The Double-Edged Sword of Disinfectants, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden, A World Without Plastic Pollution and more

Living on Earth

New research is showing that antimicrobial chemicals called quaternary ammonium compounds (QACs), which are widely used in disinfectants, pesticides and personal care products, are linked to numerous health concerns like asthma and infertility. But there are major gaps in regulation of these chemicals.

Also, over seven years poet Camille Dungy gradually transformed her sterile Fort Collins, Colorado lawn into a pollinator haven teeming with native plants and the wildlife they attract. Her book “Soil: The Story of a Black Mother’s Garden” recounts that journey alongside a world in turmoil amid the coronavirus pandemic, police violence and wildfires. Camille talks about how all her hard work amending hard clay soil has yielded gifts of joy as well as metaphors.

And 2,000 people from across the globe recently gathered in Paris to work towards a UN treaty to eliminate plastic pollution. We paint a picture of a world with far less plastic and how we can get there.

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