Why London’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone is already controversial
Drivers of high-emission vehicles will have to cough up the cash if they want to travel within London’s newly expanded Ultra-Low Emission Zone. With the area including circular roads and numerous residential areas, the city’s mayor is receiving a lot of pushback from locals, business owners, and councils. If you’ve...
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Plantd is creating carbon absorbing building materials from grass
Plantd is a burgeoning startup using grass fibres to create building materials instead of wood. Could this become a popular alternative in the future? The drive for constant economic growth comes at a cost to natural resources, particularly wood. The volume of wood used for lumber in a single year...
Why ‘debt-for-nature’ swaps are the future of climate finance
Many developing countries are deep in financial debt. More often than not, however, they are rich in biodiversity. An increasingly popular climate agreement could enable them to minimise the debt they owe to wealthy nations – as long as the money saved is placed into environmental protection and adaptation...
Analysis says most carbon ‘offsets’ by big companies do nothing
Many prominent brands have started buying carbon credits in order to offset their emission levels and neutralise their environmental impact. Scientific analysis shows these are largely worthless. As big companies attempt to appear more eco-conscious in the eyes of their customers, many have started to boast partnerships with rainforest conservation...
Royal Opera House cuts ties with BP
Following pressure from climate activists, the arts venue has become the latest cultural institution to sever its sponsorship relationship with an oil and gas giant. This week, BP and the Royal Opera House announced that they had not extended their partnership deal beyond December 2022, when their most recent contract...
Europe’s largest deposit of rare earth elements discovered in Sweden
While mining for iron ore, a Swedish company came across the largest deposit of rare earth elements ever found in Europe. It could offer a huge boost to the continent’s green sector in the future. When Swedish iron ore miners from LKAB went to work this week, they might have...
UK authorities want to reuse graves as burial space diminishes
Laws in effect since Victorian times are causing UK funeral authorities problems as burial space runs low. Some have requested to reuse old graves and policy reviews are ongoing. Does the New Year make anyone else think of death? Just me then… okay. We apologise for such a morbid topic so early in the year, but a squeamish attitude is probably what landed us here in the first place. Cemeteries throughout England...
Devon Henry dismantles nearly 100 Confederate statues in America
After white contractors refused the task of removing Confederate statues from Devon Henry’s hometown, he took matters into his own hands. This was the start of his journey towards dismantling over 70 statues commemorating America’s colonial era. In almost every city or town, you will find at least one statue honouring a prominent person, group of people, or major event. Such statues serve as a reminder of our historical past, but...
Cove creates biodegradable water bottles from food waste
Ecologically inclined start-up Cove has released a new water bottle that appears as plastic to the naked eye – but actually is made from biodegradable food waste called PHA. It is the first of its kind, and the product is commercially available. Amid our current climate crisis, plastic waste is an epidemic all of its own. We’re on a slippery slope to having more plastic in our oceans than fish by...
Report reveals Amazon’s plastic use rose astronomically last year
The largest retailer on the planet ships out 7.7 billion packages annually. How it chooses to wrap these items has serious consequences for the natural world – including humans. Have you ever ordered a small item from Amazon and been shocked by the size of the parcel that arrived? You’re not the only one. Amazon is notorious for using unnecessary packaging when shipping items. According to a new report, its global...