Thriving Sustainably

Wet wipes containing plastic to be banned in Scotland The sale and supply of wet wipes containing plastic in Scotland will be banned next year, the Scottish Government has announced.

👏Scotland is moving to ban wet wipes containing plastic from August 2027, aiming to cut marine litter, microplastics, and sewer blockages while encouraging more reusable and truly plastic-free alternatives.

#PlasticPollution #Microplastics #Scotland

Microplastics have reached Antarctica’s only native insect Even Antarctica’s toughest native insect can’t escape the reach of plastic pollution. Scientists have discovered that Belgica antarctica — a tiny, rice-sized midge and the southernmost insect on Earth...

Microplastics are now inside Antarctica’s only native insect. Nowhere is untouched. What does this mean for the ecosystem?

#Microplastics #PlasticPollution #Antarctica

Can Giving Up Plastic Improve Your Fertility? A New Documentary Aims to Find Out (Exclusive) In Netflix's 'The Plastic Detox,' six couples struggling with infertility give up plastic to see if it impacts their health. The documentary premieres March 16 on Netflix.

A new Netflix doc looks at how everyday plastic exposure could be impacting fertility and what happens when couples try cutting it out. Definitely makes you think about what we’re exposed to daily.

#PlasticPollution #Microplastics #FertilityHealth #WomensHealth #EnvironmentalHealth

🚰 New EU-wide protections against PFAS in drinking water are now in force!

This is a win for people, our waters and strong EU rules! 🎉

But for harmonised monitoring, we must defend the EU's Water Framework Directive - the cornerstone of water protection✊

More ⬇️

#ProtectWater #OneHealth #BanPFAS

Around 1 in 3 people worldwide are affected by open dumping.

It pollutes water, poisons the air and puts nearby communities at risk.

Find out what open dumping is and why ending it is critical if we are to #BeatPollution: www.unep.org/topics/waste...

I think they need to cut back on the heavy tourism that is making it worse.

OCEAN WIN! 🎉

Because of the nearly 40K of you who took action, strong @noaa.gov funding has PASSED!

This victory protects our ocean and the communities and wildlife that depend on it, and is proof that when we act together, victory follows!

https://bit.ly/438LIn6

“It’s a disease superhighway.” The shocking new ecosystem that’s evolving in our oceans | Discover Wildlife A unique synthetic ecosystem is evolving in our oceans – welcome to the plastisphere

Plastic pollution has created a whole new ocean ecosystem 🤯 The plastisphere is made of microbes living on floating plastic, helping invasive species and disease travel across the seas. This is not harmless litter.

#PlasticPollution #Plastisphere #OceanHealth #Microplastics

Scientists question high-profile microplastics studies after contamination concerns Researchers say some widely reported findings of microplastics in human organs may be false positives Critics warn rushed methods and weak controls

New doubts are being raised about big microplastics studies after experts pointed out possible contamination and poor methods. It shows how tricky this research still is and why we need better standards before making strong health claims.

#Microplastics #PlasticPollution

Microplastics Are Now Linked to Alzheimer's Symptoms — And the Science Is More Alarming Than You Think Scientists just confirmed what many feared: microplastics aren't just polluting our oceans and food supply.

Microplastics aren’t just an environmental problem anymore. New research links them to brain inflammation and Alzheimer’s-like symptoms. We’re breathing them, drinking them, and only now starting to understand the risks.
#Microplastics #AlzheimersResearch #EnvironmentalHealth #PublicHealth

People care a lot about where their food comes from but rarely ask the same questions about their clothes. These 10 sustainable fashion documentaries open your eyes to what’s really behind what we wear.
Check them out👉 thrivingsustainably.com/sustainable-...

#SustainableFashion #FastFashion

Do you know why composting is important?
🗑️ Food scraps are ~24% of landfill waste
🔥 In landfills, they create methane, 25× stronger than CO₂
🌱 Compost improves soil so plants grow stronger and healthier
🪱 Worm composting works fast, even in small spaces

#Composting #SustainableLiving #Gardening

Not everything in our home needs to be disposable — especially things we use every week. Swapping plastic razors for reusable ones is such an easy way to reduce waste without changing your routine.

#sustainableliving #ecofriendly #plasticfree

Their faces always make me smile. 🙂

Microplastics have been found in bottled water, seafood, salt, and even fresh produce, and most of us are consuming them without realizing it. 😬 The good news? Small, everyday choices can reduce exposure.
👉Learn more: thrivingsustainably.com/how-to-avoid...
#Microplastics #PlasticPollution

Typhoons vacuum microplastics from ocean and deposit them on land, study finds Tropical storms such as typhoons, hurricanes, and cyclones are Earth's most powerful weather systems. Born over warm oceans, they travel thousands of kilometers to land, traversing waters now polluted...

Wild — storms aren’t just wind and rain anymore; they’re literally moving ocean microplastics onto land. Climate change + plastic pollution = a feedback loop we really need to break. 🌍💔
#Microplastics #PlasticPollution #SaveOurOceans

Air passengers exposed to extremely high levels of ultrafine particle pollution, study finds Levels during boarding and taxiing were far above those defined as high by the World Health Organization

Ultrafine particles aren’t confined to airplanes.

They come from traffic, gas stoves, wildfire smoke, ports, airports, & indoor combustion. They’re too small for most monitors, mostly unregulated, and increasingly linked to heart disease, cancer, & fetal harm.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

👶In the U.S., roughly 27 billion disposable diapers end up in landfills every year.
A single one can take up to ~500 years to decompose. 🤯 That’s generations of waste from something used once.

#PlasticPollution #DidYouKnow #ParentLife #NewParents

Microplastics move through air, water, and food chains because our systems allow it.
Solving this means rethinking production — not just cleanup.

#Microplastics #PlasticPollution

We don’t need perfection.
We need better choices — repeated. 🌍❤️

#PlasticPollution #PlasticSwap #SustainableLiving

Fish aren’t just seeing plastic — about 60% of fish globally have already eaten microplastics they mistake for food. 🌊🐟
Plastic never really goes away — it just becomes part of the food web.

#PlasticPollution #SaveOurOceans #Microplastics

It’s giving… consequences. 👀

#Microplastics #PlasticPollution

Recycling Can’t Solve Our Plastic Crisis "Recycling doesn’t sustainably prevent plastic waste from ending up in the environment," argues Judith Enck.

♻️ Less than 6% of U.S. plastic waste gets recycled and the industry knew decades ago recycling couldn’t fix it.
Plastic was never designed to be circular; it just delays pollution.
We need to cut production, not keep pretending recycling is enough.
#PlasticPollution #TruthInPlastic

Cartoon showing a zoo. In the zoo is a glass cage with various animals. Around the zoo is a fence and a sign that reads 'Last area on earth without plastic pollution'. Outside the fence, we see hills of plastic trash. A booth is selling tickets to people wanting to enter the zoo. Inside the zoo, the ground is also littered with plastic trash (except for the inside of the glass cage). A stand with a giant plastic bottle on the roof is selling snacks and drinks to the people.

The last area on earth without plastic pollution. Cartoon from 2024.

#nature #plastic #trash #waste #garbage

Sad but at this rate it won't be too far off.

Warning issued to litter pickers as study finds microplastics can carry pathogens VOLUNTEERS who pick up litter on beaches have been warned to wear gloves to prevent a serious infection from toxic microplastics ...

Volunteers who pick up litter on beaches have been warned to wear gloves to prevent a serious infection from toxic microplastics

Oven Cleaning Hacks: Easy, Fume-Free Methods That Actually Work Skip the harsh fumes and plastic-heavy cleaners. Learn fast, natural oven cleaning hacks using simple ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, and lemon.

Holiday cooking = burnt-on gunk everywhere.
Instead of reaching for those toxic store-bought plastic bottles (the ones linked to 500+ VOCs 😳), try these simple, fume-free oven cleaning hacks with things you already have at home.

#SustainableLiving #PlasticFreeLiving #CleaningHacks

Plastic can be programmed to have a lifespan of days, months or years Inspired by natural polymers like DNA, chemists have devised a way to engineer plastic so it breaks down when it is no longer needed, rather than polluting the environment

Scientists at Rutgers have designed plastics that can self-destruct on a schedule breaking down in days, months, or years using chemistry inspired by DNA

#PlasticPollution #Innovation #Sustainability

Sewers to Seas: exploring pathogens and antimicrobial resistance on microplastics from hospital wastewater to marine environments Microplastic particles are extremely prevalent environmental pollutants which support microbial biofilms known as the ‘plastisphere’. Antimicrobial re…

🧪 NEW STUDY led by @emilymaystevenson.bsky.social:

Microplastics in wastewater provide habitat for pathogenic bacteria, including Chlamydiia, and foster antibiotic resistance, “with polystyrene and HDPE nurdle communities posing a particular risk.” 🧵

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Microplastics pose a human health risk in more ways than one A new study shows that microplastics in the natural environment are colonized by pathogenic and antimicrobial resistant bacteria. The study team calls for urgent action for waste management and strong...

A new study shows the presence of tiny rafts for pathogens and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. 😱 That means every plastic fragment out there could carry dangerous microbes, a hidden health hazard riding alongside plastic pollution.

#Microplastics #PublicHealth #PlasticPollution