The Surfrider Foundation uses a network of volunteers and laboratories to monitor water quality at beaches to make sure it is safe to surf and swim in the ocean and to identify potential pollution problems, says Chad Nelsen. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/Chad-Nelsen
As demand for gas and oil drops, the industry is shifting to manufacture of plastics at "cracker plants" in the Midwest. Chad Nelsen of the Surfrider Foundation says there is concern about loose regulations and the production of more plastic. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/Chad-Nelsen
"Turn your garden into a solution for pollution." Chad Nelsen says the Surfrider Foundation's Ocean Friendly Gardens program encourages people to use plants, permeable surfaces, and some landscaping techniques to capture rain and prevent runoff. Watch the podcast: https://bit.ly/Chad-Nelsen
A variety of local laws seek to reduce single-use #plastic items such as bags, straws, and styrofoam containers because of their huge environmental cost - only 10 percent end up being recycled, says Julia Stein of the Emmett Center on Climate and Environment at UCLA. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/JuliaStein
The most successful ways of regulating single-use #plastic bags are fees and a hybrid of a fee and ban, with these policies encouraging consumers to change behavior and bring reusable bags, says Julia Stein of the Emmett Institute on Climate and Environment at UCLA. Watch the #podcast: https://bit.ly/JuliaStein
Single-use plastic continues to deliver environmental damage, including polluting waterways and the ocean, adding to greenhouse gas emissions, and resulting in microplastics in food such as salt, says Julia Stein of the Emmett Institute on Climate and Environment at UCLA. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/JuliaStein
The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act currently in Congress would be a positive step and includes ban components, responsibilities for producers, and improved recycling and waste management, says Julia Stein of Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/JuliaStein
As states approach the 2025 deadline for meeting a "pollution diet" for the Chesapeake Bay, it appears Maryland and Virginia will be close but Pennsylvania and New York are far behind, says Tim Wheeler of the Bay Journal. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/TimWheeler
The blue crab population in Chesapeake Bay remains within the bounds of what scientists say is sustainable, although numbers dipped by one-third last year and can fluctuate because of weather, says Tim Wheeler of the Bay Journal. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/TimWheeler
Chesapeake Bay benefited from reductions in emissions by power plants, industry, and automobiles under the Clean Air Act, which lowered the nitrogen landing in the region and entering waterways, says Tim Wheeler of the Bay Journal. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/TimWheeler
About 80% of the water systems found to have increasing levels of nitrate contamination are small - serving less than 3,300 people - and lack the financial resources to upgrade treatment, says Anne Schechinger of the Environmental Working Group. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/AnneSchechinger
An Environmental Working Group analysis found over 2,100 drinking water systems that serve 21 million people in 10 states had increasing levels of nitrate contamination. Anne Schechinger says many are small systems that struggle to afford treatment for nitrate. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/AnneSchechinger
Nitrate from fertilizer and manure on farm fields can contaminate sources of drinking water and be a threat to human health at levels below the current legal limit, says Anne Schechinger of the Environmental Working Group. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/AnneSchechinger
The close proximity of agriculture to urban areas in California, such as Fresno for example, results in increasing nitrate contamination in drinking water and waterways, says Anne Schechinger of the Environmental Working Group. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/AnneSchechinger
About 7,000 Alaska Natives do not have adequate access to water in the home and have to use buckets to go to the bathroom, says Marleah LaBelle. Many other tribal villages have old water systems that are in extreme disrepair. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/MarleahLaBelle
For Alaska Natives, water is sacred, part of their culture and history, used for transportation, and vital to a subsistence way of life, says Marleah LaBelle. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/MarleahLaBelle
Alaska Natives that lack adequate access to water suffer higher rates of infectious disease, pneumonia, skin infections, and gastrointestinal illness, and often must ration and even reuse dirty water, says Marleah LaBelle. Watch the #podcast at https://bit.ly/MarleahLaBelle
Alaska is experiencing rapid climate change, with impacts including rising temperatures, thawing permafrost, and melting sea ice. Over 70 communities are threatened and planning to protect infrastructure or even relocate entirely. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/MarleahLaBelle
The Everglades are a unique subtropical wetland known as the River of Grass that is home to a diversity of wildlife and vital to South Florida’s water supply, economy, and recreation, says Steve Davis of the Everglades Foundation. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/waterloopSteveDavis
The diversion of freshwater flow and pollution by nutrients has harmed the Everglades and caused problems on Florida’s coasts, particularly algae blooms that threaten human health and fisheries, says Steve Davis of the Everglades Foundation. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/waterloopSteveDavis
The Everglades will benefit from two major projects - the raising of Tamiami Trail, which will restore water flow, and the building of the Everglades Reservoir, which will filter water pollution, says Steve Davis of the Everglades Foundation. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/waterloopSteveDavis
Tens of thousands of Burmese pythons infest the Everglades because of accidental and intentional release. Now it is a matter of management of the invasive species instead of eradication, says Steve Davis of the Everglades Foundation. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/waterloopSteveDavis
The aggressive plan by Denver Water to replace all of the area's 64,000 to 84,000 lead service lines will still take 15 years to complete, so the utility is providing 100,000 water pitchers with filters that remove lead to customers. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/waterloopTravisThompson
Because Denver Water views itself as a public health agency, it decided to take a proactive approach to protect customers from lead in drinking water by launching an effort to remove every single lead service line in the area. Watch the podcast at https://bit.ly/waterloopTravisThompson