Plastic item floating in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - Photo credit: The Ocean Cleanup It all began when a young man scuba diving in Greece was shocked to see more plastic bags than fish in the water. He turned his concern into a high school science project and when he was 18, Boyan Slat of The Netherlands founded The Ocean Cleanup. He crowd-funded $2 million in support of the project. His first target was the Great Pacific Garbage Patch discovered by Captain Charles

Life-course exposure to environmental hazards and chemical pollutants such as plastic can cause accumulation of toxic substances in the body and increase the risk of developing chronic health conditions. Plastic is a particularly problematic material at every stage of its lifecycle, from the extraction of its fossil fuel feedstocks, through manufacturing, use, and disposal. Grave environmental health hazards are created at each stage. The health impacts have been seen in al

I've tried it for a 2 nd time, having a live Christmas tree rather than a cut one, or worse, a plastic tree. The first time I encountered the realization that a live Christmas tree could be purchased, I wasn't thinking about the plastic Christmas trees that many folks seem to find room in their attics to store once the season is over. I was thinking more about how wasteful to cut a tree down, bring it into my home, and then take it back outside to compost. My composting l