#1 Greenland’s ice is disappearing
Umm, guys, climate change is getting real.
In what is described as “very unusual”, Greenland’s ice sheets are melting much too early this year. Temperatures in north-west Greenland have risen well above normal levels in recent weeks resulting in the rapid melting of sea ice.
To be clear, the ice sheets of Greenland do melt each year – typically from June to August – but it’s incredibly strange to have it melt so much that we’re finding inland seas (like the one pictured above) this early in the season.
We’re not liking what this could potentially mean for rising sea levels.
Read also: The Seabin you helped us get is saving the oceans
#2 The Philippines wants none of your garbage
Sixty-nine containers filled with Canadian trash are being sent back to where they came from. The waste had been illegally shipped to the Philippines in 2013 & 2014 by Canadian company Chronic Plastics Inc. The company had falsely declared the waste as recyclable plastic scraps.
With the move, the Philippines looks to make clear that they are not the world’s dumping grounds. We hope that Canada now correctly gets rid of the trash.
#3 This Norwegian island wants to be a time free zone
Sommarøy, an island in northern Norway, is petitioning to become a time-free zone. And we can see their point. The sun doesn’t set on the island for a full 69 days from May 18 to July 16! According to islanders, this means that no one cares much for conventional timekeeping. Instead, during these nightless days, people just do things as they please, whether that means going for a swim or doing chores at 2 AM or 2 PM.
This sounds like our kind of lifestyle.
Read also: Manuela Baron, The Girl Gone Green, tells us how to make the zero waste switch
#4 The newest Chinese luxury hotel amenity
Don’t love the smell of smog in the morning? Well, luxury Chinese and Indian hotels have introduced the latest in high-end amenities – clean air. The two countries are home to some of the most polluted cities in the world (India is home to seven of the ten most polluted cities and China to 22 of the 50 most polluted). So, to help people feel a bit more comfortable when visiting, top hotels are adding air purification systems to their rooms.
Can we please do more work to clean up the air in general so that we don’t have to pay a premium to breathe easy?
