The  Third Blue Vision Summit in Washington, DC just concluded. Over 500 attendees, including members of the national and international marine community came together to raise awareness about ocean health, and work towards the enactment and enforcement of national ocean policy, including climate change impacts, Gulf restoration and other pressing issues. Two topics appeared to dominate the sessions:...

Trash for Teaching (T4T), an nonprofit based in Los Angeles, California, is one of the organizations that has joined Plastic Pollution Coalition in recent weeks. Trash for Teaching collects clean, safe and interesting manufacturing cast-offs from local factories and repurposes them for use by kids, teachers and artists. “Minimizing Waste / Maximizing Education” is their motto, something...

As we reported in December, Environmental Working Group (EWG), a non-partisan research organization,  made public a study of unbilical cord blood of American babies. The test found nearly 300 chemicals, including many present in plastic objects such as Bisphenol A (BPA), flame retardants, lead, and PCBs. Sign the petition to safeguard our children These chemicals are increasingly linked to serious...

A recent news release by Environmental Working Group highlights a study of infant cord blood commissioned by  Rachel’s Network and Environmental Working Group.  This is the first study to detect Bisphenol A (BPA) in umbilical cord blood.   Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical present in plastics and a powerful endocrine disruptor. As we reported in October, a separate study (download full report...

Canadian videographer Jan Vozenilek was a member of  Midway Journey, an expedition to Midway Atoll in September 2009 to document the effects of plastic pollution on baby albatrosses.   Midway Journey was led by photographer Chris Jordan and supported by the Plastic Pollution Coalition. Earlier this week, Jan Vozenilek visited an elementary school in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, where...

An article in Sierra Club Green Home highlights a recent study by the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill linking behavioral problems in children from women that were exposed to plastics containing bisphenol A (BPA) during pregnancy. The study, published Oct. 6, (download full report PDF) suggests that if a woman is exposed to plastics that leach BPA during her pregnancy,  the baby’s nervous...