This new calendar for the Surfrider Foundation shows bikini-clad girls posing on totally gross, polluted beaches. The idea is to raise awareness about the importance of preserving our beaches and water. (Talking to you, BP.) But does this remind anyone else of a shoot they’d do on “America’s Next Top Model“? [BuzzFeed] Keep reading »
Pollution of the Pearl River has long posed a problem for China’s ecosystem; however, the degree of contamination has become twice as bad since 2007. One reason, according to a new Greenpeace report, points to the denim factories lining the banks of the water. Clearly, China is a huge manufacturer of consumer goods, and the denim industry also relies heavily on Chinese production. According to CNN, Xintang (a town that is home to many of these factories) “produces 200 million pairs of jeans per year including 60 different foreign brands. That is just under half of the 450 million pairs of jeans sold annually in the United States.” During the dye process, garments are bathed in harsh chemicals, and while many of these companies claim that they recycle this contaminated water, the truth is that it’s simply dumped into the river. This isn’t just an environmental issue; several of the toxins released are cancer-causing. Keep reading »
