At the end of 2017 the UK installed it's first vending machine for homeless people. It can be found in Nottingham and although it appears like an ordinary vending machine with some of its well stocked supplies, it also contains socks, sanitary towels, books and toothbrushes. The machine is part of a project ran by the charity Action Hunger, who hope to install more of these machines during the new year followed by expansions across Europe and then the US. Items are only accessible using key cards designed to work with the vending machines which are given to people in urgent need. The charity decided to partner up with The Friary, which is a day centre for homeless people in Nottingham and they distribute the cards to those they know need it. Within two weeks the machine was accessed a recorded 1410 times.
The legislation which finally banned microbeads in the UK came into effect on the 9th of January 2018. It prevents cosmetic and personal care manufacturers from using the tiny plastic particles in what is referred too as ‘rinse-off’ products. They were often using in products such as toothpastes, shower gels and exfoliating face washes. They were finally proven to be damaging to marine life hence their new ban. It was thought that billions of pieces of the tiny bits of plastic were ending up in the ocean every year. Campaigners argued that microbeads were the easiest to prevent and made a strong starting point for cutting down on the huge problem of plastic pollution which is choking our oceans. It is believed that there was five trillion pieces of plastic floating in the world’s seas.
A few eighth graders had the imagination to help Peg the duck be able to walk once again. Peg was discovered at around 8-months old after it was thought that a turtle had bitten off his foot and as he grew the injury was becoming increasingly irritated. The kids decided to use a 3D printer at their school in order to make a replacement appendage for the poor duck. It took roughly thirty different attempts to create the perfect “Peg Leg” but once their mission was complete, Peg was free to waddle once more.
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For the first time in around 100 years the humpback whales have returned to the waters of New York Harbour, and not just occasionally but in enough numbers that a company can reliably take tourists out to the ocean to see them. It is thought that their return is thanks to improvement of the water quality, algae and zooplankton having multiplied, giving food for the menhaden which are small oily fish loved by whales.
January 19th 2018 sees the time male members received a bonus set with their diamond member subscription. Although females have been receiving this addition for several months now, male accounts have been paying the hiked up price with nothing to show for it. Even more exciting is that the set was a collaboration effort between the servers very own Hungry and ShadowJess!