Scientists have named a new marine ecological community, the Plastisphere, comprised of, you guessed it, plastic -- and all the organisms that now call ocean plastic home.

Last night, the Encinitas, CA City Council Natural Resources Committee voted to draft a ban on plastic bags, which may include a fee for customers use of any single-use plastic bags and paper bags as reported on

Image via: Project Kasei on Flickr Project Kaisei, the mission to research and figure out just what the heck we're going to do about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, made it to the Gyre just a few days ago. Their results: yep, there's a lot of plastic

Think we are cutting back? They are just getting started, and we are going to be buried in the stuff.

Research reveals that rivers deliver up to 4 million metric tons of plastic debris to the sea every year, with up to 95% coming from just 10 of them.

The levels were so high that scientists are revising up their estimates for global marine microplastic pollution.

Ladies and gentlemen, we've finally reached peak TreeHugger.

A report found that bottles have surpassed bags and straws when it comes to prevalence in freshwater rivers.

The fast food chain will also take old plastic toys and melt them down for repurposing.

The limited edition pieces are designed to give plastic waste a second life.

The prime minister also mentioned holding companies responsible for the packaging waste they create.

Unfortunately, people like the slogans a bit too much.

A Canadian scientist wants us to rethink our approach to plastic and challenge the colonial system that produces it.

Slow, incremental changes are more effective than trying to do it all at once.

The big question is how well will it be enforced and what alternatives are currently readily available.

This company proves that plastic waste can be a valuable resource.

They may sound progressively eco-friendly, but a new Greenpeace report explains why they're not.

Paper or plastic bags: which is better? It's an age old question, when it comes time to check out when grocery shopping: paper bag or plastic bag? It seems like it should be an easy choice, but there's an incredible number of details and inputs hidden

In what is said to be a first for automakers, Ford is developing foams and plastics using captured carbon dioxide, which could be integrated into the company's vehicles within five years.

Thirty bottles will buy you a ticket on the subway or bus.

A concept water bottle pulls water from the air like the Namib Desert Beetle.

You may think you're ingesting a safe, clean product, but you're really putting synthetic microfibers into your body.

Just what the Great Lakes needs, more aquatic invasives. We're worrying about Asian carp and now we have whales? Whales in the Great Lakes, on Lake Superior? Well, "whale burps" have been found

Restaurants win; Great Lakes lose.

As environmental awareness spreads, shoppers are making different choices.

We are now prisoners of the petrochemical industry.

I don't buy many plastic bottles, but the ones that I do will take some creative workarounds to avoid.

The French government has set a goal of eliminating all single-use plastics by 2040. Phase one has begun.

I tasked myself with buying no plastic bottles for the year; here's how it's going so far.

They are basically solid fossil fuels, putting out as much as 6 kg of CO2 for every kg of plastic.

What is vinyl? Let's explore how this ubiquitous and versatile plastic is made, what its uses are, and all of its safety concerns.

TreeHugger and Elephant Journal have teamed up to share 31 creative tips for skipping plastic, one for each day of July.

Perhaps yes, if our food system stays the way it is, but maybe that's what we should be challenging.

Starting in 2020, the company will redesign packaging to be more environmentally-friendly.

Made by NPR, it explains what's recyclable, what becomes trash, and why.

This year, Gandhi's birthday will be marked by a national crackdown on six specific plastic items.

It's time we stopped greenwashing plastic alternatives and realized they do more harm than good.

And researchers estimate there's another 3 trillion pieces in surface sediments.

A new study shows that all-plastic tea bags release billions of particles into hot water.

"Bags for life," as they're called, do not get reused nearly as much as retailers would like to believe.

Hawaii's most populated island is implementing tough new rules for packaging.

A scientific assessment has confirmed enormous amounts of waste and definite harm to wildlife.

Judith Thornton questions the conventional wisdom about plastic packaging. She has a controversial point.

Environment minister called waste importers 'traitors' who don't care about the country's long-term sustainability.

Bloom hoovers up harmful algae overgrowth from waterways and turns it into a flexible foam that can replace some petroleum-based products.

A new term for those who try to live without plastic, that might just catch on.

From one problem to the next...

With 100 percent recycled content, it's an impressive standard for technical gear.

They're non-toxic, waterproof, and cute.

A modern life without plastic may seem an impossibility, but this Canadian duo shows it's achievable.