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).