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SF’s Cliff House is closing for good

Like so many restaurants during 2020, San Francisco’s historic Cliff House will be closing permanently. On Sunday, the 157-year-old restaurant announced that it would be closing its doors on December 31 due to both the COVID-19 pandemic and delays by the National Park Service in agreeing to a long-term contract.

The restaurant ended indoor dining back in March and shut down 10 weeks later after only offering takeout service. After another stint of takeout-only in the summer, the restaurant determined that the business model simply wasn’t sustainable. The Cliff House’s contract with the National Park Service expired in 2018, and the restaurant has been hoping for a long-term extension ever since. Instead, the NPS’ delay forced the restaurant to operate under a series of short-term contracts that proved detrimental to business. That delay, combined with the devastating effects of the pandemic, led to the decision to close permanently.

Owners Dan and Mary Hountalas said in a statement, “The National Park Service should have selected an operator on a long-term basis to ensure the continued operation of this national treasure.”

The Cliff House was built in 1863 and has been visited by five US presidents during the course of its life. It’s assumed many identities over the years but has been a staple of San Francisco for as long as many can remember. It’s unclear what will happen to the building after the closure.

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Japanese schools serving Kobe beef

School lunches aren’t exactly known for their quality or creativity. If you were lucky, the best you could look forward to was pizza day, when the lunch lady would slap a slice of reheated pizza on your tray. In Japan’s Hyōgo Prefecture, kids are treated to a slightly more upscale experience.

Around 1,250 public elementary schools in the prefecture serve Kobe (or wagyu) beef to students. The city of Kobe is known for its high-quality cattle, and since it’s located in the Hyōgo Prefecture schools can actually take advantage of the precious local meat. In October schools started serving Kobe beef sukiyaki and Kobe beef stew because decreased restaurant operations have resulted in an excess of prime meat. It might be one of the only silver linings of the pandemic for Japanese students, and it will continue until early 2021.

Last spring, when the pandemic began, the Japanese government announced that it would pay for the prefectures’ costs of buying wagyu and seafood to help suppliers struggling to make ends meet. A spokesperson from the Hyogo Prefecture Meat Industry Co-operative Association said, “Some stores had no customers to sell meat to. They had so much in their inventories that they could not store it all in their fridges. We appreciate the stable consumption.”

And kids certainly appreciate it too. According to Food & Wine, one 12-year-old said, “This is the best meat I’ve ever eaten. Without a doubt. I’m gonna brag about it to my parents.”

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How to make Martinique's shrubb

Holiday beverages are different around the world. Some are low alcohol and warming, like German glühwein and other mulled wines, while others are thick and booze-forward, like Mexico’s rompope and other various versions of eggnog. On the Caribbean island of Martinique, the classic holiday drink is unlike any other: shrubb.

Shrubb is an overproof Martinique rhum agricole that’s flavored with local citrus, cane syrup, and spices. It’s not to be confused with shrub with one “b,” which is the vinegar-based fruit and sugar concoction that was popular in colonial America. Martinique’s shrubb is drunk every year starting around Toussaint (All Saint’s Day on November 1) and ending around Christmas Eve, and it’s at the center of Chanté Nwel traditions when people on Martinique gather to party and sing carols.

Martinique’s distilleries put out commercial versions of shrubb — Rhum Clément Creole Shrubb is a popular version available in the US — but people typically make their own using family recipes.

“There’s a whole ceremonial tradition around shrubb,” says Kiowa Bryan, the national brand manager and marketing director for Spiribaum, which owns Rhum Clément. “A lot of families have massive dinners and celebrate together, and after dinner they clear the table and get the citrus out.”

The child who peels the most perfect spiral of citrus, Bryan says, gets to hang it on the tree (or filao) like a trophy. The rest of the citrus is dehydrated in the sun for a couple of weeks to concentrate the flavors. Some families only use the peels, while others use the pulp of the fruit as well. After about two weeks when the citrus has dried, it’s added to jars of Martinique rhum (typically unaged and around 100 proof or higher) along with sugarcane syrup and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, anise, and clove.

The jars sit in the sun and soak like sun tea for two to three weeks. After that, it’s ready to drink.

Photo: Rhum Clément/Facebook

Shrubb is consumed and shared throughout December as part of Chanté Nwel. On Fridays, people gather outside homes and in public spaces to listen to live music, eat Christmas ham and petits patés, and, of course, swap house shrubb recipes. Bryan describes the parties as a sort of mashup between a block party and Christmas caroling. Everyone is on the same page with the traditional songs, which are recorded in a popular green caroling book.

While Martinique gets most of the attention for its Chanté Nwel parties and shrubb, another French Caribbean island, Guadeloupe, has similar traditions.

“If you find yourself in the French Caribbean and you go to a grocery store, there’s a shrubb section with like 200 different types of commercial shrubb from the various distilleries on the island,” Bryan says.

Many use oranges because they’re in season, but variations that use grapefruit and peppercorn or lemon herbana are available as well. Various local flowers and tree barks make appearances in the spice department. Regardless of the recipe, it’s not the Chanté Nwel holiday season in Martinique without shrubb.

How to make a holiday shrubb for yourself

Rhum Clément’s Créole Shrubb is one of the few that make it stateside, but you can easily make your own as well.

The first step is to get your hands on the right rhum agricole (a style of rum fermented from raw sugarcane juice rather than molasses). Martinique’s rhum agricole is protected by France’s Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system that designates where ingredients come from and how the rhum is made. Think of how Champagne is protected, for example, or Camembert cheese. According to law, three territories on Martinique can grow sugarcane for rhum according to strict specifications, and the quality of the sugarcane is carefully monitored.

Because of these rules, using a Martinique rhum for your homemade shrubb is crucial to get the flavor right. Rhum J.M. makes a number of options available in the US.

“The flavor profile of Martinique agricole rhum is very vegetal and very naturally spicy,” Bryan says, “so it really plays well with the ingredients put in shrubb.”

Then comes the additions. If you’re in a warm location, you can dry your citrus of choice outdoors. The rest of us can dehydrate the citrus in the oven at the lowest temperature for a few hours before putting it into a mason jar. Pick out your favorite spices — cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, star anise, allspice, and vanilla are all great choices — and add them to the mason jar as well.

“That would be my starting point but really be as creative as possible,” Bryan says. “If you want to go a more savory route you can do something with grapefruit and rosemary.”

Then pour in the rhum, put it in the sun, and wait until the flavor is just right by test tasting it often. Add simple syrup (or sugarcane syrup if you can get your hands on it) to taste.

The exact proportions of what goes into the rhum is variable. The best way to find what works for you is to make a few batches and taste as it’s aged. Whatever lands in your recipe, throwing Martinique-style shrubb to the holiday drinks menu can help make a cold winter’s day feel a little warmer.

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Alaska Airlines ‘Safety Dance’ video

Airlines have been heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but now that it’s been deemed safe to fly, people are getting on airplanes in large numbers again. To make sure that all passengers and crew on Alaska Airlines know the rules for flying during the pandemic and respect them, the airlines has created an hilarious music video parodying 1980s song “Safety Dance.”

All those involved in the video are Alaska Airlines employees were selected based on their ability and willingness to dance, workgroups, and leader nominations, and they learned the choreography at home before filming.

Natalie, a Horizon Air flight attendant in Seattle who participated in the making of the video, said in a blog post, “From the director, to the choreography, the cameras, the music, makeup and hair artists and so on it was like being on the set of a movie. Everyday was filled with excitement and anticipation. It was very professional, well organized and definitely on my top 10 things in life that I have been a part of.”

Michael, a ground service agent at Horizon Air, said, “I’ve never danced before in my life. I focused on working hard at rehearsal and doing my best to keep up. I kept practicing the moves in order to successfully pull this all off.”

Hopefully people aren’t too distracted by the epic dance moves to actually pay attention to the safety message, which includes wear your mask, wash your hands, and trust the airline’s cleaning protocol and air filters.

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Popular cities for digital nomads

One of the longest-lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will likely be the growing acceptance of remote work by companies throughout the world — and the ensuing geographical freedom for all their employees. Because when you don’t have to show up at the office every day, you can work wherever you please, whether that’s from your bed in the family home or from a paradisiacal location thousands of miles away.

Nomad List has put together charts ranking the fastest-growing remote work cities around the world. They analyzed 121,512 check-ins by thousands of Nomad List members to see where people have been living out their remote work dreams over the past five years.

Photo: Nomad List

According to the chart, Canggu, Bali, is the fastest-growing city over the past five years, growing by 377 percent from 2015 to 2019. Indonesia is followed by Lisbon, Portugal, at 227 percent; Sydney, Australia at 209 percent; and Mexico City, Mexico, at 186 percent. The gap between Canggu and Lisbon is rather large, however, pointing to the overwhelming popularity of Bali.

Affordability is one of the most important factors remote workers consider before moving to a new place. According to the chart, growing remote work hubs with affordable real estate include Bali and Portugal but also Kiev in Ukraine and Minsk in Belarus.

Photo: Nomad List

If money is no object and you’re just looking for pure inspiration, there’s even a chart that measures the most-visited destinations in 2019 and over the past five years by remote workers. Bangkok, London, Berlin, the Indonesian island of Bali, and New York City top that list.

Photo: Nomad List

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TikTok of dog-walker in Svalbard

Being a dog owner is different depending on what part of the world you live in. TikTok user Cecilia Blomdahl posted a video chronicling what, exactly, is involved in walking her dog in the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Beside the obvious frigid weather, in winter, Svalbard also has 24 hours of darkness from mid-November until the end of January (a phenomenon known as the polar nights), making a simple walk around the block quite an ordeal.

@sejsejlija

Svalbard lifeee #meanwhileinthenordics #northernnorway #tiktoknorge #tiktoknorway #fyp #foryou #viral #dogsoftiktok #norway #norge #svalbard

♬ original sound – Cecilia Blomdahl

Preparing for a dog walk doesn’t just require throwing on some sweatpants and queuing up your favorite podcast. It involved several layers and some accessories you might not expect.

“It’s starting to get really cold here,” Blomdahl says in the video, “and it’s pitch black 24/7. You start with some wool thermals, then expedition pants, then a down sausage jacket, and then your teletubby headlight, and of course that’s not enough. We have polar bears here, so we have to bring a rifle with us every time we’re outside.”

That’s right. Due to the presence of polar bears on Svalbard, anyone leaving the immediate borders of Longyearbyen (the main town) is required to carry a rifle for protection.

“Dogs are obviously invisible in the dark so I put a bunch of blinkies and high-vis vests on them so I can actually see them when they run away.”

She then shows us the view outside her cabin at 4 PM, which is, of course, extremely dark and snowy. It might not sound like a ton of fun for humans, but it certainly looks like the dogs are having a good time rolling around in the snow.

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Snowshoeing is best way to travel

We’ve found ourselves spending a lot of time outdoors this year, and there’s no reason we need to stop enjoying that fresh air once the snow falls. As long as there’s a natural area nearby, snowshoeing is one of the best ways to enjoy the trees, open spaces, and outdoor time with friends. It’s also an incredibly easy activity to get started doing.

Why go snowshoeing?

Photo: Ho Su A Bi/Shutterstock

If you have a good pair of winter boots that are warm and waterproof, you may wonder why you even need a pair of snowshoes to get out and enjoy nature in winter. What snowshoes do is let you explore areas where the snow is too thick to walk in — or, at least, to walk in easily — with a pair of boots. When there’s a lot of snow, you’re likely to just sink into it with your winter boots.

Snowshoes, by being bigger than the bottom of your boots, spread out your weight across a larger surface area — so you won’t sink into the snow. With most snowshoes, your boots are only strapped into snowshoes on the front part, leaving the heel free. While walking this way takes a few moments to get used to, it means you don’t have to lift snowshoes quite as high and they can stay in contact with the snow longer. All this means that snowshoes permit you to cross snowy areas that might be difficult or impossible to traverse in boots alone.

That’s the technical reason for snowshoeing. The more philosophical case for it is that it’s just a wonderful way to enjoy winter’s natural landscapes and a great way to get out into nature with a friend or even a group of friends — and a lovely reminder of how people forged their way across snowy landscapes hundreds of years ago. Making your own trail through the trees or over a meadow atop a blanket of winter white is a magical experience, allowing you to explore areas that would be inaccessible without snowshoes. Snowshoeing can be a leisurely endeavor or, at a faster pace and longer distance, an excellent workout.

Where to snowshoe

Photo: Devansphotography/Shutterstock

The basic thing you need to snowshoe is simply snow. Obviously, you aren’t going to snowshoe down an urban street, because in no time at all the snow would be packed down, eliminating the need for snowshoes to get to the subway. However, you can snowshoe in cities. You just need to find a big enough park and to head out right after a snowfall. In NYC, you can actually snowshoe in Manhattan’s Central Park, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, or Staten Island’s Greenbelt.

With the right conditions, you could also strap on snowshoes and explore pretty much any state park in New Jersey or on Long Island. Just outside Boston, try out the Boston Nature Center or Harold Parker State Forest. Snowshoeing is obviously popular throughout the Northeast, in its beautiful and quiet state parks and in such coveted destinations as Acadia National Park.

Snowshoeing options also abound in the Midwest, where you’ll find more exciting ways to celebrate winter than just about anywhere else. In Chicago you can snowshoe on Northerly Island or at the Morton Arboretum, while Kettle Moraine State Forest and Harrington Beach State Park are among the many places to snowshoe near Milwaukee.

Out west, plenty of snowshoeing opportunities abound in and around Denver, such as in Golden Gate State Park or Rocky Mountain National Park. While there’s not usually enough snow in Seattle to strap on a pair of snowshoes, you’re just a short drive away from the Cascade Mountain range and plenty of snowshoeing opportunities there.

Snowshoeing is usually available around most US ski resorts and is a great way to enjoy a ski trip even if you don’t ski. Often, popular snowshoe trails are the same ones cross-country skiers use. If that’s the case, get out of their way as they come by and be sure not to mess up their tidy, grooved ski tracks by stepping on them.

Better yet, get off the trail altogether. When you rent your snowshoes, just ask the folks there about the best places to head into, any areas to avoid (whether for bears, snowmobiles, or cliffs), and anything other key things specific to that area. And then get out there. Beautiful, cottony white landscapes are waiting to be explored.

First steps to snowshoeing

Photo: Lane V. Erickson/Shutterstock

Snowshoeing is incredibly easy to do and snowshoes are cheap to rent or buy. We’ll get to that inexpensive gear below, but we want to start with a few words on what to wear and know before you head out.

If you are only planning on a short excursion, or if you just plan to check out the natural expanse behind your house, just be sure you have waterproof boots and warm clothing. To snowshoe on flat ground, just put one foot in front of the other — albeit in a wide enough stance that your snowshoes don’t bang into each other. If you will do anything more than a short walk in the park, then plan on using poles as well.

Any outing longer than an hour requires a little more thoughtful consideration. Snowshoeing is a good workout, and you’ll find you need to be less warmly dressed than you would be if you were just walking or even skiing (which, while a workout, also cools you off with the wind and alpine temperatures). If you have ski pants and other waterproof gear, that is the way to go. A hat and mittens or gloves are also a must.

The most critical thing is to dress in layers and avoid fabrics that stay wet and can make you cold if you sweat. Dry winter weather can be dehydrating, so bring water and have some snacks on hand as well for those longer outings. If the sun is out, sunglasses and sunscreen will protect from glare.

Most importantly, be sure you know where you are and where you are going. It’s surprisingly, and dangerously, easy to get lost in the woods in snow. Even a forest you are familiar with in summer months can look quite different with a blanket of sparkling snow. Go with a friend and a well-charged mobile phone — which will only help if there is cell coverage where you are going. If you intend to be out for a while, tell someone your plans and take a waterproof map, plenty of water, and snacks with you.

Types of snowshoes

Photo: AYA images/Shutterstock

If you’re a beginner, you’re likely to just stay in flat places, so you don’t need a technical shoe made to scale inclines. If you plan to snowshoe in the light powder that you find right after a snowfall, then you’ll need a snowshoe with a bigger surface area as that’s the kind of snow that boots alone sink right into. But the fluffy stuff is also the most fun snow to traverse.

Bigger snowshoes take a little getting used to when you walk and can weigh more, so if you are petite, there’s no reason to get overly sized snowshoes. Snowshoes always list the maximum weight they can hold, so consider how much you weigh and add in the approximate weight of your cold-weather clothing and anything you plan to tote with you. If you intend to do intense climbs or longer excursions with a heavy backpack, then you’ll need snowshoes that are designed for inclines and able to withstand more weight. If you’d like to jog through the woods, you’ll find snowshoes for that, too.

Depending on where you go, check around for snowshoes to rent. Whether in California’s Lake Tahoe, California or by New York’s Hunter Mountain, you can often rent snowshoe gear for an afternoon or a full day for less than $20. Once you fall in love with snowshoeing, you can go out and buy yourself a pair.

The cheapest snowshoes come in at under $160. For just a little more, Atlas makes excellent men’s and women’s snowshoes that you can get at REI Coop for over $230, and which will last you several winter seasons. Atlas’ running and race snowshoes come in a bit higher, but are all under $300 a pair. REI Coop also sells a pair of adjustable Tubbs poles for $44.95.

When you need poles

Photo: Sanchik/Shutterstock

If you’re only going to travel short distances in flat areas, you don’t really need poles — but they will help you balance as you get used to snow shoes. More importantly, just like trekking poles, snowshoe poles can take some of the weight off your knees, especially if you’re carrying a backpack. If you do choose to use actual trekking poles, make sure you have bigger baskets on the bottom so they don’t sink into the snow.

Poles are essential for more challenging terrain. For uphill hikes, poles will help take off some of the load, and with downhill hikes, keeping them out in front of you is very helpful. For heading across a slope, adjusting the pole on the downhill side to be a bit longer will help you with balance. Once you give snowshoeing a try, we’re pretty sure you’ll want to do more of it. As you branch out to longer distances and more variable terrain, you’ll want those poles as well.

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What is SARS in Nigeria?

While Black Lives Matter protests have reignited throughout 2020 to fight against police brutality after George Floyd’s death, another global movement against police brutality shook social media in October. The #EndSARS hashtag began as a call to action from Nigerian youth to hold the Special Anti-Robbery Squad accountable for their violent and brutal treatment of Nigerian citizens. Some of the stories from victims of SARS violence over the years have included being kidnapped and held hostage, being tortured, being extorted for money, and suffering additional human rights violations.

While Nigerian President Buhari announced on Oct. 11, 2020, that he had plans to dissolve SARS, Nigerian youth were not convinced, as similar promises have been made in previous years to no avail. The announcement, which stated that SARS would be dissolved immediately, actually meant that SARS officers would be redeployed into other units of the Nigerian police instead of being held accountable for their actions. As protests continued shortly after the announcement, the Lekki toll gate massacre took place on Oct. 20, 2020, in which the Nigerian Army and police unit violently killed and wounded dozens of peaceful protestors. Following the incident, some activists have either gone in hiding or fled the country out of fear for their lives.

Since then, social media posts have slowed down. Originally meant to be the outlet that could not silence Nigerian youth, social media could now become even more censored in the country with the introduction of the National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speech bill and the Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation and other Related Offenses bill. While these bills date back to 2019, the passing of the bills could be detrimental to Nigerian activists on social media. To ensure that Nigerian stories are heard, Nigerian-American co-founder of Black Lives Matter Opal Tometi has launched several initiatives to emphasize that Black Lives Matter worldwide.

As the founder of Diaspora Rising, a media and advocacy organization “dedicated to strengthening the bonds among members of the global Black family,” Tometi has used this platform to start a series of conversations with citizen who are currently in Nigeria, to amplify their voices and to share their stories of the current conditions with the public. Each episode of Rising Together features notable figures in the Nigerian community to discuss possible solutions to the issues at hand and how to work toward a new Nigeria.

In the debut episode, Tometi sits down with the executive director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, to highlight the extent of the movement. Osai shares the history of Nigerian police and how SARS, initially founded to focus on robberies, has abused its power over the years, leading to the current movement. The latest episode of Rising Together features Aisha Yesefu, one of the leading forces behind the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. In this episode, Aisha reveals that young protestors are still being targeted and shot by police and mentions that demonstrators were also tear gassed, shot, and arrested for protesting at the National Assembly on Nov. 6, 2020. She goes on to share her encounter with the police on the front lines and discusses the role of women leaders in both the #BringBackOurGirls and #EndSARS movements.

Along with providing a platform for Nigerian activists, Opal has also been using her social media to share additional ways people can support the movement and has partnered with other Nigerian public figures for calls to action. As Dec. 20, 2020 will mark the two-month anniversary of the massacre, the public can continue to advocate for change in Nigeria through amplifying Nigerian voices, spreading awareness, and donating to the #EndSARS solidarity campaign. You can also sign the open letter to Nigeria’s President Buhari.

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Disney not photoshopping masks

One of Disney World’s most classic souvenirs is a picture of yourself mid-ride with a terrified look on your face, which you probably paid upward of $30 to take home. But in the COVID-19 era, Disney was threatening to withhold ride photography from guests who weren’t wearing face masks. Revoking PhotoPass privileges from maskless guests, however, unfairly affected those who actually followed the rules. That’s why Disney started photoshopping face masks onto those not wearing them, so photos can still be provided to the ones who do.

On rides like Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin at the Magic Kingdom and Dinosaur in the Animal Kingdom, photos were being digitally enhanced by adding face masks to riders who didn’t wear them. One photo, which was shared to the Disney World Junkies Facebook group, shows a group of guests on the Dinosaur attraction mid-ride, with a mask clearly photoshopped onto the woman in the back.

Now, after negative feedback from guests decrying the practice, Disney has stopped its photoshopping entirely.

A statement from Disney World read, “In response to guest requests, we tested modifying some ride photos. We are no longer doing this and continue to expect guests to wear face coverings except when actively eating or drinking while stationary.”

Photo: Tony Townsend/Disney World Junkies/Facebook

Disney requires guests to bring their own face masks and wear them at all times inside the park, except while eating and swimming. Dining on-the-go has also been banned, as it resulted in too many guests removing their masks while walking around and eating.

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Positive sustainability news

It’s been dubbed the Electric Forecourt by its maker, GRIDSERVE. What it resembles most is the convenience stores and gas stations we’re accustomed to visiting around the world, save for one thing — there are no gas pumps. On December 5, the first location of more than 100 in planning around the UK opened to customers in Braintree, Essex.

The station hosts 36 high-speed EV chargers, along with a coffee shop, WHSmith Travel retail, and convenience items like you’d see in an everyday gas station. At its most efficient, the station delivers 350 kWh (kilowatt-hours) of power, enough to provide up to 200 miles of range in about 20 minutes — the perfect amount of time to sip a cup of joe from the onsite cafe. An average EV can charge up to 80 percent for about $13.25, making it more affordable than a tank of gas.

“Today’s announcement represents a major milestone in achieving GRIDSERVE’s purpose to deliver sustainable energy and move the needle on climate change,” said GRIDSERVE CEO Toddington Harper in a press release. “It’s our collective responsibility to prevent greenhouse gas emissions rising further, and electric vehicles powered by clean energy represent a large part of the solution.”

The move comes in advance of the UK’s 2030 ban on new gas-powered vehicles, a plan announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson earlier this year that is already driving an increase in the sale of electric vehicles across the country.

”Our government is committed to increasing the take-up of electric vehicles, to clean our air and enable us to achieve net zero carbon emissions as quickly as possible, which is why we have just brought forward the ban on new petrol or diesel to 2030,” said James Cleverly, Braintree’s MP and former UK Conservative Party Chairman, in the release. “GRIDSERVE’s Electric Forecourt®, close to Braintree, is the most advanced charging facility in the world and is pioneering the world-class infrastructure required to support our policies and drive the confidence we need to make the move to sustainable transport in the UK.”

Looking to the future, the most exciting aspect about the opening of the first Electric Forecourt is that it represents what could become the status quo for what we currently call “gas stations” or “petrol stations” following the switch to transportation electrification. Even if you aren’t located in or near Essex and can’t visit the station in person right now, just looking at the photos is like taking a glimpse into the future.

More climate wins

New York State’s pension fund will drop fossil fuel stocks over the next five years. Valued at $226 billion, the fund is among the world’s largest and most influential investors, and its decision — meant to stabilize its long-term growth as the world moves to renewable energy — is likely to impact other pension funds around the country, the New York Times reports.

Train stations in India are taking a page from an old playbook. In its effort to curb single-use plastics, Treehugger reported that the Indian government announced that 7,000 train stations around the country will swap disposable plastic cups for clay alternatives called “kulhads.” These small cups will be used primarily to serve hot chai for passengers moving through the stations, keeping millions out plastic cups out of landfills and waterways each day. Once a chai drinker finishes their beverage, they simply toss the cup onto the ground — where it rapidly decomposes.

We close this week with a fun find. The Great Bubble Barrier debuted in North Holland in 2019, deployed into a canal to test the concept that a stream of bubbles might be a solution to keeping plastic out of the oceans. It seems to be working — the concept was tested in Amsterdam in November 2019 and is on course to be deployed in polluted rivers around the world in the coming years. It works by sending a stream of bubbles towards the surface of the water, pushing microplastics and debris up with it. Check out this video.

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