positive Land news
Six million turn out for global garbage clean-upMore than six million volunteers from 96 countries collected an unprecedented 100,000 tonnes of garbage last year as part of a global, web-driven clean-up campaign, cyber-environmentalists said Friday. |
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Swiss Parliament Passes Plastic Bag BanSwitzerland’s Parliament has approved a motion banning single-use plastic shopping bags. Both houses of the Swiss Parliament Thursday voted to forbid the distribution of the plastic bags. The next step is for the government to implement the ban. |
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Johnson & Johnson Announces a Ban on Harmful Chemicals in ProductsJohnson & Johnson made the landmark announcement this week that it would ban harmful chemicals from their products. |
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Madagascar Gets Biggest Lemur Park
via Live Science |
Fri August 17, 2012 |
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Southeast Asia’s largest lowland rainforest spared from new land concessionsFour economic land concessions have been cancelled in Cambodia's Prey Lang forest, known as the largest intact lowland forest in Southeast Asia, reports the Phnom Penh Post |
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Company Designs Bottle From Great Pacific Garbage Patch DebrisSomewhere in the vicinity of Hawaii, a huge mass of plastic debris floats in the Pacific. And that’s just a fraction of the waste that’s bobbing around out there. Compared to the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” one plastic soap bottle may not seem like much. But if that one bottle is mass produced by soap-maker Method, it could turn out to make a big difference. |
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Human Rights Court Rules in Favor of Community Over Ecuadorian GovernmentIn a case that could have broad implications, the Kichwa community of Sarayaku, Ecuador, won a major battle on July 25, when the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the Ecuadorian government had violated its rights to communal property and cultural identity. |
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Quebecers cut plastic bag use in halfQuebecers cut their plastic bag use by more than half in three years, Environment Minister Pierre Arcand said on Monday. |
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Scientists Develop Method to Reduce Farmers’ Use of Nitrogen FertilizerScientist at Michigan State University are putting the finishing touches on a program that would pay farmers to apply less nitrogen fertilizer in a way that doesn't jeopardize yields. |
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10,000 sq mi of Congo rainforest declared World Heritage site
via MongaBay |
Mon July 02, 2012 |
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Ten African nations pledge to transform their economies to take nature into accountLast month ten African nations, led by Botswana, pledged to incorporate 'natural capital' into their economies. Natural capital, which seeks to measure the economic worth of the services provided by ecosystems and biodiversity—for example pollination, clean water, and carbon—is a nascent, but growing, method to curtail environmental damage and ensure more sustainable development. |
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Toronto joins growing list of municipalities to ban plastic bagsWhat started off as a debate to get rid of an unpopular five-cent fee for a plastic bag has ended up with the largest outright ban on plastic bags in North America. |
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Netherlands’ Repair Cafes Curb ConsumerismHow awesome is the idea of a repair cafe? Very simply, it is a place you take your old, broken-down items, buy a cup of coffee and get your things fixed so that you can continue using them. |
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Hawaii first state to ban plastic bags at checkoutBy now, it’s hardly news when a city bans plastic bags at checkout counters -- but an entire state? That’s happened in Hawaii, where Honolulu County has joined the state’s three other counties to give Hawaii a first-in-the-nation title. |
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Environmental news headlines
- EU to ban pesticides in bee scare
- New law to protect Puerto Rico leatherback turtles
- China, world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, will tax carbon
- New wind power cheaper than coal or gas in Australia
- Gorillas to Be Protected with New Congo National Park
- From the brink of extinction: elephant seals stage remarkable comeback
- Nations agree on legally binding mercury rules
- Six million turn out for global garbage clean-up
- Obama triples area of protected California coastline
- Swiss Parliament Passes Plastic Bag Ban
- This week, a shark sanctuary the size of Australia has been established
- French move boosts shark sanctuaries
- Canada introduces new rules to curb future vehicle emissions
- Brazil says Amazon deforestation at record low
- Australia outlaws illegally-logged wood from abroad
- Tokelau islands shift to 100% solar energy
- Another city in BC bans shark fins
- EU on track to exceed Kyoto emissions goal
- Victory for Forests: Disney Stands Up for Endangered Forests and Animals
- new mammal menagerie uncovered in remote Peruvian cloud forest
- more