Save Marine Life and Reduce Plastic Waste with Beer

IStock - Trash Floating in the Ocean

Reducing our plastic consumption and finding new, innovative materials to make many pre-existing items out is the way to go. One thing that doesn't need to exist, and definitely doesn't need to be made out of plastic is canned six pack rings.

While it doesn't stop it from being eaten, as a kid I was always told to cut the rings with a scissor to prevent animals from getting stuck. People put emphasize on ocean creatures getting stuck in the rings, and forget that local wildlife are affected by our trash habits too. Birds, squirrels, cats, raccoons, possums and chipmunks are more likely to hurt themselves on trash that has made its way on to the city pavement. I once chased a street cat 2 blocks to try to remove a plastic bag handle from around its neck. Since most folk aren't in the habit of cutting or disposing their trash consciously, redesigning or getting rid of certain packaging altogether seems like a good idea.

Super Cool Solar Powered Wheel Removes Trash from Bodies of Water

 

This is pretty great. Baltimore has installed the world’s first permanent water wheel trash interceptor to clean up the city’s polluted Inner Harbor.

Calculate & Offset Your Carbon Footprint!

Climate change, global warming, carbon emissions, carbon footprint and a whole bunch of other words you've probably heard people mention when worrying about the environment. What the heck is a carbon footprint, why does it need to be reduced, and how does one go about doing that, anyway?

Simply put, a carbon footprint of individuals, businesses, systems or other organizations is measured by its total emissions of greenhouse gas. The greenhouse gas total of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions are measured by using a GHG emissions assessment or carbon accounting. 

Global Impact of Climate Change

Asian Development Bank / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Scientists, politicians, and everyone in between have been debating climate change for the last few decades. All this back and forth leaves citizens playing monkey in the middle and scratching their heads trying to figure out what's-what.

Scientific, research, evidence, and some good old fashioned observation will show you that the weather is changing around the world. Climate change is natural, and has been occurring on the Earth for billions of years. More recently though, as industrialization, and the population of humans on this planet increases, so does the acceleration of climate change, and negative ecological situations in general. With so much unsustainable activity going on, the atmosphere is getting an overdose of gas emissions which are already causing trouble to our delicate eco-system. Talk about fanning the flames.