What really happens to the plastic you throw away?

What really happens to the plastic you throw away?

Author: Emma Bryce
Source: TED-Ed
Date: April 2015
We've all been told that we should recycle plastic bottles and containers. But what actually happens to the plastic if we just throw it away? Emma Bryce traces the life cycles of three different plastic bottles, shedding light on the dangers these disposables present to our world. [Directed by Sharo...
Curious Kids: how did the first person evolve?

Curious Kids: how did the first person evolve?

Author: Ian Moffat
Source: The Conversation
Date: August 7, 2020
How did the first person evolve? Mabel, age 7, Anglesea, Victoria. Hi Mabel, what a great question! We know humans haven’t always been around. After all, we wouldn’t have survived alongside meat-eating dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex. How the first person came about – and who their ances...
We need a legally binding treaty to make plastic pollution history

We need a legally binding treaty to make plastic pollution history

Author: Trisia Farrelly
Source: The Conversation
Date: 19/3/19
A powerful marriage between the fossil fuel and plastic industries threatens to exacerbate the global plastic pollution crisis. The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) estimates the next five years will see a 33-36% surge in global plastics production. This will undermine all current ...
Only half of packaging waste is recycled – here’s how to do better

Only half of packaging waste is recycled – here’s how to do better

Author: Nick Florin, Ben Madden
Source: The Conversation
Date: 28/2/19
Almost half of Australia’s packaging waste is not being recovered for recycling, according to the first comprehensive study to track the fate of used packaging materials. Overall, 56% of packaging was recovered for recycling in 2017-18, according to our study, carried out at the UTS Institute fo...
Container deposit schemes work: so why is industry still opposed?

Container deposit schemes work: so why is industry still opposed?

Author: Peter Bragge
Source: The Conversation
Date: 8th of June 2016
Australians are serial wasters. For every 1,000 square metres (or about four tennis courts), Australians litter about 49 pieces of rubbish. The biggest culprits are drink containers, making up five of the top nine recorded pieces of litter by volume. One way to reduce this litter is to refund peopl...
Melbourne wastes 200 kg of food per person a year: it’s time to get serious.

Melbourne wastes 200 kg of food per person a year: it’s time to get serious.

Author: Seona Candy, Jennifer Sheridan and Rachel Carey
Source: The Conversation
Date: 6th of June 2016
You know that feeling when you open the fridge and are met with something “on the nose”. We all know what food waste looks and smells like. But food waste stinks in more ways than one. It is expensive, costing the average household over $2,200 a year, and it undermines the resilience and sustai...

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