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Queen bans plastic. Man made pollution and it bites back: seafood eaters ingest 11,000 pieces of microplastic each year
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Queen Elizabeth II is banning plastic straws and bottles across the royal estates.
The Telegraph reported that the monarch is behind Buckingham Palace's plans to phase out single-use plastics from public cafes, royal residences and staff dining rooms. Royal caterers will instead use china plates and glasses or recyclable paper cups. Takeaway food from the Royal Collection cafes must be made of compostable or biodegradable packaging.
British lawmakers are also urging for more action to fight plastic pollution. A ban on microbeads came into force in Britain last month. In 2015, a 5p (5 British pennies) fee was introduced on plastic carrier bags, which led to 9 billion fewer bags being used. Many businesses in the UK are getting on board with cutting out plastics. Starbucks recently introduced a 5p disposable cup charge in 20 to 25 central London outlets to encourage customers to switch to reusable cups. And Iceland Foods, a major UK supermarket chain specializing in frozen food, announced that it will eliminate plastic packaging from its own brand of products by the end of 2023.
The Queen was reportedly inspired to take action after working with famed naturalist Sir David Attenborough on a conservation documentary about wildlife in the Commonwealth. Attenborough's "Blue Planet II" documentary that aired last year highlighted the devastating effects of plastic on our oceans and marine life.
The Queen declares war on plastic after David Attenborough documentary read more »
2018 Winter Games. Shirtless flag-bearer turns up Olympic heat in sub-zero temperatures
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It was very, very cold in Pyeongchang for the opening ceremony. Pita Taufatofua did his part to heat things up.
Two years after stealing the show as Tonga’s flag bearer during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, Taufatofua was back glistening beneath the fireworks in Pyeongchang on Friday. For the Winter Olympics. Again, he carried the Tongan flag in the opening ceremony. Again, he was shirtless.
With frigid temperatures in South Korea on Friday, people in the stands for the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics were given a raincoat, a blanket, a knit cap, a warm seat cushion, and multiple hand and feet warmers. Meanwhile... "Tongan flagbearer Pita Taufatafua is once again shirtless & glistening w/coconut oil, just like in Rio when he went viral. BUT IT’S 17 DEGREES HERE."
After needing four Olympic cycles to become Tonga’s first Olympic taekwondo competitor in Rio, the Australia-born 34-year-old pivoted to cross-country skiing in time for Pyeongchang. He is Tonga’s sole athlete at the 2018 Olympics.
There were nearly 2,800 athletes representing 90 countries around the world, but it was the shirtless Tongan flag-bearer that everyone's talking about. In Pyeongchang, temperatures were well-below freezing for the opening ceremonies for the 2018 Winter Olympics. read more »
Winter Olympics. Traditional dance: stunning; S and N Korea athletes march as one entering ring as unified team sharing flag
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2 Koreas Make History Marching Under Unified Flag In Olympics Opener
The nations, split by war, are using the Winter Games as an opportunity to seek a rapprochement.
North Korean and South Korean athletes participating in the 2018 Winter Olympics marched as one during Friday’s opening ceremony, gleefully entering the ring as a unified team sharing a flag.
Spectators were visibly moved, HuffPost Korea reported, with some in the audience tearing up at the sight. The unified flag shows the Korean peninsula in blue, set against a white backdrop.
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Photo courtesy @HuffPost
Upside-down dream. Housing market wiped out $11 trillion household wealth. 8 mil lose homes to foreclosure, 12 mil "underwater"
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Upside-down dream: "my 10-Year Odyssey".
Housing market wiped out $11 trillion in household wealth. 8 million lose homes to foreclosure, 12 million "underwater"
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Image courtesy WSJ
2018. Year of the Bird. Stunning video: Christian Moullec flying with birds to save them since 1995
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2018 - Year of the Bird
2018 marks the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the most powerful and important bird-protection law ever passed. In honor of this milestone, nature lovers around the world are joining forces to celebrate the "Year of the Bird"” and commit to protecting birds today and for the next hundred years.
Stunning Video Shows a Man Flying With Birds
What started as a conservation effort in the 1990s now puts tourists into the air, soaring alongside geese and cranes.
When Christian Moullec saw that lesser white-fronted geese were struggling with their migration from Germany to Sweden in 1995, he took to the skies to help them. Today, weather permitting, he soars with birds on an almost daily basis.
A meteorologist by trade, the 58-year-old Frenchman didn't start out as a pilot. But inspired by an Austrian zoologist known as "the man who walked with geese," Moullec adapted a two-seater ultralight aircraft to fly alongside the vulnerable species to guide them on a safer migration route. Now, from March through October, he takes tourists up to fly with birds. read more »
Massive reforestation. To cover 23% of landmass, in 5 years 83.5 million acres of forest planted across China
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The pollution-beleaguered country plans to increase forest coverage to 23 percent of its total landmass by the end of the decade.
Outdoor air pollution contributes to the deaths of an estimated 1.6 million people in China annually (that's 4,400 people a day). Meanwhile, less than 20 percent of the water from underground wells used by farms, factories and homes is fit for drinking or bathing thanks to industrial and agricultural contamination. But with the recent news that the country will no longer be the world's dumping ground for plastic waste, and other ambitious green initiatives - nixing new coal-fired power plants, investing in renewable energy, et cetera - China is showing the world that it is changing its ways.
The latest chapter is a massive reforestation plan, as reported by David Stanway at Reuters, in which the country plans to plant 6.6 million hectares of forest by the end of the year. One hectare is equal to 2.47 acres, meaning that the country will be getting 16.3 million acres of trees. Stanway writes:
“Planting trees has become a key part of China's efforts to improve its environment and tackle climate change, and the government has pledged to raise total coverage from 21.7 percent to 23 percent over the 2016-2020 period, said the China Daily, citing the country's top forestry official.”
China to create new forests covering area size of Ireland: China Daily read more »
Daring, calm, no fear! Unicycling on the edge of a cliff, highlining 800 meters above Rio De Janeiro
a well-known daredevil unicycling on the edge of a cliff in Norway
rock climber scaling cliff at Waterval Boven, South Africa
this young man in Russia belongs to a group of people who hang from buildings with no safety equipment, for fun
Brian Mosby highlining 800 meters above Rio De Janeiro
Photo courtesy emgn.com