A dehydrated and extremely emaciated juvenile whale spotted in waters off the coast of the Philippines on Saturday morning died of starvation after consuming more than 88 pounds of plastic trash. The poor creature was vomiting blood shortly before it died. Darrell Blatchley, a marine mammal expert and the curator at the D’Bone Collector Museum in […]
Just a little over a year after China closed its doors to plastic waste from western nations, India has also decided to put a ban on such imports in order to tackle the growing problem of plastic pollution. The country has also pledged to phase out all single-use plastics by 2020. India generates 26,000 tons […]
A research undertaken by scientists at the University of Stirling has revealed that harmful sewage pathogens can be carried over great distances once they attach themselves to tiny beads of plastic litter that washes into the oceans. In fact, “cholera in India can be transported and washed up on a shore in the USA”, according […]
We all are well aware of the fact that growing plastic waste is one of the worst crisis our planet is facing today. It is estimated that every year, more than 8 million tons of plastic waste ends up in our oceans. However, a new technology developed by researchers at the Purdue University could help transform the […]
It is a well known fact that microplastics have found their way into our water bodies and food chain. But a recent study has confirmed that these tiny bits of plastic have also started contaminating our groundwater. The study undertaken at the University of Illinois found that fractured limestone aquifers, which supply 25% of the world’s population […]
When we think of marine plastic debris, the images that come to mind are beaches littered with plastic trash, marine animals struggling with plastic bags, a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck up its nose, or even discarded/lost fishing gear. Not many of us would think that small golf balls could also pose a […]
European NGO Recycling Netwerk has revealed that many of the founder members of the self styled Alliance to End Plastic Waste are actually investing billions of dollars in the production of more plastic. This comes across as a classic example of not practicing what one preaches. Shell and ExxonMobil are two of the signatories, both […]
The Ocean Cleanup project was launched in September this year with the aim of clearing up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. However, the ambitious project has already hit a snag. It has been reported that while the U-shaped device was scooping up plastic, it was then losing it. Inventor Boyan Slat, 24, said that the slow speed […]
Now here is one great news for the environment! European Union is slowly inching towards a blanket ban on some of the most common single-use plastics like cigarette butts, straws, bottles, disposable cutlery and cotton buds in order to tackle the problem of marine plastic pollution. Negotiators from the European Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement […]
A new report from environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth identified four main culprits behind microplastic pollution in the oceans from sources in the UK – vehicle tyres, synthetic clothing, plastic pellets used to make plastic items and plastic paints that flake off from buildings. Out of these, the two leading sources are tyre abrasion, […]