Plastic Wine Bottles Eco-Friendly, but Drink It Fast

It's just the way we use plastic that's the problem: Susan Freinkel

(NEWSER) - Plastic is the material environmentalists love to hate, but it's getting a bad rap, writes author Susan Freinkel in the New York Times . These days, plastic is equated with junk and litter because we waste it on things like shopping bags and drinking straws. "If we understood plastic’s true worth, we would stop wasting it on trivial throwaways and take better advantage of what this versatile material can do for us," writes Freinkel. More»

But the cafeteria managers, not GOP, chose his company

(NEWSER) - The GOP's decision to bring back Styrofoam cups to a Capitol cafeteria has been a real boon for an old pal of the seemingly ever-present Koch brothers. The owner of WinCup, the company supplying the Styrofoam cups, is a former Koch Industries exec, the Huffington Post reports. But everybody swears it's a coincidence: The cafeteria management company, not GOP leaders, chose the supplier. More»

Republicans reverse Democrats' green initiatives in Congress cafeterias

(NEWSER) - The Republicans are back in control of the House, and they're bringing something with them: styrofoam cups. The cups, along with plastic forks and a number of other things seen as not eco-friendly, were done away with four years ago by Nancy Pelosi to reduce Congress's carbon footprint. Now, the Republicans are reversing those initiatives, with the chair of the House administration committee calling the $475,000-per-year program "neither cost-effective nor energy efficient." More»

Pesticide bans will require pest-resistant plants

(NEWSER) - If you enjoy a nice glass of wine every now and again, take note: The species of grape that provides many of the most popular varieties of vino will probably need to be replaced or, at best, enhanced a little, the BBC reports. The EU—the source of 70% of the world's wine—is likely to ban the use of pesticides on "non-essential" crops in the next few years. That's bad news for wine grapes, which—thanks to limited cross-breeding—are "sitting ducks for pathogens," botanist Sean Myles says. More»

Even obsessed eco-lovers might quail at some of these

(NEWSER) - Going green is good and all, but sometimes it can also be gross. ForkParty.com rounds up a dozen weird, eco-friendly inventions, some of which are also fairly icky:

• Fertilizer: Specifically, made from human waste or, possibly even weirder, human remains.
• Clothing: We all need something to wear, but would you wear clothes made out of cigarette butts?
• Motor oil: Biodegradable motor oil is great, but you might turn up your nose at the idea that it’s made from beef tallow.