Thousands of South Africans rolled up their sleeves, put on their rubber gloves and took to the beaches on Saturday, 15 September 2018 as part of the first World Clean-up Day - the largest peacetime civic action in human history. Stretching across 24 different time zones, involving 144 countries and more than 13 million volunteers worldwide, World Clean-up Day started in … [Read more...]
Eskom’s latest bid to continue pollution contested
Five of South Africa’s largest environmental justice organisations have come out strongly against Eskom’s further round of multiple applications to postpone compliance with air pollution standards. Allowing Eskom to continue with its pollution will mean that at least 2 200 people in affected areas will die premature deaths every year as a result of exposure to this … [Read more...]
Could mushrooms solve the war on plastic?
Fungi could be the key to winning the war on plastic, leading scientists at Kew Gardens has said. The first ever report on the state of the world’s fungi has today revealed that if the natural properties of fungus can be harnessed and developed, plastic could be broken down naturally in weeks rather than years. Kew Gardens and a team of over 100 scientists from 18 … [Read more...]
A teenager’s plan to trawl for plastic in the Pacific becomes reality
Few things exercise green sensibilities more these days than marine plastic litter. The detritus looks unsightly when it washes up on beaches, and cruel when it chokes photogenic sea creatures. Scientists estimate that perhaps 8m tonnes of plastic waste enters the ocean each year, discharged by rivers or shed from ships. Plenty stays close to shore. Some, though, is carried by … [Read more...]
Nuclear mud dumping has begun in Wales
Opponents to a controversial scheme to dump mud from a nuclear plant off the coast of Cardiff have launched a last-minute legal challenge. About 300,000 tonnes will be dredged from the seabed near the Hinkley Point C building site in Somerset. The Campaign Against Hinkley Mud Dumping submitted an application to the High Court in Cardiff on Monday seeking an interim … [Read more...]
15 cities tackling pollution by curbing cars
Cities around the world are facing a crisis: Cars are wreaking havoc, snarling streets, and contributing to increased air pollution. The World Health Organization says that around three million deaths every year are linked to exposure to outdoor air pollution, much of which is emitted as exhaust from the cars we drive every day. As a result, cities like London, Paris, and … [Read more...]
Plastics industry encourages role players to strive for zero pellet loss
The South African plastics industry has reiterated its commitment to keep our water sources free of plastic pollution. Plastics|SA’s Executive Director, Anton Hanekom, said reducing the amount of plastics that make their way into streams, rivers and the ocean is one of the biggest focus areas for the plastics industry worldwide today. Plastics|SA was one of the first … [Read more...]
SA faces a water catastrophe as state dithers
The Vaal River has been described as an open sewer, most frequently by people who live on its banks, despite protestations to the contrary by the department of water & sanitation. It smells of dead things and faeces. SA’s water crisis is not confined to the Vaal River, though it is singled out because the system supports about 60% of the economy and provides drinking … [Read more...]
Urgent action needed to remedy South Africa’s water crisis
In 2002 South Africa officially became a water constrained economy, when the National Water Resource Strategy reported that we had allocated 98% of our total water resource. Subsequent high confidence studies have shown that we over-estimated the water available at the time, so in short, we have allocated all the water that we have. This means that we are simply unable to grow … [Read more...]
Sea salt around the world is contaminated by plastic
Sea salt around the world has been contaminated by plastic pollution, adding to experts’ fears that microplastics are becoming ubiquitous in the environment and finding their way into the food chain via the salt in our diets. New studies have shown that tiny particles have been found in sea salt in the UK, France and Spain, as well as China and now the US. Researchers … [Read more...]
Jukskei: it’s not a sewer, it’s a river
On a rundown street in Bertrams, in the heart of Joburg’s inner city, Thabo Motluhuneng peers over a graffiti-scrawled bridge at a stormwater drain by his feet. The water flowing through the canal is a murky grey-brown and reeks of sewage - but he doesn’t seem surprised. “This is the only colour of the Jukskei I know. It’s how the river looks all over the city - it’s this … [Read more...]
Ocean wilderness ‘disappearing’ globally
Scientists have mapped marine "wilderness" areas around the world for the first time. These are regions minimally impacted by human activities such as fishing, pollution and shipping. The team, led by researchers in Australia, found that just 13.2% of the world's oceans could be classed as wilderness - most in international waters, away from human populations. Very few … [Read more...]
Can crab shells and trees replace plastics?
An eco-friendly material made from crab shells and trees could replace plastic food packaging, according to US researchers. The material – made by spraying alternating layers of crab-shell chitin and tree cellulose onto a surface – is described in a paper in ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. Like plastic, when dried the material is tough, malleable and transparent. … [Read more...]
