Environmental, Health and Safety News | Volunteer EHS News Network Dedicated to Protecting People & Our Planet

Wisconsin Department of Health Services Launches COVID-19 Vaccine Provider Map

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) released a new resource aimed at helping people connect with vaccine providers. The Wisconsin COVID-19 vaccine provider map is designed to improve transparency in the vaccine distribution process, by identifying where vaccine is being sent across the state. It is also intended to help Wisconsinites more easily...
Read More »

Chemours Board Sued for Duping Investors About Firm’s Wealth

Read the full story at Bloomberg News. Chemours Co.’s directors were accused in a lawsuit of duping shareholders about its financial health and the extent
Read More »

Amazon rainforest plots sold via Facebook Marketplace ads

Read the full story from the BBC. Parts of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest are being illegally sold on Facebook, the BBC has discovered. The protected areas
Read More »

University of Illinois YMCA launches community vermicomposting program

The University YMCA is launching a community vermicomposting program. If you’re interested in participating or learning more, fill out the interest form. They’re also looking
Read More »

DHS Announces Groups Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine on March 1

The Department of Health Services (DHS) today announced that new groups will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine starting March 1 . The newly eligible groups, initially announced in January , include in priority order: education and child care staff, people enrolled in Medicaid long-term care programs, some public-facing essential workers, non-frontline essential health...
Read More »

Too Good to Go to expand nationally

Read the press release. Too Good To Go, the world’s #1 app for fighting food waste, today announces plans for national expansion to Philadelphia, Washington,
Read More »

As More Women Enter Science, It’s Time to Redefine Mentorship

Read the full story in Wired. In STEM fields, female students often can’t find an adviser who looks like them. It’s important to talk about
Read More »

Why buying vintage clothes is ‘the new luxury’

Read the full story from the BBC. For Gen Z, upcycled, reclaimed fashion is opening up a new sense of individuality and self-expression, while helping
Read More »

Making Waves in Circularity

In this episode of Stef Talks Trash, Editorial Director Stefanie Valentic interviews Nicole Baker, founder of Net Your Problem. Net Your Problem provides a solution
Read More »

DOE funds new technologies in plastic recycling

by Lisa Sheppard, Prairie Research Institute ISTC is part of a national team to develop artificial intelligence technologies to sort non-recyclable plastics so they can
Read More »

Science has a garbage problem. Why aren’t recycling schemes more popular?

Read the full story at Massive Science. Research institutions need to reflect on their attitudes toward plastic waste and make sustainability a priority in laboratories
Read More »

Hawkeye Elegy: A collision of pandemic, disaster, and polarization in the heartland

Read the full story in Fortune. Last summer a monster storm tore across Iowa, leaving billions of dollars damage in its wake. It was a
Read More »

Novel algorithm for integrating solar, wind, hydrogen

Read the full story at pv magazine. A new, nature-inspired algorithm has been applied by scientists in Egypt and Saudi Arabia to optimize the production
Read More »

Bitcoin consumes ‘more electricity than Argentina’

Read the full story from the BBC. Bitcoin uses more electricity annually than the whole of Argentina, analysis by Cambridge University suggests.
Read More »

Energy Department Announces Addition of Combined Heat and Power to Clean Energy Modeling Web Tool

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the addition of combined heat and power modeling capabilities to the Renewable Energy Integration and Optimization (REoptTM) Lite
Read More »

WEbinar: Designing Hybrid Combined Heat and Power Systems: An Introduction to New Features in NREL’s REopt Lite Tool

Mar 2, 2021, 1-2 pm CSTRegister here. Funded by the Department of Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has added important
Read More »

DOE Awards $46 Million for Geothermal Initiative Projects with Potential to Power Millions of U.S. Homes

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that its Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy (FORGE) Initiative at the University of Utah has
Read More »

Allbirds is investing in a plant-based leather substitute, plans faux-leather shoe drop in December

Read the full story at TechCrunch. Natural Fiber Welding is based in Peoria. The sustainability focused shoe maker Allbirds has taken another step to green its supply
Read More »

Webinar: Improve Efficiencies: Reduce Food Processing Energy, Water, and Waste

Mar 18, 2021 10:00 AM CDTRegister here. In food processing facilities, raw materials are stored, transferred, and processed into consumable products. These processes can result
Read More »

The 20 best places to tackle US farm nitrogen pollution

Read the full story from the University of Vermont. A pioneering study of U.S nitrogen use in agriculture has identified 20 places across the country
Read More »

SEC to update climate-related risk disclosure requirements

Read the full story at The Hill. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced Wednesday that it will update its guidelines on how publicly traded
Read More »

Biden orders review of US supply chains after a year of shortages, delays

Read the full story at Supply Chain Dive. President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday that will result in a 100-day review of supply chains by
Read More »

Gov. Tony Evers seeks funds for PFAS testing, cleanup measures in budget

Read the full story in the Wisconsin State Journal. Gov. Tony Evers is looking to boost state funds to address and monitor PFAS contamination across
Read More »

Some Students Currently Enrolled in Institutions of Higher Learning Now Temporarily Eligible to Participate in Wisconsin FoodShare

Wisconsin students who are enrolled at least half time in an institution of higher learning and meet certain criteria can now participate in FoodShare and receive assistance to purchase groceries during the pandemic. The provision loosening federal restrictions on these students was included in the COVID-19 relief bill passed by Congress and signed into...
Read More »

Dynamics of radiocesium in forests after the Fukushima disaster: Concerns and some hope

(PHY.ORG) ….Considering the massive threat posed by 137Cs to the health of both humans and ecosystems, it is essential to understand how it has distributed and how much of it still lingers. This is why the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has recently published a technical document on this specific issue. The fifth chapter...
Read More »

Why Sprite is ditching green bottles

Read the full story in Fast Company. When Sprite hired an ad agency to work on the brand in the late 1960s, it created an
Read More »

State Transportation Electrification Scorecard

Download the document. The ACEEE State Transportation Electrification Scorecard evaluates the progress that states are making to electrify transportation and thus reduce transportation-related GHG emissions.
Read More »

Transformative Investment in Climate-Smart Agriculture: Unlocking the potential of our soils to help the U.S. achieve a net-zero economy

Download the document. This report examines how innovations in finance and technology can be applied to overcome barriers to adoption of climate-smart agriculture practices to
Read More »

Research Shows People Are Driving EVs Less Than Projected

Read the full story from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago. New data indicates electric vehicles may not be an easy substitute
Read More »

Finalists Selected for $10 Million Climate Challenge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.

Lever for Change has announced five finalists for the 2030 Climate Challenge, a $10 million award launched last year to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the buildings, industry,
Read More »

Researchers Develop Regional Lifecycle Assessment Tool for Electricity Use

Read the full story from U.S. EPA. EPA, in collaboration with the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) and the National Renewable Energy
Read More »

Hundreds of ‘predatory’ journals indexed on leading scholarly database

Read the full story in Nature. Scopus has stopped adding content from most of the flagged titles, but the analysis highlights how poor-quality science is
Read More »

Business Leadership Forum offers opportunities for stakeholder collaboration

A new forum will leverage the power of corporate reporting to drive action towards accomplishing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), by facilitating dialogue and collaboration
Read More »

Shorebirds in the Illinois River Valley

Read the full story in the Outdoor Illinois Wildlife Journal. Millions of wetland-dependent birds undergo long-distance migrations from wintering grounds in Central and South America
Read More »

‘Plastics don’t ever go away’—ISTC scientist John Scott studies impact of microplastics

by Lisa Sheppard, Prairie Research Institute Plastic products permeate our environment and over time they break down. The microscopic size of particles, how long they
Read More »

Next Generation Emission Measurements Help Understand Air Pollutants in Rubbertown Industrial Area of Louisville, Kentucky

Read the full story from U.S. EPA. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) include a wide range of chemical gases emitted into the air from various products
Read More »

Coke launches 100% rPET bottles in the US

Read the full story at Beverage Daily. Trademark Coca-Cola will roll out 100% rPET bottles in a 13.2oz size across the US this summer, following
Read More »

EVs, turbines, solar panels pose circular economy dilemma: NIST workshop

Read the full post at Waste Dive. Representatives from throughout the supply chain recently reflected on how batteries and electronics can find their place as
Read More »

Corporate concentration in the US food system makes food more expensive and less accessible for many Americans

by Philip H. Howard (Michigan State University) and Mary Hendrickson (University of Missouri-Columbia) Agribusiness executives and government policymakers often praise the U.S. food system for
Read More »

“We need ecodesign for chemicals and chemical products”, says Jutta Paulus MEP

Read the full story at EU Today. The European Environment Agency EEA has just published a briefing on safe and sustainable products. The EEA calls
Read More »

Simple change to fishing gear saves thousands of birds in Namibia

Read the full story in The Guardian. A cheap and simple change to the equipment used by Namibian fishing boats is saving tens of thousands
Read More »

Electric vehicles could be ‘imperfect substitutes’ for gas-powered cars, new study suggests

Read the full story at Utility Dive. Electric vehicles are being driven about half the distance of conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, according to
Read More »

How Can Green Cities Create Equitable Futures?

Read the full story at Arch Daily. Understanding what drives economic, social, and educational disparities between communities is one of urbanism’s most critical and highly-discussed
Read More »

How the EU wants to achieve a circular economy by 2050

Read the full story at EU Reporter. Find out about the EU’s circular economy action plan and what additional measures MEPs want to reduce waste
Read More »

Talking Rain talks sustainability efforts and ‘extremely big expectations’ for 2021

Read the full story at Beverage Daily. Addressing its natural gas use and fleet emissions, Talking Rain (maker of Sparkling ICE) is funding over 28,000
Read More »

PFAS destruction and disposal solutions may raise liability, long-term cost

Read the full story in Water World. Consulting firm GHD is helping waste generators and operators across the U.S. navigate the complex array of solutions
Read More »

A Growing Concern: Microplastic Pollution on Farm Fields

Read the full story from the NRDC. Scientists are showing that we are sending tons of tiny plastic particles into our soils each year, potentially
Read More »

Webinar: the Mapping Inequality Project

Thu, March 4, 2021, 11am-noon CSTRegister here. MS LIVE EVENT (Use web browser for best results) The Mapping Inequality Project created a foundational resource for unprecedented
Read More »

Webinar: Material Characterization and Economic Impacts of Recycling – 2020 Reports

Feb 25, 2021, 1-2 pm CSTRegister here. In 2018, the United States generated more than 292 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW). Measuring waste
Read More »

EPA Takes Action to Address PFAS in Drinking Water

Yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued two actions to protect public health by addressing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, highlighting
Read More »

Declaring key ocean habitats off-limits to human activities protects biodiversity and guards against climate change (commentary)

Ocean life is increasingly threatened: offshore drilling has polluted ocean waters while overfishing has stripped fish populations of their abundance, pushing stocks to the point of collapse. Oceans are...
Read More »

Jaguars in Suriname’s protected parks remain vulnerable to poaching

In mid-June 2012, a few months after she started monitoring the jaguars inside Brownsberg Nature Park in Suriname, biologist Vanessa Kadosoe saw Amalia for the first time. Through the...
Read More »

Forest patches amid agriculture are key to orangutan survival: Study

Over the past two decades, orangutan researcher Marc Ancrenaz watched as a tidal wave of oil palm has engulfed his once-forested research sites in northern Borneo. When he would...
Read More »

‘The river will bleed red’: Indigenous Filipinos face down dam projects

KALINGA, Philippines — On Nov. 12, 2020, Typhoon Vamco cut across the northern Philippines, flooding more than 60 cities and towns in the Cagayan Valley. Millions of dollars’ worth...
Read More »

The perils of relying on high-tech networks in a warmer world (commentary)

Smart cities are held up as beacons of hope in meeting the climate crisis. This is because they reduce greenhouse gas emissions by paring back energy use and urban...
Read More »

‘A disgrace’: Luxury housing plans threaten Cambodia’s Bokor National Park

The planned construction of three luxury residential estates in vital wildlife refuge and popular tourist site Bokor National Park marks the latest update in a wider tale of loss...
Read More »

Mystery bird not seen in 172 years makes surprise reappearance in Borneo forest

Three years ago, Panji Gusti Akbar was flipping through the pages of Birds of the Indonesian Archipelago when he came across a photo of a bird with brown wings...
Read More »

Why zebras have stripes? Candid Animal Cam visits the Serengeti

Camera traps bring you closer to the secretive natural world and are an important conservation tool to study wildlife. This week we’re meeting one of the most iconic African...
Read More »

We’re killing those tropical trees we’re counting on to absorb carbon dioxide

“If a tree lives 500 years, it carries the carbon assimilated and stocked for the last 500 years,” says Giuliano Locosselli, a researcher at the University of São Paulo...
Read More »

Human impacts leave reefs short on sharks and long on moray eels

When Demian Chapman and his colleague first started setting up underwater cameras on reefs in 2015, the aim was to capture a lot of shark video. But sometimes they...
Read More »

Podcast: Is the growing ecosystem restoration movement our last hope for a sustainable future?

Today we’re taking a look at the growing movement to restore degraded ecosystems around the globe. Listen here: Ecological restoration refers to a range of human activities designed to...
Read More »

The Kalunga digitally map traditional lands to save Cerrado way of life

“We, the 39 Kalunga communities, have carried out the georeferencing of our land. And now we have an important tool for managing and protecting our territory! It will help...
Read More »

Only 1 of 52 pilot whales survives mass stranding in Indonesia

Just one of the 52 short-finned pilot whales that washed up on an Indonesian shore last week survived, an official said. Volunteers and local authorities on the island of...
Read More »

Agroforestry and land reform give Brazil cacao farmers sweet taste of success

“We consider the witches’ broom not a plague, but rather a ‘holy’ broom,” says Rubens de Jesus. “Thanks to it, we are on the land today.” That’s not a...
Read More »

When seas turn rough, gleaning keeps the fish on the table for some communities

Communities living close to hard-bottomed shallow shores are more likely to hand-catch marine animals during seasons when other types of fishing often aren’t possible, a new study shows. The...
Read More »

As Amazon forest-to-savanna tipping point looms, solutions remain elusive

When a swarm of bees attacked Acrísio dos Reis, something within him shifted. “Nature was lashing back at me,” he remembered, as he spoke by phone with Mongabay from...
Read More »

Electronic ears spy on poachers in a key Central American jaguar habitat

A gunshot explodes through the rainforest, followed by what sounds like branches falling from a tree. A dog barks. “Tito, did I hit it?” a man asks his companion...
Read More »

“Securing Indigenous guardianship of vital ecosystems”: Q&A with Nia Tero CEO Peter Seligmann

One of the dominant trends in conservation over the past 20 years has been growing recognition of the contributions Indigenous peoples have made toward conservationists’ goals of protecting biodiversity,...
Read More »

On a Philippine volcano, an eruption-proof mouse rules the roost

MANILA — The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991 spewed enough volcanic ash into the atmosphere to cool the world. In the immediate vicinity of the...
Read More »

New platform gathers data on Brazil’s disappearing Cerrado biome

Monitoring the ongoing deforestation of the Cerrado, the vast savanna scrubland that abuts the Amazon in Brazil, has become increasingly essential in recent decades. This biome, the most biodiverse...
Read More »

Here goes nothing: Male spiders found giving females silk-wrapped zilch

How do you let your crush know you’re interested in taking things to the next level? If you’re a male spider, you may give the female in question a...
Read More »

Gold and diamonds fail to shine as drivers of Amazon development

An analysis of social and economic parameters in gold and diamond mining regions in the Brazilian Amazon shows that these activities have done little to boost development for locals....
Read More »

‘Everything on this planet is connected’: Q&A with WWF’s Marco Lambertini

As the world works to emerge from the devastation and hardship brought by the pandemic, there has been much talk about the recovery being an opportunity to drive transformative...
Read More »

Mongabay founder wins environmental journalism award

Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett A. Butler has been awarded a 2020 SEAL Environmental Journalism Award in recognition of his coverage of environmental issues for the website. The honor is...
Read More »

Madagascar: Young farmers adopt new methods to help lemurs, forests and themselves

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — To the detriment of the forests surrounding his village, Safidiharinjaka Emmanuel Tolojanahary knew only traditional farming methods. Like most residents of his village, located in eastern...
Read More »

Backing the stewards of biocultural diversity: Q&A with Indigenous rights leader Carla Fredericks

For at least the past 20 years, conservation has been wrestling with some of the darker aspects of its historical relationship with local communities: legacies of colonialism, institutional racism,...
Read More »

U.N. report lays out blueprint to end ‘suicidal war on nature’

The world’s leaders, private companies and individuals must take a coordinated approach to address three environmental calamities facing the Earth at this moment, according to a report released Feb....
Read More »

Study highlights ‘terrible’ signs of species decline from wildlife trade

Pangolins, orchids and chameleons — these are just a few species that are regularly traded in local and international wildlife markets, contributing to a global industry worth billions of...
Read More »

Philippine quarries under scrutiny after deadly mudflow buries homes

ALBAY, Philippines — When Typhoon Goni made landfall in the Philippines on Nov. 1, 2020, experts predicted disaster. A day earlier, the national volcanology institute, PHIVOLCS, had warned that...
Read More »

In Malaysian Borneo’s rainforests, powerful state government set their own rules

Famed for its caves and karst ecosystems, Gunung Mulu National Park in Malaysian Borneo’s Sarawak state is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to more than 81 mammal species,...
Read More »

A tale of two seas: Closed season is a mixed bag for Philippine sardines industry

MINDANAO, Philippines — Four years ago, villagers in the town of Labason in the southern Philippines’ Zamboanga Peninsula woke up to a spectacle they never thought could happen in...
Read More »

Indonesian police may probe coal miners over deforestation-linked floods

JAKARTA — Police in Indonesia are considering opening an investigation into allegations that a recent deadly flood in Borneo may have been exacerbated by environmental degradation linked to coal...
Read More »

Podcast: Where oh where are the Sumatran rhinos?

The Sumatran rhino is a cute but cryptic species that teeters on the brink: with an estimated 80 individuals left in the wilds of its super dense rainforest home,...
Read More »

Big dream: NGO leads in creating 1,615-mile Amazon-Cerrado river greenbelt

Trees grow remarkably fast in the tropics, allowing the Araguaia Corridor to make fast headway. In the image at left, BJF Field Coordinator Carlos Eduardo Oliveira and BJF Project...
Read More »

Wasting away: Sea urchins suffer deformities from plastic chemicals

A lone figure kneels at the high-tide line of Tregantle Beach. A 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) sweep of golden sands that hugs the coast of Cornwall in southwest England, Tregantle is...
Read More »

Indigenous community wins recognition of its land rights in Panama

The Naso Tjër Di people of Panama now have a protected territory of their own. The creation of the 1,600-square-kilometer (620-square-mile) comarca, as it’s called in Panama, came as...
Read More »

In the fight to save the vaquita, conservationists take on cartels

From above, the Sea of Cortez is a picture of serenity: turquoise waters lapping against rose-tinted bluffs and soft sand beaches. But down below, beneath the water’s surface, a...
Read More »

European public roundly rejects Brazil trade deal unless Amazon protected

The Netherlands is one of the EU countries that stands strongly for an end to Amazon deforestation before ratifying the free trade agreement with Mercosur. This sign in front...
Read More »

‘A better world is within reach’: Q&A with Greenpeace’s Jennifer Morgan

Founded more than 50 years ago to protest nuclear testing, Greenpeace has grown to become one of the world’s most influential environmental groups, campaigning on a wide range of...
Read More »

Cat corridors between protected areas is key to survival of Cerrado’s jaguars

With no natural predators to worry about, jaguars (Panthera onca) roam the forests of South and Central America. This feline is found in 18 countries, but only 4% of...
Read More »

Grim toll from Indonesia’s abandoned mines may get even worse, report warns

JAKARTA — At least 168 people, mainly children, have died after falling into abandoned mining pits across Indonesia over the past seven years, according to a new report. The...
Read More »

Zero convictions as impunity blocks justice for victims of Brazil’s rural violence

When Jair Bolsonaro took office as president of Brazil at the start of 2019, he ushered in a climate of hostility toward rural activists — Indigenous peoples, environmentalists, advocates...
Read More »

As forests shrink, mammals are stressed out— with possible fallout for humans

Humans aren’t the only ones feeling anxiety about environmental destruction. As forests shrink, small mammals are also feeling stressed, and we can tell by their fur. A team of...
Read More »

More meat and playtime can calm your killer kitty

If you own a cat that roams outdoors, you’ve likely been the recipient of some grim gifts: a dead bird, decapitated mammal, ripped reptile, or even the odd, dismembered...
Read More »

500+ experts call on world’s nations to not burn forests to make energy

A forest biomass plant in the U.S. Southeast. Image courtesy of the Dogwood Alliance. More than 500 scientists and economists implored world leaders last week to stop treating as...
Read More »

‘Hungry’ palm oil, pulpwood firms behind Indonesia land-grab spike: Report

JAKARTA — Conflicts over land flared up across Indonesia in 2020, as Indigenous and rural communities tried to hold off pulpwood, palm oil and logging companies ramping up their...
Read More »

As Bahamas offshore project falls flat, oil driller island-hops across Caribbean

Bahamas Petroleum Company’s controversial bid to drill for offshore oil near the Florida coast hit a wall after its exploratory well did not find commercially viable reserves. Environmentalists in the Bahamas...
Read More »

Nearly one-third of all oak species threatened with extinction, report says

The priest class of the ancient European Celtic societies drew their name, the Druids, from the word for oak, revered as “the tree of life.” The Greek god Zeus...
Read More »

The controversial hunt for a multibillion-dollar treasure in a Chilean park

A two-and-a-half hour flight separates the Chilean capital of Santiago and the Archipiélago de Juan Fernández National Park. The archipelago is rich in marine and terrestrial biodiversity and comprises...
Read More »

Southeast Asian wild pigs confront deadly African swine fever epidemic

Since the 2018 emergence of African swine fever in China, the viral disease has torn through Asia, leaving behind a trail of economic devastation. It’s witheringly fatal to pigs...
Read More »