Day: June 20, 2019💾

📽️ Videos

Senate Bill Would Have EPA Regulate PFAS in Drinking Water

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Senate Bill Would Have EPA Regulate PFAS in Drinking Water

A Senate committee unanimously approved legislation June 19 that would force the EPA to set new standards for a prevalent nonstick chemical in drinking water. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved an amendment to a broader defense bill (S. 1790) that would force the Environmental Protection Agency to set a safety threshold for chemicals called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

This seems like a good idea, especially with so many concerns about contamination locally.

How you’re recycling plastic wrong, from coffee cups to toothpaste | Environment | The Guardian

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How you’re recycling plastic wrong, from coffee cups to toothpaste | Environment | The Guardian

It’s a familiar scene: you stand at the bin, trash in hand, and wonder: “Can I recycle this?” We tend to throw it in the recycling bin anyway, in the hope that some unknown person, somewhere else, will sort it out. Recyclers call this aspirational recycling, or wish-cycling. While recycling continues to be an essential tool for dealing with the flood of plastic inundating the planet, it’s time for a reality check.

 

These 20 companies use food waste to make new food

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These 20 companies use food waste to make new food

In the U.S.—where Americans now waste 70% more food than they did in the 1970s—food waste is responsible for roughly the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as 37 million cars. Globally, if food waste was a country, it would be the third-largest polluting country in the world. When food rots in landfills, it releases the potent greenhouse gas methane. But the largest source of emissions comes from growing the food; even if it’s composted, food waste also wastes the fertilizer, fuel, and other resources that went into producing it.

America’s Epidemic of Empty Churches – The Atlantic – Pocket

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America’s Epidemic of Empty Churches – The Atlantic – Pocket

Many of our nation’s churches can no longer afford to maintain their structures—6,000 to 10,000 churches die each year in America—and that number will likely grow. Though more than 70 percent of our citizens still claim to be Christian, congregational participation is less central to many Americans’ faith than it once was. Most denominations are declining as a share of the overall population, and donations to congregations have been falling for decades. Meanwhile, religiously unaffiliated Americans, nicknamed the “nones,” are growing as a share of the U.S. population.