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Eat right, exercise, get adequate sleep, manage your stress, avoid smoking and limit alcohol — these are some of the recommendations men receive to maintain a healthy <keyword id="20687206" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sperm-count" source="keywords">sperm count</keyword>. But what if, even after following all this advice, the sperm count gets affected due to the nature of the world we live in? A new study has discovered <keyword id="19970180" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="microplastics" source="keywords">microplastics</keyword> in <keyword id="21759251" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="human-testicles" source="Orion">human testicles</keyword>, raising concerns about their potential link to <keyword id="21759246" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="declining-sperm-counts" source="keywords">declining sperm counts</keyword> in men. Researchers tested 23 human testes and 47 testes from pet dogs. After dissolving the tissue samples and analysing the plastic remnants, they found <keyword id="21759247" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="microplastic-pollution" source="keywords">microplastic pollution</keyword> in every single sample! The human <keyword id="21742117" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="testicles" source="keywords">testicles</keyword> exhibited a plastic concentration nearly three times higher than that found in dog testes: 330 micrograms per gram of tissue compared to 123 micrograms. Polyethylene, commonly used in plastic bags and bottles, was the most prevalent microplastic found, followed by PVC. PVC is known to release chemicals that interfere with spermatogenesis and contains substances that disrupt the endocrine system, which produces and regulates hormones crucial for numerous bodily functions, including growth, metabolism and reproduction. Furthermore, the human testes analysed were obtained from postmortems conducted in 2016, with the men aged between 16 and 88 at the time of their deaths. Given the increased <keyword id="19970182" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="plastic-pollution" source="keywords">plastic pollution</keyword> since then, researchers are particularly concerned about its impact on younger generations. While the preserved human testicles couldn’t have their sperm counts measured, the dog testes—obtained from veterinary neutering operations—were assessable. Findings showed lower sperm counts in samples with higher PVC contamination. While this shows a correlation, further research is needed to definitively prove that microplastics cause declining sperm counts. In addition to testicles, microplastics have also recently been found in human blood, placentas and breast milk, indicating widespread contamination of human bodies. Laboratory studies have shown that microplastics can damage human cells. Moreover, these particles might lodge in tissues and cause inflammation, while the chemicals in plastics could be harmful as well. In March, doctors warned of life-threatening effects, noting a significantly increased risk of stroke, heart attack, and early death in people with contaminated blood vessels. Microplastics have already polluted the entire planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. Therefore, their presence in the innermost parts of the human body, while alarming, is not entirely surprising. The challenge now is to contain this damage and prevent it from worsening, which is easier said than done given the pervasive role of plastic in the modern way of life. The study was published in the journal Toxicological Sciences and can be accessed <a href="https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/advance-article/doi/10.1093/toxsci/kfae060/7673133">here</a>.

Plastic testes: Scientists analyse human testicles, find microplastics in every single one of them!

America has long had a plastic problem. It's an urgent question — what do we do with the 40 million tons of plastic waste we produce annually? One year of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/disposable-face-mask-waste-toxic-poison-water-nanoplastics-pollution-health-2022-2">plastic waste</a> is roughly enough to smother the entirety of Manhattan a meter deep, and it has to go somewhere. For years, the answer was simple: Make a lot of it, dump most of it in the landfill, and make the rest of it someone else's problem — the US regularly exported 7 million tons a year to China alone. Some of it was melted into lesser plastic; the rest was incinerated or buried.But then, in 2018, China cut off plastic imports.Now, America is coming to terms with a hard truth: Plastic was never designed to be recycled and there's no profitable way to recycle 91% of it. The environmental impacts have been disastrous. About 430 million tons of plastic are produced globally every year, accounting for 14% of global oil demand. The refinement of plastic alone emits up to 235 million tons of greenhouse gases a year. Most of that plastic breaks down into <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-risks-heart-attack-stroke-study-2024-3">microplastics</a> that make their way into the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/expert-how-i-keep-baby-family-safe-toxic-plastic-microplastics-2023-1">air, rain, and our bodies</a>. Almost 95% of America's water supply contains plastic fibers.While the US, the UK, and other European countries responded to China's ban by sending their waste to places like Thailand and Malaysia, those countries then followed China in cutting off waste imports. The message was clear: The Global South would no longer be a dumping ground for the West.<div type="image" title="A scavenger drinks water while collecting plastic waste to sell to a recycling center at a landfill in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia in March 2024" height="3333" width="5000" msid="109561992" hostid="261"></div>America is now scrambling to find alternatives. One approach peddled by oil corporations like Chevron and Exxon has been to turn plastic into crude oil, which they say extends the life of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/north-americas-largest-waste-hauler-investing-in-a-plastic-recycler-2022-9">plastic that would've otherwise ended up in a landfill</a>. As these companies look to replace projected lost revenue from the phasing out of fossil fuels, they're lobbying to blanket the country with 150 plants that specialize in pyrolysis, a form of chemical recycling that melts plastic down into crude oil to be used for fuel and petrochemicals, as well as to make lesser-quality plastics. While advocates champion these facilities for breaking down hard-to-recycle plastics that other <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-recycling-startups-aluminum-plastic-valuable-materials-2024-4">recyclers toss aside</a>, critics condemn them for emitting toxic particles, relying heavily on government subsidies, and acting as a greenwashed alternative to addressing <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-recycled-into-bricks-ivory-coast-conceptos-plasticos-2023-2">the plastic problem</a>.As they're pitched as an innovation set to bring us a "circular economy" of plastic that allows us to stop making new plastic and just reuse what we have, marketing for pyrolysis and recycling overlooks a glaring fact: Plastic production doubles every 15 to 20 years.This isn't sustainable, Tim Miller, a vice president at the Ohio plastic-recycling center Royal Paper Stock, told me, adding: "But I don't know how to stop it." Pyrolysis is another sign of America's plastic paralysis.In the years after World War II, plastic flooded the marketplace as a cheap alternative to otherwise scarce and finite materials. It was hailed as a democratic harbinger of a new, utopian age of capitalism, fueling the subsequent decades of cheap consumerism that became synonymous with the American dream."The continuous flow of oil fueled not just cars but an entire culture based on the consumption of new products made of plastics," Susan Freinkel wrote in her book "Plastic: A Toxic Love Story."Plastic went from being practically nonexistent in 1940 to being consumed at a rate of 30 pounds a person each year by 1960. Just as quickly, it became a target of environmental movements protesting litter, garbage-filled oceans, and landfills brimming with plastic. Oil and chemical companies responded by looking into whether recycling was realistic or, more importantly, profitable. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled">It wasn't</a>. So companies shifted the blame for the pollution onto consumers. The "Crying Indian" commercial, funded by beverage and packaging corporations, aired in 1971, showing a Native American character crying at the sight of litter.The messaging worked. As companies expanded plastic into every facet of life, recycling became the due diligence needed to sustain our hyperconsumption. We didn't worry about plastic bottles because the recycling truck carried them off to a new life. Companies like Coca-Cola and Nestlé slapped "100% recycled" and "100% recyclable" labels on their packaging to appear sustainable. Just last year, the Plastics Industry Association launched a million-dollar ad campaign, "Recycling Is Real," claiming that it's "not only real, but feasible and economical."While recycling is real, the vast majority of plastic isn't recycled, mostly due to how expensive it is to clean and sort it effectively. A 2022 report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development found only 9% of all plastic ever produced had been recycled; 72% ended up in landfills or the environment. Unlike aluminum or glass, the plastic that can be recycled rarely results in replacing one recycled water bottle with another.<div type="image" title="Recycling sorters at Recologys Recycle Central sort out pieces of flimsy and film plastic destined for landfill in 2019 in San Francisco" height="4480" width="6720" msid="109561996" hostid="261"></div>Instead, it's a process of downcycling — turning plastic into lesser plastics like plant containers or bins before they are relegated to a landfill. By downcycling a tiny portion of plastic waste, companies can genuinely reuse a relatively small share of plastic, while convincing consumers that the industry has created a circular economy of infinitely recycled plastic. Never mind that products advertised as being made from recycled plastic are made almost entirely out of new plastic or that almost all the 300 pounds of plastic every American consumes each year (10 times as much as in 1960) ends up in a landfill, in the ocean, or incinerated.Larry Thomas, a former president of what's now called the Plastics Industry Association, told NPR in 2020: "If the public thinks that recycling is working, then they are not going to be as concerned about the environment." And if they aren't worried about the impact of plastic on the environment, they won't threaten the plastics industry.Since 2018, the fossil-fuel and plastics industries have faced two harsh realities: Oil is being phased out in favor of clean, renewable energy, and plastic waste can no longer be exported to developing nations in the South. To replace their fuel losses, oil companies are going all in on plastic. The International Energy Agency predicted in 2018 that petrochemical products like plastic would outpace trucks, aviation, and shipping in oil demand by 2050. In a recent report, ExxonMobil predicted that petrochemicals used largely for plastics and fertilizer would account for nearly all of the oil industry's growth by 2050, replacing industrial fuel demand, which is projected to decrease. To keep expanding plastic production, however, it needs to look sustainable.<div type="image" title="A Good Year sign in Akron, Ohio" height="960" width="1200" msid="109562000" hostid="261"></div>Akron, Ohio, which hosts about one-quarter of the country's polymer companies, is ground zero for this push. Designated by the Biden administration as the only "tech hub" in Ohio, the city has received tens of millions of dollars from the CHIPS Act, which it hopes to use to create a circular economy around plastic.In 2012, Alterra Energy opened America's first large-scale plastic-pyrolysis facility. According to its website, Alterra converts "plastics back into their original building blocks to produce new plastics and other valuable products." The crude oil produced by the Akron facility is shipped to petrochemical companies around the globe to be purified and made into new plastics. But it's unclear how effective this process is.A study published in 2023 by researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that the economic and environmental impact of turning pyrolysis oil back into plastic was actually far worse than it was to make brand-new plastic. As a result, they said, pyrolysis oil is "typically reintegrated into the petrochemical industry where only a small fraction is used for closed-loop recycling."<div type="image" title="The Alterra Energy facility in Akron, Ohio" height="960" width="1200" msid="109562003" hostid="261"></div>"It has had, let's say, limited success," Miller, the Royal Paper Stock vice president, said about pyrolysis. "No one yet in the United States that I know of is just cranking in plastic and pumping out oil." He pointed to a pyrolysis facility in Oregon that just announced it would shut down after tens of millions of dollars in losses.Residents in Akron are split on the impacts of the Alterra facility. On the one hand, pyrolysis melts plastic to be reused instead of sending it to the landfill or incinerator. On the other, it emits cancerous pollutants such as mercury, benzene, and arsenic, and props up the very fossil-fuel companies that are driving the climate crisis.<div type="image" title="Kelley Sayre in front of her garage in Akron, Ohio" height="1500" width="1200" msid="109562007" hostid="261"></div>"Akron's going for 'the green city on the hill,'" Kelley Sayre, a fourth-generation Akron resident, told me, "but it's really 'the greenwashing city.'"Vicky Abou-Ghalioum, the lead petrochemicals organizer of Buckeye Environmental Network, has been working with Akron residents concerned about the environmental and health impacts of chemical recycling, but it's proved challenging in a city ruled by polymers. "People are afraid to talk about plastic," she told me. Her organization has been pushing the EPA to address the influx of planned pyrolysis facilities in Ohio, arguing that they're bad for the environment and people, and aren't even profitable.In a statement to Business Insider, Alterra Energy said its Akron facility is profitable and diverts over 100,000 pounds of plastic each day from landfills. "We operate in a heavily regulated industry and are in compliance with those requirements," the company said in response to concerns about toxic emissions. It also said one of its customers uses Alterra's oil product exclusively for making new plastic.Despite the problems of pyrolysis, many manufacturers hail it as a sustainable miracle. Companies such as Eastman Chemical Co. see chemical recycling as the solution to recycling or composting 50% of their plastic packaging by 2025, and the American Chemistry Council claims the growing industry is necessary for fostering what it calls "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.americanchemistry.com/chemistry-in-america/news-trends/press-release/2022/america-s-plastic-makers-encourage-congressional-focus-on-advanced-recycling-to-achieve-circularity">plastics circularity</a>." But these companies face an uphill battle. Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg of New York City launched an $85 million campaign in 2022 to stop over 120 proposed petrochemical facilities. "Petrochemical plants poison our air and water — killing Americans and harming the health of entire communities," Bloomberg said in a statement.In the plastic-recycling industry, pyrolysis is seen as a well funded but failing experiment. A 2023 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.beyondplastics.org/publications/chemical-recycling">report</a> by Beyond Plastics and the International Pollutants Elimination Network found that the 11 pyrolysis facilities in operation in the US required massive public subsidies, most couldn't operate at full capacity, and only two of the plants sold the crude oil to be used exclusively for plastic production. Most of it was sold to make fuels and chemicals. Based on their findings, they argued that pyrolysis was ultimately "a public relations distraction to prevent plastic regulation and prop up the profits of the petrochemical/plastics industry."Though the conundrum of plastic grows more dire by the day, there are signs of hope. In early <a target="_blank" href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/historic-day-campaign-beat-plastic-pollution-nations-commit-develop">2022</a>, the UN adopted a resolution that could send shock waves throughout the entire plastic-disposing world. Heads of state, environment ministers, and UN representatives agreed to end all plastic pollution with a legally binding international plastic treaty to be officially adopted later this year. "Plastic pollution has grown into an epidemic," Espen Barth Eide, Norway's then-minister for climate and the environment, said in the announcement. "With today's resolution we are officially on track for a cure."The resolution would establish an agreement addressing plastic at every level, from production to recycling, in an attempt to reduce plastic pollution worldwide. Organizations such as the international coalition Break Free From Plastic have said that cutting the production of plastic has to be on the table. "The oil and gas industry sees plastic as its primary growth market and is investing billions of dollars in new and expanded facilities," the organization wrote in a 2022 statement. The group recommended bans on single-use plastics, a plastic tax, and regulations that prioritize plastics that can be recycled."Reduction in the production of plastic is entirely possible," Abou-Ghalioum of Buckeye Environmental Network told me. She pointed to the more than 500 cities and 12 states that have banned plastic bags, reducing the number of bags used by the billions. "It's talked about how we rely on plastic for so many things, and it just feels like a marketing ploy to make us reluctant to shift away from it," she said. "We had everything we ever needed before plastic."The tough reality is that the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.sustainabilitybynumbers.com/p/landfill-plastic-area">9.5 billion tons of plastic</a> with us will be here for hundreds of years. But how many millions of more tons are added will be determined by the types of solutions we arrive at today.<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/taylor-dorrell">Taylor Dorrell</a> is a writer and photographer based in Columbus, Ohio.

China stopped taking our plastic. Now America is drowning in it. 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A few states and some countries are passing laws to combat plastic waste.</li><li><keyword id="11892889" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="california" source="Orion">California</keyword> is the fourth US state that will make companies pay for packaging waste.</li></ul>The first half of 2022 has seen a wave of new policies cracking down on <keyword id="12318689" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic-pollution" source="Orion">plastic pollution</keyword> in the US and countries like <keyword id="6356687" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="canada" source="Orion">Canada</keyword> and <keyword id="11892747" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>. In recent weeks, California became the fourth state that will force companies to pay for cleaning up packaging waste, while Canada and India have banned the production and import of certain <keyword id="14446315" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="single-use-plastic" source="Orion">single-use plastic</keyword> products. Advocates say the momentum feels like a turning point in the global fight to eliminate the eight million metric tons of plastic waste <a href="https://www.unep.org/interactives/beat-plastic-pollution/">that flows into oceans each year</a>. According to the United Nations, this is the equivalent of dumping a garbage truck every minute. The vast majority of plastic never gets recycled and ends up in landfills, in incinerators, or as litter on land and in waterways. The US <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/26132/chapter/1">is the world's largest contributor</a> to the problem despite representing <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/us-population/">less than 5% of the global population</a>."The public is increasingly making the connection between plastic and so many other issues, which is expanding the coalition of groups and individuals who care deeply about this," Anja Brandon, a US plastics-policy analyst at the nonprofit Ocean Conservancy, said. "That, in turn, is expanding the number of policymakers who recognize plastic pollution as critically important." Brandon said those connections include how plastic is made from the fossil fuels that drive the climate crisis. Local governments in the US often build plastic-manufacturing plants, landfills, and incinerators <a href="https://blogs.newschool.edu/news/2022/05/tishman-environment-and-design-centers-work-reveals-most-incinerators-pollute-low-income-and-communities-of-color-and-worsen-climate-change/">in marginalized communities</a>, which then disproportionately expose these communities to pollution. Researchers are also discovering tiny particles of plastic — known as microplastics — <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/microplastics-detected-in-human-blood-180979826/">in human blood</a> and stool, raising questions about potential health effects.The <keyword id="11896309" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sustainability" source="Orion">sustainability</keyword> push has led some big brands and plastic makers to promise to make more recyclable or compostable packaging and to channel money toward local infrastructure so producers can get their materials back and reuse them. "We're investing in new technology to make sure the percent of recycled content in packaging increases and designing things to be lighter," Jen Ronk, the senior sustainability manager at Dow North America Packaging &amp; Specialty Plastics, said. The company <a href="http://www.businessfor2030.org/dow">also pledged to spend more than $1 billion</a> on efforts to manage plastic waste. Here's a rundown of the latest action: <h2>California</h2>On June 30, California Gov. Gavin Newsom <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB54">signed the most aggressive restrictions</a> on plastic in the country into law. By 2032, producers must use 25% less plastic in packaging for items like shampoo, food containers, and cups. Ocean Conservancy estimates that this provision alone will <a href="https://oceanconservancy.org/news/sb54-california-righting-ship-leading-u-s-ocean-plastic-pollution-crisis/">reduce plastic production by 23 million tons</a>, or 26 times the weight of the Golden Gate Bridge. By the same date, at least 65% of plastic must be recycled, a major jump from the <a href="https://sd26.senate.ca.gov/index.php/news/press-release/senator-allen-introduces-bill-phase-out-unsustainable-single-use-plastics">less than 15% that is recycled today</a>. "We know that to reduce the plastic-pollution crisis, we have to make less in the first place and reuse more through a circular economy," Brandon said, adding that the <keyword id="14446313" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="california-law" source="Orion">California law</keyword> is the first to address both sides of that equation. Plastic makers will pay $5 billion into a state fund to mitigate the environmental and health impacts of pollution from their products, as well. The industry will pay for collecting, sorting, and recycling waste through a fee on packaging, which will shift the burden away from taxpayers who now fund municipal-waste management. That policy, known as extended-producer responsibility, has picked up steam over the last year as Maine, Oregon, and most recently <keyword id="11918419" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="colorado" source="Orion">Colorado</keyword>, passed similar legislation. <h2>Colorado </h2>In June, the state passed its own extended-producer responsibility law that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/colorado-to-tax-bottles-and-packaging-for-recycling-2022-6">slaps a fee on packaging such as bottles, food wrappers, and cardboard</a> to help fund recycling and keep waste out of landfills. Colorado's statewide <a href="https://cdphe.colorado.gov/colorado-recycling-totals">recycling rate for all materials is 15%</a>, less than half the national average of 32%. The law itself doesn't set mandatory recycling targets, but brands and packaging makers have to develop some for 2030 after they form a nonprofit to run the new recycling program.The law got rare public endorsements from big business, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Walmart. They joined forces with environmental groups like Recycle Colorado, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Sierra Club. <h2>Canada</h2><a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/managing-reducing-waste/reduce-plastic-waste/single-use-plastic-guidance.html">On June 22, the government announced</a> it would ban companies from making and importing certain single-use plastics by the end of the year as part of a sweeping effort to fight pollution and the climate crisis.Most plastic grocery bags, silverware, and straws fall under the ban, with a few exceptions for medical needs. According to the government, Canadians throw away more than 3 million tons of plastic waste every year and the country only recycles about 9% of it. "Companies don't make Canada-specific packaging or US-state specific packaging," Brandon said. "They are trying to maximize efficiency in a globalized supply chain, so these policies will have far-reaching ripple effects."<h2>India </h2>On July 1, India's government announced a ban on single-use plastics covering 19 items that are most likely to wind up as litter, such as straws, cups, and some disposable bags. The ban makes it illegal to make or import these products.According to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/07/01/1109476072/india-plastics-ban-begins">the Associated Press</a>, thousands of other plastic items aren't covered, though the federal government has set recycling targets for manufacturers. According to its federal pollution watchdog, India generated more than 4.1 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2020. This decade the country is also trying to reduce the amount of greenhouse-gas emissions per unit of gross domestic product — known as carbon intensity — by 45%. Curbing plastic manufacturing can help India meet that target, said advocates of the ban.

Fighting our plastic problem: Bans and recycling mandates gain steam in the US and abroad

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In 2020, the rate of plastic <keyword id="12063226" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="recycling" source="Orion">recycling</keyword> in the US dropped by 5.7% from the prior year.</li><li>New research shows that seeing pictures of ocean creatures can make people use less plastic.</li></ul>Your summer beach getaway: sun, surf, sand — and plastic. As many of us head toward the water for Memorial Day, it's more likely than ever that we'll find our oceans aren't just white with foam. They're also laden with plastic flotsam that never biodegrades but keeps breaking into smaller pieces.But maybe the thing to remember as we near the unofficial start of summer isn't how severe <keyword id="12318689" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic-pollution" source="Orion">plastic pollution</keyword> has become but how much we have to lose. That's because new <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00139165221090154" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">research</a> indicates that visualizing beloved ocean inhabitants can make more of us willing to go on a plastic diet.It's certainly one we need. We're using more plastic and often recycling less of it. The amount of plastic in the world's oceans is <a href="https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_New_Plastics_Economy.pdf" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">projected</a> to outweigh fish by 2050. And in 2020, the rate of plastic recycling in the US, which was already low, <a href="https://circularityinaction.com/2020PlasticRecyclingData" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">dropped</a> by 5.7% from the prior year.There might be a way we can use nature to help battle the plastic problem. Jiaying Zhao, a researcher with the University of British Columbia, and her colleagues found that placing pictures of marine life like sea turtles, whales, and dolphins above the recycling bins in a Vancouver office tower reduced overall <keyword id="12427295" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic-waste" source="Orion">plastic waste</keyword> — either discarded or recycled — by 17% compared with before the signs went up.The photos of animals grappling with plastic waste in their aquatic homes were more effective than simple recycling signs or ones that asked office-goers to pledge to cut down on how much plastic they used.The decrease in plastic waste held even after the signs with animal pictures were removed, Zhao told Insider. She said that suggested office workers had begun to change their habits and perhaps do without things like single-use water bottles and utensils.When Zhao returned to the building to interview the workers who'd unwittingly been part of the experiment, those questioned by her team said they didn't remember seeing the animals on the posters."That was most surprising because I thought it would be memorable," Zhao said of the photos that showed a turtle chewing on plastic or a dolphin with a plastic bag caught on its fin. "If it elicited some kind of emotional response in me, and I felt bad for throwing away plastic stuff now — and I'm making a conscious effort to not do it — I should remember it, right?"Zhao said the animal pictures above the recycling bin appeared to be an effective nudge to change people's behaviors without proving so distressing that they were traumatized, as was the case with a viral <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wH878t78bw" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">video</a> several years ago of a turtle with a straw lodged in its nostril. Outrage over that video pushed some consumers and businesses to ditch plastic straws.<h2>Happy turtles could help change behavior</h2>In some cases, less dire images might win out. Zhao said subsequent experiments she and her colleagues conducted using images of "happy" turtles and dolphins appeared to be even more effective in changing people's actions than unsettling images.There could be broader lessons in all this for the environmental movement, Zhao said, because many awareness campaigns ask consumers to commit to shifting their behavior in some way."A lot of the tactics are like making a pledge," she said. "I pledge not to do this or not to buy this. That didn't work in our study."The researchers found that when people made an emotional connection to the animals — even if they didn't remember it — the effect was more powerful.Linda Escalante, the Southern California legislative director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said giving thought to the influence of our actions, including our reliance on <keyword id="12149811" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastics" source="Orion">plastics</keyword>, was essential to maintaining a successful coexistence with marine life. Besides, she said, as plastic pollution breaks down into tiny bits, it makes its way back to us."It is penetrating the food web," she said. "You find this stuff all over the planet in places where you could never imagine because it is easily transported by water and air."That's why it's now in our <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/06/1091246691/microplastics-found-in-human-lungs" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">lungs</a> and in our <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/recycling-doesnt-keep-plastic-out-of-stomachs-lungs-or-blood-2022-4" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">blood</a>. And it's why we <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/03/30/youre-eating-a-credit-cards-worth-of-plastic-a-week-and-its-killing-your-gut/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener sponsored">consume</a> a credit card's worth of the stuff every week. So doing more to protect water is in our self-interest.Escalante, who also sits on the California Coastal Commission, a powerful state agency, said she believed demand for beach days would increase because rising temperatures in many inland areas — and even wildfires in the parched Western US — would drive demand for access to water and cooler coastal areas. That's yet another reason it's so important to safeguard bodies of water, she said.She also pointed to humans' need to experience natural beauty, something on display during the height of the pandemic."We became more attached to getting out there, to the outdoors, to finding that connection," Escalante said. She said she didn't expect that to diminish, adding: "Our beaches, our coasts are going to be in very high demand."

Visualizing beloved aquatic animals when we reach for plastic might just help us use less of it and protect our oceans

<ul class="summary-list"><li>More than 300 million tons of <keyword id="34567" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic">plastic</keyword> are produced annually worldwide, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amount-of-plastic-in-the-atlantic-has-gone-up-in-the-last-60-years-2019-4">most plastics</a> take centuries to break down.</li><li>A new study describes a "super-enzyme" engineered using proteins derived from plastic-eating bacteria. It can recycle a common type of plastic in days.</li><li>Such enzymes could help address the growing problem of <keyword id="1820144" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic-pollution">plastic pollution</keyword>.</li></ul>More than 300 million tons of plastic are produced annually worldwide. Most take hundreds of years to break down, and even then, they just splinter into tiny microplastic pieces that will likely never biodegrade. Microplastics make it into the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-pollution-microplastics-pervade-surface-deep-ocean-2019-6">food we eat</a> and <a href="https://ocean.si.edu/conservation/pollution/marine-plastics">show up in our poop</a>.But new types of engineered enzymes, created from plastic-eating bacteria, appear able to break down plastics in a matter of days.These "super-enzymes" were made by researchers at the Center for Enzyme Innovation in the UK and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. They break down a type of common plastic known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) — used in single-use bottles as well as clothing and carpets — into its chemical building blocks.Used at scale, they could reduce our reliance on fossil fuels (which are needed to produce new plastic), instead allowing manufacturers to reuse the same plastics over and over.<h2>Engineering a 'super' plastic-eater</h2><div type="image" title="plastic pollution scientist" height="2772" width="3695" msid="78477650" hostid="261"></div>Researchers first discovered plastic-eating bacteria <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aad6359">in 2016</a> at a bottle-recycling facility in Japan. The organisms produce two enzymes that help them break down PET within weeks. Scientists dubbed the enzymes PETase and MHETase.In 2018, a group at the Center for Enzyme Innovation took PETase and <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-04/uop-eea041318.php">tweaked it</a> to increase the speed with which it deconstructed PET. This week, the team revealed in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/09/23/2006753117">a new study</a> that they improved on the process even further by stitching together DNA from PETase and MHETase into one "super-enzyme.""PETase attacks the surface of the plastics and MHETase chops things up further, so it seemed natural to see if we could use them together, mimicking what happens in nature," biologist John McGeehan, the lead author of the study, <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-09/uop-pe092520.php">said in a press release</a>.Whereas pitting PETase and MHETase against the same plastic doubled the breakdown speed they saw in 2018, this new creation breaks plastic down six times faster. "We decided to try to physically link them, like two Pac-men joined by a piece of string," McGeehan said.<h2>Millions of tons of plastic enters the ocean each year</h2><div type="image" title="A Palestinian worker carries plastic items collected to be recycled in a factory in the northern Gaza Strip July 13, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem" height="3009" width="4012" msid="78477653" hostid="261"></div>Global production of plastics has increased rapidly over the last 70 years, and it continues to grow at around 8% per year. Up to 14 million tons of plastic enters the ocean annually, an estimated 40% of which is single-use products like <keyword id="30848" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Plastic-bottles">plastic bottles</keyword>, which wind up in the ocean within the same year they're produced.<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43375-4">Scientists found</a> more than <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-in-oceans-414-million-pieces-trash-pacific-islands-2019-5">414 million pieces of plastic trash</a> on scarcely populated islands in the Indian Ocean last year. Researchers have also discovered plastic in the guts of tiny creatures on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-ending-up-in-creatures-in-the-deepest-parts-of-the-ocean-2019-3">bottom of the Pacific Ocean</a>, 36,000 feet down. <a href="https://go.skimresources.com/?id=35871X943606&amp;isjs=1&amp;jv=14.3.0-stackpath&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.businessinsider.com%2Fplastic-pollution-microplastics-pervade-surface-deep-ocean-2019-6&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41598-019-44117-2&amp;xguid=6bdad6073e90a18589540a0e7cc166f0&amp;xs=1&amp;xtz=240&amp;xuuid=3490a4bf4016db4a96c14e182e819411&amp;xcust=xid%3Afr1601489308154eif&amp;xjsf=other_click__contextmenu%20%5B2%5D;xjsf=other_click__contextmenu%20%5B2%5D">One study</a> showed more <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-pollution-microplastics-pervade-surface-deep-ocean-2019-6">PET microplastics accumulate in the deep ocean</a> than float on the surface. <div type="image" title="Microplastic SouthIsland" height="1350" width="1800" msid="78477657" hostid="261"></div>Addressing this plastic pollution problem, of course, requires limiting production. But innovations like the new super-enzymes can help recycle plastic that already exists.The French company Carbios is also working to develop plastic-eating enzymes, aiming to utilize them in "industrial-scale <keyword id="114175" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="recycling">recycling</keyword> within five years," <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/08/scientists-create-mutant-enzyme-that-recycles-plastic-bottles-in-hours">according to The Guardian</a>."If we can make better, faster enzymes by linking them together and provide them to companies like Carbios, and work in partnership, we could start doing this within the next year or two," McGeehan <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/sep/28/new-super-enzyme-eats-plastic-bottles-six-times-faster">told The Guardian</a>.Another option, though still in its infancy, is to use <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-pollution-magnetic-coils-could-break-down-microplastics-2019-8">magnetic "nano-coils"</a> to break down plastics. <div type="image" title="nanocoil" height="478" width="725" msid="78477660" hostid="261"></div>A study published last year showed that these coils, which are just half the width of a human hair, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-pollution-magnetic-coils-could-break-down-microplastics-2019-8">create chemical reactions that convert plastic into carbon dioxide and water</a>.

Scientists engineered plastic-eating 'super-enzymes' that can break down bottles in days

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Colorado is the third state to approve taxing bottles, food wrappers, and other packaging.</li><li>The tax revenue will be used to help boost the state's below-average recycling rate of 15%.</li></ul>This article is part of Insider's weekly newsletter on <keyword id="11896309" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sustainability" source="Orion">sustainability</keyword>, written by Catherine Boudreau, senior sustainability reporter. It's not every day that <keyword id="12454038" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="big-business" source="Orion">big business</keyword> backs a new tax, especially on their own products.But that's what happened in Colorado, which on Friday became the third state to <a href="https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb22-1355">enact a law</a> that will slap fees on bottles, food wrappers, and other packaging to help fund recycling programs and keep waste out of landfills. Colorado — a state that prides itself on protecting the environment — has an <a href="https://cdphe.colorado.gov/colorado-recycling-totals">abysmal recycling rate of 15%</a>, less than half the national average of 32%. The law, known as extended producer responsibility, got rare public endorsements from food and beverage brands, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, <a href="https://www.americanbeverage.org/education-resources/blog/pr/colorado-governor-signs-landmark-law-shifting-recycling-responsibility-to-private-sector/">and their trade group, American Beverage</a>. <keyword id="11893281" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="walmart" source="Orion">Walmart</keyword> and the software giant <keyword id="11892769" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="salesforce" source="Orion">Salesforce</keyword> also got on board, marking the first time each company engaged in the policy for packaging. They joined forces with environmental groups like Recycle Colorado, World Wildlife Fund, and Sierra Club. For brands and retailers, boosting US recycling rates is key to meeting sustainability targets to use more recycled materials and less virgin plastic. For Salesforce, whose eponymous <a href="https://salesforcetower.com/">headquarters</a> building soars over the San Francisco Bay, backing the Colorado law was part of a new policy push announced Wednesday to protect oceans' role in fighting climate change. Plastic pollution is a major threat to the world's oceans, which have <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/2019/09/25/srocc-press-release/">absorbed more than 90 percent</a> of the excess heat trapped on the planet because of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions in the atmosphere. Rising water temperatures and pollution is harming fish and other marine life, a food source for billions of people. Only 9% of plastic ever gets recycled, while an estimated 11 million tons of it ends up in the <keyword id="12127110" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ocean" source="Orion">ocean</keyword> each year — or more than a garbage truckload every minute, <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/world-leaders-set-sights-plastic-pollution">according to the United Nations</a>."We can't just deploy climate solutions on land and destroy the oceans," Whitney Johnston, Salesforce's director of oceans sustainability, told Insider. "Plastics is also a petroleum-based product, so we need to be strategic about how much we're producing and keep it in circulation."The broad coalition of industry and environmental groups backing Colorado's program set it apart from similar laws enacted in Maine and Oregon last year, which didn't attract much support from big business. The difference is in the design. In Maine, lawmakers and environmental groups were worried that giving industry too much control over a recycling program would maintain the status quo. The state's law gave regulators the authority to set packaging fees and manage the money, with input from brands. In Colorado, these responsibilities will fall entirely to the industry, which will develop a plan with approval from an advisory board and a state agency."The reason we had so many industry partners is because of the structure," Liz Chapman, the executive director of Recycle Colorado, said. "They know what it takes to get materials back into their systems and see this as an opportunity to innovate."That doesn't mean there wasn't opposition in Colorado. Ameripen, a trade group <a href="https://www.ameripen.org/page/member_companies">that represents plastic and packaging makers</a>, as well as brewer Molson Coors and some state business groups, lobbied against the law. Molson Coors brews its namesake Coors in Golden, Colorado.Dan Felton, the executive director of Ameripen, told Insider that the group objected to the law requiring companies to fund 100% of the recycling system without any controls on the potential costs. Ameripen supports a shared-responsibility model, where taxpayers pick up some of the tab. "We worry it will be a blank check," Felton said. Colorado will know the price tag of expanding recycling to more residents after a needs assessment is finished by January 2024 at the latest.

Package deal: Businesses and environmental groups pushed for a Colorado tax that will fund recycling of bottles and containers

<ul><li>Food and beverages multinationals — Coca Cola, Nestlé, <keyword id="54572" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="PepsiCo">Pepsico</keyword> — are the top three polluters in <keyword id="115238" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Plastic-waste">plastic waste</keyword>, globally. </li><li>Of a total of over 475,000 pieces of plastic collected from 50 countries, 19,904 plastic pieces were of Coca Cola, Nestle and PepsiCo. </li><li>Coca Cola has been marked as the worst company for <keyword id="1820144" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="plastic-pollution">plastic pollution</keyword> for the second consecutive year — accounting for 11,732 pieces of waste plastic across 37 countries. </li><li>Studies estimate that nearly 500 billion plastic bottles will be sold next year and merely 45 billion will be recycled.</li></ul>Food and beverages multinationals — Coca Cola, Nestlé, PepsiCo — are the top three <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/trevornace/2019/10/29/coca-cola-named-the-worlds-most-polluting-brand-in-plastic-waste-audit/#3ffbb41674e0">polluters in plastic waste</a>, globally. According to an annual audit conducted by environmental group Break Free From Plastic, of the total of over 475,000 pieces of plastic collected from 50 countries, 19,904 plastic pieces belonged to Coca Cola, Nestlé and PepsiCo. The environment group collected plastic waste from beaches, streets and waterways. Other plastic polluters include Unilever, Mars and Colgate Palmolive. In fact, Coca Cola has been marked as the worst company for plastic pollution for the second consecutive year — accounting for 11,732 pieces of waste plastic across 37 countries. “Anytime our packaging ends up in our oceans — or anywhere that it doesn’t belong — is unacceptable to us. In partnership with others, we are working to address this critical global issue, both to help turn off the tap in terms of plastic waste entering our oceans and to help clean up the existing pollution,” Coca Cola <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/10/23/coca-cola-plastic-waste-pollution/">told</a> The Intercept. Coca-Cola partnered with Dr Pepper and PepsiCo to announce a plastic recycling programme — ‘Every Bottle Back’ — to cut down on the use of new plastic and improve the quality of recycled plastics. The move is aimed to ensure awareness that the bottles are 100% recyclable and can be transformed into new bottles. The audit aims to clean public places off plastic along with identifying the companies that make the most of it. According to studies, every minute there are over a million plastic bottles made and most of them are not recycled. It estimates that nearly 500 billion plastic bottles will be sold next year and merely 45 billion will be recycled. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/policy/news/no-plastic-ban-in-india-with-plans-to-eliminate-single-use-plastic-by-2022/articleshow/71403214.cms">India won’t be banning plastic — for now</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/flipkart-and-air-india-become-the-first-in-their-sectors-to-begin-the-fight-against-plastic/articleshow/70894061.cms">Flipkart and Air India become the first in their sectors to begin the fight against plastic</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/mount-everest-will-turn-into-a-plastic-free-zone-by-2020-as-nepal-bans-it/articleshow/70780916.cms">Mount Everest will turn into a plastic-free zone by 2020 as Nepal bans it</a>

Coca Cola, Nestlé and PepsiCo are the top global polluters in plastic waste

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Companies are setting ambitious goals for increasing the use of recycled plastic, driving demand.</li><li>Recycled polyester depends on the collection of <keyword id="12441107" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic-bottles" source="Orion">plastic bottles</keyword>, which fell during the pandemic.</li></ul>The clothing brand Patagonia was one of the first to start producing recycled polyester from plastic soda bottles back in 1993. The company, known for its<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/patagonia-ceo-ryan-gellert-vision-strategy-sustainability-and-leadership-2021-9"> industry-leading sustainability policies</a>, has incorporated the recycled material into many of its items and said that 89% of the polyester in <a href="https://www.patagonia.com/our-footprint/recycled-polyester.html">its latest season of products</a> was made from recycled polyester.But as companies like <keyword id="12109002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="coca-cola" source="Orion">Coca-Cola</keyword>, Nestle, and Adidas actively seek to reduce their use of virgin plastic as part of long-term efforts to be more sustainable and <a href="https://www.natlawreview.com/article/more-states-consider-minimum-recycled-content-requirements">new regulatory policies</a> for post-consumer resin, or PCR, made from plastic soda bottles kick in, demand is expected to exceed the available supply in the US and European Union, causing <a href="https://www.plasticstoday.com/resin-pricing/relief-unlikely-pet-and-rpet-markets-2022">prices to rise</a>. The issues around recycled polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, highlight many of the business challenges that can accompany ambitious corporate <keyword id="11896309" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="sustainability" source="Orion">sustainability</keyword> goals that overlap with other organizations.Companies urgently need to implement alternative processes and materials on a larger scale to reduce carbon emissions and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. But implementing these new methods can be much more complicated than expected, even with the resources of a multinational company. <h2>A versatile material</h2>Recycled PET, commonly known as rPET, is a type of post-consumer plastic used to make several types of products. These include plastic bottles, food containers, carpets, recycled polyester fabric, industrial straps, construction materials, and furniture.There are challenges to the wider adoption of rPET and criticisms about <a href="https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/how-sustainable-is-recycled-polyester/2018111540000">whether it is actually sustainable</a> or helping <a href="https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/fashion-brands-sustainability-claims-greenwashing/">greenwash companies</a> like H&amp;M. The environmental benefits of rPET include lower dependence on oil-based virgin plastic, less greenhouse-gas emissions, as well as less pollution. <h2>Policies and promises are driving demand</h2>Fabric and fibers were the primary end use for rPET until last year when the use of the material for bottles (for food, beverages, and other uses) <a href="https://www.packworld.com/issues/sustainability/article/21809461/napcor-pet-recycling-rate-drops-to-266-in-2020">grew by 32%</a>. There was also a 10% increase in end-use consumption of rPET in the US and Canada, according to the most recent report from National Association for PET Container Resources.This shift in use and demand followed announced commitments from several major companies to use less virgin plastic and increase <keyword id="12063226" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="recycling" source="Orion">recycling</keyword>. In 2018, the beverage giant Coca-Cola Co. pledged to use <a href="https://www.fooddive.com/news/coca-cola-transitions-to-bottles-made-from-100-recycled-plastic/594709/">50% recycled material</a> in its bottles and cans by 2030. The company also said it aimed to collect and recycle the volume of bottles equal to what it produces by the same year. In early 2020, Nestle <a href="https://www.nestle.com/ask-nestle/environment/answers/tackling-packaging-waste-plastic-bottles">pledged</a> to increase the amount of rPET used across its brands to 50% by 2025 and make all of its packaging recyclable or reusable by 2025. The parent company of Nescafe and Purina pet food uses <a href="https://www.nestle.com/ask-nestle/environment/answers/tackling-packaging-waste-plastic-bottles">8% recycled content</a> in its plastic water bottles now, so it will need to source and use a significantly higher amount to meet these goals.Consumer goods and fashion companies like Unilever, Procter &amp; Gamble, and Adidas have also made big promises about recycling and the increased use of recycled plastic. Nike's chief sustainability officer, Noel Kinder, said the company's volume of recycled polyester is <a href="https://www.glossy.co/fashion/nike-aims-to-use-100-renewable-energy-by-2025/">already the equivalent</a> of more than a billion plastic bottles a year. The US states of California and Washington have also <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB793">passed laws</a> requiring certain items to have specific amounts of recycled plastic in their packaging.<h2>Insufficient supply puts pressure on prices</h2>Several challenges lie ahead for these plans and policies involving rPET. The recycling rate for plastic drink bottles in the US fell from 27.9% in 2019 to 26.6% in 2020, compared to <a href="https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2021/01/29/10600681/insight-chemical-recycling-must-not-hinder-mechanical-recycling-progress">64% in Europe</a>. NAPCOR's report said this was due to pandemic-related closures of recycling and redemption centers, as well as disruption to curbside recycling programs. To meet the recycling goals of US beverage brands, an estimated 1.1 billion pounds of food-grade rPET will be needed in the next decade — almost <a href="https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2020/10/26/data-corner-supply-possibilities-to-meet-u-s-rpet-demand/">three times the amount</a> produced in 2017.Increases in demand also helped push the price of rPET higher than virgin plastic in early 2020, and rPET is now selling at a 20% premium, The Wall Street Journal reported. Higher costs of production due to rising energy costs were also a factor, <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/petrochemicals/110421-european-virgin-pet-rises-above-rpet-as-virgin-pet-prices-hit-10-year-high">according to S&amp;P Global Platts</a>.<h2>A complicated future</h2>One converter already <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/topics/recycled-plastics">expressed concern</a> that some of the large companies will step back their sustainability pledges due to supply constraints, staff shortages, and these higher prices. Items made from recycled polyester will still shed plastic microfibers during washing. And while PET can be recycled at least 10 times, clothes made from rPET <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/06/clothes-made-from-recycled-materials-sustainable-plastic-climate">most likely won't be recycled</a>, especially if they are from fast-fashion retailers, whose items are often thrown out after only a few uses.

Companies like Nestle and Coca-Cola are eager to use more recycled material — here's why that actually raises concerns over sustainability

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel won the 71st Miss Universe title on Saturday. </li><li>During the pageant, she wore a homemade swimsuit cape she designed herself using plastic bottles. </li></ul>Before winning the Miss Universe crown, <a href="https://www.insider.com/miss-usa-won-the-miss-universe-competition-2023-1">Miss USA R'Bonney Gabriel</a> wowed the audience with a homemade design during the swimsuit competition. <a href="https://www.insider.com/miss-texas-crowned-new-miss-usa-2022-9" rel="">Gabriel</a> was named the winner of the <a href="https://www.insider.com/women-competing-to-be-miss-universe-photos-2023-1" rel="">71st Miss Universe pageant</a> on Saturday night in New Orleans. Miss Venezuela, Amanda Dudamel, was the runner-up, followed by Miss Dominican Republic, Andreína Martínez. But before becoming <a href="https://www.insider.com/new-miss-usa-rbonney-gabriel-speaks-against-abortion-bans-texas-2022-10">the first American to win Miss Universe</a> in a decade, the model, fashion designer, and sewing instructor from Houston made her mark in the swimwear segment by sporting a cape she created using recyclable materials.Sharing an insight of the design process <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CnaP6N3Du7e/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on Instagram</a>, Gabriel wrote that the cape was "sustainably dyed and designed using plastic bottles." The video has 42,000 likes since she posted it on Saturday."I gathered and transformed this cape to showcase how art can be made out of what we perceive as trash," she added. "It also embodies my favorite message of 'If Not Now, Then When?'" The motto is visibly printed on the back of the orange cape.In the clip, set to Adele's "Set Fire To The Rain," Gabriel showed how she used a flame from a candle to shape the plastic bottles and used orange dyes to color the fabric of her cape herself. <div type="image" title="R'Bonney Gabriel already held the Miss USA title." height="4371" width="5828" msid="97006778" hostid="261"></div>"I designed this swimsuit cape inspired by the story of the Phoenix Rising, who emerged from adversity to become stronger, smarter and more powerful," she wrote in the caption. "I've kept this in mind during my journey through pageantry. Setbacks will always happen in life but we can choose whether to let them bring us down or use them as fuel to rise."Gabriel also said she spent 10 days in the lead-up to the pageant working on her cape design and even spent Christmas Day dyeing the fabric of the cape to look like flames, according to her Instagram stories.On top of using recycled plastic, she also worked with sustainably sourced wire and netting to construct the eye-catching piece. <div type="image" title="R'Bonney Gabriel showed on Instagram how she designed the swimsuit cape." height="953" width="1273" msid="97006780" hostid="261"></div>Gabriel spoke about her passion for sustainable design in the final question round on Saturday, Insider's <a href="https://www.insider.com/author/anneta-konstantinides">Anneta Konstantinides</a> reported. "As a very passionate designer, I've been sewing for 13 years, I use fashion as a force for good. In my industry, I'm cutting down on pollution through recycled materials when I make my clothing. I teach sewing classes to women that have survived from human trafficking and domestic violence," Gabriel said."And I say that because it is so important to invest in others," she added. "Invest in our community, and use your unique talent to make a difference. We all have something special, and when we plant those seeds to other people in our life, we transform them and we use that as a vehicle for change."

Miss USA wore a homemade swimsuit cape made of plastic bottles before winning the 71st Miss Universe pageant

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Tiny plastic particles are in our food, water, and blood, and experts don't know how they affect our <keyword id="11894571" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="health" source="Orion">health</keyword>.</li><li>Scientists found <keyword id="12318690" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="microplastics" source="Orion">microplastics</keyword> in samples taken from living, human <keyword id="12190955" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="lungs" source="Orion">lungs</keyword>.</li></ul>Scientists have found tiny pieces of plastic in the lungs of living humans, adding to concerns about the impact of microplastics on health.Bits of plastic dust have been floating around our environment for as long as humans have been using plastic, but scientists have only recently started investigating how these particles may affect our health. Microplastics are <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html#:~:text=Microplastics%20are%20small%20plastic%20pieces,our%20ocean%20and%20aquatic%20life.&amp;text=Plastic%20is%20the%20most%20prevalent,our%20ocean%20and%20Great%20Lakes.">by definition</a> smaller than a pencil eraser, so humans and animals may inhale or ingest them without knowing.Past studies have identified microplastics in human stool and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389421010888?via%3Dihub">autopsy samples</a>, but this is the first time scientists have discovered plastic particles lodged in the lungs of living patients.A team of researchers at Hull York Medical School in the UK analyzed lung tissue taken from 13 patients undergoing surgeries — a relatively small sample, the authors noted. But of that select group, samples from 11 patients contained microplastics, according to findings described in the journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722020009#!">Science of The Total Environment</a>.The researchers found microplastics in all levels of the lungs — upper, middle, and lower lung regions — but the level of <keyword id="11932995" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="pollution" source="Orion">pollution</keyword> in the lower lungs was particularly surprising, one author noted."We did not expect to find the highest number of particles in the lower regions of the lungs, or particles of the sizes we found," Laura Sadofsky, a senior author of the study, told the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/06/microplastics-found-deep-in-lungs-of-living-people-for-first-time">Guardian</a>. "It is surprising as the airways are smaller in the lower parts of the lungs and we would have expected particles of these sizes to be filtered out or trapped before getting this deep."The types of plastic they found are most commonly used in soft drink bottles, food packaging, and bits of machinery. While scientists do not yet know how plastics would affect the health of the lungs or otherwise, this discovery underscores the widespread and persistent nature of microplastic pollution.<h2>Microplastics have also been found in human blood and poop</h2>Microplastics are in the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe, experts <a href="https://www.insider.com/bottle-fed-babies-may-be-ingesting-million-microplastics-daily-study-2020-10">previously told Insider</a>. By one <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12403-022-00470-8#Sec8">estimate</a>, the average person ingests about a credit card's worth of plastic each week.Some of that plastic leaves our bodies the old-fashioned way: via the digestive tract. Studies that found <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-accumulates-in-human-feces-evidence-shows-for-first-time-2018-10">microplastics in human feces</a> proved that the pollutants pass through our bodies, but it wasn't enough evidence for scientists to raise alarms about health risks.However, the more recent discovery of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microplastics-discovered-in-human-blood-for-the-first-time-2022-3">microplastics in human blood</a> confirmed that some plastic particles absorb into the bloodstream. Experts don't know for sure how this plastic exposure affects human health, but they said it was "unsettling news" nonetheless. Scientists will continue to test human blood, as well as gut and lung tissue, to better understand the impact of microplastic pollution.

Microplastics from food packaging and used bottles found deep in the lungs of living people for the first time

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Khloé Kardashian criticized people who use <keyword id="34567" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="plastic">plastic</keyword> <keyword id="6444242" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="water-bottles">water bottles</keyword> to fill reusable ones on Monday.</li><li>She was quickly called a hypocrite, with people pointing to her private jets and single-use items.</li><li>Kardashian has since defended herself, and said she's not "super environmentally conscious."</li></ul><a href="https://www.insider.com/category/khloe-kardashian">Khloé Kardashian</a> is no stranger to internet scandals surrounding <a href="https://www.insider.com/khloe-kardashian-bikini-photo-good-american-body-positivity-2021-4">her Instagram photos</a> and <a href="https://www.insider.com/khloe-kardashian-kylie-jenner-jordyn-woods-friends-comment-response-2021-2">romantic relationships</a>.But the center of her latest <keyword id="37125" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="controversy">controversy</keyword> is a bit more unexpected: <a href="https://www.insider.com/category/plastic">plastic water bottles</a>. On Monday, the reality-television star posted an Instagram story in which she said it bothers her when people use plastic water bottles to fill their reusable ones.Backlash quickly ensued <a href="https://twitter.com/khloekardashian">on Twitter</a>, where people said Kardashian is hypocritical for caring about the environmental impacts of plastic when she's known to <a href="https://www.harpersbazaar.com/celebrity/latest/a32892274/khloe-kardashian-kylie-jenner-private-jet/">ride private jets</a>, <a href="https://www.insider.com/khloe-kardashian-birthday-party-inflatable-slide-photos-video-2020-6">host extravagant parties</a>, and more.Kardashian has since defended herself in her own series of tweets, in which she said she was simply trying to point out "a pet peeve" she has.Though Kardashian's original Instagram story expired after 24 hours of being posted, the video has since <a href="https://twitter.com/imheretowatch1/status/1401883203825246212">been reshared on Twitter</a>."There's something that irks me," Kardashian said in her video. "It's that I see people taking water bottles and they're just pouring it into the gallon-sized reusable plastic bottle so they can consume their water for the day.""That defeats the purpose because those water bottles are just gonna go in a landfill somewhere and potentially cause, you know, pollution, and we're trying to limit our single usage of plastics," she continued.Critics were quick to point out that many of Kardashian's daily actions aren't environmentally conscious. Some pointed to her rides on private jets, and others called out her use of single-use materials at parties.Seemingly as a result of the backlash, Kardashian shared numerous tweets about her video, and said she doesn't consider herself to be "super environmentally conscious." Instead, she said people using plastic water bottles to fill reusable ones is a "pet peeve" she has."Oh my! LOL What drives me is that people turn nothing into some thing," she wrote in her first tweet. "It must be a slow news day. I am constantly learning and trying to be better for the <keyword id="6356826" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="ENVIRONMENT">environment</keyword> for the sake of my daughter. I am the last one to say that I'm super environmentally conscious because I know how much more I have to learn.""All I was simply saying is a pet peeve of MINE," Kardashian continued. "I find it silly that people are pouring 4 to 5 single use plastic bottles into a reusable container. It's sort of defeats the purpose."Kardashian went on to say that with her original video, she was trying to help find an alternative, like using a "water filtration system that you can buy easily for the price of a case of water bottles.""Sometimes plastic water bottles are the only option for some people and I totally get that," she wrote. "Sometimes it's what I grab. It's not about being perfect. It's about learning and hopefully making small changes for our future. Holy smokes. Anyways I love when I get educated on easy tips as to how to potentially make a change in our world. Feel free to tweet me some tips."Kardashian concluded her statement by saying that she is "always down to learn," and is "proud of us all for doing our best and simply trying." Still, she argued that people saying she is trying to shame others is "BS" because she considers herself "a baby at this stuff."Representatives for Khloé Kardashian did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

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