Innovate~Educate~Collaborate

Tag: environment

  • Green Junction: Nanoplastics in the human body, by Julie Peller Ph.D.

    A few weeks ago, I summarized information from a study about the alarming amount of microplastics created when water is shaken in plastic baby bottles. Consumers have understood that plastics used for food and drink containers and many other items are resilient and unchanging. However, studies continue to show that some microplastics are released from […]

  • Green Junction: The minimalist lifestyle by Julie Peller Ph.D.

    The minimalist lifestyle is described as a simplistic way of living using materials that are necessary or serve a purpose. Those who choose a minimalist lifestyle, often called minimalists, are people who seek happiness and peace in living, not in materials. Minimalism is the conscious decision to live with fewer possessions with more time to […]

  • Green Junction: “It is our collective and individual responsibility: By Julie Peller Ph.D.

    Younger generations tend to express greater concern about the state of the earth. Their futures are challenged by the rising human population that generates greenhouse gases, pollution, and extorts natural resources, among other stressors. Societal messaging continues to promote materialism, which distresses nature. Unprecedented weather events are among the earth’s messages. Young people who recognize […]

  • Merton: a ‘mystical experience.’

    In 1966, Merton wrote about a ‘mystical experience’ in a Louisville, Ky., shopping district, commonly known as the 4th & Walnut experience. Merton famously wrote: “I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realization that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even […]

  • There’s no better time for a movement to stand up. By Julie Peller, Ph.D.

    “Morality, at its core, is about putting ourselves in others’ shoes and treating their interests as we do our own.” Oxford University Professor of Philosophy William MacAskill is the author of “What We Owe the Future.” In this writing, he imagines “living the life of every human being who has ever existed — in order […]

  • Green Junction: Do we understand PFAS? By Julie Peller Ph.D.

    The acronym PFAS is now common to those who pay attention to chemical pollutants. PFAS stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. These are manufactured chemical compounds that contain a lot of fluorine. It is important to note that natural fluorine-containing compounds are scarce. PFAS are very stable in the natural environment and are often labeled […]

  • Green Junction: Greenwashing by Julie Peller Ph.D.

    The term greenwashing refers to communications by companies meant to convince consumers their products or services are environmentally sound when this is not the case. Greenwashing is a deceitful or embellishing marketing gimmick directed at sustainably-minded consumers who want to buy goods and services that are not harmful to the environment. One poll found that 75% of […]

  • Green Junction: Pandemic and Plastic By Julie Peller Ph.D.

    Health protection measures throughout the pandemic have involved an enormous amount of one-use plastics. These include personal protective equipment (masks, gloves, gowns), take-home food packaging, test kits, syringes, wipes, and more, which have intensified the global plastic waste problem. Billions of disposable masks, most of which are made of a plastic called polypropylene, have been […]

  • The reason for book clubs and discussion groups

    “If you are reading in order to become a better reader, you cannot read just any book or article. You will not improve as a reader if all you read are books that are well within your capacity. You must tackle books that are beyond you or, as we have said, books that are over […]

  • Green Junction: Plastic materials manufactured since 1950 is over 9 billion tons: By Julie Peller Ph.D.

    According to the World Economic Forum, the production of plastic is expected to double over the next 20 years. Half of the plastics in our world now have been made over the past two decades. The accumulated amount of plastic materials manufactured since 1950 is over 9 billion tons, which some researchers describe as over […]