A Greener Shopping Bag
Series: May 2010 - Isla Earth Radio Series
From: Pat Maxwell
Length: 00:01:30
- Playing
- A Greener Shopping Bag
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- Pat Maxwell
No free plastic! That's IKEA's position. The Swedish retailer charges customers five cents for every plastic bag they use to pack their purchases. Then, they donate the proceeds to the non-profit American Forests to plant trees and offset CO2 emissions. Each year, U.S. consumers use 100 billion polyethylene bags. And less than one percent are recycled. That leaves behind a mountain of plastic bags that languish in landfills or tumble along our highways...
Also in the May 2010 - Isla Earth Radio Series series
Better Wind Turbines
(00:01:30)
From: Pat Maxwell
With wind turbine blades approaching 90 feet in length whipping around at 150 miles an hour, they’ve been called everything from “raptor-matics” to “cuisinarts of the sky.” ...
Hybrid Update
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Hybrid vehicles on a wall socket: The next “plug-and-play” technology? We might have an answer soon.
Earth Friendly Resort
(00:01:30)
From: Pat Maxwell
It turns out that one of the world’s top Earth Friendly getaways is the Mauna Lani Resort on the Kohala Coast of Hawaii’s Big Island.
Wolves of Isle Royale
(00:01:30)
From: Pat Maxwell
Running with the wolves just isn't happening on upper Michigan's Isle Royale. That's because most wolves on the remote isle have advanced arthritis.
Pond Scum Energy
(00:01:30)
From: Pat Maxwell
To anyone who’s ever gone skinny-dipping in a pond, the green stuff floating on top is really disgusting. But to Professor Dave Bayless, blue-green algae -- or “pond scum,” ...
Nano Flakes
(00:01:30)
From: Pat Maxwell
The biggest power plant on earth is high in the sky -- it’s the sun. But, we only get one percent of our energy from it because it typically costs more than other sources of ...
Invasion of Monster Toads
(00:01:30)
From: Pat Maxwell
Now playing in Australia: Invasion of the Monster Toads! Today’s story began back in the 1930s when Australia’s sugar-cane farmers had a problem.
Banking on Seeds
(00:01:30)
From: Pat Maxwell
I don’t know if Santa Claus ever collected seeds, but one of his neighbors sure does. About 200 miles from the North Pole, the United States is building an arctic seed vault.
Internet Insights
(00:01:30)
From: Pat Maxwell
Forget using the Internet to track fashion trends. Internet chatter may actually be able to predict ecological changes.
Cave Habitats
(00:01:30)
From: Pat Maxwell
Nature builds neighborhoods in the most interesting places. Caves, for example, are pretty spectacular neighborhoods.
Piece Description
No free plastic! That's IKEA's position. The Swedish retailer charges customers five cents for every plastic bag they use to pack their purchases. Then, they donate the proceeds to the non-profit American Forests to plant trees and offset CO2 emissions. Each year, U.S. consumers use 100 billion polyethylene bags. And less than one percent are recycled. That leaves behind a mountain of plastic bags that languish in landfills or tumble along our highways...
Additional Credits
Isla Earth is produced by the Catalina Island Conservancy with support from its Fund for a Sustainable Planet.