Waste

EU Moves to Ban Most Plastics By 2020

Sat, 2014-01-18 23:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

European Parliament - ecowatch.com - January 15, 2014

The most hazardous plastics and certain plastic bags should be banned by 2020, as part of an EU strategy to reduce plastic waste in the environment, says the European Parliament in a resolution voted yesterday. The EU should also introduce binding plastic waste recycling targets, Members of European Parliament (MEPs) add.

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The impacts of mineral exploitation on the environment and people in Thai Nguyen

Fri, 2013-11-29 09:34 — Duong Thao

Case study: Khanh Hoa coal mine, Thai Nguyen, Viet Nam

Introduction

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THE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL OF WASTE IN THE AREA OF THAI NGUYEN CITY

Sat, 2013-11-16 05:46 — Duong Thao

During the developing process, the economic production activities have produced a great deal of waste, especially harmful waste. In Viet Nam in general and Thai Nguyen in particular, due to the diversity and rapid development of various types of industry, the hazardous wastes that are mentioned above become more and more. The more wastes are generated; the more serious threats affect environment and human health.

I. Situation

1. Household waste

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Gray whale dies bringing us a message — with stomach full of plastic trash

Thu, 2013-11-07 10:19 — Gina Angiola

November 5,2013, RealNews24

By: Brian,

Live Free Live Natural.

Image Credit: Geograph / Richard Humphrey

July 29, 2013, a sperm whale was stranded on Tershelling, a northern island in the Netherlands. A rescue attempt was attempted, but unfortunately the whale died. A young adult at 13.5 meters was taken for a necropsy at the port of Harlington. The sperm whale had plastic in its stomach, an increasing common phenomenon say researchers at the Biodiversity Centre Naturalis. In March of this year, a 10 meter long sperm whale washed up on Spain’s South Coast. This whale had swallowed 59 different plastic items totaling over 37 pounds. Most of this plastic consisted of transparent sheeting used to build greenhouses in Almeria and Grenada for the purpose of tomatoes for the European market. The rest was plastic bags, nine meters of rope, two stretches of hosepipe, two small flower pots, and a plastic spray canister. Cause of death was intestinal blockage....

FULL STORY AND SHORT VIDEO CLIP HERE

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2.5 Billion People Don't Have Access To A Toilet. Here's Why You Should Care. (INFOGRAPHIC)

Fri, 2013-09-13 17:30 — Kathy Gilbeaux

A woman and her child walk between shacks, past a communal toilet in Khayelitsha township on the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009. South African President Jacob Zuma says mayors need to clean up corruption and stop political squabbling in the face of sometimes violent protests over lack of city services. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

huffingtonpost.com - by Jessica Prois - September 12, 2013

The infographic below highlights the fact that 2.5 billion people have to seek out other options in lieu of a loo -- and it's just not OK.

Funny euphemisms aside, the World Bank created this illustration to detail the fact that lack of access to sanitation costs the world $260 billion yearly in health and productivity.

Health costs include $51 million spent on medication, transportation and hospitalization.

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be Waste Wise : Integrating Informal Sector Recycling in Latin America

Thu, 2013-08-08 00:12 — Kathy Gilbeaux

wastewise.be - http://wastewise.be/2013/07/integrating-the-informal-waste-recycling-sector/

submitted by Albert Gomez

Using 21st century tools to bridge the gap in waste solutions expertise worldwide.

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Landfill Harmonic - The world sends us garbage... We send back music.

Tue, 2013-07-23 18:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXynrsrTKbI

kickstarter.com - LANDFILL HARMONIC: Inspiring dreams one note at a time!

A heartfelt & moving story of how instruments made from recycled trash bring hope to children whose future is otherwise spiritless.

Too many children in the world are born into lives with little or no hope.

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Designing a Cleaner Future: Bicyclean Helps Recycle E-Waste in Developing Nations

Sat, 2013-07-20 12:40 — Miles Marcotte

July 1, 2013 — A slum on the outskirts of Accra, Ghana, received major media attention in 2010 and 2011 when the outside world realized where computers go to die. In an area called Agbogbloshie, impoverished residents were burning broken electronic parts, discarded and dumped by wealthier nations, to extract the metal components. Crouched around bonfires, they inhaled toxic smoke and unwittingly leached heavy metals into a nearby river, just to eke out a living.

Harvard undergraduate Rachel Field '12, an engineering sciences concentrator, read the news reports and devoted her senior thesis project to addressing the problem.

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Cutting Food Losses in Half Would Feed an Additional Billion People

Thu, 2012-10-11 22:28 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - October 11, 2012

More efficient use of the food production chain and a decrease in the amount of food losses will dramatically help maintaining the planet’s natural resources and improve people’s lives; researchers have proved a valid estimation, for the first time, for how many people could be fed with reducing food losses

Researchers in Aalto University have proved a valid estimation, for the first time, for how many people could be fed with reducing food losses.

An Aalto University release reports that the world’s population is an estimated seven billion people. An additional one billion can be fed from our current resources, if the food losses could be halved. This can be achieved if the lowest loss percentage achieved in any region could be reached globally.

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The Bicyclean Uses Pedal Power to Safely Recycle E-Waste

Mon, 2012-10-08 00:26 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

inhabitat.com - by Morgana Matus - September 28, 2012

The Unites States generates more electronic waste than any other nation on earth. According to the EPA, more than 4.6 million tons entered domestic landfills in 2000, and 50-80% of our total e-waste is exported to developing nations where defunct electronics wind up in dumps, polluting the environment, and littering neighborhoods. That’s why 22-year-old engineering graduate Rachel Field has invented the Bicyclean – a pedal-powered grinder and e-waste separation system.

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