Zero Waste

International Zero Waste Week: How Tennessee Community Leaders Worked Together to Inform and Inspire Students

International Zero Waste Week originated in the United Kingdom in 2008 to aid organizations in reducing waste being sent to landfills. It is acknowledged annually during the first full week of September. In recognition of International Zero Waste Week, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, or TDEC, recognizes Zero Waste Day every October 27th. They held the inaugural Zero …

City of Shanghai covered in a thick haze of pollution

Pollution, Waste, and COVID-19: The Good, the Bad, and our Future

Beginning of our new normal: COVID-19 The World Health Organization, or WHO, declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Everyone remembers where they were that day. I know I do. Sports stopped. Social events were canceled. People scrambled for toilet paper and food without knowing when this pandemic would end.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, …

Factory smokestack pollution in nature

Landmark Warning About the Future of the Planet: The August 2021 IPCC Climate Report

The planet is growing warmer every single year. For decades, we’ve experienced drastic weather pattern shifts, severe flooding in Germany, severe wildfires in California, and deadly hurricanes in Louisiana and Texas. Our planet is in trouble. And we need to help it. The IPCC Climate ReportWhy did the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, cause so much alarm with …