The growing threat of plastic pollution in the world’s seas and oceans has been a great concern for marine environmentalists and oceanographers. These include Dr. Sylvia Earle, a world famous American oceanographer and marine biologist as well as an undersea explorer. Dr. Earle has spent much of her life conducting research and exploration of the marine environment in […]
With Covid times and one-time use more in demand, Americans consume 70 billion plastic water bottles each year on planes, at offices, at resorts, at school, at home –– only 8% of the U.S.’s plastic waste is recycled. Boxed Water is Better, a company that proposes an interim solution is better for the planet.
A new scientific study showing that desert camels are dying from mistaking plastic bags for food has lead pioneering plastic pollution researchers and others to call for a radical shift in how we discuss the problem that's harming life in all environments on Earth--on land, not just in the sea.
Israeli designer Shahar Livne creates old plastic and industrial slaughterhouse waste into sustainable materials to be exploited.
The world has witnessed many amazing environmental benefits this year as Coronavirus pandemic stay-at-home orders resulted in drastic global pollution and carbon emission cuts in a matter of months. While these environmental changes have been tangibly seen – bluer skies, decreased smog, healthier oceans – the transition back to “normal” life has presented a new […]
I wonder all the time about Covid 19. Why now? Why aren’t we stopping it? How did it get to invade us in such a quiet way, with such a profound impact on our lives? Most of us didn’t get the message with the planet heating up. Global warming was one message for the way […]
Bluewater, a world leading water purification technology and solutions leader, today called on global energy, finance and environment ministers attending the UN’s Climate Conference in Madrid to take a powerful approach to tackling water quality issues that are spurring sales of polluting single-use plastic bottles of water.
The Gulf Petrochemicals and Chemicals Association (GPCA) has spread awareness about the benefits of plastics and responsible resource consumption at a community outreach event supported by BASF in Dubai Festival City Mall on 28 March 2019, as part of the 7th edition of GPCA’s Waste Free Environment (WFE) campaign. Families and visitors of different age […]
A new Tel Aviv University study describes a process to make bioplastic polymers that don’t require land or fresh water — resources that are scarce in much of the world. The polymer is derived from microorganisms that feed on seaweed. It is biodegradable, produces zero toxic waste and recycles into organic waste. The invention was the fruit […]
Laboratory analysis of water and snow samples, gathered during a recent Greenpeace expedition to the Antarctic, has revealed the presence of microplastics and persistent chemicals, respectively, in the majority of samples tested. “We may think of the Antarctic as a remote and pristine wilderness,” said Frida Bengtsson of Greenpeace’s Protect the Antarctic campaign, “but from […]
In September of 2017, Orb Media, a non-profit digital newsroom based in Washington, released the results of the first scientific study on the presence of microplastics in tap water. The study tested water flowing from taps in 14 countries around the world. From New York to Uganda, microplastics were present in 83% of the samples. […]
I just met a pair of young Swedes, newcomers to Amman who were quickly appalled by the piles of plastics lining our city streets. They stitched up simple bags from mesh netting that they take to local markets, insisting on using their lightweight, reusable alternative in place of plastic produce sacks. Until the rest of […]
World Oceans Day is June 8th – here’s someone who could be it’s Grand Marshall. Two years back, Green Prophet ran a story about a Dutch engineering student who devised a way to siphon off the gargantuan plastic garbage patches (called gyres) growing unchecked in our seas. Then-19-year-old Boyan Slat claimed his floating “Ocean Cleanup Array”, developed with classmate Tan Nguyen, […]
Major changes in how the planet’s marine resources are managed and used are needed to safeguard global food security and ensure the wellbeing of coastal and island countries, the United Nation’s FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva told a group of high level policymakers meeting today in Abu Dhabi.
The Sea of Marmara is swamped with plastic pollution and other byproducts of our rampant consumerism, but according to ONZ Architects, the issue is “swept under the carpet” and most residents of Istanbul faced with continued development look the other way. The designers’ strategy to encourage a new awareness involves sweeping that carpet right back out […]
Recyclable plastics or wastes for the dump? The choice is ours. Plastic items that usually get discarded and wind up being buried in landfills or washed out to sea are serious issues brought up during annual events like Earth Day. The seriousness of large amounts of plastic debris in the worlds seas and oceans have raised […]
Azza Abdel Hamid Faiad was the winner of the 2011 European Union Contest for Young Scientists for finding a new way of turning plastic into biofuel. A sixteen-year-old Egyptian student, Azza Abdel Hamid Faiad from the Zahran Language School in Alexandria has identified a new low-cost catalyst which can generate biofuel by breaking down plastic waste. The idea of breaking down […]
In occasion of World Oceans Day, Green Prophet provides you with some tools for some (much needed) marine activism. What does sea water mean for you? What memories do you have of swimming in the sea? If you were in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea or the Persian Gulf 15 to 20 […]
2,000 miles away from the nearest continent, thousands of baby albatrosses are dying. The cause? Plastic. Over the years, we have watched plastic take a terrible toll on our fauna and flora. We’ve seen it kill our camels, pollute our waterways, and fill the belly of a very sick turtle. The plastic issue is so […]
Scientists have always been worried about the runaway effects of climate change. Did anyone think that we might have rising concentrations of cholera-causing bacteria in our oceans as a result of higher temperatures? If rising temperatures on land are enabling bed bugs and drug-resistant diseases to proliferate, it stands to reason that something similar might […]
We know plastic is almost inescapable, but here are 6 excellent reasons to just say no! It’s no secret. We hate plastic. We wish plastic had never been born, though we don’t really blame Alexander Parkes for inventing the stuff. How could he have known that a series of polymers bonded together would produce one […]
War and conflict overshadows the environment in the Middle East, and oceans overlooked, now on brink of catastrophe. At a time when Arab media attention was focused on extended wars, failed states, and austerity measures, a recent report on the world’s oceans failed to gain considerable attention in the region. The news that the marine […]
Explosive phytoplankton “bloom” in Pacific Ocean, caused by too much CO2 infusion. Photo credit: NASA We have written time and time again in Green Prophet about environmental dangers to the world’s seas and oceans. These dangers include pollution by plastic material, chemicals and other debris; from over-fishing; and from global warming. Global warming is […]
A National Geographic “emerging explorer,” David de Rothschild talks to Green Prophet about plastic, and how adventures inspire change and action. We wrote about the trip from San Fran to Sydney in a boat made from thousands of plastic bottles. And we reviewed the Plastiki book. Now we bring it all together in this exclusive […]
A good friend of David de Rothschild’s, Treehugger founder Graham Hill takes the Plastiki helm Theirs was one of 2010’s most talked-about, scoffed-about, and dreamed-about adventures: sailing across the Pacific Ocean in a boat made from plastic. Spontaneously envisioned to save our oceans from plastic pollution created by a now global society of waste, the […]