Consumer

"The tiny plastic particles found in many facial cleansers and soaps promise a gentle scrubbing and luxuriously smooth skin. But those little beads of grit are also piling up in waterways, where they can suck up toxins and harm wildlife, environmentalists say. Because of those concerns, Illinois is one of several states considering legislation to force manufacturers to drop products that use the particles, called microbeads."

"When the weather warms and the South Carolina humidity hangs like a soggy blanket along the coast, you can often find an entrepreneur selling shrimp out of the back of a pickup truck by the road with a hand-scrawled sign promoting it as both fresh and local. There's a chance it's neither."

"You’ve used Google’s Street View to navigate unfamiliar cities. Now, you can use it to explore a river."

"The energy giant raised the cash it needed to survive by slashing royalties it paid property owners to drill on their land."

"Brewers around the country boast that their 'pure' local water is the key to their beers' unique flavor. Coors credits the trout streams of the Rockies. Olympia  Beer's slogan is, 'It's the water.' Cold Spring Brewing Co., in Minnesota, is named for a nearby natural spring."

"LOS ANGELES — California is lining up to become the largest state to ban the sale of cosmetic products, such as facial scrubs, containing tiny plastic beads that find their way into waterways and the ocean."

"SEATTLE -- Makers of children’s products report that they are using toxic chemicals in children’s toys, clothing, safety products and bedding. The reports were filed with the State of Washington in 2013 under the state’s new disclosure law, the Children’s Safe Products Act, the country’s only such law."

"Remember those ballot initiatives in California and Washington that aimed to get food companies to label products containing genetically modified ingredients?"