Detergent pods are only the start of clothing’s microplastic pollution problem
Perhaps the most holistic solution would be to regulate and limit the use of plastics for clothing and laundry applications altogether.
Perhaps the most holistic solution would be to regulate and limit the use of plastics for clothing and laundry applications altogether.
AI seems to present a spectacular new slate of opportunities and threats. But, in essence, much of what was true before AI remains so now.
In this episode, Nate is joined by Helena Norberg-Hodge – a leading voice in the localization movement – to explore the deep systemic challenges posed by economic globalization.
Batteries have quickly become the fastest improving clean energy technology on the planet, exhibiting growth, cost reductions and improvements that overshadow the record-breaking rise of solar energy.
For me, the mountain on which I live, the animals and plants, the climate, the river and underground spring… actually the land and all it encompasses… this is also my community.
When you think of plastic pollution, you might imagine ocean “garbage patches” swirling with tens of millions of plastic bottles and shopping bags. But unfolding alongside the “macroplastic” pollution crisis is another threat caused by much smaller particles: microplastics.
It seems to me we got swept up in the currents, now imperiling the world. Along the way, a lot of food made a lot of babies—packing the stadium for the great spectacle of collapse under the weight of the assembled crowd.
Whether we like it or not, we must live with the unknowability of the future, its capacity to humble us and take us by surprise, our inability to control it.
If you were to somehow instantly remove all the particles from ocean waters and sediments, they’d live on by transferring from gut to gut. Everything eats, everything gets eaten, and microplastics go along for the ride.
Complexity has strong links to energy which means that the combination of increasing energy costs and increasing complexity is a potential game changer. Even more so if the energy system also requires high levels of complexity such as nuclear power or a electric grid run on renewables.
Sankofa originates from the Akan inhabitants of Ghana, and broadly describes the importance of remembering and incorporating knowledge from the past in order to move forward. Or put another way, learning from the past in order to better steer the future.
Put up some solar panels, and add some plants that only need to be mowed once a year or so (sometimes with sheep) and you see an explosion of life.