Each year between 1.8-3.36 billion contacts are flushed down the drain. You might not think that something so small could be a problem, but those contacts become microplastics that contaminate our water. Don’t contribute to plastic pollution, always dispose of your contacts properly. You can recycle your contacts through recycling programs. Print or share We Earthling posters to inspire others […]
When you’re looking for fabrics with the lowest impact on the environment, natural fibers almost always come out ahead of synthetics. With a huge carbon footprint and often coated in toxic chemicals, synthetics are best avoided. But sometimes there aren’t great alternatives to synthetics, particularly for special applications like raingear or athletic wear. Maybe you can’t live without your Gore-Tex […]
Meet Sean Wittenberg, founder of the seafood company Safe Catch. He started the business with a mission to source safe and sustainable tuna and other fish after his mother was diagnosed with mercury poisoning when she adopted a diet that included frequent servings of canned tuna. Sausalito, Calif.-based Safe Catch offers a wide variety of fish products in cans and […]
All rivers lead to the sea. And along the way, they collect a lot of garbage. That garbage gets washed out to the middle of the ocean where it joins debris from fishing vessels. The marine debris accumulates in patches of polluted water that have grown to truly astounding sizes. And although they exist far from human sight, these floating […]
If you wear much synthetic clothing, you likely create microfiber pollution every time you do the laundry. A type of microplastics, microfibers are plastic fibers smaller than 5 millimeters. When we wash synthetic fabrics, they shed these microfibers, which get washed down the drain with the wastewater, adding to the worldwide problem of microplastic pollution. The Microplastic Problem Plastic pollution […]
If you’d like to reduce your exposure to microplastics, choose your tea brand wisely. While most brands use paper tea bags, some have switched to bags made of fine plastic mesh. Unlike paper tea bags, the plastic version can’t be composted. And when boiling water is poured over them to make tea, these bags can release billions of microplastics and […]
Plastics are all around us, in food packaging, clothing, carpeting, personal care products, appliances, cars, and electronics. Yet, humans have only been using plastics since the 1950s, and there is a lot that we’re still learning about this substance. We’ve only recently learned about microplastics, yet they are already widespread throughout the environment — can we avoid them? Researchers are […]
Did you know that by reducing the temperature of a load of laundry from hot to cold and shortening the wash cycle by about 60%, you will reduce the volume of plastic microfiber pollution generated by 52% and chemical dyes released by 74%? The microfibers come from our synthetic clothing (especially fleece) and are a growing source of microplastic pollution. […]