Poachers in Africa are encroaching on wildlife land and killing rhinos in travel hot spots now devoid of visitors due to the coronavirus pandemic.
New York bans styrofoam containers, starting from July
No more expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam cutlery, plates and cups in New York: Mayor de Blasio has banned them starting from the summer.
In force as of July 1, 2015, takeaway foods in the Big Apple will change: they will be better, at least for the environment.
The Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, announced the decision of banning food and drinks containers made of expanded polystyrene foam. This ecological decision follows the statement by the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) that expanded polystyrene foam cannot be recycled.
Bill de Blasio’s measure is in line with the policy of his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, who banned styrofoam glasses in 2013 and asked producers to find a way to recycle it. Because of the lack of response towards the initiative, Bill de Blasio decided to put words into actions, with the support of the city Department of Sanitation.
Over 20,000 tonnes of styrofoam containers go to landfills every year, representing high costs for public administration: one tonne costs 86 dollars to the city, according the official web site of the city of New York.
New York is the largest city having banned expanded polystyrene foam, but it’s not the first one in the USA: San Francisco, Seattle and Portland already did it.
The provision involves several subjects: from the typical street vendors to takeaway shops, and restaurants, since people usually ask for the doggy bag for their food leftovers in order not to throw them. Even educational institutes are involved in the regulation: experts estimated that students use 830,000 plastic containers every day.
Who sells takeaway food must thus be equipped with ecologic or recyclable containers, by the 1st of July. However, exemptions can be applied by small businesses that earn less than 500,000 dollars per year, if they can prove that the purchase of alternative eco-friendly products “would create undue financial hardship.”
Actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio has contributed two million dollars to a fund to protect Virunga National Park in Congo from threats such as terrorism, the coronavirus and poaching.
Bangladesh suffered widespread damage as a result of Cyclone Amphan. Yet the Sundarbans mangrove forest acted as a natural barrier protecting the country from further destruction, as it has done countless times before.
For the first time in seventeen years, Iceland’s two main whaling companies won’t resume whale hunting. The announcement concerns this year’s season but could carry into the future.
The relationship between the coronavirus and wildlife is complex: while the pandemic may lead to a reduction in the illegal trade in wild animals, it may also encourage it in other respects.
The largest coral reef in the world is severely threatened by climate change, but researchers are developing strategies that could contribute to saving the Great Barrier Reef.
NGO Free the Bears has opened a mountain sanctuary for moon bears in Laos. With the government’s help, it aims to close all bile farms by 2022.
The Covid-19 pandemic is a planetary wake-up call from the Earth to humanity. On Earth Day, over 500 organisations launched a global call for urgent action with the health and wellbeing of all peoples and the planet at its core.
Pollution in India has fallen drastically without the fumes of cars and factories. It’s been thirty years since the Himalayas were last visible from such a distance.