More than 8.3 billion tons of plastics made

Another article on plastic that needs to be shared around the world. Stop using plastic, people!

This article is from Science Daily:

More than 8. 3 billion tons of plastics made: Most has now been discarded

Humans have created 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics since large-scale production of the synthetic materials began in the early 1950s, and most of it now resides in landfills or the natural environment, according to a study published in the journal Science Advances.

Led by a team of scientists from the University of Georgia, the University of California, Santa Barbara and Sea Education Association, the study is the first global analysis of the production, use and fate of all plastics ever made.

The researchers found that by 2015, humans had generated 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics, 6.3 billion tons of which had already become waste. Of that waste total, only 9 percent was recycled, 12 percent was incinerated and 79 percent accumulated in landfills or the natural environment.
If current trends continue, roughly 12 billion metric tons of plastic waste will be in landfills or the natural environment by 2050. Twelve billion metric tons is about 35,000 times as heavy as the Empire State Building.

"Most plastics don't biodegrade in any meaningful sense, so the plastic waste humans have generated could be with us for hundreds or even thousands of years," said Jenna Jambeck, study co-author and associate professor of engineering at UGA. "Our estimates underscore the need to think critically about the materials we use and our waste management practices."

The scientists compiled production statistics for resins, fibers and additives from a variety of industry sources and synthesized them according to type and consuming sector.

Global production of plastics increased from 2 million metric tons in 1950 to over 400 million metric tons in 2015, according to the study, outgrowing most other human-made materials. Notable exceptions are materials that are used extensively in the construction sector, such as steel and cement.
But while steel and cement are used primarily for construction, plastics' largest market is packaging, and most of those products are used once and discarded.

"Roughly half of all the steel we make goes into construction, so it will have decades of use -- plastic is the opposite," said Roland Geyer, lead author of the paper and associate professor in UCSB's Bren School of Environmental Science and Management. "Half of all plastics become waste after four or fewer years of use."

And the pace of plastic production shows no signs of slowing. Of the total amount of plastics produced from 1950 to 2015, roughly half was produced in just the last 13 years.


Read the full article here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170719140939.htm

'Ditch plastic straws'

Here's a great article on reducing plastic waste:

'Ditch plastic straws' – experts and campaigners on how to cut plastic waste 

Lily Cole helps launch charity T-shirts made using recycled plastic to

draw attention to the 15m plastic water bottles used each day in the UK.

Photograph: Dave M. Benett

Marks & Spencer has redesigned and repackaged more than 140 best-selling products to cut plastic use, saving 75 tonnes of packaging a year in the process.

But are retailers and manufacturers doing enough? What more could and should they be doing? We asked a range of packaging experts and campaigners. Here’s what they said.


 

Lily Cole: ‘Ditch single-use plastic water bottles’

Companies should be proactively designing solutions to reduce plastic waste. Single-use plastic water bottles are perhaps the most damning culprit when there are so many alternatives readily available. I recently supported Brita’s #SwapForGood campaign, committing to avoiding single-use plastic water bottles and carrying around a reusable bottle instead.

Read the full article here:  https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/30/retailers-manufacturers-reduce-plastic-use-waste-lily-cole-ellen-macarthur

An Iceberg has broken off Antarctica ice shelf

If you haven't heard the news yet, here it is. Read it and weep. Weep for the Earth, that is.

Here's the gist of the article by USA Today:

What happens now that the iceberg has broken off Antarctica ice shelf?

A giant iceberg nearly the size of Delaware has broken off an Antarctic ice shelf.
Scientists have closely watched the growing crack in the ice shelf over the past few months.
Swansea University professor Adrian Luckman, a scientist with Project MIDAS, answered many of the burning questions about the newly created iceberg.

How is the iceberg tracked?

It is being tracked by many types of satellite data. As for actual photos taken by scientists aboard a survey plane, that won't occur until October, when the Antarctic spring is underway.


Read the full article here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2017/02/02/antarctica-ice-shelf-q-and-a/97406348/

Ooho! The Edible Water Bottle

This innovative concept of replacing plastic water bottles is getting lots of raves, but detractors are also out there. What do you think about Ooho? In reaching out to my small circle of water activists, I found people who love the Ooho and but some think it still encourages the concept of "gotta have portable water with me no matter what, and as long as it's not from a water fountain."

(http://mentalfloss.com/article/68911/edible-water-bottle-could-change-hydration-forever)

Here's an intro from Interesting Engineering:

         'Think outside of the bottle! Those are the words of wisdom from a London-based innovative start-up called Skipping Rocks Lab, a group of researchers and business developers whose aim is to make product packaging obsolete. Their solution to the unsustainable production and disposal of plastic bottles is to make an edible water bottle you can safely eat and drink. It’s called Ooho!"

Read more here: http://interestingengineering.com/meet-ooho-a-sustainable-water-bottle-you-can-eat-and-drink/

Top 10 Most Endangered Rivers in the US

Is a river near you on the list? 

Colorado River snaking along the Grand Canyon at sunset. Arizona. 

Photograph by Pete McBride, National Geographic Creative

By Alexandra E. Petri

PUBLISHED April 11, 2017

Water is life, yet climate change and certain public policies may be endangering its future in America, a nonprofit group warns in a new report. The stakes are high, with the current presidential administration having proposed budget cuts that may eliminate some safeguards for clean drinking water and rivers nationwide.

That’s according to American Rivers, a Washington, D.C.-based conservation group, which released its annual list of America’s Most Endangered Rivers on Tuesday. The list outlines rivers that the group warns face an urgent threat or critical decision point in the coming year.

America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2017:

#1: Lower Colorado River (Arizona, California, Nevada)

Threat: Water demand and climate change

#2: Bear River (California)

Threat: New Dam

#3: South Fork Skykomish (Washington)

Threat: New hydropower project

#4: Mobile Bay Rivers (Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi)

Threat: Poor water management

#5: Rappahannock River (Virginia)

Threat: Fracking

#6: Green-Toutle River (Washington)

Threat: New mine

#7: Neuse and Cape Fear Rivers (North Carolina)

Threat: Pollution from hog and chicken farms

#8: Middle Fork Flathead River (Montana)

Threat: Oil transport by rail

#9: Buffalo National River (Arkansas)

Threat: Pollution from massive hog farm

#10: Menominee River (Michigan, Wisconsin)

Threat: Open pit sulfide mining

 

Read full article here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/most-endangered-rivers-us-american-rivers/?google_editors_picks=true

Crumbling AwayGiant chunks of rock have been falling from Half Dome. Here, in 1919, a group stands on a rocky outcropping off of the feature.
Photograph by US National Park Service/National Geographic

Impermanent ViewsHalf Dome as seen from the Glacier Point Hotel in 1933. The hotel, finished in 1917, stood 3000 feet above Yosemite Valley. After closing because of snow damage in the winter of 1968, the hotel burned down in an electrical fire in July, 1969.
Photograph by Yosemite Park & Curry Co/National Geographic

Perfectly InaccessibleSnow envelops Half Dome in this 1922 photo. It was declared “perfectly inaccessible” in an 1865 report, but ten years later, hiker George Anderson reached the summit.
Photograph by Pillsbury Picture Co./National Geographic

Beloved PeaksThe nearly 750 thousand acre Yosemite National Park drew over 4 million visitors in 2014. Here, in a 1965 photo, tourists snap pictures of the stunning granite peaks.
Photograph by B. Anthony Stewart, National Geographic

New PathsRockfalls have changed the face of Half Dome, and climbers are adjusting to altered routes. This photo shows an ascent in 1974.
Photograph by Dean Conger, National Geographic Creative

Bad WeatherThis 2010 photo shows Half Dome poking through the clouds. Hikers should not to attempt the climb if storm clouds are in the area. In 1985, lightning struck the peak, killing two hikers and injuring two more (see a National Geographic video here).
Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic Creative

FreefallHalf Dome juts nearly 5,000 feet above ground, almost 9,000 feet above sea level, attracting climbers who BASE jump from Half Dome.
Photograph by Jimmy Chin and Lynsey Dyer, National Geographic Creative

Dean PotterDean Potter, who died in a wingsuit accident in 2015, climbs Half Dome in 2012. After the 2015 rockfalls, a climber said it felt like Half Dome was mourning Potter.
Photograph by Jimmy Chin, National Geographic Creative

Pack in, Pack outTourists sometimes wear gloves to clutch at the cables as they climb Half Dome’s final ascent, ditching them on the way back down. When hikers don’t pack out their gloves, "hundreds of pounds of rotting gloves...accumulate."
Photograph by Jimmy Chin, National Geographic Creative

Risk TakersRock climber Alex Honnold, famous for his climbs without ropes or harnesses, walks a 40-foot-long sliver of granite on Half Dome named the Thank God Ledge.
Photograph by Jimmy Chin, National Geographic Creative

A Changing LandscapeThe climber first to climb Half Dome without a rope is taking the rockfalls in stride. “It’s always a little sad to see a classic route change, [but] it’s kind of the nature of rock to change over time,” Alex Honnald says.
Photograph by Mikey Schaefer, National Geographic

Another Water Crisis

National Geographic has a section on their website called: Water Crisis News. This is a great resource to check for issues around the world. Below is an intro to one of the current articles:

Wildlife Dying En Masse as South American River Runs Dry

            "The Pilcomayo River in Paraguay is littered with dead caiman and fish carcasses as the government scrambles to find a solution.

           Vultures rest in the tree’s upper branches, their black bodies in stark contrast to the blanched wood beneath their feet. Below them, caimans and capybaras crawl in sucking mud through the Agropil lagoon, seeking water that is unlikely to arrive for many months. The river has dried up, and there is nowhere for them to go.

           Paraguay is in the midst of an ecological crisis."

Read full article here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/07/pilcomayo-river-paraguay-caiman-capybara-fish-drought-death-water/

Water At Risk Under The Trump Administration

It's no surprise that the Waters of the United States, WOTUS, are in danger under the Trump administration. Here's an article that highlights the concern on this topic:

Photo: Jim Brandenburg/Minden Pictures

The Waters of the United States (WOTUS) Rule: What It Is and Why It's Important

President Trump has ordered the EPA to begin reviewing the rule that governs how the agency protects waterways. Here's what WOTUS means to wildlife and people alike. 

"Keep navigable waters clean." It sounds straightforward, but in practice it's anything but. For decades, the Environmental Protection Agency has struggled with that task, after the Clean Water Act in 1972 gave them the authority to regulate "navigable waters." But "navigable" doesn't cover small streams and wetlands, and water in those areas has a habit of flowing downhill into other, larger bodies of water. Whether the EPA could regulate all that water before it reached someplace navigable was never clear.

Read full article here: http://www.audubon.org/news/the-waters-united-states-wotus-rule-what-it-and-why-its-important