- Jamaica to ban plastic bags, straws and foam containers too
- Atlis XT 500-mile electric truck to challenge Detroit 3’s pickup dominance
- Would you pay twice as much for ‘zero-waste’ groceries
- 300,000+ Plastic Bottles Recycled in ‘Reverse Vending Machines’ Test Run in UK
- The booming wind energy economy needs workers–this high school program trains them
1) Jamaica to ban plastic bags, straws and foam containers too
The island nation is the latest in a long line of places making a move against single-use plastic. From Scotland banning plastic-handled cotton buds to India reportedly banning all single-use plastics by 2023 , we’ve seen many encouraging steps in the war against plastic marine litter of late. The latest positive sign is a move by Jamaica—reported in the Independent – to ban plastic bags, drinking straws and foam containers by January next year. Besides the simple fact that all single-use plastic bans, whether they involve an entire country or a specific hotel chain , inherently reduces the number of plastics that are in danger of “leaking” into the open environment, there are several reasons to be particularly excited about this happening in Jamaica.
2) Atlis XT 500-mile electric truck to challenge Detroit 3’s pickup dominance
There’s another electric car startup that aims to challenge the bread and butter of the Detroit 3 automakers, by offering a full-size pickup truck boasting some serious numbers. The company is Atlis Motor Vehicles, which so far has been operating in stealth mode but this week revealed the XT, a full-size electric pickup truck boasting up to 500 miles of range and a starting price of $45,000. Atlis was founded in 2016 by Mesa, Arizona-based engineer and truck enthusiast Mark Hanchett, who came up with the idea after investigating turning his own diesel pickup into an EV. His goal was to develop an electric full-size pickup truck with specifications and capabilities similar or better to what’s on the market today. We’re talking superior bed sizes, towing capacity, fifth wheel and gooseneck towing capability, payload capacity, six-passenger capacity, ability to swap the bed for service bodies, and of course that 500-mile range claim.
Atlis XT 500-mile electric truck to challenge Detroit 3’s pickup dominance
3) Would you pay twice as much for ‘zero-waste’ groceries?
The “zero-waste” movement promotes bringing your own containers — and buying in bulk. A growing number of New Yorkers are willing to pay double for “zero-waste” groceries. It’s all part of the package(-free) deal for a new wave of eco-conscious consumers who would rather stretch their paycheck than the planet’s sustainability. The tagline at Precycle, a grocery store that opened this month in Brooklyn’s hipster hub, Bushwick: “Just food — no packaging.” Instead, customers bring their own jars, bags and old takeout containers to load up on items such as organic pasta ($9.59 a pound) and brown rice ($4.99 a pound) — at twice the price they sell for at mainstream retailers such as Whole Foods. “Ordinary food” just won’t cut it for proponents of the zero-waste lifestyle, Precycle owner Katerina Bogatireva tells the Wall Street Journal .
4) 300,000+ Plastic Bottles Recycled in ‘Reverse Vending Machines’ Test Run in UK
One UK store’s attempt to fight plastic pollution has turned out to be a smashing success. Last year, supermarket chain Iceland became the first UK retailer to install “reverse vending machines” that allow customers to return plastic bottles purchased at the store and receive a 10 pence voucher in return. The program has proved popular, according to figures published Wednesday and reported by The Guardian . Customers had returned 311,500 bottles to date.
300,000+ Plastic Bottles Recycled in ‘Reverse Vending Machines’ Test Run in UK
5) The booming wind energy economy needs workers–this high school program trains them
When the Block Island Wind farm began operations off the coast of Rhode Island in 2016, the state officially became home to the country’s first offshore wind development. Now that the Block Island farm been up and running for two years, Rhode Island is leading the way on another initiative: a training program for students interested in careers in the offshore wind industry. Called Wind Win Rhode Island , the program launched this fall with a small cohort at Rocky Hill School and North Kingstown High School, which both border Rhode Island’s coast. Through Wind Win RI, which was developed in partnership with the North Kingstown Chamber of Commerce and the state’s labor and job training department, students learn the ins and outs of the offshore wind energy sector.
The booming wind energy economy needs workers–this high school program trains them
