Lake Baikal Environmentalist Awarded Eco Prize

Lake Baikal (left) is a very geologically important lake in Siberia. It is the oldest and deepest in the world with indigenous species living in it's environs like the Omul fish. It is 1.5 kilometers deep and regularly belches out methane, a greenhouse gas that creates what are called ice rings kilometers across that are visible from space.

Lake Baikal faces threats from a number of industries, primarily mining and fishing (left). But there is another threat and it takes the form of a uranium enrichment plant. Environmentalist Marina Rikhvanova has campaigned for the stoppage of the construction of the factory. She believes that the radioactive material involved will eventually be released into the lake in an accident that will be waiting to happen once the facility is up and running.

Rikhvanova's efforts have earned her the Goldman Environmental Prize and has raised awareness on the plight of the lake which is technically protected by a UNESCO declaration. It's officially a World Heritage Site.

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Biodegradable Plastic Products May Help Ease the Landfill Problem

Plastics are useful, but they comprise much of the waste that end up in landfills. Plastics are non-biodegradable and when they do disintegrate in time, they produce toxic byproducts. So it's a good thing that researchers are now making plastics that degrade.

Biodegradable plastics can be made from plant material that naturally decompose. For example, cornstarch-based eating utensils are now being sold to backpackers and campers. Other products use molasses and other sugars. The Coca-Cola company, for example, has released a plastic bottle made of such natural ingredients to allow it to degrade in time or when exposed to certain environmental factors.

Other plastics integrate a biodegradable compound called PLGA, which allows plastic products to degrade in seawater in as fast as twenty days. Polymer researcher Robson Storey says that it's science project that will make plastics more sustainable, especially when used in the sea. Currently, there is a law against plastics being disposed on in the sea, but this new plastic may require it to be rewritten.



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