plastic

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New Shower Curtains Smell Like Cancer

PVC products linked to wide-ranging and long-lasting ills

(Newser) - Ever wonder about that smell given off by new shower curtains? Well, according to a new study, it’s poisonous. An independent organization has found that PVC shower curtains on shelves at Wal-Mart, Target, Sears and others may give off measurable amounts of dangerous, volatile organic compounds that could linger...

When in Venice, Can the Water Bottles

Legendary city pleads with tourists to use public fountains

(Newser) - Faced with a mountain of discarded plastic bottles, Venice is asking 19 million tourists to quit drinking mineral water and use the city's 122 public fountains. Beginning Thursday, visitors to the Piazzale Roma will be handed reusable plastic bottles and a map showing fountains that city officials claim are "...

Self-Fixing Plane in the Works
 Self-Fixing Plane in the Works 
May 28, 2008 5:55 AM CDT

Self-Fixing Plane in the Works

Self-repairing process mimics the way human body heals

(Newser) - British aerospace engineers are working on technology that could create self-repairing aircraft, Gizmag reports. In a technique very much like nature's healing process, resin would "bleed" out of damaged parts of the plane and harden, making a damaged aircraft strong enough to continue to fly until it could be...

Cindy's Tips for Green Living
 Cindy's Tips for Green Living 
Apr 22, 2008 3:07 PM CDT

Cindy's Tips for Green Living

Ex-supermodel offers hints for an ecological family

(Newser) - “We all want to live a little greener,” ex-supermodel and mom Cindy Crawford writes in The Daily Green. The key for moms is making small changes that mesh with hectic household living:
  1. Filter your tap water and use a reusable bottle. Thirty-eight billion bottles end up in landfills
...

Nalgene Nixes Suspect Chemical
Nalgene Nixes Suspect Chemical
Apr 18, 2008 1:31 PM CDT

Nalgene Nixes Suspect Chemical

Company will yank bottles containing bisphenol A

(Newser) - The maker of Nalgene bottles will pull the products from stores over concerns about the health effects of the chemical bisphenol A, Reuters reports. The plastic water bottles, long a favorite of hikers, will be made with BPA-free materials going forward. The move comes despite the chemical industry's assurances that...

Feds Warn of Chemical in Plastics
Feds Warn
of Chemical
in Plastics
Apr 15, 2008 6:11 PM CDT

Feds Warn of Chemical in Plastics

Common ingredient linked to cancers, behavior issues

(Newser) - A federal health panel warned today a chemical used to make a slew of everyday plastic items—including baby bottles—could be linked to several types of cancer, early puberty for girls and even hyperactivity, the Washington Post reports. The report urges more study and marks a reversal for the...

Sea of Plastic Dooms Oceans, Expert Says

Pacific pollution—as big as Africa—is too deep and broad to fix

(Newser) - A noted oceanographer says the aquatic pollution in the Pacific Ocean is too significant to be cleaned up. “We are damned to a future of pollution by plastic,” Charles Moore said after showing that the amount of Pacific plastic has ballooned fivefold in the last 10 years. A...

Tax Helped the Irish Bag Plastic
Tax Helped the Irish Bag Plastic
Feb 6, 2008 12:13 PM CST

Tax Helped the Irish Bag Plastic

When gov't enacted 33-cent tax, usage dropped 94% in weeks

(Newser) - "Paper or plastic?" is perhaps the last question you'll hear on the Emerald Isle, thanks to a 33-cent tax on each plastic bag that cut Irish consumption by 94% within weeks of its 2002 enactment, reports the New York Times. Cloth bags have become downright fashionable since, but strong...

Hot Water Leaches Harmful Chemical From Plastic

Study finds plastic bottles leach chemical BPA in hot water

(Newser) - Hot liquid causes a potentially harmful chemical to leach out of certain plastics much faster than usual, researchers have found. The study, published in Toxicology Letters, discovered that  bisphenol A, or BPA, was released from some common plastic bottles 55 times faster when they were placed in boiling water. Concerns...

Whole Foods Sacks Plastic Bags
Whole Foods Sacks Plastic Bags
Jan 23, 2008 10:51 AM CST

Whole Foods Sacks Plastic Bags

It's back to paper in all 270 stores in the chain

(Newser) - After Earth Day on April 22, customers at any of Whole Foods' 270 stores will be taking home their groceries in a paper bag—unless they bring their own bag, reports the Austin American Statesman's Business Blog. The chain, concerned about the environment, is phasing out plastic bags. Experts say...

Why Am I Fat? One Word for You: Plastics

Chemicals in common items may play role in rising obesity rates

(Newser) - Early exposure to chemicals found in common plastics could predispose a person to obesity, scientists suggest. Studies have shown that animals fed the chemicals, called endocrine disrupters, are fatter later in life than those who were not, the Boston Globe reports. Diet, exercise, and genetics are key factors, but "...

Go Green on Christmas, Tree Huggers Say

Greenies call real trees more eco-friendly than plastic variety

(Newser) - You can be eco-friendly this holiday season without turning into Scrooge, the Smithsonian reports. For those considering Christmas trees, environmentalists claim real trees are actually better for the environment than the plastic variety, which emit harmful dioxins when created or when on fire.

Can NY Bag Plastic Habit?
Can NY Bag Plastic Habit?
Oct 30, 2007 5:32 AM CDT

Can NY Bag Plastic Habit?

City Council members push bill for grocery sack recycling

(Newser) - Now that conservation is chic, is it time for New York City to launch an East Coast trend? City Council members have introduced a bill that would require grocery stores to collect and recycle plastic bags that would be printed with the message: “Please return this bag to a...

5 Last-Ditch Plans to Save Earth
5 Last-Ditch Plans to Save Earth
Aug 22, 2007 2:25 PM CDT

5 Last-Ditch Plans to Save Earth

Crank up your ingenuity and combat climate change the MacGyver way

(Newser) - If reducing emissions was Plan A to save the earth from global warming, these plans from Popular Science would be more like Plan ... Z:
  1. Make more Arctic ice—out of saltwater.
  2. Cool the oceans, which feed storms with warm water, by sucking up cold water from the ocean floor with
...

Actually, It Is Easy Being Green
Actually, It Is Easy Being Green
Aug 16, 2007 5:09 PM CDT

Actually, It Is Easy Being Green

Environmental consciousness and convenience don't have to be opposites. Use these tips to green up your home.

(Newser) - So you're not ready to give up your car for a bicycle to help the Earth. LiveScience suggests 10 baby steps to going green that won't even cramp your style.
  1. Use compact fluorescent light bulbs.
  2. Purchase Energy Star-rated appliances, electronics, and lighting.
  3. Instead of plastic bags, shop with a reusable
...

Chicago Puts Bottled Water Tax on Tap

You jog? You chug? You pay?

(Newser) - With bottled water getting bad marks from environmentalists and Chicago eager to green up its act, a city alderman has proposed a first: a 25-cent tax on bottled water. George Cardenas says that not only is all that plastic a disaster, but drinking bottled water cuts consumption of Chicago's own...

Bad Plastic: It's Practically Everywhere

And it's linked to infertility, obesity, cancer—you name it

(Newser) - It's in everything from baby bottles to coffee makers to CDs, and research is accumulating, as Salon's Elizabeth Grossman puts it, that it's a major health hazard. Bisphenol A is a key ingredient of the lightweight plastics now ubiquitous in consumer products, and it's been variously linked to reproductive health,...

Burgeoning Saudi Firm Snags GE Plastics

$11.6B deal is Gulf region's biggest ever

(Newser) - A Saudi chemical company will take over General Electric's plastics division in a deal worth $11.6 billion, the companies said today. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., or Sabic, beat out Dutch-owned Basell for GE Plastics, which was put up for sale in January. The purchase, the largest ever by a...

Eco-Awareness Is In The (Reusable) Bag

From cheap to designer, totes help eliminate the plastic glut

(Newser) - Whether it's a designer tote bag with a three-figure price tag or a $5 carryall from the convenience store, Americans are slowly catching on to the European trend of answering the eternal question "paper or plastic" with "neither." Tote bags eliminate environmental stress, proclaim a consumer's eco-friendliness,...

Glass Bottles Breaking Into Baby Market

Fears about toxic plastics are turning back the clock

(Newser) - Glass is the new plastic—for baby bottles, at least. A rash of health warnings about plastic—toxicity reports, cancer risks, even longterm fertility problems—is turning many moms on to the glass bottles their own moms dropped as too breakable. eBay prices are soaring, and bottle distributors struggling to...

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