British designer Justina Alexandroff has created a fake flower that stands out to insects, potentially helping them navigate polluted city air and fighting declines in pollination. More about Faux Flora helps pollution-blinded bees to find real flowers
Architecture studio HKS has completed a 41-storey residential skyscraper in Salt Lake City, which is now the tallest building in Utah and contains an LED crown that displays current levels of air pollution. More about HKS tops Utah's tallest skyscraper with lights that indicate urban air quality
British company Carbon Cell has used agricultural waste to make a carbon-negative and compostable alternative to polystyrene packaging and building insulation that avoids contributing to plastic pollution. More about Carbon Cell makes plastic-free alternative to polystyrene
Environmental organisation A Plastic Planet has removed the paywall around its PlasticFree database, giving designers and brands unfettered access to its directory of expert-verified plastic substitutes. More about PlasticFree makes database of hundreds of plastic alternatives "forever free to all"
Governments' failure to agree a treaty on curbing plastics pollution draws attention to how reliant on the material we have become but there may be a silver lining, writes Smith Mordak. More about "We need plastic to keep our economic order going"
The curators of the Lebanese pavilion have explained why they fought to be at the Venice Architecture Biennale despite the challenges of life under conflict, including the killing of one of their colleagues just two weeks ago. More about "We are not going to be silenced" say Lebanese Pavilion curators
Visitors to the Venice Architecture Biennale can drink coffee made from the city's canal water in a Golden Lion-winning intervention by US practice Diller Scofidio + Renfro. More about Diller Scofidio + Renfro serves up canal water coffee at Venice Architecture Biennale
Construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel, a 25-kilometre-long sewer, has been completed below London to minimise pollution to the River Thames. More about "Super sewer fully up and running" in London to protect River Thames
Architecture firm MVRDV has blanketed the square outside Bangkok's city hall with a woven floor mat made from recycled rice bags, inviting residents to sit, congregate and consider Thailand's plastic pollution crisis. More about MVRDV creates public seating area that doubles as "860-square-metre infographic" in Bangkok
US president Donald Trump has issued an executive order to end the federal use of paper straws and encourage consumers to switch back to plastic, reversing Biden-era measures to curb plastic pollution. More about Trump signs executive order to ditch paper straws for plastic
Design studio Inxects has developed a wearable that translates environmental stress signals into physical sensations to let users feel humanity's impact on nature. More about Inxects vest lets architects "feel" the health of a site like a sixth sense
A sponge made from a fusion of cotton fibre and squid bone could help to clear some of the world's microplastic pollution after a team of Chinese researchers found it can soak up as much as 99.8 per cent of the particles from water samples. More about Squid-bone sponge found to soak up 99.8 per cent of microplastics
The Coca-Cola Company – named the world's worst plastic polluter for six consecutive years – appears to have dropped its pledge to pivot to 25 per cent reusable packaging by 2030. More about Coca‑Cola accused of abandoning reusable-packaging target
With Earth Day 2024 and an increasing number of environmental campaigners calling for an end to plastics, is time finally up for the 20th century's miracle material? Rima Sabina Aouf finds out if we can – and should – abolish plastic. More about Is a plastic-free future possible?
Indonesian non-profit Sungai Watch has unveiled the debut furniture launch from its design studio Sungai Design, aimed at creating useful products from the mountains of plastic waste that it fishes from Bali's rivers every day. More about Ombak chair consists of 2,000 plastic bags salvaged from Bali's rivers
The 5 Gyres research institute says bioplastics are "not a silver bullet solution" for plastic pollution, following a study that raises concerns about so-called biodegradable products. More about Researchers find bioplastic drinking straws intact after over a year buried underground
Packaging designs aimed at boosting recycling rates and reducing the prevalence of single-use plastics are destined to fail unless they help to change people's behaviour, writes Matt Millington. More about "We need to design for human behaviour if we're ever to get rid of single-use plastics"
Designer Emy Bensdorp has found a way to clean PFAS "forever chemicals" from contaminated clay soil by firing it into bricks as part of a project showcased at Dutch Design Week. More about Emy Bensdorp takes on PFAS pollution by turning "toxic" soil into bricks
Design agency Kinetic Singapore presented projects highlighting issues such as pollution and climate change by creating a fictional school for Singapore Design Week. More about School of Tomorrow exhibition addresses climate crisis in playful classroom setting
The process of recycling can actually make plastics more hazardous to human health, according to a recent Greenpeace report that calls on the United Nations to rule it out as a scalable fix for plastic pollution. More about Recycled plastics often contain more toxic chemicals says Greenpeace