What ‘biodegradable’ packaging really means – and 3 key questions to ask about it
Biodegradability standards are helpful for consumers and waste regulators.
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The Conversation
Your ‘recycled polyester’ leggings are not as sustainable as you think
The story is more complicated. What looks like circular recycling is often a one-way trip to landfill.
Is ‘vegan leather’ as sustainable or eco‑friendly as brands claim?
‘Vegan leather’ is often seen as the better choice – even though how long it lasts, and where it ends up, is rarely questioned.
Climate-affected produce is here to stay. Here’s what it takes for consumers to embrace it
Climate-affected produce resembles “ugly” food as it is often smaller, misshapen or has surface imperfections.
Want to buy an electric car but unsure you can justify it? Here’s how the arguments against EVs stack up
But you’ve heard arguments against electric cars: they have limited range and many owners can’t easily charge at home.
Social media ads are littered with ‘green’ claims. How are we supposed to know they’re true?
Online platforms are awash with ads for so-called “green” products. Power companies are “carbon…
The world’s 280 million electric bikes and mopeds are cutting demand for oil far more than electric cars
The electric transport revolution is a great chance to rethink how we move through our cities – and whether we even need a car at all.
How microplastics are making their way into farmland
Microplastics are readily found in treated wastewater sludge — also known as municipal biosolids — that eventually make their way to our agricultural soils.
Turning the housing crisis around: how a circular economy can give us affordable, sustainable homes
In social housing, tenant preferences are rarely considered in sustainable retrofits.
Australia’s EV fleet doubled last year. Can the power grid handle the strain?
We estimate each vehicle uses just under 10 kilowatt-hours of electricity per day. That’s about 40 per cent of the daily use of a four-person house in Queensland.
We can’t keep putting apartment residents’ waste in the ‘too-hard basket’
The growth in apartment living in Australia threatens to add to the growing challenge of apartment waste – a worldwide problem.
Households find low waste living challenging. Here’s what needs to change
If the transition to a circular economy is to be successful, it needs to be planned from the perspective of everyday life within households.
Here’s how your cup of coffee contributes to climate change
Global coffee consumption has been increasing steadily for almost 30 years. It is estimated that around 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed daily worldwide.
Coffin? Casket? Cremation? How to make your death more environmentally friendly
The global population is close to 8 billion, and the amount of land available for human burial is running out…
Already, more adult incontinence products go to landfill than baby nappies in Australia. By 2030, it could be 10 times higher
Why we all need to get much better at dealing with the waste issues associated with adult incontinence products.