Vacation time is over, let’s get to some new bits and pieces of eco-news from around the world (courtesy of GreenLiving)…

1. The population of monarch butterflies that fly thousands of miles from Canada and the Northern U.S. to spend their winters in Mexico is down by 75%. They have been hit by heavy pesticide use and the destruction of much of the Mexican fir forests where they shelter for the winter. How can you help? Don’t pull up or use pesticide on the milkweed in your backyard as it is the main food of monarch caterpillars.

2. Today’s tightly sealed homes often have 5 to 10 times more air pollution than the air outside. But now there’s the new Tox Box, an air purifier that slides easily into forced-air furnaces and claims to capture toxins, viruses and bacteria.

3. Wild salmon, catfish and scallops recently got the all-clear in a report on the dangers of eating mercury-laden fish. But there were warnings about eating too much swordfish, tuna steak and shark. Too much mercury can give us headaches, fatigue and cause depression. It falls on the oceans from the smoke off coal-burning plants and other industrial factories.

4. For whales, sound is often more important than sight. But, unfortunately, this is the same for oil companies who fire tens of thousands of extremely high-volume gun blasts in order to help find oil reserves - 24 hours a day for weeks and months. And it’s also bad news for the whales that NATO countries are using high-intensity sonar during training exercises around the globe. Both these actions harm fish and diorient whales. To help, click here.