California Becomes First State to Ban Plastic Bags

California Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed the nation’s first statewide ban on single-use plastic bags at grocery and convenience stores, driven to action by pollution in streets and waterways.

Breaking Bad on the Beach

Tens of thousands of ships ply the world’s oceans, bays, and rivers. But what happens when those ships have become too old or too expensive to operate? In most cases, they end up on the shores of Asia…literally.

Côte d’Ivoire Chokes on its Plastic Shopping Bags

Each year, Côte d’Ivoire produces 200,000 tonnes of plastic bags of which 40,000 go directly into the trash. Less than 20 percent of this plastic is recycled. In this West African nation, the pressure is growing to find alternatives to plastic shopping bags.