Boyan Slat is a 23-year-old Dutch inventor, and founder of the highly ambitious Ocean Cleanup project. And in a little over a week, the group will embark on a complex plan to reduce the size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by half within the next five years. The initiative has been a long time coming, having first been started by Slat in 2013 at the tender age of 18. Five years later, having raised over $31 million for the project,
We are witnessing a Golden Age of travel, with more and more people realising .. the importance of maintaining a healthy work life balance. India ranked seventh in the world in terms of travel and tourism’s total contribution to GDP in 2017. In CY2017, foreign tourist arrival in India stood at 10.177 million and reached 2.12 million in CY 2018 (up to February), making the country earn foreign exchange of around US$ 2.706 billion, from the tourism sector. This in turn sets the
For his latest venture, entrepreneur Sivaraj Muthuraman has found a better use for the plastic waste that usually makes its way into landfills Sivaraj Muthuraman made headlines a couple of years ago, when he designed and developed the concept of an eco-friendly three-seater cab which runs on solar power. The project did not take off on a larger scale, due to various reasons. He then established Tea2Go, employing teapreneurs who sell tea on bicycles, and more recently, he launched Veg2Go, an
TOKYO — The Ministry of the Environment will include some 5 billion yen in its fiscal 2019 budget request to commission the development of biodegradable plastic products and subsidize companies producing paper alternatives to plastic items in a bid to reduce marine plastic waste, according to ministry officials. Biodegradable plastics are made from plants such as corn or sugarcane and can be broken down by microorganisms in soil. The material was first developed in the 1980s and is used in wrapping
With the State Government banning use of plastics from January 1, 2019, an awareness campaign “Plastic pollution-free Tamil Nadu” was initiated here on Saturday in which people were encouraged to use alternative products for plastic materials. At a function held at Corporation Girls Higher Secondary School at Karungalpalayam, Minister for School Education K.A. Sengottaiyan, Minister for Electricity P. Thangamani, and Minister for Environment K.C. Karuppannan inaugurated the campaign. Mr. Karuppannan said that the public access the portal, http://www.plasticpollution freetn.org/ explained the single-use
One of the worst culprits of single-use plastic waste are plastic water bottles that are discarded as soon as the drink has been finished. According to campaigners, Ban the Bottle, plastic water bottles can take between 400 and 1,000 years to decompose. Furthermore, it takes three times the amount of water to produce a plastic bottle than it does to fill one. But many clever and eco-conscious people are coming up with great ways to combat the problem. One of these is
For the millions of sun seekers who head to Thailand’s resort island of Phuket each year in search of stunning beaches and clear waters, cutting down on waste may not be a top priority. But the island’s hotel association is hoping to change that with a series of initiatives aimed at reducing the use of plastic, tackling the garbage that washes up on its shores, and educating staff, local communities and tourists alike. “Hotels unchecked are huge consumers and users of single-use
To ensure strict adherence to the norm, hefty fine is collected from violators Heaps of disposable plastic plates, and plastic glasses, water bottles and sachets strewn all over are a common sight post an event at function halls, marriage venues, and on roads as well. With extensive use of plastics becoming the order of the day, such venues not only present a revolting sight but also pose a challenge to the civic staff and other workers engaged in the task of
Discount chain Aldi is switching a range of its fresh produce packaging from hard-to-recycle black plastic to clear, recyclable alternatives, in a move that is set to save around 265 tonnes of plastic a year. The supermarket has announced that it will introduce the new plastic trays to six of its fresh fruit and vegetable lines by the end of this month, as it strives towards a 2025 goal of ensuring all of its own-brand packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable. Aldi
Researchers in the US have been investigating the final journeys taken by disposable contact lenses. They found 15-20% of US users simply flick these fiddly lenses down the drain via the bathroom sink or toilet. The Arizona State University study suggests that much of the plastic material then ends up in waste water treatment plants. The lenses are consequently spread on farmland as sewage sludge, increasing plastic pollution in the environment. Around 45m people wear contacts in the US, while rates in other countries
