Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. In college, I drove a little electric truck around campus and picked ...

Unfortunately, new research from the University of Plymouth found that after three years in the dirt or water, so-called “biodegradable” bags were still in relatively good shape. Many were still ...

It’s no secret that the world has a plastic bag pollution problem. In the United States alone, 100 billion are used each year—the European Union goes through another 100 billion bags—and these ...

Using plastic bags is an ecological disaster; it takes about 1,000 years for one to degrade in a landfill (and even then, it leaves behind microplastics that can add toxins to soil or water).

The average person uses a typical plastic bag for as short a time as 12 minutes before throwing it away, never thinking of where it may end up. Biodegradable plastic bags are marketed as more ...

Richard Thompson, a British marine biologist who devoted his career to studying plastic waste, has long wondered how well biodegradable shopping bags actually degrade. So in 2015, he and his graduate ...