For online retailers, packaging is all about economics

Mar 6, 2018
Online retailers are trying to cut down on package waste. But designing a new box for everything a company ships takes a lot of time.
Anton Cotaj at ANAMA Package and Container Testing tests boxes on a machine that simulates road conditions.
Kristin Schwab/ for Marketplace

Top German court gives cities a green light for diesel restrictions

Feb 27, 2018
Germany’s top administrative court today ruled that cities can now ban older diesel vehicles from high-pollution areas. Before Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal a few years ago, more than half of the new cars sold in Europe had diesel engines. They’ve been losing market share ever since, and today’s ruling only hastens the decline of diesel. That’s […]

Could kelp help mitigate ocean acidification?

Feb 22, 2018
Seawater's changing chemistry is making it harder for oysters and other shellfish to grow.
Stephen Schreck, left, and Ryan Cox of Puget Sound Restoration Fund collect kelp samples.
Greg Davis

Entrepreneurs starting to see opportunities in other people's food scraps

Feb 12, 2018
The Environmental Protection Agency is looking to keep food waste out of landfills. One entrepreneur in rural New Hampshire is pinning her business to that goal.
Jessica Saturley-Hall, founder of the Upper Valley Compost Company, picks up a bucket full of food scraps in Grantham, New Hampshire. 
Britta Greene/Marketplace

What happens when a new technology that is better for the environment also eliminates jobs?

Feb 9, 2018
A union in California goes up against the rising tide of automation.
Longshoremen working on the ship COSCO Denmark at a non-automated terminal at the Port of Long Beach in 2010.
Photo courtesy of the Port of Long Beach

Building an agricultural empire in a land of drought

Feb 5, 2018
The Wonderful Company produced more pistachios and almonds than anyone else in the world. But to make money, they need water.
A Wonderful Company citrus orchard.
Photo courtesy of Trent Davis Bailey/The California Sunday Magazine

Not so fast: Climate change will slow air travel

Jan 1, 2018
Extreme weather means more challenges for airlines getting planes in the air. Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

For public good, not for profit.

Trump administration may roll back safety rules put in place after BP oil spill

Dec 28, 2017
After the BP oil spill in 2010, a new federal oversight agency was created: the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement. Now, according to the Wall Street Journal, it’s proposing to roll back some of the safety rules it created.  Click the audio player above to hear the full story. 

Trump’s promises have some coal miners optimistic — so they’re staying in the industry

Dec 27, 2017
While some coal miners continue looking for work in the industry, others look to careers outside of coal for more stability.
Low natural gas prices will likely continue to keep the coal market weak. Above, a coal mound in Shelbiana, Kentucky.
Photo by Luke Sharrett/Getty Images

China’s new carbon market will be the biggest in the world

Dec 19, 2017
China’s announcement of its carbon market is long-awaited. It was promised for 2017, and the nation has delivered just under the wire. While it will only cover the power sector for now, it’s still set to be the largest carbon-pollution trading market in the world.  Click the audio player above to hear the full story.