States Adjusted By Use Of Renewable Energy.

Tree House, Singapore (kevouthere)

the Guardian

Cities need to be redesigned for the climate crisis. Can they make us happy, too?

It’s tempting to draw lines on a map, but we can’t forget that cities should be designed for the people who live there

(Full collection in link)

Bugs across globe are evolving to eat plastic, study finds

Surprising discovery shows scale of plastic pollution and reveals enzymes that could boost recycling

The increasing amount of plastic being added to our environments has created intense selection pressure for microbes that can break down plastic for energy.

Looking at environmental DNA samples, researchers have found 30,000 different enzymes capable of digesting different types of plastic. Almost 60% did not fit into any known enzyme types.

While previous plastic-eating microbes had primarily been found in garbage dumps or recycling plants (locations with very high levels of plastic), the enzymes in this study were collected from soil and ocean water throughout the world, meaning this phenomenon is even more widespread than we thought.

The goal is to utilize these enzymes for more efficient recycling–essentially breaking plastic down into its basic building blocks to reduce or even eliminate the need for new virgin plastic. An enzyme created in 2020 is already being used to recycle plastic bottles in only a couple of hours.

Thanks to the anonymous individual who sent this in!

Cape Point - South Africa (by Allan Harris) 

An epic view from 5,000 meters up in Peru’s Cordillera Huayhuash. [OC] [2800 x 3733] - ObamasLoveChild

Most people don’t realize that conventional dairy already has been focused on sustainability, we just don’t advertise

- We sequester carbon with the crops growing for the cows

- We use organic fertilizer from the cows instead on relying on synthetic fertilizers

- We recycle all our water to grow crops for the cows

- Cows up-cycle food byproducts into usable nutrition that would otherwise go to a landfill

Cows are a valuable part of the earths ecology and ecosystems. Many dairy farms today are installing methane digesters- that take cow manure, capture the emissions, and make renewable power. Installing these systems make dairies carbon negative meaning they are taking out more emissions than they are creating.

Percentage of electricity produced by renewable sources, by US state.