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...
Five gifs that explain how pumped hydro actually works

Five gifs that explain how pumped hydro actually works

Author: Roger Dargaville
Source: The Conversation
Date: 7/3/19
People have used moving water to create energy for thousands of years. Today, pumped hydro is the most common form of grid-connected energy storage in the world. This technology is in the spotlight because it pairs so well with solar and wind renewable energy. During the day, when solar panels and ...
Curious Kids: what makes a shooting star fall?

Curious Kids: what makes a shooting star fall?

Author: Lisa Harvey-Smith
Source: The Conversation
Date: 18/02/19
Once upon a time there was a tiny speck of dust - space dust - called Gemma. For many years she had spent her time wandering carefree through space and dancing around the planets and the stars. One day, Gemma noticed a light in the distance. “What’s that?”, she wondered to herself. As she got...
How is oxygen ‘sucked out’ of our waterways?

How is oxygen ‘sucked out’ of our waterways?

Author: Stuart Khan
Source: The Conversation
Date: 14/01/19
A million fish have died in the Murray Darling basin, as oxygen levels plummet due to major algal blooms. Experts have warned we could see more mass deaths this week. Fingers have been pointed at poor water management after a long period of drought. However, mass fish deaths can also be caused by f...
It takes a lot of water to feed us, but recycled water could help.

It takes a lot of water to feed us, but recycled water could help.

Author: Rachel Carey, Jennifer Sheridan and Seona Candy
Source: The Conversation
Date: 7th of March 2016
 Australians eat a lot of water – the water that is used to produce our food. New findings from our Foodprint Melbourne study estimate that more than 475 litres of water is used to grow each person’s food every day. This is just the irrigation water used to grow our food. We consume much mo...
Eight million tonnes of plastic are going into the ocean each year

Eight million tonnes of plastic are going into the ocean each year

Author: Britta Denise Hardesty & Chris Wilcox
Source: The Conversation
Date: 15 November, 2015
  You might have heard the oceans are full of plastic, but how full exactly? Around 8 million metric tonnes go into the oceans each year, according to the first rigorous global estimate published in Science today. That’s equivalent to 16 shopping bags full of plastic for every metre of ...
Great Pacific Garbage Patch puts fish on 'plastic diet'

Great Pacific Garbage Patch puts fish on ‘plastic diet’

Author: ABC
Source: Australia News Network
Date: 17 June 2014
Researchers are about to head to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to spend a month analysing the huge build-up of rubbish that's polluting the ocean. The patch, also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, was discovered in 1988 by Captain Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Institute in Califo...
Scientists turn manure into water

Scientists turn manure into water

Author: Science Alert Staff
Source: Science Alert
Date: 02 June, 2014
Would you drink water made of cow manure? Could you tell the difference? Researchers have developed technology that turns cow poop into drinkable water.   Ten years ago researchers at Michigan State University started working on a technology that would turn cow manure into clean water a...
This edible water blob could replace plastic bottles

This edible water blob could replace plastic bottles

Source: Springwise.com
Date: 10 April, 2014
Plastic water bottles have long been recognised as a big problem for the environment, so much so that San Francisco recently banned the sale of bottled water on city property. But a new invention from a group of UK students could offer a solution. Ooho! is a spherical membrane for carrying water...
Plane Search Shows World's Oceans Are Full of Trash

Plane Search Shows World’s Oceans Are Full of Trash

Author: Laura Parker
Source: National Geographic
Date: 07 April, 2014
Before Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing, sea trash was not a global headliner. But as hundreds of objects sighted off the Australian coast as possible aircraft debris turn out to be discarded fishing equipment, cargo container parts, or plastic shopping bags, a new narrative is emerging ...

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