Author Image: Michael Hawthorne

Michael Hawthorne

Michael Hawthorne is a Pulitzer-finalist investigative reporter who focuses on the environment and public health for the Chicago Tribune. A downstate Illinois native, Hawthorne joined the Tribune in 2004 after covering the environment and state government in Ohio, Illinois and Florida.

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Melissa Duhaime, center, an associate professor at the University of Michigan, hand-processes recently harvested flax straw to prepare fibers for engineering experiments with farmer Kyle Thom, left, and graduate student Shiho Apperson, on Sept. 22, 2026, at her home farm in Dexter, Michigan. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

The overwhelming problem of plastic

From flax that can be used in clothing and cars to robotic skimmers to stricter laws, determined researchers, activists and volunteers fight an industry intent on making more plastic.