Ecology Water

Bottled & Sold shows how water went from being a free natural resource to one of the most successful commercial products of the last 100 years - and why we are poorer for it. It's a big story and water is big business. Every second of every day in the United States, a thousand people buy a plastic bottle of water, and every second of every day a thousand more throw one of those bottles away. That adds up to more than 30 billion bottles a year and tens of billions of dollars of sales. Are there legitimate reasons to buy all those bottles?

Why a saltwater aquarium? There's nothing more spectacular than the diversity of the ocean. A saltwater aquarium setup allows you to bring a little sample of that spectacle into your own living room. Compared to plain freshwater tanks (which commonly contain goldfish and other lake-bred varieties of fish), there are many more options if you're planning to choose a saltwater aquarium setup. The fish and other ocean creatures you'll be able to host range from beautiful to fascinating to downright weird, some displaying flashy colors while others exude a quiet grace.

What would you do if you turned on the faucet one day and nothing happened? What if you learned the water in your home was harmful to drink? Water is essential for life on this planet, but not every community has the safe, clean water it needs. In When the World Runs Dry, award-winning science writer Nancy Castaldo takes listeners from Flint, Michigan, and Newark, New Jersey, to Iran and Cape Town, South Africa, to explore the various ways in which water around the world is in danger, why we must act now, and why you’re never too young to make a difference.