You can kayak down European rivers for free—if you pick trash along the way
Want to take a kayak down the rivers of Europe for free? If you do, we have just the thing for you. Greenkayak, a Denmark-based environmental group, is letting travelers kayak for free on a number of Europe’s rivers and lakes—as long as they pick up any garbage they find along the way, which is Read More...
Maine becomes first state in the US to ban environmentally-harmful Styrofoam
Like all plastics, Styrofoam, or polystyrene, stays around in the environment for hundreds of years. But it's particularly noxious because its light weight makes it liable to be carried by wind and water into the ocean, where it breaks down into micro-plastics that eventually make their way into Read More...
How the apparel industry has been making progress cleaning up textiles
Fashion has traditionally been one of the dirtiest industries around, riddled with toxic processes throughout its supply chain – from textile production to garment manufacturing. The good news is that initiatives to reduce environmental pollution have been sprouting, transforming practices and Read More...
Can a two-kilometer long floating device remove plastic from the oceans ?
Two years ago the scourge of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and of the plastic pollution that jeopardizes marine ecosystems around the globe, inspired 19-year-old aerospace engineering student Boyan Slat to imagine the Ocean Cleanup Array. Next year this 2,000-meter long floating device Read More...
EPA climate rules would reduce air pollution, saving thousands of lives
Assessing the direct public health impact of power-plant emissions reduction provides further support to the climate change regulation to be introduced by President Obama this summer, judging by a new study published this week in the journal Nature Climate Change. Cutting carbon emissions from Read More...
Cities are growing smarter, greener, more human-friendly
Pollution, congestion, noise, unfriendly public space… is this what awaits humanity as 70% of the global population lives in cities by 2050? Most likely, the answer is no—judging by recent developments in various European cities and by the visionary work of urban planners, urban designers and Read More...
China going green one textile mill at the time
Almost a third of China’s rivers are classified as too polluted for any direct human contact. That is the terrible price paid for having become the manufacturing center of the world with no appropriate environmental regulations. China alone is responsible for 50% of the global production of Read More...
Lima’s engineering students show off creativity in water-harvesting billboard
In Peru, farms struggle with polluted soil and water that leaches heavy metals like lead and arsenic into vegetables. Hydroponics with filtered water is one answer. UTEC, Lima's University of Engineering and Technology, went to work. It put up a billboard that collects and purifies water from the Read More...
India’s Prime Minister launches first national air pollution index
Thirteen of the dirtiest 20 cities worldwide are in India, with New Delhi holding the undesirable title of the world’s most polluted city, according to the most recent data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged this much this week, and even urged his Read More...
Deadly cost of pollution prompts new regulation
The cost of air pollution in Europe is deadly. In 2010, 400,000 Europeans died prematurely as a result of poor air quality, according to a recent report by the European Environmental agency. The cost of such pollution to member countries of the EU is around 23 billion Euros per year. And though Read More...