pollution

  • Pitt Startup Enables Medical Community to Recycle Single-Use Plastics

    Pitt Startup Enables Medical Community to Recycle Single-Use Plastics

    In an effort to save the environment, companies from across all types of industries are joining in to phase out single-use plastics.  But in the medical industry, it hasn’t been so easy. While Starbucks can survive without plastic straws, scientists and clinicians rely on single-use plastics — which are cheap, disposable and, most importantly, sterile… Read More

  • 7 Brands Making Earth-Friendly Shoes

    7 Brands Making Earth-Friendly Shoes

    What happens to your shoes after you throw them out? They will most likely end up in landfill and contaminate our air and water for more than 30-40 years to come.  It may sound too harsh for throwing out a pair of shoes. But, the reality isn’t just a single pair of shoes. Annually, about… Read More

  • Calculate Your Meat, Plastic Footprints with This Student’s Tools

    Calculate Your Meat, Plastic Footprints with This Student’s Tools

    For the sake of the environment, we’re often told to mind our consumption habits. We’re advised to skip over that cheeseburger and, instead, opt for the salad. And, when going to the grocery store, we’re told to bring our own reusable bags. While some follow this advice religiously, many others still shrug it off. The… Read More

  • How Sustainable Is Your Jewelry?

    How Sustainable Is Your Jewelry?

    “A diamond is forever,” is the iconic tagline from De Beers. But, as we approach 2020, over 70 years after the tagline was first used, consumers are responding, “so is our Earth.”  Younger consumers are asking the jewelry industry how they are making their jewelry, where the materials come from, whose lives the process affected… Read More

  • Brands Respond to Demand for Sustainable Skincare

    Brands Respond to Demand for Sustainable Skincare

    From Kesha revealing her natural face full of freckles to Kardashians sharing no-makeup videos, 2019 is the year for a natural, makeup-free kind of beauty.  As celebrities embraced their natural selves online, social media soon followed and hashtags like #nomakeup, #nofilter went buzzing.  Naturally, consumers started to invest in skincare, but not just any skincare.… Read More

  • Innovative Ideas in Sustainable Fashion

    Innovative Ideas in Sustainable Fashion

    According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than 65 percent of all types of textiles generated in 2015 ended up in landfills, meaning they were unable to be composted or recycled among humans.  Think of it like this — if your room were the Earth, your entire floor would be piled with trash that… Read More

  • The Top 50 ‘Greenest’ Colleges in 2019

    The Top 50 ‘Greenest’ Colleges in 2019

    The Princeton Review has released its 2019 “Top 50 Green Colleges” list, highlighting the schools leading the way in environmental sustainability.  Topping the list, in order, are The College of the Atlantic, State University of New York – College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Dickinson College, the University of Vermont, St. Mary’s College of Maryland,… Read More

  • The Increasing Value of a Degree in Sustainability

    The Increasing Value of a Degree in Sustainability

    With just over a decade left to prevent irreversible damage caused by climate change, the value of a degree in sustainability has never been higher.  Consumers, organizations, and businesses across all types of industries have put an unprecedented focus on becoming more sustainable. Many have already laid out substantial plans with ambitious goals.  But, for… Read More

  • Can Individual Efforts Really Help Solve Climate Change?

    Can Individual Efforts Really Help Solve Climate Change?

    Humanity has less than 11 years to save the planet from irreversible damage caused by climate change, according to the United Nations.  So, it makes sense that one of the most common topics of conversation at the recent U.N. Youth Climate Summit was, “What can individuals do to help?” Many ideas were thrown around, including… Read More

  • Greta Thunberg Tours ‘Pollution Pods’ at U.N.

    Greta Thunberg Tours ‘Pollution Pods’ at U.N.

    While 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg was at the United Nations for the Youth Climate Summit, artist Michael Pinsky walked her through his “pollution pods” — an installation of five climate-controlled chambers meant to emulate the current air quality in five different cities around the world.  By pumping heat and various perfumes into 19-foot-wide… Read More

  • How Social Media Can Be Used to Inspire Climate Action

    How Social Media Can Be Used to Inspire Climate Action

    According to the United Nations, humanity has less than 11 years to save the planet from irreversible damage caused by climate change. Therefore, immediate and accelerated action is crucial.  But, to act, people must first be inspired.  Greta Thunberg, the 16-year-old Swedish climate activist and renowned leader of the youth climate movement, did not choose… Read More

  • UN Youth Climate Summit Shows Promise for Our Future

    UN Youth Climate Summit Shows Promise for Our Future

    On September 21, young climate activists, innovators, entrepreneurs, influencers and trailblazers from all over the world gathered at the United Nations’ headquarters in New York for the first-ever U.N. Youth Climate Summit.  In commanding fashion, these young leaders took the floor of the Trusteeship Council chamber and its surrounding areas to inspire change, showcase their… Read More

  • Report Highlights the Most Sustainable Colleges and Universities

    Report Highlights the Most Sustainable Colleges and Universities

    The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) recently released its annual Sustainable Campus Index report, recognizing some of the world’s most sustainable colleges and universities.  Topping AASHE’s list with “platinum” ratings are Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, Stanford University, UC Irvine, the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and Colorado… Read More

  • Brands Innovate, Create, Move Towards Sustainable Fashion

    Brands Innovate, Create, Move Towards Sustainable Fashion

    About 20 years ago, “fast fashion” took the world by storm.  The fashion industry found a way to rapidly mass-produce the latest trends and sell for cheaper than ever before. And as a result, people were able to buy more and more clothing. Today, we have five times the amount of clothing that our grandparents… Read More

  • Coral Reproduction on the Great Barrier Reef Falls 89% After Repeated Bleaching

    Coral Reproduction on the Great Barrier Reef Falls 89% After Repeated Bleaching

    The severe and repeated bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef has not only damaged corals, it has reduced the reef’s ability to recover. Our research, published today in Nature, found far fewer baby corals are being produced than are needed to replace the large number of adult corals that have died. The rate at which… Read More

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