Central Asia fails in water talks

BBC News, April 28, 2009

The leaders of the five Central Asian states have failed to agree on the best way to share their water. They signed a compromise statement that did not mention water sharing, concentrating instead on the decline in the level of the Aral Sea. Correspondents say that a deal on water usage is key to regional stability. Read more...

Plastic Bag Makers Aim for 40 Percent Recycled Content in 2015

ENN, April 27, 2009

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Plastic bag manufacturers working with the American Chemistry Council have set a goal to increase the recycled content of plastic bags to 40 percent by 2015.
The Full Circle Recycling Initiative, developed by the Progressive Bag Affiliates of the American Chemistry Council, would require a $50 million investment from industry members to increase the collection of bags and update manufacturing processes. Read more...

Eco-Islam: Malaysia's Imams to preach against poaching

ENN, April 14, 2009

Malaysia's Muslim preachers have been enlisted in the fight for wildlife conservation, using passages from the Koran to raise awareness and help protect some of the world's most endangered species.
After a successful campaign last year, when more than 400 mosques in the state of Terengganu held sermons focusing on turtle conservation issues, WWF decided to extend the project to support efforts to tackle poaching. Read more...

Is Local Food Better?

by Sarah DeWeerdt

WolldWatch Institute, May/June issue, 2009

In 1993, a Swedish researcher calculated that the ingredients of a typical Swedish breakfast-apple, bread, butter, cheese, coffee, cream, orange juice, sugar-traveled a distance equal to the circumference of the Earth before reaching the Scandinavian table. In 2005, a researcher in Iowa found that the milk, sugar, and strawberries that go into a carton of strawberry yogurt collectively journeyed 2,211 miles (3,558 kilometers) just to get to the processing plant. As the local-food movement has come of age, this concept of "food miles" (or "-kilometers")-roughly, the distance food travels from farm to plate-has come to dominate the discussion, particularly in the United States, the United Kingdom, and parts of Western Europe. Read more...

Plastic Found in One-Third of Leatherback Turtles

Discovery Channel, 09 April, 2009

A new study looked at necropsy reports of more than 400 leatherbacks that have died since 1885 and found plastic in the digestive systems of more than a third of the animals. Besides plastic bags, the turtles had swallowed fishing lines, balloon fragments, spoons, candy wrappers and more. Plastic was probably not the cause of death in most cases. Read more...

UN's State Of The World's Forests Reveals Deforestation Is Speeding Up

ENN, April 07, 2009

Despite the alarming conclusions of the UN's latest State of the World's Forests, the mainstream media has devoted surprisingly little attention to the report. Snowed under by other news developments as it may have been, global deforestation is by no means insignificant. It's taking place at shocking rates, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)'s bi-annual report reveals. Read more...

Sports Arenas Go Green

Environmental Leader, April 08, 2009

Office and government buildings aren’t the only structures going green; two sports arenas — the Philips Arena and the American Airlines Arena — have met the requirements of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
Philips Arena, home to the Atlanta Thrashers, is the first NBA or NHL arena to achieve LEED certification for an existing facility, reported NHL.com. The facility meets LEED for Existing Building: Operations and Maintenance (LEED-EB: O&M) certification. Read more...

A first glimpse at 2008 emissions trading data

EEA, April 03, 2009

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is launching a revamped version of its EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) data viewer, allowing users to retrieve easily the latest greenhouse gas emissions covered by the EU ETS up to 2008. Data available as of 1st April 2009 covers more than 80 % of the emissions encompassed within the EU ETS. Read more...

Shampoo in the water supply triggers growth of deadly drug-resistant bugs

ENN, March 29, 2009

The warning has been made by Birmingham and Warwick university scientists, who say disinfectants and other products washed into sewers and rivers are triggering the growth of drug-resistant microbes. Soil samples from many areas have been found to contain high levels of bacteria with antibiotic-resistant genes, the scientists have discovered - raising fears that these may have already been picked up by humans. Read more...