Edition 11: April 11, 2025

Can you believe we're almost done with the second week of Earth Month?

Apr 11, 2025

Antioxidants Could Help Reduce Harmful Effects of Microplastics

Microplastics have unfortunately been found throughout the human body because we inadvertently absorb them through our food, water, clothes, and skincare products. Science still doesn’t understand the full impact microplastics have on our bodies, but what we do know is that they are bad for us. When it comes to reproductive health, microplastics exposure can lead to the production of less estrogen and testosterone, decreased sperm counts, and damaged ovaries. A recently published study has shown that certain antioxidants found in flowers and fruits known as anthocyanins could help counteract some of the effects microplastics have on our reproductive systems. The study found that treating mice with anthocyanins after exposing them to the same diseases that microplastics cause helped increase sperm quality and protect ovarian tissue. It is still too soon to test this research on humans, but it is a groundbreaking step in the right direction nonetheless. This just goes to show that science will eventually find all the answers to the plastic waste crisis, and in the meantime, we should focus on phasing out plastics production to prevent further waste from entering our environment and our bodies.

Source: Tom Perkins writes for The Guardian

United Kingdom to Invest Millions in Solar for Hospitals and Schools

Ever since the Labour Party won the 2024 general election in the United Kingdom, they have been implementing stricter environmental policies and setting loftier climate goals. One of those goals is to reduce public sector building emissions 75% by 2037. In order to help meet that and other climate goals, the British government is in the process of establishing a new publicly-owned utility company known as Great British Energy, and they have just announced that the utility will be installing solar at nearly 200 schools and hospitals. Right now, only 20% of schools and less than 10% of hospitals have solar installations on site, and that is primarily due to these institutions not being able to afford the upfront costs. This new government scheme will invest £180 million in solar in an effort to help eliminate those upfront costs, and it will take form in a unique yet sustainable public-private partnership that will involve the government supporting the British solar industry and the solar installers teaching students green tech skills for workforce development. Once complete, these solar installations are expected to save schools up to £25,000 and hospitals up to £45,000 in annual energy costs all while reducing emissions and strain on the grid.

Source: Paige Bennett writes for EcoWatch

California Launches Satellite to Detect Methane Leaks

Methane is a greenhouse gas that is more potent than carbon dioxide in the short-term, which is why experts agree that methane emissions must be reduced significantly and immediately in order to buy the world more time to effectively reduce carbon emissions. Methane emissions are notoriously difficult to track because the gas is invisible to the naked eye and doesn’t smell. Traditional methane monitoring methods are ineffective because they are completed by operators at a set interval – typically monthly or quarterly, depending on the industry and permits. That is why regulators have been advocating for conducting their own continuous monitoring of major methane emitters like fossil fuel operations, livestock farms, and landfills. One of the most effective ways to conduct continuous methane monitoring is to use satellites equipped with sensors that can track methane, and California is leading the way towards implementing them for regulatory purposes. They recently became the first state in the United States to launch a satellite for the sole purpose of monitoring methane emissions, and they plan to use it to hold big polluters accountable and reduce emissions across the state.

Source: Sharon Udsain writes for The Hill

Nearly All New Energy Projects in 2024 Were Renewable

2024 was a big year for clean energy. 92% of new energy projects that came online last year were renewable, and it should come as no surprise at this point to learn that China was responsible for 64% of those projects. Renewables as a whole now generate 40% of the world’s energy for the first time ever, and the global clean energy market reached $2 trillion because of it. This growth in clean energy is happening despite the sector not having the full support of governments, financial institutions, and industries, but it is still not enough to meet our climate goals or offset the emissions of the fossil fuel industry. In fact, non-renewable power sources generated an all-time high of carbon emissions last year. However, with continued pressure from the public and the rapidly declining cost of clean energy, those emissions are expected to decline – and perhaps quicker than initially anticipated if the Trump administration continues with their global tariff war. It’s almost like decentralized energy sources that are owned by the community, for the community aren’t as dependent on global geopolitics as fossil fuels are!

Source: Seth Borenstein writes for the Associated Press

European Union Overhauls Packaging Regulations to Reduce Waste

Packaging is responsible for 40% of plastic waste in the European Union, and that is why the European Council recently adopted a set of new regulations aimed at reducing packaging waste. The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation sets the goal of reducing packaging waste across the continent 5% by 2030, 10% by 2035, and 15% by 2040, and every company operating within the boundaries of the European Union will have to comply with these regulations starting next year. But that’s not all – these regulations call for phasing out single-use and PFAS-containing packaging, scaling up reusable and returnable packaging, and eventually requiring minimum recycled content in packaging. These regulations are long overdue since waste experts, including me, agree that the only way to effectively reduce waste is to force companies to change the ways they produce and package their products. Hopefully other countries will follow suit because focusing on the full lifecycle of products is the only way to ensure it can be sustainably disposed of at the end of its life.

Source: Maria Rachal writes for Packaging Dive

Australian Mining Billionaire Calls Out Fossil Fuel Industry

A billionaire finally did something right! Andrew Forrest is an Australian who made his billions by founding the world’s fourth largest iron ore miner, and he recently called out the fossil fuel industry for not listening to its customers when it comes to clean energy by saying, “I don’t mind all the talk about ‘drill, baby, drill.’ That’s if you want to make a difference in 20 years but if you want to make a difference in 20 weeks or 20 months, renewable energy and where we’re going is going to make that difference.” Forrest even went so far as to say his company will be stepping in to provide clean energy where the fossil fuel industry won’t, and he urged other companies to do the same in order to reduce emissions and meet customer demands. Forrest’s company Fortescue has its own slew of issues, but they are attempting to quickly reduce their emissions without relying on any carbon offsets. Is Forrest’s push all just a ploy to make more money? Perhaps, but this just goes to show how insane it is for the fossil fuel industry not to transition into renewables.

Source: Sam Meredith writes for CNBC

California City Becomes First in America to Enact A Citywide Reusable Cup Program

Petaluma is a small city in Northern California that is in the middle of wine country, and last year they became the first municipality in the United States to enact a pilot of a citywide reusable cup program. The city partnered with local businesses, non-profits, and the community to see if reusable cups could help reduce the number of single use cups that end up landfills and as litter. For twelve weeks, 30 businesses ranging from small ones to major chains participated in the pilot, and 60 bins to dispose of the cups were placed around the city. Residents and tourists alike quickly opted for reusable over single use during the pilot, and pretty much every business was supportive of the program. The local materials recovery plant even helped collect any cups that inadvertently ended up in recycling bins! A new study conducted about the pilot has shown that it was a roaring success – 220,000 cups were returned throughout the entire program with 81% of participants returning at least one cup. I used to work with college students to teach them how to properly dispose of their waste, so believe me when I say those statistics are impressive! Now, the city is working on bringing the reusable cup program back permanently, and the non-profits they partnered with are already looking for more cities to pilot their own reusable cup programs.

Source: Cecilia Nowell writes for The Guardian

Expanded Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling Plant Opens in Ohio

The world is on track for battery waste to exponentially increase over the next decade due in part to the rise in electric vehicles, and infrastructure is being put in place now to properly handle that waste – as well as reduce the amount of critical mineral mining since those minerals are often extracted and processed using unethical and unsustainable methods. One way the United States was attempting to do that was through funding domestic manufacturing projects with federal grants and loans. For example, an existing lithium-ion battery recycling plant in Ohio was awarded over $75 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to expand its processing capacity and efficiency. The plant can now handle up to 15,000 tons of batteries on an annual basis – which is enough to produce 250,000 new electric vehicle batteries. The funding for this project was announced in late 2022, but it took until last summer for the expansion to officially go online. Why? Because scaling up domestic manufacturing takes time, money, public-private partnerships, and a skilled labor force! You can’t just throw tariffs at the problem and expect it to go away overnight.

Source: Maria Gallucci writes for Canary Media