Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Tell us what you’ve been reading at info@reasonstobecheerful.world and we just might feature it here. Catch-all Microplastics are nearly everywhere, including in about 69 percent of our clothing. When those clothes are washed, the machines discharge microplastics and other fibers into waterways, which eventually reach the ocean. According to a story in the Guardian shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas, a recently invented filter can catch those fibers before they escape the washing machine. Michaela says: I’ve been looking at ways to eliminate plastic from my life. While I don’t buy clothes made from polyester and other plastic anymore, this is an interesting piece about capturing the microplastics shed from our clothing in our washing machines before it reaches waterways. Bogged down Efforts are underway to restore peat bogs in Lithuania, the New York Times reports in a story that caught Contributing Editor Geetanjali Krishna’s attention this week. As it turns out, that’s good news for both the climate and, more surprisingly, the country’s military defense. Geetanjali says: Never thought that peat bogs would become potent weapons not only against climate change, but hostile countries too! Lithuania is the latest among countries that have been restoring their smelly bogs because they capture great stores of carbon, and have proven quite successful keeping Russian tanks at bay (apparently the heavy vehicles tend to sink in them). What else we’re reading Toward correction that respects and redeems — shared by Michaela Haas from the Christian Science Monitor Texas Banned Rainbow Crosswalks. San Antonio Found a Workaround. — shared by Editorial Director Rebecca Worby from the New York Times The Simple Fix Small-Town Schools Are Using to Keep Teens Out of Dead-End Jobs — shared by Executive Editor Will Doig from the Wall Street Journal Infrasound waves stop kitchen fires, but can they replace sprinklers? — shared by Rebecca Worby from Ars Technica Beware of Wolves, but Straw Houses Could Help With Climate Change — shared by Will Doig from the New York Times In other news… As a heat wave hits RTBC headquarters and the rest of the Northeast, we’re thinking cool thoughts — and revisiting last July’s edition of The Spark, in which we shared ways to keep your community cool at times like these. The post What We’re Reading: A Tiny Device That Keeps Microplastics Out of Oceans appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.