Consumer

"In Uganda’s Mbale district, famous for its production of arabica coffee, a plague of plastic bags locally known as buveera is creeping beyond the city."

"New Mexico is poised to become the third state to institute a full-fledged ban on products that contain toxic “forever chemicals,” as two key bills head to the governor’s desk."

"The toxic substance, used in dry cleaning and manufacturing, has been linked to a host of serious health problems. A Biden-era ban on the chemical has faced multiple challenges since Trump took office."

"When Leslie Stewart moved to her home in a rural expanse of Lincoln County outside of Oklahoma City more than 20 years ago, she thought she’d found a slice of heaven. ... But several years ago, her neighbor began applying sewage sludge, which consists largely of human waste left over from municipal wastewater treatment facilities, as a fertilizer on his farmland, causing a rancid smell so powerful it nearly took her breath away."

"Advocates fear the agency will “justify avoiding any enforcement whatsoever” of millions of tons of coal ash nationwide."

"A jury in Georgia has ordered Monsanto parent Bayer to pay nearly $2.1 billion in damages to a man who says the company’s Roundup weed killer caused his cancer, according to attorneys representing the plaintiff."

"The agency will no longer shut down “any stage of energy production,” absent an imminent threat, a new memo says, and will curtail efforts to cut pollution in poorer areas."

"Sardines in the Mediterranean struggling for a decent bite of shrinking plankton are accidentally ingesting more and more microplastics and microfibres, scientists have found. And the root cause of all their problems? Well, it's climate change - of course."

"Styrofoam coffee cups, plates, clamshell takeout containers and other food service items made with expanded polystyrene plastic can still be found in restaurants and on store shelves, despite a ban that went into effect on Jan. 1."