Less than 10% of plastic trash is recycled — compared to almost 90% of metals — because of the massively complicated problem of finding and sorting the different kinds. Frustrated by this waste, Mike Biddle has developed a cheap and incredibly energy efficient plant that can, and does, recycle any kind of plastic.

New York City residents produce 11,000 tons of garbage every day. Every day! This astonishing statistic is just one of the reasons Robin Nagle started a research project with the city's Department of Sanitation. She walked the routes, operated mechanical brooms, even drove a garbage truck herself—all so she could answer a simple-sounding but complicated question: who cleans up after us?

Kevin Allocca is YouTube's trends manager, and he has deep thoughts about silly web video. In this talk from TEDYouth, he shares the 4 reasons a video goes viral.

TeleCinco is a Spanish commercial television channel, showing popular films, series, and entertainment shows. Check out the website to access news and video content. Watching short videos can help you improve your Spanish, try to pay close attention to the speaker's mouth and try repeating some of what they say.

In addition to the general directory of towns and topics. Useful for studying Spanish cultural themes.

An online grammar of French that combines authoritative grammar explanations, self-correcting exercises and online audio with dialogues and cartoon images.

TF1 is one of the main French TV channels and offers a broad varieties of popular French and American TV shows such as Arrow (one of my favorite shows); Grey’s Anatomy and The Mentalist. Requires Log in.

Test and build up your vocabulary

The European Bookshop's purpose is to promote the major European languages and literatures in the United Kingdom and beyond, and to contribute to a deeper understanding of the enduring European influences within our many different cultures.

The Official website of the European Union.

Helping German learners learn German. A wide range of materials for speaking, listening, grammar, vocabulary, and a range of resources for the teaching of German. Also available: a German grammar guide, German Cultural information, quizzes and other resources.

The Goethe-Institut is the Federal Republic of Germany’s cultural institute, active worldwide. The Goethe-Institut promotes the study of German abroad and encourages international cultural exchange.

English-Icelandic and Icelandic-English dictionary of technical terms

The Internet Grammar of English is an online course in English grammar written primarily for university undergraduates. However, we hope that it will be useful to everyone who is interested in the English language. IGE does not assume any prior knowledge of grammar.

Japan's principal agent for cultural relations between Japan and overseas countries. The Japan Foundation maintains 24 overseas branches in 23 countries, including the UK (London).

The Japan Times is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by The Japan Times, Ltd. Printed stories from The Japan Times are archived online. The Japan Times English-language daily content includes: News (domestic and world news), Opinion (Editorials, Op-eds, and Letters to the Editor), Features (life and style, etc) Entertainment (film, art, festivals) and Sports (domestic and overseas sports news).

The Mainichi Shimbun (in English "Daily News") is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by The Mainichi Newspapers Co., Ltd. In addition to the Mainichi Shimbun, which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English language news website called The Mainichi. Follow the link to find the website.

Information regarding French-administered territories outside the European continent. These territories have varying legal status and different levels of autonomy, although all (except those with no permanent inhabitants) have representation in both France's National Assembly and Senate, which together make up the French Parliament.

Special interest

The official tourism website for France includes information about France, practical information, destination information, ideas for 'what to do' in France, and region specific information.

The Story of Bottled Water, released on March 22, 2010 (World Water Day) employs the Story of Stuff style to tell the story of manufactured demand—how you get Americans to buy more than half a billion bottles of water every week when it already flows from the tap. Over five minutes, the film explores the bottled water industrys attacks on tap water and its use of seductive, environmental-themed advertising to cover up the mountains of plastic waste it produces. The film concludes with a call to take back the tap, not only by making a personal commitment to avoid bottled water, but by supporting investments in clean, available tap water for all.

The Story of Electronics explores the high-tech revolution's collateral damage—25 million tons of e-waste and counting, poisoned workers and a public left holding the bill. Host Annie Leonard takes viewers from the mines and factories where our gadgets begin to the horrific backyard recycling shops in China where many end up. The film concludes with a call for a green 'race to the top' where designers compete to make long-lasting, toxic-free products that are fully and easily recyclable.