Plastic pollution in our oceans is a serious challenge to our food supply, animal and human health, and the environment in general. With multiple gyres of trash that are hundreds of miles wide floating in the world’s seas, plastic threatens to outweigh fish by 2050. Have you followed some of…
International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer
People think of the ozone layer as a past-tense environmental issue. The thinning of the ozone layer near the Antarctic was one of the biggest environmental topics of the 1980s. But the widespread adoption of the 1987 Montreal Protocol established a timetable for phasing out nearly 100 ozone-depleting chemicals. Implementation…
Let There Be Light: How To Build a Gardening Cold Frame
Autumn may be here, but the change in seasons doesn’t require a complete halt to your gardening. By installing a cold frame in your garden, you can extend your growing season and grow seasonal plants in cooler weather. What Is a Cold Frame? A cold frame consists of a bottomless…
Earth911 Reader: This Week’s Essential Sustainability, Recycling, and Conscious Citizens’ News
Start your environmental and sustainability reading with us! We read a lot so you don’t have to. Every week, Earth911 Reader delivers the must-read articles around the web you should read to be up-to-date on stories that share our understanding of the issues. This week, there’s bad news on the…
Recycling Plastic Clamshells and Bottles, the Same but Different
You’ve probably seen the #1 recycling symbol on various plastic containers when you’re sorting your recycling. Those containers are made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), also known as polyester. Because PET is strong, lightweight, and easily molded, it is a popular material for packaging a wide range of foods and consumer…
Maven Moment: Safe & Natural Baby Products
My mother-in-law Lucy had four children. They were born in the 1950s and the early 1960s. Like many mothers during that time in the U.S., she fed her children formula or condensed milk and she used cloth diapers and products like Johnson’s Baby Shampoo for their hair. Another product that…
Oxgut Hose Co.: Upcycled Products With a Heroic Past
It seems that every day, someone is figuring out how to upcycle another product that would otherwise get thrown away. For the Oxgut Hose Company, that product is old fire hoses. Fire departments can dispose of many thousands of fire hoses every year depending upon usage levels. Normally, these hoses…
Five DIY Baby Skin Care Recipes You Won’t Be Able To Live Without
There’s nothing more immaculate than baby skin, and for new parents, figuring out how to take care of it properly can be overwhelming. Confronted with shelves upon shelves of baby-care products, how do you know which choice will be safe, effective, and good for your baby’s skin? One way to…
Earth911 Podcast: Starting a Career in Recycling — PNW Metal Recycling’s Sean Daoud
What’s the path to a career in recycling? Sean Daoud, Treasurer of PNW Metal Recycling Inc. in Portland, Oregon, talks with Earth911 about how he got involved recycling, what his job involves, and the work environment. If you want to help to save the world for a living, this episode…
Earth911 Reader: EV Savings, Cooling Clothing, Saving $50 Trillion Over 30 Years
Start your environmental and sustainability reading with us! We read a lot so you don’t have to. Every week, Earth911 Reader delivers the must-read articles around the web you should know to be up-to-date on stories that share our understanding of the issues. This week, dive into Electric Vehicle savings,…