• Sustainability

Study Finds that Amazon Generates Enough Plastic to Circle Globe 500 Times

• #COVID
• Amazon
• Oceana
• plastic pollution

A new report from the environmental nonprofit Oceana finds that Amazon has increased the amount of plastic packaging it uses every year.  Last year, according to Oceana’s estimates, the company generated enough plastic packaging to circle the globe 500 times.  

Why this Matters: Oceana also found that less than 1% of Amazon’s plastic waste ended up in rivers, lakes, and oceans.  But it’s 1% of a huge number —  that amounts to the equivalent of dumping one delivery van full of plastic into marine ecosystems every 70 minutes.

• Sustainability

New Study Shows Plastic Bags and Packaging Most Lethal to Marine Wildlife

• Ocean Plastic
• Planet or Plastic
• plastic pollution

by Natasha Lasky, ODP Contributing Writer A new study published in the journal Conservation Letters has found that plastic bags and flexible packaging are the most deadly bits of plastic waste in the world’s oceans. From a review of hundreds of scientific articles, the agency found that plastic ingestion was responsible for the deaths of […]

• Sustainability

New WWF Report Shines a Light on Getting Rid of Ghost Gear

• #30x30
• Conservation Law Foundation
• fishing gear
• ghost gear
• IFAW
• North Atlantic Right Whale
• plastic pollution
• vaquita
• whale
• World Wildlife Fund

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) issued a new report yesterday illuminating the devastating impact of derelict or abandoned fishing gear in the ocean (aka “ghost gear”), and the numbers are terrifying — between 500,000 and 1,000,000 tons of ghost gear wind up in the ocean EACH YEAR!

Why This Matters:  While fishing gear that is in use is a threat to marine life like whales, abandoned fishing gear is just a tragedy waiting to happen and completely needless — eliminating it is totally within our control.

• Sustainability

The Call for a Global Treaty to Address Plastic Waste Grows Stronger

• Canada
• plastic pollution
• single use plastics
• WWF

As nations across the world work to address the plastic pollution crisis–especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic–Canada made a big step in its effort to control needless plastic waste. As CNN reported, “The country plans to ban single-use plastics — checkout bags, straws, stir sticks, six-pack rings, cutlery and even foodware made from […]

• Sustainability

California Paves Highway with Completely Recycled Materials

• asphalt
• California
• plastic
• plastic pollution
• plastic recycling
• roads

by Natasha Lasky, ODP Contributing Writer A 1000-foot stretch highway in Oroville, CA was recently repaved with recycled plastic and asphalt—the first time a state department has paved a road with 100% recycled materials. This durable recycled material can combat potholes, last two to three times longer than asphalt roads, and reuse about 150,000 single-use […]

• Land

Microplastics Pollution Found in Farm Soil

• farming
• microplastic
• plastic pollution
• soil

by Julia Fine, ODP Contributing Writer There is “a growing concern” over microplastics pollution in farm soils, Kate S. Petersen reported for Environmental Health News this week. Although we have long since known about the effects of microplastics in the ocean, this article showed that “most microplastics are actually accumulating on land, including agricultural areas.” […]