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Pollution

Why is there so much plastic in the produce aisle?

by Amy Scott and Sofia Terenzio
Apr 4, 2024
Plastic packaging helps food be transported and extends its freshness. But it contributes to climate change and clogs our waterways.
Bagged salads contribute to the plastic waste stream. Americans bought $4.3 billion worth of them in 2023, says Kim Severson of The New York Times.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
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Space industry pollution above could have serious consequences for the environment below

by Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio
Feb 5, 2024
Damage to the ozone layer could raise the risk of skin cancer, cataracts and immune disorders, says science reporter Shannon Hall.
Decommissioned satellites are designed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere, but they leave behind pollutants in their wake.
Chadan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images
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Midwest's pollution is spurring a reverse Great Migration

by Kimberly Adams and Sarah Leeson
Dec 28, 2023
Thousands of Black families have left industrial cities like Detroit and Chicago due to environmental conditions. Many head to the South.
Adam Mahoney traveled through the Midwest visiting cities where blight and pollution are driving Black families away from the region.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Who will clean "thousands of tiny toxic waste sites all over our cities"?

by Kai Ryssdal and Livi Burdette
Jul 19, 2023
Leaking gasoline storage tanks pose an environmental — and financial — risk to fueling stations across the country.
Photo Illustration by Miguel Villagran/Getty Images
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Lead smelters provide a crucial service, but what of the health effects?

by Caleigh Wells
Mar 29, 2023
A secondary lead smelter near Los Angeles is planning to expand, distressing residents concerned about potential illness.
The Quemetco secondary lead smelter, one of the last remaining facilities in the country, is planning to expand. People living nearby aren't happy. Above, a lead and silver smelting plant in operation.
Aizar Raldes/AFP via Getty Images
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Will “deprinting” reduce the paper industry’s carbon footprint?

by Stephen Beard
Aug 17, 2022
A new device will allow the same sheet of paper to be erased and reprinted 10 times, cutting waste and carbon emissions.
The cycle of felling trees, transporting them and using fossil fuel-based processes to turn them into pulp for paper is highly polluting.
rustycanuck/Getty Images
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Port slowdowns worsen air pollution in neighboring communities

by Amanda Peacher
Dec 1, 2021
Portside communities in California have suffered from polluted air for years.
A ferry passes the Port of Los Angeles. Neighborhoods surrounding the port have suffered from pollution linked to transporting massive volumes of goods.
Mario Tama via Getty Images
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Stimulus could fund ventilation improvements in classrooms

by Meghan McCarty Carino
Mar 15, 2021
Run-down public schools made air quality a problem before COVID.
Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images
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Can plastic-eating bacteria help cut down on pollution?

by Stephen Beard
Oct 26, 2020
British and American researchers have developed a “super-enzyme” to reduce the cost and improve the efficiency of recycling of plastic waste.
Municipal workers clear plastic from a canal in Bangkok in June.
Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP via Getty Images
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Artist turns thousands of plastic bags into Times Square public art project

by Marisa Mazria Katz
Oct 26, 2020
The pop-up "store" is filled with handcrafted items made from single-use plastic bags.
Artist Robin Frohardt stands outside her Times Square immersive art exhibit, "The Plastic Bag Store."
Maria Baranova/Courtesy of Times Square Arts
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