, first you need 660 gallons of water …

Photo by Masis Dzuk via Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) Article by Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times California’s severe drought has probably made a lot of us more aware of our water footprint, which is the amount of fresh water we use plus the amount used for the goods...

Greta Thunberg nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

Photo via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) Article by Aris Folley via The Hill Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for a second year in a row. According to The Associated Press, two lawmakers from Sweden, Jens Holm and Hakan Svenneling,...

China moves on takeout containers in bid to reduce plastic waste

Photo courtesy of AFP Photo/STR Article via Agence France-Presse (AFP) China will ban plastic bags in major cities and single-use straws from restaurants by the end of this year in a bid to cut down on waste. The country is one of the world's biggest users of plastic,...

Malaysia sends back trash, says won’t be world’s waste bin

Image courtesy of PxFuel (CC0) Article via Associated Press Malaysia has sent back 150 containers of plastic waste to 13 mainly rich countries since the third quarter last year, with the environment minster warning on Monday that those who want to make the country a rubbish bin...

IBM’s cobalt-free EV battery uses materials extracted from seawater

Image courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Article by Christine Fisher, EnGadget Electric vehicles will play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but they are not yet a perfect solution. Today, most EVs run on lithium-ion batteries made with heavy metals like...