The sun beats down as you gaze out over the cobalt blue ocean. The thunderous waves continue their relentless pounding as you curl your toes into the hot sand. Breathing in the warm salty air tickles your nose while you lean back in your beach chair. Here and there along the shore, you come across a half-buried plastic bag, an empty soda bottle coughed onto the sand, and an old fishing net lazily bobbing in the surf.    For many of us, this is the extent of our experience with ocean garbage. On vacation at our favorite beach spots, we might come across some evidence of trash o ..read more

This post was originally published by Shelby Bell in June 2020 and has been updated. With each new sunrise, the prospect of work brings another day, another dollar. And for many, the honest work we do day in and day out may be rooted in tradition—operating with practices as old as the organization itself. But everything that works for us, be it ho-hum or windfall, has come into question now that the Earth has stopped acting like it’s business as usual. Debated for its existence, severity, and real impacts, climate change has been thrust into the spotlight once again with a new message for busi ..read more

This post was originally published in April 2020 by Shelby Bell and has been updated. “Styrofoam.” “Polystyrene.” “EPS.” No matter what you call it, it’s likely we’re all talking about the same plastic material. It forms the cups we keep next to the office coffee pot, braces our new printers in the box, and arrives in clamshell form whenever we order takeout or when our eyes are bigger than our stomachs.  Among its virtues, it’s lightweight, durable, and inexpensive. For years, “Styrofoam” has melted into whatever form we desired and has been perpetuated by countless use cases throughout ..read more

  A traffic jam of historic proportions, an estimated half-million shipping containers are floating aimlessly off the coast of California. And unlike going bumper to bumper at rush hour, the frustration is affecting more than just the drivers. As the twin ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach face the brunt of the supply chain crisis of the century, both manufacturers and consumers have felt the ripple effect. Yet, lost in the kerfuffle are recyclers, who may have the tallest order of all. With our import/export market crippled, U.S. manufacturers’ insatiable demand for recycled PET plastic ..read more

  Our society’s relationship with plastic is complicated. Over 100 years, the man-made, petroleum-based polymer has gone from miracle material to environmental villain. The status quo for decades, a recent shifting in consumer preference, advancement in materials sciences, and legislation protecting the Earth have given rise to a world of “eco-friendly” plastics. From packaging to the products themselves, bio-based, biodegradable, and recycled materials are finding purchase. While considered an exciting and positive development by most, the recycling process for these products isn’t as si ..read more

  For the past five years, grocery bags, plastic straws, and polystyrene takeout containers have faced a reckoning, and for good reason. Awakened to the reality of environmental distress from single-use plastics, cities and states have moved to ban hard-to-recycle products from our everyday lives. Hardly opposed, consumers have largely welcomed the changes and demanded more from the companies that use and produce them—and many have answered in turn. Undoubtedly, as sustainability promises grow, more outlawed plastic will follow. This change to everyday operations can be a shock for those ..read more

  The amount of plastic waste generated yearly is an astonishing 300 million metric tons. For comparison, that is roughly the weight of the entire human population. What’s worse, only a mere 10% of this plastic is recycled or reused according to Earth Day Network.  Our planet is choking on plastic - we see it on the side of the road, piling up in landfills, and cluttering the oceans. Not only is it unsightly, but the CO2 emissions are adding to the growing problem of climate change and harming the natural environment. What’s the good news? Well, consumers are becoming more aware of t ..read more

  From egg hunts, to the massive amounts of candy, to Peter Cottontail hopping around; there’s a lot for many of us to celebrate in the spring season. The sunny, warm days are here, and things are greening up everywhere you look. If we want this yearly celebration of rebirth to continue, then we need to take a hard look at how we’re marking the days, and how we’re cleaning up afterward.   First, we need to talk about a major part of any spring celebration: the plastic eggs. Newsflash, there’s an extremely high chance that they can’t be tossed into your local recycling bins. Plastics ..read more

  The movement to ban single-use plastic bags across the globe is growing as more cities, states, and countries see them as an environmental mess instead of a handy way to carry things. Despite this idea gaining traction, there are some fringe consequences.  We’ll take a look at the good, the bad, and the better ways to go with these bags to have the greatest impact on saving the environment ..read more