Published

7 months ago

July 18, 2025

Alice Rush

Bottlenose dolphins living off the coast of South Korea’s Jeju Island are threatened by boats, discarded fishing gear, construction noise, pollution and runoff from fish farms. But a group of the country’s environmentalists and experts are campaigning for the dolphins to be given “legal personhood” status to better protect them.

It is the first attempt by Korea to give an animal the status, and is part of an expanding movement to recognize the legal rights of nonhuman species.

“Since 2023, Jeju island’s government has been working to introduce Korea’s first-ever ‘eco legal personhood’ system to protect Jeju’s environmental and ecological values and ‘set a new standard’ for domestic ecological and environmental policies. In order to introduce the environmental personhood system, Jeju has been operating a working group composed of academics, lawyers, and experts to come up with a proposal,” a press release from Eco Jurisprudence Monitor said.

The proposed amendment to an existing law would recognize the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin as “eco-legal entities, granting them certain rights and legal protections to ensure long-term ecological sustainability.”

The amendment would also require the formation of a committee to advocate for and protect the dolphins’ rights, as well as establish funding mechanisms to support the protections.

An estimated 120 Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins make their home in the waters off Jeju Island, according to a press release from Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Many of them have visible scars from being entangled in fishing gear or from being struck by boats and jet skis that speed through the waters surrounding the island.

“Because the dolphins cannot cut the fishing lines themselves, we decided to cut them for them,” said Jeongjoon Lee, a Korean director known as “Dolphin Man,” as The Guardian reported. Lee is known for his work helping and documenting Jeju’s bottlenose dolphin population.

“In one case, we had to cut wire from two different places, one was going in through the dolphin’s face to its body, and another from around its tail where it had become tangled,” Lee said.

^{Jeongjoon Lee, known as “Dolphin Man.” Young Nam Kim / Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation}

Miyeon Kim, who works with local NGO Marine Animal Research and Conservation (MARC), said the purpose of giving the dolphins legal personhood status is for advocates to be able to take action on their behalf if a company or individual threatens their livelihood.

“The endangered Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, which has lived harmoniously with the haenyeo (female sea divers) in Jeju waters, is an important species that requires protection,” said Governor of Jeju Oh Young-hoon in the press release from the ministry. “With supporters, the Jeju government will do its best to pass a revision to the Special Act on the Establishment of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Development of the Free International City to designate Korea’s first eco-legal person.”

Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins are listed as “near threatened” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List of Threatened Species, reported The Guardian. However, IUCN said lack of data on the species makes it hard to determine if the status is accurate.

Kim said one of the strategies MARC uses to protect the dolphins is to personalize them, so that local people can better relate to them. The group produced a booklet displaying a photograph of each dolphin’s dorsal fin with their name.

“It’s important for us to be able to identify individual dolphins to be able to record scientific facts but it’s also important for the islanders. People have to understand and really relate to endangered species in order for these [kinds] of things [establishing legal personhood] to work,” Kim said, as The Guardian reported.

In April, a marine protected area was designated on the west side of Jeju island to safeguard the dolphins.

Kim said current rules governing the area, like preventing arbitrary development, need to be strengthened.

“The law bans more than two recreation boats coming within a 100-metre radius of the dolphins but there are a lot of different boats in that area including fishing boats, and at the moment we can’t do anything about those,” Kim explained.

Lee has spent a lot of time with the dolphins, swimming alongside them, providing help when needed and filming them. He said additional conservation measures couldn’t come fast enough.

“Sometimes I see so many boats surrounding the dolphins all watching them and chasing them around,” Lee said. “It is good that we now have a small space to begin to protect them more, but really we need to designate that whole side of the island as a protected area in order to keep them safe for the future.”

The post South Korea Could Grant Bottlenose Dolphins off Jeju Island ‘Legal Personhood’ Status to Better Protect Them appeared first on EcoWatch.

https://www.ecowatch.com/bottlenose-dolphins-south-korea-legal-personhood-protection.html

Green Living

Earth911 Inspiration: No Louder Voice?

Published

2 days ago

February 6, 2026

Alice Rush

Saint Augustine, in a sermon to his congregation, urged them to look beyond books, even to Bible, to see God in nature: “God, whom you want to discover, never wrote a book in ink. Instead, He set before your eyes the things that He had made. Can you ask for a louder voice than that?”

How do we move past the identity politics that dominate discourse on the left and right at this fractured moment and amount to a cacophony of special pleadings for the advantage of small groups, nations, and isolated networks? That’s why we ignore the Earth, because we cannot look up from our daily concerns. We need a new universal value that unites, one that emphasizes human dignity in the context of a restored, regenerating nature.

Earth911 inspirations. Print them, post them, share your desire to help people think of the planet first, every day.

The post Earth911 Inspiration: No Louder Voice? appeared first on Earth911.

https://earth911.com/living-well-being/earth911-inspiration-no-louder-voice/

Green Living

Petrochemicals: How They Affect People + Planet

Published

2 days ago

February 6, 2026

Alice Rush

Last Updated on February 6, 2026

Have you ever heard of Cancer Alley? It’s an ~85-mile stretch along the banks of the Mississippi River where communities exist beside ~200 fossil fuel and petrochemical operations.

Residents of Cancer Alley are exposed to more than 10x the level of health risk from hazardous air pollutants than people living elsewhere in the state. And it’s worth mentioning the residents exposed are mostly BIPOC and low-income communities.

Petrochemicals: How They Affect People + Planet

But what exactly are petrochemicals? And how exactly do they harm both people and planet? Here’s everything you need to know.

what are petrochemical plants?

Petrochemical plants are facilities that process crude oil and fracked gas to make plastics, industrial chemicals and pesticides. They are usually located near petroleum refineries or integrated into large petrochemical complexes.

Petrochemical factories process and transform hydrocarbons into chemical products used in the plastics, textiles, automotive, pharmaceutical, and electronic industries.

Obtaining the raw materials needed to make petrochemicals is already carbon intensive – and the raw material processing these plants do only pollute further.

what is an example of a petrochemical?

An example of a petrochemical is ethylene, which is the most widespread petrochemical in the world, primarily used in the plastic industry to make polyethylene. You may know polyethylene as plastic resin #2 (HDPE – high density – used for milk jugs, detergent bottles, etc.) and #4 (LDPE – low density – used for plastic grocery bags/film).

Olefins plants (a specific type of petrochemical plant) produces ethylene. These plants use steam crackers and the energy input is considered one of the most energy intensive processes in the chemical industry.

But olefin plants are only one type of petrochemical plant. Aromatic plants produce nezene, toluene, and xylene from naphtha and other refinery streams. These make up dyes, detergents, and plastic products.

Syngas plants use natural gas or coal to generate synthetic gas, which creates industrial chemicals such as ammonia and methanol.

are petrochemicals harmful?

Petrochemicals have been linked to health problems, including cancer, according to an analysis in the New England Journal of Medicine.

That’s because to make petrochemicals, plants release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that pollute the air. Not to mention refineries and plants discharge toxins into waterways, which contributes to water pollution.

According to an Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) report, nearly 70 petrochemical companies across the nation are sending millions of pounds of pollutants into waterways each year due to weak or nonexistent regulations. And yes, it does contaminate drinking water.

Residents of Cancer Alley have experienced this firsthand. Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are present in their drinking water at levels hundreds of times higher than currently-suggested safe levels for human consumption.

And residents suffer the effects of extreme air pollution on a daily basis. Including increased risks of infertility, respiratory illness and cancer.

According to 70 interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch, women in Cancer Alley reported miscarriages, high-risk pregnancies, and poor health of newborns. Many shared stories of entire communities decimated by cancer (hence the name).

do petrochemicals harm the environment?

Yes, petrochemicals harm the environment too – petrochemical plants use massive amounts of energy to function, and in doing so, pollute the air, water and soil. Everything is intersectional.

Plus, as we transition away from fossil fuels to power our homes and businesses, petrochemical plants are becoming a lifeline to Big Oil. That’s because crude oil and gas are used to make many petrochemicals.

If petrochemical plants are allowed to grow, unregulated, there will be more consumption of oil and gas to come for decades. This directly contributes to climate change.

what is being done + how can we help?

Cancer Alley residents are fighting for reignition and change.

Sharon Lavigne, a retired special education teacher, founded Rise St. James, an organization focused on bringing environmental justice to the people of St. James Parish. The parish is located in one of Cancer Alley’s polluted hotspots, and Lavigne’s demands are far from radical. She simply wants clean air and drinking water.

Yet a lawsuit filed by the Biden Justice Department and EPA was recently dropped by the current administration.

Robert Taylor, founder of Concerned Citizens of St. John, said “…our government has abandoned us. We have been designated a sacrifice zone.”

Unfortunately, Texas recently also cleared the way for petrochemical expansion despite health warnings.

So how do we make an impact? Here are a few ways we can help:

Reduce your reliance on plastics. Especially single-use. Here’s a beginner’s guide to waste reduction.

Advocate for extended producer responsibility (EPR).

Ditch banks that support the fossil fuel industry in favor of green banks.

Support Earth Justice, which sews on behalf of the earth.

Avoid using pesticides and advocate against their use on farms. Support local, pesticide-free farmers whenever possible.

Invest in clean energy and green financing.

Support community-based initiatives impacted most by petrochemical plants, such as Rise St. James and Concerned Citizens of St. John.

Speak up and spread the word. Share this article so more people know about petrochemicals and why they harm people + planet.

How are you advocating against petrochemicals? Let me know in the comments!

The post Petrochemicals: How They Affect People + Planet appeared first on Going Zero Waste.

Petrochemicals: How They Affect People + Planet

Green Living

Pizza Boxes Are More Recyclable Than Ever

Published

3 days ago

February 5, 2026

Alice Rush

Back in 2020, the Recycling Partnership and WestRock released a scientific study demonstrating that used pizza boxes are recyclable, even when greasy and contaminated with cheese. Since that research was published, the findings have driven significant improvements in recycling program acceptance nationwide.

The basic results are clearly favorable for greater acceptance of pizza boxes for recycling. The typical pizza box has 1% to 2% grease content by weight, which is about one-tenth the acceptable level for cardboard (corrugated paperboard) recycling. The study looked at the impact of greasy boxes on mixed recycling loads that include 8% greasy pizza boxes with varying levels of greasy contamination from between 3% and 40%. The recycled materials produced were still viable for packaging use, well within the tensile strength required for packaging.

Recycling Acceptance Has Expanded

Since the study was released, pizza box recycling acceptance has grown substantially. According to the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), 82% of Americans now have access to a community recycling program that accepts pizza boxes—up from 73% in 2020. AF&PA member company mills representing 94% of old corrugated container consumption now accept pizza boxes with no observed impacts to operations or finished product quality.

The AF&PA’s guidance is unambiguous: “Corrugated pizza boxes are successfully recycled every day at paper mills throughout the country. Our industry wants these boxes back to recycle.”

Since about 3 billion pizza boxes are used in the U.S. each year, the improved recycling processes can capture roughly 600,000 tons of cardboard annually that could be turned into new boxes, paper towels, toilet paper, and other paper products.

What To Do Do With Your Next Pizza Box?

Our guidance is based on the research and current program acceptance:

For most Americans: Your recycling program likely accepts pizza boxes. Remove any leftover pizza, flatten the box, and place it in your recycling bin. Light grease stains are acceptable; the science confirms they don’t affect the recycling process.

If your box has a waxed paper liner, remove it before recycling: The box itself can be recycled as normal cardboard.

If your program prohibits pizza boxes: Don’t send materials your program won’t accept. Instead, check the composting options below or contact your local recycling coordinator to share the Recycling Partnership’s toolkit and AF&PA research. Citizen requests carry a lot of weight at local departments of sanitation.

If your box is heavily saturated with grease: Consider composting instead of recycling. While typical grease levels are fine for recycling, boxes that are completely soaked may be better suited for composting programs.

The Recycling Partnership tested a variety of grease- and cheese-contaminated pizza boxes. Only the box on the right approached unacceptable recycling results.

What About The Cheese?

You might ask, “Isn’t cheese a barrier to successful recycling?” Cheese tends to solidify and get screened out during the pulping process,” according to the 2020 report. The researchers tested sending boxes heavily contaminated with cheese through a recycling process and found that it did not significantly reduce the resulting paper fiber’s viability for reuse. Paper mills have become increasingly adept at screening out chunks of cheese during processing.

Composting: A Great Alternative

When recycling isn’t available, or your pizza box is heavily soiled, composting provides an excellent alternative that keeps cardboard out of landfills while creating nutrient-rich soil. Many cities now accept pizza boxes in curbside organics programs:

New York City requires all residents to separate food scraps and food-soiled paper from trash as of April 2025. Pizza boxes are explicitly accepted in the brown bin program.

California jurisdictions statewide must provide organics collection under SB 1383. Food-soiled pizza boxes can go in compostables carts.

Portland, Oregon updated its guidelines under the state’s Recycling Modernization Act. As of July 2025, empty pizza boxes with minimal grease are recyclable, while greasier boxes can go in yard waste bins.

King County, Washington accepts pizza boxes in composting, noting that food-soiled paper can be composted, though clean cardboard is better recycled.

For home composting, tear greasy cardboard into small pieces to speed up decomposition. The cardboard provides essential carbon to balance nitrogen-rich food scraps, improving compost quality.

How to Check Your Local Guidelines

Domino’s partnered with WestRock to launch Recycle My Pizza Box, which lets you enter your ZIP code to find specific recycling guidance for your area. The site also provides template language you can share with local recycling programs that haven’t yet updated their guidelines.

Advocate for Change

If your municipality still lists pizza boxes in the “no” pile, you can help drive change:

Share the WestRock Grease & Cheese Study with your local recycling coordinator
Point them to the Recycling Partnership’s free toolkit, which includes updated bin labels, mailers, and social media assets
Reference the AF&PA’s industry guidance confirming that paper mills want these boxes back

The progress since 2020 shows that advocacy works. Communities from Anchorage to New York have updated their programs based on this research.

Eat happily—that box can become the next pizza box you receive, or any number of other paper products that keep valuable fiber in circulation.