Innovative fashion designers are turning to such things as horseradish and nettles to make sustainable clothing and accessories to the delight of a growing number of buyers. While more consumers are paying closer attention to how the production of goods impacts the environment, old habits die hard. A buy-and-toss mentality...
San Francisco Cafes Are Banishing Disposable Coffee Cups
SAN FRANCISCO — A new cafe culture is brewing in the San Francisco area, where a growing number of coffee houses are banishing paper to-go cups and replacing them with everything from glass jars to rental mugs and BYO cup policies. What started as a small trend among neighborhood cafes...
Dutch Inventor Says His Ocean Cleaning Boom Is Working
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — After a series of setbacks, a system for catching plastic floating in the Pacific between California and Hawaii is now working, its Dutch inventor said Wednesday. Boyan Slat, a university dropout who founded The Ocean Cleanup nonprofit, announced that the floating boom is skimming up waste...
Tired of Plastic Junk? Recycling Bills Propose Dramatic New Rules
As bills that take aim at plastic waste make their way through California’s legislature, the damage they intend to fix already is rippling through the state’s recycling economy. On Monday, rePlanet, a major collector of beverage bottles and cans, shut its 284 collection centers in California, citing lower subsidies from the...
Tired of Plastic Junk? Recycling Bills Propose Dramatic New Rules
As bills that take aim at plastic waste make their way through California’s legislature, the damage they intend to fix already is rippling through the state’s recycling economy. On Monday, rePlanet, a major collector of beverage bottles and cans, shut its 284 collection centers in California, citing lower subsidies from the...
Starbucks, Citing Ocean Threat, Will Ditch Plastic Straws
NEW YORK — Starbucks will eliminate plastic straws from all of its locations within two years, citing the environmental threat to oceans. The company becomes the largest food and beverage company to do so as calls to cut waste globally grow louder . Plastic straws have become a flashpoint. A...