As the oil spill continues in the Gulf of Mexico, off the shores of Louisiana, the same few names are mentioned to establish comparisons with other environmental disasters: Exxon Valdez in Alaska (1989), the Santa Barbara Oil Disaster (1969), and sometimes others more distant such as The Amoco Cadiz in France (1978). However, in some seemingly remote parts of the world, oil spills are a weekly occurrence, and have been so for decades. Acquiring a deeper understanding and a more global picture of the damage that off-shore drilling and oil hauling pose to our environment is necessary if we are to reduce our dependency on oil and to increase the immediate necessity for developing greener energies.

 

Plastic bags are a great cause for concern as they represent a major component of urban pollution, which then becomes marine pollution and kills wildlife that gets trapped in them or swallows them. As they usually end up being one-time use items that are improperly disposed of, a bill that bans the free dispensing of grocery bags in stores would significantly help reduce plastic pollution. Take action now to make sure the bill passes on June 4.

 

We don't give much thought to where the products we use end their existence. But we should, because landfills, the most likely place for trash to land up in the US, are closing at the rate of 1 a day, and space is running out. Here are a few frightening facts about our landfills, and a few suggestions to help reduce your amount of trash and be on the road to a greener, more eco-friendly way of life.

How many times have you thrown away an orange peel or a candy wrapper without thinking twice about it? You use it, you throw it away, and you don’t give it a second thought. But all that trash does not just magically disappear from your trash cans. It has to go somewhere. That somewhere is a landfill near you, and they are quickly running out of space...