The Happy Hour

In a historic vote on Friday, the California Assembly passed the Microplastic Nuisance Prevention Law to ban the sale and manufacturing of personal care products containing tiny, synthetic plastic microbeads. Thanks to 5 Gyres Institute, the group that authored the bill sponsored by Assembly Member Richard Bloom (D-Santa Monica), California sets a national precedent for [...]

Chicago has become the latest U.S. city to approve a ban on plastic shopping bags. The City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of a partial plastic bag ban in Chicago on Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune reports. The proposal was backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and passed with a vote of 36-10. [...]

Unknown to many, hemp fabrics exist in today’s market that can replace each of these transmission prone hospital items. Technological improvements for hemp textile development began in the early 90s when EnviroTextile’s lead textile engineer, Barbara Filippone, began working with hemp in China. To date, the company has over 100 [...]

Hale'iwa, HI — The 5 Gyres Institute and Nysmea present Oceans of Plastic: From Science to Solutions a webinar on plastic pollution and solutions for middle and high school classrooms. The May 29th webinar will feature Dr. Marcus Erickson, Dr. Chelsea Rochman, and Dr. Sam Mason discussing how much plastic pollution [...]

For many people, “plastic” is a one-word analog for environmental disaster. It is made from precious petroleum, after all, and once discarded in landfills and oceans, it takes centuries to degrade. Then came apparent salvation: “bioplastics,” durable substances made from renewable cellulose, a plant-based polysaccharide. But problems remained. For one, the [...]

Chicago has become the latest U.S. city to approve a ban on plastic shopping bags. The City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of a partial plastic bag ban in Chicago on Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune reports. The proposal was backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and passed with a vote of 36-10. [...]

Woods Hole, MA (PRWEB) April 24, 2014 An estimated 21,290 metric tons of plastic particles are currently floating in the North Pacific subtropical gyre, with a mass equivalent to 132 Boeing 747 airplanes or 120 blue whales. This estimate, the most complete and accurate evaluation of Pacific Ocean plastic pollution [...]

London — Have you seen something fishy approaching London Bridge Station on your daily commute by train? Then you may have spotted an installation by Clare Misselbrook on the rooftop of 47/49 Tanner Street as part of their #PlasticLunch project, raising awareness of plastic pollution in our oceans and its negative [...]

Vermont became the first state in the nation Friday to require that genetically modified foods be labeled as such at all of its retail stores, the United Press International reports.   Last November, as NPR reported, voters in Washington state defeated a similar bill to mandate labels on genetically modified food, after out-of-state [...]

Illinois could soon become the first state to ban microbeads, the tiny plastic particles added to many body cleansers and toothpastes that have fast become an environmental menace. A number of brand-name products use microbeads to aid exfoliation, giving consumers a well-scrubbed feeling. But recent scientific investigations have shown that the micro plastic [...]

Warmer days and sunnier skies are upon us.  That means more outdoor gatherings, more entertaining to be done, and more glasses to be filled.  I came across DIY flavored ice cubes about one year ago when dining at what once was the Hotel Griffou in NYC.  They were so beautiful and so [...]

PALM DESERT – The City Council for the desert’s largest retail hub could vote to phase in a ban on plastic shopping bags Thursday. A ban endorsed by the Coachella Valley Association of Governments has already been passed by the councils in Palm Springs, Indio and Desert Hot Springs and voted [...]