We’re in the home stretch of August, and this week we’re calling all nature-minded artists in Fairfax County to enter a design contest. Also, we’re reading about grocery delivery services and plastic bags; a failed plastic factory in PA; dangers of chemicals in hair styling products; and youth speaking truth to power in Wisconsin.

Design a Landmark: Looking for Local Artists for New Bus Rapid Transit Stations – Fairfax County, August 21, 2025

Calling all artistic folks! Fairfax County and ArtsFairfax have opened a contest for art submissions to be featured on new Route 1 Bus Rapid Transit bus shelters. There is a Natural Resources category that would be a wonderful opportunity for a local artist to showcase our native plants and/or our waterways. Learn more and apply here.

Ocado worst for plastic bags as total single-use sales rise for first time – The Guardian, August 25, 2025

In the United Kingdom (and we strongly suspect in the US as well!) grocery delivery services are increasing the overall number of single-use plastic bags being used. As more people order their food and groceries delivered rather than making shopping trips themselves, disposable bags are again proliferating.

Pennsylvania Lured Shell to the State With a $1.65 Billion Tax Break. Now the Company Wants to Sell Its Plant – Inside Climate News, August 22, 2025

After Pennsylvania taxpayers bore the cost of a huge tax break offered to Shell to site a polyethylene (single-use plastic) factory near Pittsburgh, the plant has proved to be faulty, accident-prone, and unprofitable. “Looking back, ‘this was a terrible investment of taxpayer money,’ one analyst said.” Shell is now looking to sell the facility, which has generated numerous health and nuisance complaints from nearby residents. 

Your hair styling routine may expose you to toxic levels of air pollution – Environmental Health News, August 26, 2025

You know all of those eight-syllable chemical ingredients you can’t pronounce on the back of your hair product container? Well, it turns out that when you blow dry, all of that hot air releases tons of nanoparticles that you then inhale in your poorly ventilated bathroom. And we’re guessing that humans were never intended to inhale them….

In the wake of destructive floods, Wisconsin youth sue state utility regulator over failure to consider climate change – Grist, August 27, 2025

As more and more climate change-induced extreme weather events hit communities, they cause major damage and loss of life. Several young Wisconsin residents are suing the state’s Public Service Commission to force it to consider climate change when it conducts fossil fuel permitting processes, arguing that the current protocol infringes on their constitutional rights to life and liberty.