Plastic Costs the Environment $75 Billion Each Year, Report Says

Consumer goods companies are costing the environment $75 billion per year through their use of plastics, revealed a report released last week.

"Valuing plastic", the report from the Plastic Disclosure Project, the U.N. Environment Programme and natural capital analysts Trucost, evaluates the environmental and social impact of plastics used by businesses. It assesses the financial cost to companies were they to be financially responsible for their plastics usage.

This "zero-waste" supermarket got rid of all food packaging

(Salon) Forget plastic bag bans. Berlin is now home to a supermarket that’s gotten rid of all disposable packaging. Original Unverpackt (“Original Unpackaged”), which opened Saturday, is more of a shop, to be exact, but its 350-some products — including from fruits, vegetables, dry grains and pourable liquids like yogurt, lotion and shampoo — are dispensed into refillable containers. (Some liquids come in bottles with deposits on them, which is already standard in Germany).

Israel soon to ban "the most damaging environmental pollutant of the cold war”—Will the U.S. follow suit?

Unlike the United States, which continues to poison its population with fluoridated water, the Supreme Court of Israel has ordered the country to stop adding the toxin to all water supplies by next year. Considering fluoride is linked with decreased thyroid and kidney function, infertility, lowered intelligence, impaired bone strength, heart disease and elevated cancer risk, the Israeli government has taken a major step toward protecting the health of its citizens. Yet, for those who live in one of the few developed nations that insist on fluoridating the water supply, effective measures can be taken to protect oneself.

Water fluoridation unusual around the world

While it might seem downright miraculous to Americans that a country would completely refuse water fluoridation, truth be told, widespread use of the toxin rarely happens internationally. The United States is one of only seven nations that fluoridates more than 50 percent of its total water supply (Ireland, Malaysia, Australia, Colombia, New Zealand and Singapore are the other six). Canada just slips under the radar at 40 percent. Asia and a majority of the European Union have rejected the practice, and for good reason. Christopher Bryson, author of "The Fluoride Deception," classifies fluoride as "the most damaging environmental pollutant of the cold war."