• Sustainability

Biden Pledges $20 Billion to Dismantle Highways, Racial Justice Activists Cautiously Celebrate

• Environmental Justice
• highway
• pollution
• racism
• segregation

President Biden’s new infrastructure plan contains something surprising — funding for “construction” projects to remove highways. Why?  Because for decades, Black communities in cities across the U.S. have been cut off and/or divided by highways and major roads that were built without regard to their impact on those neighborhoods. 

Why This Matters: Highways built in the 50s and 60s often came at the expense of communities of color. Their impact enforced segregation, disrupt thriving communities, and distanced Black people from city resources and job opportunities.

• Sustainability

Wealthy EU Nations Move to Stop Trash Burning

• EU
• incinerator
• trash

by Ashira Morris, ODP Staff Writer European Union countries like Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden have been sending millions of tons of trash to be burned in “waste to energy” incinerators. But because of the incinerators’ CO2 emissions and health impacts, the bloc is starting to cut off funding for new plants. This change “comes […]

• Sustainability

One Eco-Efficient Thing: Google Map Routes With Lowest Carbon Footprint Navigation

• carbon footprint
• fuel efficient
• Google
• maps
• navigation

We are already so dependent on Google maps it’s hard to imaging how we could need them more!  But soon they will provide even better services thanks to some work with the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab.  When you are looking at directions, the default option will be the one with the lowest […]

• Sustainability

Flushable Wipes Causing “Fatbergs” In City Sewer Systems

• sanitation
• sewer
• water

by Natasha Lasky, ODP Staff Writer To disinfect surfaces during the pandemic, Americans have been using more sanitary wipes than ever before. In the twelve months through late January, sanitary wipe purchases have increased by a whopping 75%.  But while these wipes are often labeled “flushable” by manufacturers, they are anything but and are clogging […]

• Sustainability

Ford and HP Team Up to Recycle 3D Printing Waste into Auto Parts

• 3D printer
• auto parts
• Ford
• Hewlett-Packard
• recycle
• waste

Ford has teamed up with Hewlett-Packard (HP) to turn spent 3D-printed powder and parts into stronger, lighter, and more cost-effective vehicle parts. The recycled, injection-molded parts will first be used on Ford’s Super Duty F-250 trucks and have better chemical and moisture resistance than conventional versions. 

Why This Matters: 3D printing makes use of plastic and metal powders that, when disposed of in landfills, can contaminate groundwater and end up in the air, harming human health.

• Sustainability

One Cool Thing: Virginia Says Goodbye to Clamshells

• #BreakFreeFromPlastic
• plastic
• pollution
• styrofoam

Despite an uptick in its use during the pandemic, Virginia will soon ban the use of styrofoam containers for food products — Governor Ralph Northam signed the new law on Tuesday — with the bans set to go into effect next year.  Large food sellers (those with 20 or more locations) will not be allowed […]