Published

7 months ago

July 2, 2025

Alice Rush

A group of more than 170 employees of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday published a Declaration of Dissent from policies under the Trump administration.

The employees said the administration’s policies “undermine the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment.”

“Since the Agency’s founding in 1970, EPA has accomplished this mission by leveraging science, funding, and expert staff in service to the American people. Today, we stand together in dissent against the current administration’s focus on harmful deregulation, mischaracterization of previous EPA actions, and disregard for scientific expertise,” the declaration states.

>400 brave EPA signatories & 3,500+ Supporters have voiced support for preserving the EPA’s mission to protect health and the environment.

We need everyone in this fight. Take action:

Read the EPA Declaration of Dissent here zurl.co/l3zMU

Sign your support here zurl.co/Ygcq7

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— Stand Up for Science! (@standupforscience.bsky.social) July 1, 2025 at 6:37 PM

Jeremy Berg, former editor-in-chief of Science magazine and one of the signatories to the letter, said that, in addition to the 170 named scientists and academics, there were roughly 100 others who signed anonymously for fear of retaliation, including 20 Nobel laureates, reported The Guardian.

The letter is a rare rebuke by EPA employees who could face repercussions for criticizing the weakening of federal support and funding for environmental, climate and health science.

“I’m really sad. This agency, that was a superhero for me in my youth, we’re not living up to our ideals under this administration. And I really want us to,” said Amelia Hertzberg, an EPA environmental protection specialist who was put on administrative leave in February, as The Guardian reported.

The administration is working to shut down Hertzberg’s department at the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. The work Hertzberg did for the department was focused on vulnerable groups impacted by pollution, such as young children, the elderly, people living in communities with higher pollution levels, pregnant and nursing people and those with chronic and pre-existing conditions.

“Americans should be able to drink their water and breathe their air without being poisoned. And if they aren’t, then our government is failing,” Hertzberg said.

The EPA responded to the letter with a statement saying the policy decisions “are a result of a process where Administrator (Lee) Zeldin is briefed on the latest research and science by EPA’s career professionals, and the vast majority who are consummate professionals who take pride in the work this agency does day in and day out,” reported The Associated Press.

The statement from the EPA denounced what it said were the Biden administration’s “attempts to shut down American energy and make our citizens more reliant on foreign fossil fuels.”

Berg, who was director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences from 2003 to 2011, said partisan criticism was not the motivation for the employees’ declaration, The Guardian reported. Rather, they hoped their dissent would support the EPA in getting back to its mission, which, Berg said, “only matters if you breathe air and drink water.”

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In the declaration, the EPA employees outlined five major concerns: the disregard of scientific consensus with the purpose of benefiting polluters; dismantling the research and development office; reversing EPA progress in the country’s most vulnerable communities; undermining public trust; and “promoting a culture of fear” that forces staff to make a choice between their well-being and livelihoods.

Zeldin’s push to reorganize the agency’s research and development office was part of a broader effort to gut its environmental justice and climate change wings and slash its budget. He is also attempting to repeal pollution rules that were found in an examination by The Associated Press to save approximately 30,000 lives and $275 billion annually.

“Your decisions and actions will reverberate for generations to come,” the authors of the declaration wrote, addressing Zeldin. “EPA under your leadership will not protect communities from hazardous chemicals and unsafe drinking water but instead will increase risks to public health and safety.”

“Administrator Zeldin, we urge you to honor your oath and serve the American people. Going forward, you have the opportunity to correct course. Should you choose to do so, we stand ready to support your efforts to fulfill EPA’s mission.”

Nobel laureate Carol Greider, one of the letter’s signatories who is a professor of molecular and cellular biology at University of California, Santa Cruz, described the heat wave on the East Coast last week as evidence of climate change.

“And if we don’t have scientists at the EPA to understand how what we do that goes into the air affects our health, more people are going to die,” Greider said, as reported by The Guardian.

When asked about fears of retaliation or repercussions, Greider said she was “living the repercussions of everything.”

As labs lose funding, graduate students who Greider meets with on a regular basis said they’re concerned about pursuing careers in science. It becomes a long-term problem if support is taken away from the next generation of scientists, Greider said.

“That’s decades worth of loss,” Greider said.

The post EPA Employees Sign ‘Declaration of Dissent’ Over Trump Administration Policies appeared first on EcoWatch.

https://www.ecowatch.com/epa-declaration-of-dissent-trump-policies.html

Green Living

Earth911 Inspiration: Nothing In Vain

Published

17 hours ago

January 23, 2026

Alice Rush

Aristotle, who saw purpose and design in everything, wrote in several different works that “Nature does nothing in vain.” We reply that regardless of purpose, nature does everything with grace; we are fortunate to witness the miraculous results of 13.4 billion years of experimentation.

Earth911 inspirations. Post them, share your desire to help people think of the planet first, every day. Click the poster to get a larger image.

The post Earth911 Inspiration: Nothing In Vain appeared first on Earth911.

https://earth911.com/inspire/earth911-inspiration-nothing-in-vain/

Green Living

Can You Recycle Computers?

Published

3 days ago

January 21, 2026

Alice Rush

Last Updated on January 21, 2026

Picture this: Your laptop of three years decides it’s going to conk out. What’s the most sustainable solution? Seeing if you can get it repaired, of course.

Fighting planned obsolescence is a full time job, and it occurs with way more than just electronics.

But lets say you can’t repair your laptop for some unforeseeable reason…what then? You recycle it of course.

Computers don’t belong in landfills, nor do most conventional curbside recycling programs accept them. So how do you recycle computers? Here’s everything you need to know about computer recycling (and why we need to dispose of them properly).

why should you recycle computers?

First, lets tackle the reason we should bother to recycle computers. Computers are made up of several components – and when we dump them out, they become notorious for leaking toxins and carcinogens into the environment. This poses a risk for humans, wildlife, and soil quality alike.

However, if we recycle computers, all those components get a second shot at life. There are several valuable materials in our old computers that can be used to make new electronics, thus reducing waste and pollution.

According to the EPA, recycling 1 million laptops saves enough energy to power ~3,500 U.S. homes for a year.

And if that’s not reason enough – improperly disposed computers can put your personal or business files at risk of being recovered. And that can escalate to data breaches or reputation damage (yikes).

how do I get rid of my old computer?

To get rid of your old computer, you must first back up your data, sign out of all accounts, wipe & destroy the hard drive, then recycle the computer through local e-waste centers or retailers with take-back programs (Best Buy, Staples, etc.).

To wipe a hard drive, be sure to back up any important data first. Use built-in tools like ‘reset this PC’ or check with your computer’s manufacturer to see specific instructions. For example, here’s how to wipe a Dell hard drive and erase a Mac hard drive.

For absolutely no chance of your data being recovered, it’s always best to remove and destroy the hard drive, if possible. Here’s a guide to destroying a hard drive safely.

Once the hard drive is no longer an issue, you can recycle computers through a number of drop-off or mail-in options.

drop off:

Local e-waste recycling events (make sure to ask if your specific computer will be accepted in advance). Check your local .gov to see when your next one will be!

Best Buy accepts various desktops, laptops, and tablets, including some accessories. There’s a limit of 3 items per household per day. They charge a small fee for recycling monitors.

Staples accepts computers & Macs. They charge a fee for monitors. When you recycle, you get rewards with their store!

Use ERI’s recycle search and find recycling locations near you. Just type in “computer recycling” and your zip code to learn what your options are.

mail-in:

Several manufacturers will accept mail-in recycling for their computer models. Dell and HP have trade-in programs for computers that meet certain standards, as well as recycling options for lesser functioning computers of any brand. Apple also accepts trade-in and recycling for several devices, including computers.

Green Citizen offers free mail-in recycling for laptops, desktops, and tablets, but there may be fees for data destruction.

Most of these places will also accept computer accessories, like keyboards, mice, etc. But be sure to double check!

should you remove the hard drive from a computer before recycling?

Yes, always remove the hard drive before recycling. It’s best to wipe it, then remove it and destroy it. Because even a wiped hard drive can still be recovered, to an extent.

Even if you empty the recycling bin on your computer it doesn’t guarantee that the content is gone because the computer marks that data space to be overwritten with new data. So if the data hasn’t been overwritten, data recovery software can pick it up.

does best buy erase hard drives when recycling?

Best Buy offers tips and advice on wiping hard drives and data for Windows computers prior to drop off, but won’t actually do it for you. It’s best to go prepared by wiping/destroying your hard drive first.

So, what did you think of this guide to recycling computers? Let me know in the comments!

The post Can You Recycle Computers? appeared first on Going Zero Waste.

Can You Recycle Computers?

Green Living

Best of Sustainability In Your Ear: Carbonfuture is Building the Trust Infrastructure for Carbon Removal

Published

3 days ago

January 21, 2026

Alice Rush

Read a transcript of this episode. Subscribe to receive transcripts: Learn more.

The carbon removal industry stands at a crucial crossroads. While cutting emissions remains essential, avoiding catastrophic warming now requires pulling billions of tons of CO2 from the atmosphere permanently. But as this nascent field grapples with questions of legitimacy, scalability, and accountability, a critical challenge remains: How do we build the infrastructure needed to track, verify, and certify that carbon has actually been removed and stays removed? Meet Hannes Junginger-Gestrich, CEO of Carbonfuture, a company helping define the monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) infrastructure that could transform carbon removal from scattered efforts into a functioning ecosystem. Launched five years ago, Carbonfuture has emerged as what CDR.fyi describes as “the largest facilitator of durable carbon removal” by volume. The company’s digital platform integrates data across the carbon removal life cycle, connecting diverse approaches like biochar, enhanced rock weathering, and direct air capture with buyers seeking to meet climate commitments. “We are probably more the crowd, the ground keepers in a stadium that makes sure that everything is provided properly,” Hannes explains, using a sports analogy to describe their role: “We are the ground keepers in a stadium [who ensure] the players have a playing field that’s in shape and no one gets hurt, and the audience can come and they pay their tickets and have a good experience.”

Hannes Junginger-Gestrich, CEO of Carbonfuture, is our guest on Sustainability In Your Ear.

The MRV infrastructure becomes crucial as corporate demand for verified carbon removal grows and trust becomes currency. One of the most interesting aspects of the conversation centers on balancing data confidentiality with transparency needs, particularly when collecting data along industrial value chains from agricultural residue producers to biochar processors to end users. Perhaps most telling is Junginger-Gestrich’s unwavering commitment to scientific rigor over short-term economic gains: “We never had to trade off between rigor and allowing a not so good project on our platform for economic reasons. We always lean to the scientific and rigorous side.” This philosophy has guided Carbonfuture’s work with leading buyers like Microsoft, helping develop increasingly sophisticated approaches to carbon removal verification. While Junginger-Gestrich expresses concern about delayed emission reductions globally, he remains optimistic about carbon removal scaling: “I think we will be on the path to the gigatons by 2040 for sure.” His vision emphasizes ecosystem thinking over vertical integration, aiming to drive down costs while creating network effects that could accelerate the entire field. As governments worldwide grapple with climate policy, the monitoring, reporting, and verification systems companies like Carbonfuture are developing now may well determine the success of our collective effort to reverse climate change. You can learn more about Carbonfuture at carbonfuture.earth.