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In a divided country, support for US public lands is a rare bridge issue – yet the Republican platform has opened the door to disposing of 640m national acres

At a moment of deep political division, few issues draw as much bipartisan support from the American public as the sanctity of public lands. Yet conservative lawmakers have quietly laid the foundation to give away Americans’ birthright: 640m acres of national land.

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Exclusive: Powerful regional officials to ask administration to end 20-year ban, saying it is unlawful and inhibits economic opportunity

A coalition of influential officials in Arizona and Utah are urging the Trump administration to consider rolling back Obama-era environmental protections that ban new uranium mining near the Grand Canyon.

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A new report says parts of the reef can be saved from coral bleaching and death

Mr Len Gill has today been appointed to the Boards of Infigen Energy Limited, Infigen Energy (Bermuda) Limited and Infigen Energy RE Limited (the Infigen Boards).

The Clean Energy Regulator welcomes the appointment of Mr David Parker AM as the new Chair of the agency.

Reports delivered by three major Australian institutions on Friday highlighted that wind and solar provide cheapest avenue to decarbonise the grid. But none of the AEMC, CCA or CSIRO could bring themselves to say so. Finkel's challenge will be to cut through this nonsense.

Abney Moor, Derbyshire Despite the proximity to the Peak District’s honeypots, a feeling of remoteness pervades here

Around the musically winding path leading up Bradwell Edge, spring is thickening into its richest texture. The meadows are rampant with cow parsley, the shade is restless with midges and the hawthorn blossom is dense as clotted cream.

At the top of the ridge my friends and I lie on a blanket of grass and look over the Hope Valley. Sunshine swells over the fields and lights up the cement works, while a pair of buzzards drift along the skyline, occasionally stopping still in some unseen updraft with an almost kestrel-like precision. I wonder how it feels to tread air like that, to be your own parachute, senses attuned to the subtlest ebbs and flows of the atmosphere.

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Confidence levels and investment for the near future have both dropped in the wake of the general election and EU referendum result, farmers’ union poll shows

Despite overwhelmingly being in support of leaving the European Union at the Brexit referendum, farmers are increasingly gloomy now that they are staring down the reality of what leaving will entail.

In two years, confidence levels on the outlook for the next three years, as measured by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), have plummeted to just above zero from a high of 19 points on the positive side, in the wake of the general election being called and Brexit being set.

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Queensland govt reasserts commitment to 50% RET, and its independence from federal government, with $1.6bn Powering Queensland Plan.

Energy markets are betting on a big fall in prices as more renewables come on line, but all eyes on Finkel Review this Friday.

Food wastage is a global problem affecting our economy, society and environment. Australians throw out $8bn to $10bn worth of food every year. OzHarvest is a food rescue organisation that collects excess food from commercial outlets across the country and then delivers it to those in need. Guardian Australia takes a ride with OzHarvest driver Steve Negrine to see first-hand the organisation’s innovative approach to minimising food waste

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It’s official: carbon dioxide set an all-time monthly record. A sobering reminder that humans are pushing the climate into a state unseen in millions of years.

Sustainable Couture is a project and annual fashion event started by two women, and a blanket, in Alice Springs.

Emergence of "reputation clause" in mandate of Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility may be killer blow for Adani loan proposal. Tim Flannery, John Hewson and others say it will be impossible to justify a loan given the climate and environmental impacts.

Initially invented for the printing industry, the technology has transformed the way we live and work.

The chief scientist Alan Finkel is due to hand down his widely anticipated report into the future security of the national electricity market later this week.

Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 5 June 1917

Upwards of sixty members of a Manchester lads’ club spent Whit-week near Redesmere; two pairs of willow wrens nested in the fields the boys camped and played in. These boys are not slow, and found some nests, but they failed to discover the neat little domed, feather-lined homes of the warblers. Perhaps, however, the presence of so many lively youngsters was too much for one pair, although the nest was in the safest corner of one field, for the birds deserted their spotted eggs about the middle of the week. The other nest was close to a busy roadway to the farm, along which, in addition to the boys, cyclists, vehicles, and motors passed constantly; perhaps this traffic saved the birds, for on Sunday, after the lads had left, one of the pair was sitting undisturbed.

Naturally many city boys know little about nature, though they are sharp enough in other ways. Taking birds’ eggs is forbidden, but rules are sometimes broken, and three juveniles brought me an egg to look at and tell them what bird had laid it; probably that particular egg would never hatch, though it was returned to the nest. Each of the boys was asked to guess what the egg was, and the three birds named were the waterhen, thrush, and wild duck; it was an egg of the reed bunting! It is fair to add that these boys had not attended the classes now held at the Manchester Museum.

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Recycling should be seen as a last defence against landfill. Lance/Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA

In the wake of the final episode of the ABC’s War on Waste, in which a dismayed Craig Reucassel canvasses Australia’s rubbish-related sins, the idea of “zero waste” is pretty hot right now.

The City of Sydney’s Zero Waste campaign. City of Sydney

But often when we hear of zero waste movements, or civic and corporate zero waste commitments, they are actually “zero waste to landfill” campaigns. They’re not aiming for zero waste to be produced, just for all waste to be managed somehow – usually, relying heavily on recycling.

In fact most of us have probably said, or at least heard, the statement: “It’s not waste – it gets recycled!” or for food, “it goes to compost!”

Certainly it’s old news to the waste recovery industry that one person’s trash is another’s treasure. High-quality, well-sorted waste isn’t just usable, it’s desirable – either for recycling or conversion into fuel.

The Australian recycling industry is doing a good job of repurposing most of our collected recyclable material. This contributes to developing circular economy, in which recycled waste displaces virgin material in production.

But, like many words, there’s a crucial difference between the common and technical definition of waste. Conversationally, “waste” is understood as something unwanted or unusable, that has no value. In technical terms, it’s a classification of a resource or product at a certain point in its value chain.

It might seem like a pedantic distinction. But language shapes our understanding and behaviour, and our conception of what is possible and important.

Albert Shamess, Vancouver’s director of waste management said recently, “we can’t recycle our way to zero waste”. It goes to the heart of the question: is waste still waste if it gets recycled?

The standard waste hierarchy generally demarcates between waste avoidance and waste management, with recycling squarely in the waste management zone. In this sense, recycling is something we do to waste, not a way to avoid it.

The ‘waste hierarchy’ prioritises actions by those with the greatest environmental benefit. UTS: Institute for Sustainable Futures

These days, recycling is standard practice in most Australian households and in general is fairly simple. It’s not that hard to place an item in a recycling bin instead of the rubbish when they’re side by side in the kitchen (or in an office, or public space).

But recycling sits fairly low down the waste hierarchy. When we say “it’s not waste if it gets recycled”, it makes it easier to avoid more important actions with greater potential impact.

Similarly, when zero waste commitments are defined as “not going to landfill”, it’s too easy for companies or cities to set a diversion target and focus on recycling and recovery, rather than setting targets for the more complicated task of waste minimisation.

But while recycling (and recovery) is a great last line of defence, it’s nowhere near as effective as avoiding the waste in the first place.

Why is recycling low on the waste hierarchy?

The waste hierarchy prioritises actions based on how much they benefit the environment. Recycling is certainly magnitudes better than landfill, because it replaces virgin materials in the manufacturing process. For example, recycling aluminium is 95% more efficient than using virgin aluminium, recycling plastic is 85% more efficient, paper 50%, and glass 40%.

But the recycling process still consumes energy (and other resources), and costs money. And for many materials, particularly plastic and to some extent paper, recycling is also a downgrading process.

These materials can only be recycled a certain number of times before they degrade beyond all use, and generally then end up in landfill. At this point, they can’t be recovered for waste to energy.

On the other hand, if we could reduce the amount of material that needs to be recycled, or better yet, the amount that needs to be produced in the first place, these costs would disappear altogether. Better consumer choices can play a role, but more significant are improved resource management and smarter product design.

In our transition to a circular economy, the way we characterise things may shift to emphasise the that objects have value beyond the end of their intended life. But it’s essential we still call a spade a spade.

Regardless of whether something is “waste” if it gets recycled, recycling (and recovery) needs to be seen as what is is – a last line of defence. Minimising waste is more important than managing it, and we need to keep our focus there.

Jenni Downes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.

Stable policies could expand the green market from 2% to 13% of the UK economy within three decades, says group representing more than 30 low-carbon companies including Ikea, Siemens and M&S

The UK could be a green business powerhouse in the next three decades, but only if given proper support by government, a group representing more than 30 low-carbon companies has said.

The low-carbon economy in the UK employs at least 432,000 people, with a turnover of more than £77bn in 2015. This is larger than industries such as car-making and steelmaking, which are frequently given the spotlight when politicians discuss industry and jobs.

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Ambitious and long-term policies are needed so that Britain can take advantage of the rapidly growing global market for low-carbon goods and services

Despite the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement on climate change (Anger at US as Trump rejects climate accord, 2 June), the global market for low-carbon goods and services is rapidly growing and the UK must make the most of this opportunity. Spurred in particular by major investments in low-carbon technologies by countries such as China, India, Mexico and South Africa, the Paris agreement could open up $23tn (£18tn) worth of opportunities for low-carbon investments in emerging markets between 2016 and 2030. The commitments made by six world leaders at the recent G7 summit and the decision by China and the EU to collaborate more closely on climate change support this trend.

Related: UK needs government backing to unlock billions in green business, says industry

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