Global health impacts of plastics systems could double by 2040 www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/n... #plasticpollution #plasticslifecycle #humanhealth #globalwarming #airpollution #toxicchemicals

have a few papers in review that examine this issue, and the reality is that ‘circular’ claims often camouflage a reliance on chemical recycling technologies that are toxic and unproven these claims should be understood as a strategy by corporate interests to distract and delay meaningful action

This is not a sign of a functioning waste and resources system ... something is going horribly wrong. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Biodiversity collapse threatens UK security, intelligence chiefs warn - “It is unlikely the UK would be able to maintain food security if ecosystem collapse drives geopolitical competition for food” Story by @fionaharvey.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

New research reveals an unappreciated public health crisis: people living in slums in the developing world are increasingly burning the toxic plastic trash that surrounds their communities as a last-resort fuel to cook and heat their homes.

Are our bodies full of #microplastics or not? There’s a way to resolve this debate, and scientists must hurry, writes Debora MacKenzie - This week’s furore is microplastics researchers’ ozone moment. If they fail, the plastics lobby will step into the breach www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Q How pervasive are micro and nanoplastics, really? A. Not yet known. Sensible advice: ."..squabbles in science can... throw out common-sense policies that curtail plastic use... we do not know what the future of microplastics research holds. We will have to keep doing it to find out."

Interesting to see the Guardian's @dpcarrington.bsky.social weighing in on this. My take, as someone covering microplastics heavily for the past year (and currently sitting at a 200+ person conference with many of the scientists in question): www.theguardian.com/environment/...

⚠️ A new study, based on information collected through a survey of 1,018 informants from cities in 26 countries in the Global South, finds that the use of waste plastics as fuel (for heat or cooking) by low-income households is much more prevalent than previously thought. rdcu.be/eYJWj

Don’t miss our blog and special report, “How Plastics Fuel Wildfires & How to Rebuild Better,” exploring the link between plastics and wildfires 👉 bit.ly/RebuildWithLessPlastic #PlasticPollutes #LAWildfires #BreakFreeFromPlastic

Microplastics interfere with photosynthesis in phytoplankton & impair zooplankton metabolism - both are central in ocean carbon cycling Oceans absorb about 1/4 of CO2 released by human activity If you're against climate change, you have to be against plastic www.independent.co.uk/climate-chan...

[PODCAST] Plastic pollution is no longer abstract. Microplastics are now found in our brains, blood and breast milk — and across all parts of the planet. On the Mongabay Newscast, Judith Enck explains why governments can’t wait, and how they can act now to cut plastic at the source.

Plastic hasn’t just polluted the land and oceans. Research has found microplastics in cloud water, which are influencing how clouds form by acting as seeds for ice crystals, thereby accelerating the formation of storms and increasing their strength. #WetTribe #TidetotheOcean #MicroplasticMonday

In case you need another reason to not drink bottled water…

Sciences like anthropology are so valuable because they provide refutations to "this is the way it always was, and thus the way it has to be" type assertions. Its very different to the science I do, but perhaps even more valuable.

I see there’s a post about microplastics going around with a photo of drinking straws, so here is my semi-regular reminder that the 3 biggest sources of microplastics are tires (45%), synthetic clothing particles (35%) and paint (~10%). Lay article attached:

The best way to reduce plastic waste is to use less plastic (including synthetic fibers) in the first place and support research into truly biodegradable plastics (that do not require toxic additives) for those applications for which plastics are truly the best material.

Cheap (subsidized) virgin #plastics are undercutting the market for recycled plastics in the EU, leading to the shuttering of numerous (mechanical) recycling plants. In response, the EU has announced additional checks and stricter rules on claims of recycled content in #plastic imported from abroad.

“It becomes increasingly evident that humans have been integral to ecological processes for millennia… Many of us ecologists & biogeochemists need to ask ourselves if we are sufficiently incorporating our own species into the work we do.” [viz fire-making 400,000 years ago! shorturl.at/zX6tj]

“If someone says ‘AI is here to stay,’ nail them down on what the precise claim is they’re making. Details. Numbers. What do you mean by ‘being here?’… I mean, they won’t answer. They never answer. They never had a claim in mind. They were just making promotional mouth noises.” @davidgerard.co.uk

ET&C IN THE NEWS: Household dryers 🧺 are significant sources of #MicrofiberPollution NEWS: bit.ly/4pPTfA2 Study in ET&C: doi.org/10.1093/etoj... #SETACJournals #environmentalscience #Microfiber #FastFashion

Working with place over time is rarely tidy. Certain patterns appear when long-term, multi-actor work starts to find its footing. A reflective post drawing out eight lessons for place-based practice. 🧪 🔗 learningforsustainability.net/post/working... #Collaboration #Learning #LfSinsights

And this is particularly odd given the claims of the paper.

I wholeheartedly agree—though after laying out a good initial argument this paper takes a strange turn with the final two sentences that seems to undercut most of its own force.

"use gen(AI) for writing assistance [and] those whose work is absorbed into training datasets may shape scholarship without ever being cited, while AI-proficient scholars may enjoy reputational gains built partly on others’ uncredited ideas." www.nature.com/articles/s42...

"Humans... commit what is some-times called ‘cryptomnesia’... reproduce[ing] ideas that they have encountered previously but mistakenly believe to be original.... once an idiosyncratic risk of interpersonal exchange....now a systemic feature [with genAI]" www.nature.com/articles/s42...

It’s good to see papers start to address LLMs as structural plagiarism — provenance, more hidden than the original words or training data. www.nature.com/articles/s42...

EUSPA and the Danish brand GANNI joined forces in a pilot using Copernicus data to track ecological changes and biodiversity loss in garment production. Powered by Renoon and KANOP, the project brings space insights into sustainable fashion. Learn more: www.euspa.europa.eu/newsroom-eve...

That’s right – plastic recycling is actually a MYTH. In our new report, Merchants of Myth, we explore the failures of plastic recycling after decades of being touted by corporations as a solution to the pollution crisis. Read the full report here: www.greenpeace.org/usa/merchant...

Octopus suckers don’t just feel — they sense microbiomes. Distinct microbes on eggs, prey and other objects trigger chemotactile receptors, prompting reflexive movements in the suckers and arms. Scientists say these microbial cues help guide key survival behaviors.

💡A new non-toxic solvent enables efficient separation and near-complete recycling of cotton - #Polyester #Textiles, preserving fiber quality and offering a sustainable solution for mixed-fiber waste. ♻️ phys.org/news/2025-11...

Is this the framing we want? We can't recycle out of the problem. Most plastics are hard to recycle or have no viable market after recycling. What happened to turning off the tap? www.theguardian.com/environment/...

We will be celebrating Jo Bullard's life on Thursday 4th December, from 2.30pm at Loughborough University. Please register here if you would like to attend: forms.office.com/pages/respon... The @rgsibg.bsky.social have published an obituary of Jo: www.rgs.org/about-us/our...

Good news: Study shows France’s birds making tentative recovery after neonicotinoid pesticide ban UK has only just closed loophole in neonics ban (‘derogations’) so may be too soon to see recovery here? www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Scientists make concerning first-of-its-kind discovery while studying Amazon monkeys: ‘Sounds an alarm’ https://www.newsbeep.com/us/295318/ A new study revealed the presence of microplastics in the stomachs of howler monkeys living in a protected…

“More than a billion Indians face heat waves every year. Hundreds of millions of them work in the informal sector, toiling outdoors or doing piecework in a stifling factory, & are especially at risk as intense bouts of scorching weather become more frequent.” 🎁 link: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/w...

new open access paper on the right to science and pollution with several fantastic colleagues including @bcarneyalmroth.bsky.social @jptilsted.bsky.social and @taraolsen.bsky.social

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have tried, it’s just that even success required overshoot (ie, missing the target). And because it’s been framed as a “game over” threshold, media coverage of 1.5 has contributed to the idea that climate action is now pointless. That is not, and will never, be true.

The thing is, 1.5 degrees was was an unrealistic target from the start. The only way earth system models could make it work was by overshooting the target, getting to 0 emissions, and then devoting 2-3x the land area of India to carbon removal later in the century. We’d already warmed 1.2 degrees C.

What are we doing to the planet - environmental catastrophe near Rye, East Sussex Campaigners have said before that the plastic micro beads or "nurdles" should be classified as hazardous same as oil, they cause just as much damage to marine life and birds

Which biofilm-coated microplastics do sea creatures not mistake for food?

'Human nature' is the capacity to categorize others as part of self. Extending the boundaries of concern, people often help strangers in emergencies. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

This new paper documents a tenfold increase in research papers using community-collected iNaturalist data over just five years: tr.ee/89Ot3I According to the study, here are four key ways that iNaturalist data directly powers science 🧵⤵️

I had dinner with a colleague from @inaturalist.bsky.social yesterday and Jeanne shared that their users are discovering an average of one brand-new-previously-unknown-to-science species EACH MONTH!

Homes from straw, beer and bread from grains, clothes from beer brewing... That's a good amount of solution capacity from one crop.