Earth911 Podcast: The Plastic Crisis Is Here And We Have Answers

Plastic recycling in the U.S. has declined so much since the China ban on contaminated recyclable materials that it is no longer legally "recyclable" according to Federal Trade Commission rules. How2Recycle.org, the organization that labels products has downgraded plastic from "recyclable" to "check locally" for available programs. You can use Earth911's recycling search to find local plastic recyclers. We've arrived at the plastic recycling crisis Americans have been worrying about, and the Earth911 team talks through reducing plastic use, the scope of plastic pollution in the seas and on the highest peaks in the world, as well as six ways to reuse plastic bottles instead of sending them to a landfill. There is also a glimmer of hope in Nestle’s commitment to pay more than market price for recycled food-grade #1 plastic for use in its bottled water packaging. Listen in to find out what you can do with plastic and how to encourage your community to invest in recycling.

We also explore strategies for carbon sequestration. Everyone can contribute to removing carbon from the atmosphere by planting trees, yet there is so much excess CO2 that industrial carbon capture and sequestration will be needed to return the gas to pre-industrial levels. And take a few minutes to learn about how to check your photovoltaic solar panels to see if they are still producing power efficiently. If your panels are worn out, you'll need to know where and how to recycle them. Sarah Lozanova explains the emerging solar panel recycling industry, which is currently dominated by European companies.

In this week's Earthling Questions, find out how to recycle the #7 plastic bags in which electronics are shipped, where to recycle button batteries and get the latest on the state of glass recycling. 

Join the conversation and share your thoughts with the community in our Earthling Forum.