Sustainability Weekly
Fridays are for…
World Ocean Day, High Seas Treaty, PFAS-Free Water, and more!
by Alli DiGiacomo
Happy Friday and first week of June, Pride Month and National Ocean Month!
Sunday, June 8th is World Ocean Day! The ocean covers 70% of the surface area on our planet, and adds up to 97% of all the water on Earth. We depend on the oceans for our survival. About half of our oxygen comes from the ocean, and its powerful currents influence the weather, food chains, and gravity! More than 80% of our ocean is unmapped and it is so biodiverse that it is estimated that 91% of ocean species have yet to be discovered… Mind blowing!
Sadly, the ocean is currently suffering from plastic pollution, overfishing, offshore drilling, acidification, habitat destruction, and warming. It is absorbing the majority of the excess heat from the climate crisis. Is it more critical than ever that we protect it!
One way you can celebrate is by watching David Attenborough's brand new documentary (premiering tomorrow, June 7th) with National Geographic called Ocean with David Attenborough. Other documentaries, books, and 9 ways to celebrate World Ocean Day can be found here. Stay salty!
Keep reading for sustainability news…
T H I S W E E K ’ S T O P S T O R I E S
SIX MORE EU STATES HAVE RATIFIED THE HIGH SEAS TREATY
Six EU countries, Cyprus, Finland, Portugal, Hungary, Latvia, and Slovenia, just ratified the High Seas Treaty at the UN headquarters in New York, bringing the total to 28 countries. This is a big deal because we need 60 ratifications for the treaty to actually go into effect as binding international law. The EU itself also ratified it (though that doesn’t count separately), showing strong leadership ahead of the upcoming UN Ocean Conference in Nice.
The treaty was adopted in 2023, and is designed to protect the High Seas, which are the international water areas outside of any country’s jurisdiction. They make up about half the planet but are barely protected, with only 1.5% currently within marine protected areas. Once in effect, the treaty will allow for the creation of protected zones, better regulation of harmful activities, and more support for developing countries through things like tech sharing and fair access to marine resources. Ocean advocates are hoping more countries will jump on board before or during the upcoming ocean conference. As ocean advocate Alexandra Cousteau put it, “The time for promises is over.”
AN ENTIRE COUNTY IN CALIFORNIA HAS SUCCESSFULLY ELIMINATED ALL PFAS FROM ITS WATER SUPPLY
Yorba Linda, California, has officially pulled off providing clean drinking water completely free of PFAS, the toxic "forever chemicals" that have contaminated water supplies across the U.S. The local water district built the country’s largest ion exchange treatment plant for PFAS back in 2021, and now serves about 80,000 residents with water that tests completely clean for these substances.
PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) have been used in everything from non-stick pans to waterproof clothes since the 1940s, and they stick around in the environment and our bodies for a very long time. They are linked to cancer, liver issues, and other serious health problems. The EPA said in 2024 that some types of PFAS aren’t safe at any level, even in parts per trillion (similar to one drop in 20 Olympic swimming pools).
Yorba Linda started working on the problem early and did not wait for any federal rules to kick in, especially since some of their wells had PFAS levels two or three times higher than the state’s safety recommendations. The treatment system uses resin beads to pull PFAS out of the water, which is then delivered to homes cleaner than most bottled water. The project was part of a larger plan led by the Orange County Water District, and has been expensive, but it’s also been supported by grants, loans, and pending lawsuits against PFAS manufacturers. This is a great national example of how local action can beat federal delays when it comes to protecting public health.
SCIENTISTS WANT TO TRACK THE WORLD’S BIODIVERSITY USING DNA FOUND IN THE AIR
Scientists have the idea of tracking wildlife and biodiversity just by analyzing the DNA floating around in the air. Animals, plants, and fungi constantly shed tiny bits of themselves through skin, saliva, hair, or even their breath. Scientists can now collect and study this environmental DNA to figure out what species are living in an area. This could become a powerful global tool to monitor life on Earth using nothing more than the invisible DNA all living things leave behind.
In Belize, scientists are using this method to learn what lives in super biodiverse places, like dense forests full of bats, iguanas, birds, and ants. Instead of disturbing the animals or relying on limited visuals, they set up simple air filters, just a fan and a piece of paper, to “vacuum” DNA from the air inside trees or other areas. That DNA can tell them exactly which species have been there, even if they were never seen. This kind of tool could be a game-changer, especially since traditional methods of monitoring biodiversity, such as camera traps, human observers, or catching animals, are slow, expensive, and often miss shy or rare species.
The idea that started in Belize has now expanded to team up with air pollution scientists in the UK, who already had filter networks across the country collecting air particles. Those filters, it turns out, were unintentionally gathering DNA too. By analyzing these existing air samples, researchers found hundreds of species all just from air floating around the UK.
Although it's not as detailed as putting humans in the field, it's a fast, scalable way to see what lives where, what’s disappearing, and how things change over time. And it could be used to monitor pathogens, pests, or endangered species without needing new infrastructure.
MORE IN SUSTAINABILITY NEWS
Good news: Indian Railways will achieve net-zero targets by the end of the year, five years ahead of schedule.
Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, has agreed to a 20-year deal with Constellation Energy to purchase the output of its Clinton Clean Energy Center, an Illinois-based nuclear plant.
The U.S. installed 7.4 gigawatts of utility-scale solar, wind, and energy storage in the first three months of 2025 according to American Clean Power. This is the second-strongest quarter on record behind only Q1 of 2024.
Another boycott of Walmart is happening as they quietly backed out of the U.S. Plastics Pact, just two months after they announced they would not meet their publicly-advirtised goals for plastic pollution and recycling, and they had increased their use of virgin plastic in private-brand packaging. Walmart is one of the world’s largest plastic polluters. Last year, a global study published last year in the journal Science Advances found that just 56 companies, including Walmart, were responsible for half of the world’s branded plastic pollution.
The Department of the Interior announced that it plans to rescind President Biden’s 2024 ban on drilling in more than half of the 23 million-acre National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, some of the last remaining pristine wilderness in the country.
The smoke from Canada’s wildfires may be even more toxic than usual.
MIT engineers invented a new, lightweight fuel cell that could make way for electric aviation. The devices could pack three times as much energy per pound as today’s best EV batteries, offering a lightweight option for powering trucks, planes, or ships.
How Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill will raise household energy costs.