Retail stores in Boulder, Colo., banned plastic bags and will charge 10 cents for paper bags in an effort to reduce plastic waste. But do bans and taxes like this really work?
Single-use plastics make up most of the plastic waste in Nigeria.
Adam Abu-bashal/Anadolu Agency/ Getty Images
United Nations efforts to advance a global treaty on plastic pollution echo past multilateral agreements that tackled ozone layer depletion and acid rain.
More than 8 million pumpkins are thrown away over Halloween each year.
Evgeny Atamanenko/Shutterstock
The new ban will raise awareness about the plastic crisis. But failing to provide viable alternatives may simply displace the problem, instead of addressing it
The government has begun phasing out six types of harmful plastics as part of its plan to ban single-use plastics.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Tijana Martin
Canada is seen as leading the way in banning single-use plastics. But how comprehensive are these actions, and how realistic is the dream of a zero-waste future?
A worker sorts cardboard at a recycling center in Newark, N.J.
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Companies like it when your phone breaks and you have to buy another. But we’d all save a lot of money if we could actually repair the things we purchased.
Elsa Dominish, University of Technology Sydney; Fiona Berry, University of Technology Sydney; Nick Florin, University of Technology Sydney, and Rupert Legg, University of Technology Sydney
Compostable food waste bin caddies are the main sustainable use for bioplastics at present. Almost all bioplastics are ending up in landfill.
Scientists have identified a condition they call plasticosis, caused by ingesting plastic waste, in flesh-footed shearwaters.
Patrick Kavanagh/Wikipedia
Evidence suggests that Scotland’s bottle deposit scheme would prevent huge amounts of litter from entering the environment.
A trash compactor rolls over an active dump site at Pioneer Crossing Landfill in Birdsboro, Pa.
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Pam Longobardi collects and documents ocean plastic waste and transforms it into public art and photography. Her work makes statements about consumption, globalism and conservation.
A green turtle on Aldabra entangled in abandoned fishing gear.
Rich Baxter