Record year for Green Flag Awards
by David Masters
A record number of green spaces have been awarded Green Flag status this year. Over 1,000 green spaces in England and Wales bagged the prestigious award for 2009, including more than 200 brand new winners. Free, open, green spaces have acquired a "particular importance" as people look for a low-cost escape from the gloom of the recession, Green Flag said. "One of the most significant aspects of the Green Flag Award is that ...
Red Bull’s wings clipped over recycling fraud
by David Masters
Energy drinks maker Red Bull has been hit with a record fine for breaching waste recovery and recycling laws. The firm was fined £261,000 by Southwark Crown Court after it admitted not registering with the Environment Agency as a producer of packaging waste. The company also confessed to not recovering or recycling packaging waste for eight years between 1999 and 2006. In addition to the fine, Red Bull was ordered to pay court ...
Eco-festival choked into closing by police stranglehold
by David Masters
One of the UK's longest running eco-festivals is set to lose thousands of pounds after police forced organisers to cancel this year's festival at the last minute. Over 20,000 revellers were expected to turn up this week for the Big Green Gathering in Medip, Somerset. Organisers were forced to cancel the five day festival of arts, culture and music at the weekend after Mendip council and the police sought an injunction to ...
Freshwater crab numbers fall dramatically
by Alan Harten
Crabs play an important role in the aquatic ecosystem by aiding the recycling of plant and animal remains, but this may shift some due to the fact that about a sixth of the global crab population is on the threatened with extinction list. The loss of the crabs would lead to a breakdown in the water nutrient cycle leading to knock-down effects on animal populations, water quality, and human environments. This is ...
Ancient trees under threat
by Alan Harten
The National Trust is taking a look at ‘ancient’ trees left in the world to assess their condition and address the threats that they may face in the future and how to best address the threats to preserve the trees. The UK in particular has cause for concern in that over 60-70% of all trees classified as ancient in Europe are located within the UK borders. Brian Muelaner, the newly appointed direct ...
UK has to grow its own food to help the world
by Alan Harten
A committee of MPs released a report this week that stated Britain will need to start growing more of its own food supply including vegetables, fruit, and cereal if it wants to be able to feed the extra 2.7 billion people that are anticipated to populate the globe by 2050. The report details that there will be about 9 billion people in the world in just forty years which will mean ...
Ozzie town bans bottled water
by David Masters
A rural town in Australia has banned the sale of bottled water. Campaigners believe that Bundanoon, a New South Wales town with a population of 2,500, is the first community in the world to implement a full ban. Retailers in Bundanoon, known as 'Bundy' to locals, will now be breaking the law if they sell bottled water - although no penalty will be imposed on those who flout the ban. Instead of buying ...
Accountants back sustainability audits
by David Masters
Accountancy firms around the world have backed Prince Charles's proposals to audit the social and environmental impacts of businesses alongside their finances. Sixteen professional bodies signed up to the five principles outlined in the Prince of Wales's Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) Forum. It is the first time that an international group of accountancy firms have publicly affirmed sustainability guidelines. By signing up to the principles, the participating bodies aim to bring sustainability to ...
“Breakthrough ideas” to make Britain sustainable
by David Masters
The Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) has unveiled a list of 'breakthrough ideas' to transform Britain into a sustainable society. The 19 "breakthrough ideas for the 21st century" include free bikes to encourage cycling for journeys under five miles, growing vegetables in public flowerbeds, and giving children 'personal well-being lessons' and more outdoor education. The shortlist was put together from nearly 300 ideas submitted by businesses, academics, sustainability professionals, and the general public. Other ...
Tesco ‘disappointed’ by Greenpeace deforestation report
by David Masters
Supermarket giant Tesco has hit out at Greenpeace allegations that it stocks beef products sourced from cattle illegally raised on ranches in the deforested Amazon rainforest. In a letter to the Guardian newspaper, Tesco's executive director of corporate and legal affairs said she was "disappointed" at Greenpeace's accusation. "We have made it clear to our suppliers that the use of beef from illegally deforested regions is unacceptable," wrote Lucy Neville-Rolfe. However, online eco-magazine ...
Campaigners want ‘Green New Deal’ for Northern Ireland
by David Masters
A new campaign in Northern Ireland is urging a joined up approach to tackle the effects of the recession and climate change. The Green New Deal, a coalition of businesses, farmers, trade unions, charities, and environmental campaigners, wants the government to invest in renewable energy to secure Northern Ireland's energy supply, combat global warming, and create thousands of jobs. Plans put forward by the group include refurbishing tens of thousands of homes ...
Big crash in Puffin population
by Alan Harten
Most people can recognize a puffin by its stubby short beak, but the puffin may be a barometer by which we can judge the effects of climate change on the nation’s seas. The puffin has been declining in population severely over the past few years and by the end of last year the number of puffins found in the North Sea colonies crashed by almost a third. According to ...
Oxfam urges clothes recycling
by David Masters
Billions of pounds worth of clothes end up in landfill every year, causing a blight on the landscape and emitting methane as they decompose. The average Brit spends £600 on clothes every year, and throws away £400 worth. Highlighting this needless waste, Recycle Now has teamed up with Oxfam to encourage people to give their old clothes away rather than chucking them in the dustbin. Recycling plastic bottles, paper, glass, and aluminium cans ...
Butterfly back from extinction
by Alan Harten
The large blue butterfly commonly referred to as the large blue has made its return to Britain even though it became extinct to the region in 1979 due to a massive reintroduction effort that will bring approximately 20,000 of the species to the countryside. This week it celebrates its 25th anniversary as there are now more present in the country than back in the 1950’s. Large blues were thought to have ...
Plastic bottles recycled inside Wales
by David Masters
Plastic bottles thrown out by Welsh households will no longer have to leave the country to be recycled. Recycling firm Plastic Sorting has been awarded £450,000 by the Welsh Assembly to set up a new recycling plant in Ebbw Vale. Scheduled to open in 2010, the facility will sort and clean waste plastics for re-use and recycling. Powered and heated by renewable energy, the plant will collect local rainfall for use in the ...
Ospreys return to Northumberland after 200 years
by Alan Harten
Europe’s largest manmade lake, Kielder Water in Northumberland, is home to ospreys again for the first time in over 200 years. In fact, according to the Kielder Partnership, they have not only returned to call the lake home, but are thought to have laid eggs, some of which may have hatched recently cementing the assumption that they may stay for a while. Ospreys are large birds, classified as hawks, that feed on ...
Near-extinct fish broadcast on mobile TV
by David Masters
A documentary film highlighting the plight of the world's fish stocks will launch as a mobile TV mini-series at the same time as it premières in cinemas across the world. 'The End of the Line', the first feature length documentary about the devastating impact of overfishing, will be broadcast as a reworked six-part series on the Babelgum mobile TV platform to coincide with its theatrical release. Dubbed “An Inconvenient Truth for fish”, ...
90% of fish are “fished out”
by Alan Harten
An environmentally focused documentary, 'The End of the Line', caused quite a stir before its release to the general public yesterday, which was World Ocean Day. The documentary addresses the dwindling number of wild fish in the world’s oceans, by matching hard facts about the decrease in numbers of fish with brilliant scenes of fish travelling in the bright ocean depths. According to the film's statistics, since 1989 the world’s wild fish ...
Supermarkets deny responsibility for rainforest destruction
by David Masters
British supermarkets have denied being “silent partners to crime” in the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Asda, and Marks and Spencer all deny purchasing beef products from cattle raised on illegally deforested land in the Brazilian Amazon. Their denial follows a three year investigation by Greenpeace, which discovered that meat from the illegally raised cattle is “laundered” to an “unwitting global market” by being processed and packaged into convenience ...
£1 million beavers released in Scotland
by Alan Harten
After 400 years and over £1 million in funding, beavers are back in Scotland as the first 11 beavers were released into the Knapdale, Scotland area near Loch Sween. Conservationists will closely monitor the newly released beavers and track their reproduction, damn building efforts, and tree destruction. Although some locals are pleased that the beavers are back, not everybody is glad to see them as the area's salmon fishing organisations claim ...