The Guardian
The eco guide to radical materials
Cotton has a disastrous foorprint, leather is destroying the Amazon, polyester threatens the ozone layer. Luckily there are some new fabrics on the way
The current exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art asks: “Is Fashion Modern?” Looking at the industry’s main materials you would have to answer “no”. The global wardrobe of cotton and polyester (invented around 80 years ago) spells ecological disaster.
How do you take the cow (with its thunderous footprint) out of a pair of leather shoes?
Continue reading...Adani’s Carmichael coalmine won’t go ahead, Greens leader says
Richard Di Natale ‘confident’ if project can’t be stopped in parliament or for financial reasons, Australians will stand in front of bulldozers
Adani’s Carmichael coalmine won’t go ahead, the Greens leader Richard Di Natale said, predicting “many, many thousands” of Australians would come together to protest any moves to stop the project.
Di Natale said he believed Australians largely stood against the Carmichael coalmine, choosing the Great Barrier Reef and the environment over the construction of what has been billed as the largest coal project in the southern hemisphere.
Continue reading...From dead woods to triumph of nature, 30 years after the Great Storm
The devastating winds of 1987 felled 15 million trees but also prompted a radical change to the way we work with the countryside to let it heal itself
It is remembered as a generation-defining moment, the night when ships ran aground, London endured its first blackout since the Blitz, 18 people died and 15 million trees were toppled. But the devastation wrought by the Great Storm of 1987 also left in its wake a startling woodland recovery, prompting a radical reshaping of the way we work with nature to care for the countryside.
Thirty years ago on Monday the storm hit south-east England after a fierce wind swooped up from the Bay of Biscay, across a corner of northern France before making landfall in the south-west and sweeping through southern England to bring the full force of its 100mph winds to bear on the south-east.
Continue reading...Dignity in chains: stark macaque portrait shines light on animals’ plight in Indonesia
Nona is a Sulawesi crested black macaque. Photographed here by Stefano Unterthiner, she is seen chained to a chair outside the house where she is kept as a pet. The scene is made particularly poignant because Unterthiner has included in his image the shadow of Nona, her chain and a tree, thus underlining the freedom that the little animal has lost. At the same time, the owner of Nona – which means “miss” – stands relaxing in the early morning sun.
It is illegal to keep this critically endangered animal in captivity. Yet the law is rarely enforced, particularly in remote areas. Hence the grim picture – though far worse was taken by Unterthiner, an Italian wildlife photographer, during his visit to the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Hunting, the live-animal trade and forest clearance have caused the animal’s population on the island to crash by 90% in the past 30 years. Only a few thousand are left there.
Continue reading...Bodycam footage shows woman's rescue from California wildfire - video
Bodycam footage from a Sonoma County police officer shows the rescue of a woman in Santa Rosa. Thirty-five fatalities have been recorded so far, making it the deadliest week in California wildfire history. The death toll could rise further as search-and-rescue teams are deployed to sift through the remains of 3,500 burned buildings. Hundreds of missing persons reports have been resolved, but stories continue to emerge of people who did not make it out alive
‘Just ash and bones’: California wildfire survivors mourn loved ones
Continue reading...Geoengineering is not a quick fix for climate change, experts warn Trump
Leading researchers and campaigners express concern that geoengineering research could be used as an excuse not to reduce CO2 emissions
Leading climate scientists have warned that geoengineering research could be hijacked by climate change deniers as an excuse not to reduce CO2 emissions, citing the US administration under Donald Trump as a major threat to their work.
David Keith, a solar geoengineering (GE) expert at Harvard University has said there is a real danger that his work could be exploited by those who oppose action on emissions, at the same time as he defended himself and colleagues from the claims GE strengthens the argument for abandoning the targets set by the Paris climate agreement.
Continue reading...Country diary: rewilding a river I fished with Arthur Ransome
Ribblesdale, North Yorkshire Wild trout are once again thriving in the beck my grandfather tended for the Manchester Anglers’ Association
When I was a kid I recall fishing for minnows with a jam jar by the Ribble and being sketched by a man in wire-framed specs. It was the writer Arthur Ransome, who was there with my grandfather, Nat Hunt, then river keeper for the Manchester Anglers’ Association. I no longer have that sketch, but I do still own a card Ransome sent Grandad praising his hand-crafted trout flies (“north country spiders”).
Related: Peak District: Rewilding the rivers
Continue reading...Police show their true colours at fracking protest | Letters
When the police forcibly remove a 79-year-old woman for serving refreshments to fracking protesters, you know they have taken sides (Report, 11 October). Having wasted their time and our money dragging pensioners around, the Lancashire constabulary has asked the Home Office for an extra £3.1m to cover the cost of drafting in police from Somerset and Wales. It is time for the policing operation at New Preston Road to be scaled back, or called off altogether. The police are helping to impose a government decision to frack, which is opposed by local residents at every level of local government. The police should go back to patrolling the streets and arresting criminals, instead of defending corporate interests by harassing the protesters.
Jenny Jones
Green party, House of Lords
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Continue reading...Climate change masterplan, plastics and penguin troubles – green news roundup
The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox
Continue reading...The week in wildlife – in pictures
A wild boar, clown fish and two rhinoceros calves are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world
Continue reading...Australia lagging on electric cars and tax breaks needed to drive demand – report
Australia Institute wants free access to bus lanes after electric cars accounted for just 0.1% of new car sales in 2015
Tax breaks and free access to bus lanes should be used to help reverse Australia’s poor uptake of electric vehicles, a new report has said.
Australians remain deeply reluctant to buy electric cars, which accounted for just 0.1% of new car sales in 2015. Australia is increasingly falling behind other countries, particularly in Europe, where sales of electric cars represented 1.2% of new European Union car sales in the same year.
Continue reading...Chevron abandons plan to drill for oil in Great Australian Bight
Environmentalists hail decision that comes almost exactly a year after BP ditched its own scheme for the untapped basin
Chevron has become the second big oil company to abandon plans to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight, almost exactly a year after BP ditched its more advanced plans for the untapped basin.
Oil companies have compared the potential of the bight to the Gulf of Mexico, where there are thousands of oil rigs.
Continue reading...Penguin catastrophe leads to demands for protection in Antarctica
After failure of Adélie penguins to breed, WWF calls for measures to ensure they do not face competition from fishing fleets for food
Only two Adélie penguin chicks from a colony of more than 18,000 breeding pairs have survived the Antarctic summer due to unusually extensive sea ice, prompting environmental campaigners to call for a new protected marine area.
The penguins in Terre Adélie in eastern Antarctica, which only reproduce on ice-free land, suffered a catastrophic breeding season after unseasonable growth in sea ice forced parents to travel further for food, causing their chicks to starve.
Continue reading...Proof that sustainable meat and dairy farming can work | Letters
I had just got back into the house from milking the cows when I read the discussion (Letters, 7 October) on George Monbiot’s latest contribution to the debate about the future of our food production system. While George is a fundamentalist, I must confess I agree with much of what he says! The problem is that, as an extremist fundamentalist, he just goes too far. Here on our rented family farm of 100 dairy cows with some beef and sheep, we are in the first year of a three-year, final-stage experiment to challenge the idea that treating our animals, land, environment and the people who work and live here with respect is somehow incompatible with financial viability and our industry’s ability to provide adequate amounts of affordable food, and is therefore unsustainable.
This is the final part of a much longer-term experiment, incorporating agroecology, agroforestry and calf-with-cow dairying along with appropriate technologies that allow us to achieve these public benefit outcomes. On paper this could work. In practice it hasn’t been easy. But there are glimmers of daylight. We are on the final stretch and many of our targets have been met: substantial (90%-plus) cuts in the use of antibiotics, anthelmintics, vaccines, soluble fertiliser and pesticides (and diffuse pollution) without compromising productivity or animal health; and substantial increases in biodiversity and reductions in staff working hours.
Continue reading...New airplane biofuels plan would 'destroy rainforests', warn campaigners
Plan to accelerate production of biofuels for passenger planes would lead to clearing of rainforests to produce ‘vast’ amount of necessary crops
A new plan to accelerate production of biofuels for passenger planes has drawn stinging criticism from environmentalists who argue that most of the world’s rainforests might have to be cleared to produce the necessary crops.
Aviation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions, with an 8% leap reported in Europe last year and a global fourfold increase in CO2 pollution expected by 2050.
Continue reading...You say tomato, retailers say waste: research finds produce problem
Researcher reveals up to 86.7% of edible tomatoes are thrown away, underlining Australia’s costly food waste culture
Up to 87% of undamaged, edible tomatoes harvested from a commercial Queensland farm were rejected and wasted based on appearance, a study has found, highlighting the problem of food wastage.
Tara McKenzie, an environmental scientist at the University of the Sunshine Coast, said that at every point in the supply chain, edible tomatoes that were slightly odd-shaped or marked or deemed too small or too large were rejected because they didn’t meet market standards for premium, unblemished product. She found between 68.6% and 86.7% of the produce was rejected.
Continue reading...Supermarkets must stop using plastic packaging, says former Asda boss
Exclusive: Consumers do not want plastic-polluted oceans so supermarkets and packaging industry have to work together, says Andy Clarke
The former boss of Asda is calling for supermarkets to stop using plastic packaging saying billions of pounds of investment in recycling has failed to resolve the world’s plastic proliferation crisis.
Andy Clarke, CEO of one of Britain’s biggest supermarket chains for six years, said the only solution was for retailers to reject plastic entirely in favour of more sustainable alternatives like paper, steel, glass and aluminium.
Continue reading...UK climate change masterplan – the grownups have finally won
Government’s clean growth strategy unequivocally states that tackling climate change and a prosperous economy go hand in hand
The grownups have finally won and everyone in the UK, from those in cold homes to those on polluted streets and in flooded towns, will benefit. The most important aspect of the UK government’s new clean growth strategy is its unequivocal statement that tackling climate change and a prosperous economy are one and the same thing.
This has been clear to many for some time, including Philip Hammond, if not his predecessor George Osborne. There is no long-term, high-carbon economic strategy because the impacts of unchecked climate change destroy economies, as Lord Nicholas Stern puts it.
Continue reading...Draughty homes targeted in UK climate change masterplan
Ministers publish long-delayed blueprint for hitting target of cutting emissions by 57% in next 15 years
The UK’s draughtiest homes will be insulated and upgraded by 2035 to save families as much as £300 a year on their energy bills, under the government’s climate change masterplan.
The long-delayed blueprint for how the UK will hit its binding target of cutting emissions by 57% by 2032 majors on support for everything from low-carbon power, energy savings and electric vehicles to keeping food waste out of landfill.
Finding Nemo? We may be losing him, says climate study
Clownfish under threat from warming ocean waters, which are damaging the anemones that serve as its home
The clownfish, the colourful swimmer propelled to fame by the 2003 film Finding Nemo, is under threat from warming ocean waters wreaking havoc with sea anemones, the structures that serve as its home, a study has found.
Closely related to corals, sea anemones are invertebrate marine creatures that live in symbiosis with algae, which provide them with food, oxygen and colour.
Continue reading...