Joseph Winters
Editorial Intern
About Joseph Winters
Science major who prefers the pen to the pipette. Mad about the climate crisis and institutional investments in fossil fuels; excited about massaged kale and making spreadsheets. Formerly at Living on Earth and Oregon Public Broadcasting.
After 2 years, Coca-Cola’s promise to scale up reusable packaging is dead
The pledge was born out of shareholder activism — and was withdrawn as regulators crack down on greenwashing.
The US no longer supports capping plastic production in UN treaty
Environmental advocates understand the announcement as a reversal, calling it “absolutely devastating.”
Amazon dumps plastic cushioning for package protection
Around the world, products inside the company’s packages are now cushioned by paper-based padding that can be collected in curbside recycling programs.
Biden administration buys in on carbon offsets
Though a series of investigations seem to have exposed the carbon market as an ineffective answer to climate change, the U.S. federal government's new guidelines aim to restore confidence in the controversial climate solution.
Bottled water is full of microplastics. Is it still ‘natural’?
Recent lawsuits filed against the companies behind brands including Arrowhead, Evian and Poland Spring say they and other water bottlers are deceiving customers.
Detergent pods are just the start of clothing’s microplastic pollution problem
A New York City bill — dubbed “Pods Are Plastic” — proposes a ban on dishwashing and laundry detergent pods coated in PVA, a type of plastic that disintegrates when submerged in water.
Petrochemical companies have known since the 1980s that plastics recycling wouldn’t work
A recent report by the non-profit Center for Climate Integrity chronicles a “decades-long campaign of fraud and deception” from Big Oil and the plastics industry to promote recycling as a solution to the plastic pollution crisis.
Chemicals in plastic food packaging linked to 10% of preterm births in 2018
Phthalate exposure is just one way the plastics industry externalizes harm. Its products are made from fossil fuels, and making them releases billions of tons of greenhouse gas every year — not to mention toxic air and water emissions.
‘The bottom line is that plastic bag bans work’
According to a new report, plastic bag bans can eliminate nearly 300 single-use plastic bags per person per year.
Poor countries face the biggest threats from plastic pollution
A person picks up trash in a landfill. A new analysis finds lower-income countries pay eight times more for plastic’s social and environmental impacts.