Positive News for July 2023

Positive News July 2023

This time of year is so uplifting but there’s always space for more good things so here’s our latest round up of good news 😊

1) King’s college Meadow - A New Study

We previously reported on wildflower meadows taking shape in Kings College Cambridge. As part of a study, King’s Research Fellow Dr Cicely Marshall, found that in spite of its small size, the wildflower meadow supported three times as many species of plants, spiders and bugs, including 14 species with conservation designations.

Terrestrial invertebrate biomass was found to be 25 times higher in the meadow, with bat activity over the meadow also being three times higher than over the remaining lawn. 

https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/news/2023/study-shows-impact-kings-wildflower-meadow

I love the fact they use horses to harvest the meadow at the end of the season with the bales offered to locals to create a meadow of their own: 

https://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/a-greener-kings/kings-wildflower-meadow

2) Postcode Gardeners

Friends of the Earth & Co-Operative Bank have partnered together to place Postcode Gardeners into the most nature deprived neighbourhoods, helping to green the area & also bring neighbours together. Trial projects have taken place in Hackney, Chester & Bideford, Devon with more being planned in Birmingham, Bristol & London.

https://friendsoftheearth.uk/nature/planting-more-postcode-gardeners-create-greener-streets

3) Chocolate Wrappers to go Plastic Free

For the first time since its launch in 1936, Nestlé is changing the packaging of their famous Mars bar wrapper. Traditionally wrappers are made from aluminium & plastic which are hard to recycle although they can be recycled via Terracycle collection points (if there’s one in your area) who shred the wrappers & melt the plastic element into pellets.

Nestlé are piloting a new recyclable paper wrapper which will be available at 500 Tesco stores in the UK for a limited time.

https://happyeconews.com/candy-bar-wrapper-plastic-free/

Have you seen the new Smarties packaging? Smarties was the first global confectionery brand to switch to recyclable paper packaging, removing approximately 250 million plastic packs sold globally every year.

https://www.nestle.com/media/news/smarties-first-global-confectionery-brand-recyclable-paper-packaging

4) How to Recycle Old Credit Cards

HSBC are providing a new drop off point in selected branches for people to recycle their old debit & credit cards. The recycling scheme is in unison with Terracycle. Old cards will be shredded & turned into plastic pellets.

https://uk.pcmag.com/e-commerce-payments/147433/mastercard-is-encouraging-us-to-shred-our-credit-and-debit-cards

5) Royal Mail Pledges to Achieve Net Zero

Royal Mail are hoping to achieve net zero operations by using 100% renewable energy, switching to more trains (& less planes) for the movement of parcels & using electric vehicles for deliveries.

According to their site ‘We have the UK’s largest electric fleet of any major UK parcel operator, with almost 5,000 electric vans in service today. We continue to trial other alternative fuel vehicles such as micro electric and hydrogen vehicles, as well as other delivery models – including delivery by drone!’

https://www.royalmail.com/sustainability/stepstozero/net-zero-operations

6) UK's First 100 Per Cent Sustainably-Fuelled Aircraft Takes to the Skies

The UK’s first ‘waste-fuelled’ aircraft piloted by the RAF took to the skies over Oxfordshire using 100 per cent sustainable fuel last year. Sustainable fuels using waste based fuels such as used cooking oil have the potential to reduce carbon emissions by up to 80 per cent, according to the RAF.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uks-first-100-per-cent-200000100.html

7) Carbon Zero Fuel for Cars?

Former Formula One engineer Paddy Lowe hopes to start production of a new type of e-fuel this Autumn, which uses green electricity and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to make a carbon-neutral alternative to petrol. The fuel is seen as attractive as it can be used in existing cars & passenger jets which could help reduce scrappage of usable vehicles.

https://uk.style.yahoo.com/british-lab-synthetic-petrol-race-065424482.html

8) Turning Carbon Dioxide into Cleaner Fuel

A team from University of Cambridge have discovered how to create clean, sustainable fuels using carbon dioxide captured from the air and energy from the Sun.

Passing the gas through an alkaline solution, the researchers were able to concentrate the CO2 to make it easier to convert into syngas fuel using sunlight. Adding plastic waste to the system enabled the team to create useful chemicals like glycolic acid, which is widely used in the cosmetics industry.

“This solar-powered system takes two harmful waste products – plastic and carbon emissions – and converts them into something truly useful,” said co-first author Dr Sayan Kar. 

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/scientists-create-clean-fuel-thin-150153623.html

9) Electricity from Humidity! (Air-Gen )

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts have discovered how to generate electricity from humidity. The researchers claim that just about any surface can be turned into a generator by replicating the electrical properties of storm clouds. Sounds very promising...

https://happyeconews.com/the-air-gen-device-that-converts-humidity-into-energy/

10) Irish Native Bee Sanctuary

To save the bees it’s important to protect native wild bees including bumble bees & solitary bees. Paul Hendrick has set up a bee sanctuary with 55 acres of organic land in County Wicklow Ireland. They purposefully do not cater for honey bees (no hives) but focus on wild native bees using meadows, flowering weeds, wetlands + trees, bushes & hedgerows to give them places to thrive all year round.

https://www.positive.news/environment/the-worlds-first-native-bee-sanctuary-how-to-save-bees/

11) Earn Eco Rewards at Bracknell Forest

Choosing to walk, cycle or take public transport in Martins Heron (Bracknell Forest) just got more rewarding, with the introduction of new Eco Rewards QR codes around the area. Residents who walk or cycle to local amenities, such as the shops, parks, schools or station, will also be rewarded for choosing active travel routes.

The expansion of Eco-Rewards programme comes after the council secured funding through South Western Railway’s Customer and Communities Improvement Fund (CCIF). Points earned can lead to discounts, prizes, or cash-back rewards!

https://www.bracknell-forest.gov.uk/news/2023/07/eco-rewards-expansion-martins-heron

12) Rewilding at Northwood – Nurturing Nature

The Northwoods Rewilding Network was set up in 2021 to harness the growing appetite for nature restoration among farms, crofts, smaller estates and community landholdings. Northwoods now consists of over 60 land partners stewarding 14,000 acres.

In their recent email they cited the following key points:

In 2022, Northwoods land partners planted 108,000 native trees and set aside 4,800 acres for natural woodland regeneration plus 70 new ponds & scrapes, 22 ‘leaky’ dams & 130 acres of restored peatland means more homes for wildlife and a reduced risk of flooding.

9km of new hedgerows were planted & 10km of redundant fencing removed, allowing wildlife to expand and disperse (all with the help of land partners & 500 volunteers!)

https://www.scotlandbigpicture.com/

What is Happening in July?

🦋 The Big Butterfly Count is now on - Between Friday 14th July and Sunday 6th August, choose a place to spot butterflies and moths. Watch for 15 minutes. Then submit a record of the species you see!

An ID guide can be downloaded online or you can use their app to identify & report your findings. https://bigbutterflycount.butterfly-conservation.org/

🌞 Check out Plastic Free July – a movement that began in Australia which has since grown to 100+ million participants in 190 countries. 

Get some tips on how to reduce plastics at home, in the office or at school here at https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/

Some Useful Apps For You to Try

If you’re out & about in the garden or nature reserve why not try these interesting apps that help you identify plants or bird song?

🐦 Merlin bird app helps you identify birds. I found the ‘record bird song’ element really helpful & manages to pick up bird song even when there’s traffic noise in the background. It highlights which bird is singing & keeps a record of your spottings you can refer back to later. https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

🌻 Plant Net app helps you take photos of weeds & flowers in your garden & instantly tells you what it may be (with a ranking so you can see other suggestions). I have found it to be user friendly - some weeds I have deliberately left for insects after learning more about them. https://identify.plantnet.org/

Check out our directory for lots more useful links - enjoy!

💚💗💜

Positive News Autumn 2022

 Positive News October 2022

Rest your soul a little by reading something positive 🌎

1.     Super Reserve in Somerset

In May 2022, Natural England announced a new 'super' nature reserve to be created in Somerset, protecting over 6000 hectares of precious saltmarsh, heath and wetland habitats, home to nationally significant wildlife populations.

The site will link six nature reserves and managed land in the Somerset levels, coast and moors and will join England’s developing Nature Recovery Network.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-super-national-nature-reserve-created-to-protect-rare-wildlife

Various Nature Recovery projects will extend across 99,000 hectares of land in total over time – this is equivalent to all the 219 current national nature reserves in England.

2.     Bee Numbers Increasing in Sussex

Community funded projects have led to an increase in bee numbers in the South Downs. Sussex residents raised £75,000 to help a young charity, Bee Lines, plant wildflower oases across the South Downs national park.

There has been a 72% rise in bees and other pollinators since the projects began.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/22/new-wildflower-havens-in-south-downs-national-park-boost-bee-numbers

3.     Large Blue Butterfly Making a Comeback

Large blue butterflies were previously very rare in the UK. During an re-introduction program, around 1,100 of butterfly larvae were released at West Country locations, with 750 butterflies successfully emerging.

It is the first time for 150 years that the large blue butterfly - the largest and rarest of all nine British blue butterflies - has been recorded at Minchinhampton and Rodborough Common (Stroud in Gloucestershire).
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/53757437

It was also announced in March 2020 that butterflies have bounced back to the best levels in 20 years after a monitoring survey took place in the UK. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/51987691

4.     Bison to Help With Rewilding in Kent

The UK is one of the most nature depleted areas and to help with re-wilding the Wilder Bean project have introduced wild bison to England, for the 1st time in thousands of years. 

Their grazing can help bring light to young shoots, their poop fertilises the land and their rolling (in dust baths) can help create habitats for lizards, birds, insects and other animals.

Three bison have been initially released in Blean Woods, Kent. The wardens were delighted to find a new calf was born in September (see video below)!

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/wild-bison-return-uk-first-054502529.html

5.     George Ezra Donates to National Trust

Partnering with You Tube's Sustainability Fund, George Ezra has donated £85,000 to the National Trust which will help them plant 17,000 more trees.

The trees will create a new woodland that will lock in carbon, help reduce flooding and create homes for wildlife, the National Trust said.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/61200564

6.     Fin Whales Returning in Large Numbers

A study published in July 2022 noted large numbers of fin whales in the Southern Ocean. Researchers estimate there could be at least 8,000 fin whales in the Antarctic, where they were hunted almost to extinction in the 20th century.

One group being spotted contained 150 whales - wowsa!

https://www.positive.news/society/positive-news-stories-from-week-28-of-2022/

7.     Glastonbury Festival's Social Housing Pledge

Michael Eavis, the founder of Glastonbury Festival has donated some land just two miles from the Glastonbury festival site to The Guinness Partnership (who build affordable social housing).

The new houses, flats and bungalows will be built and equipped with heat pumps. Michael has also generously donated £275,000 to help with development costs.

https://www.positive.news/society/glastonbury-founder-digs-deep-to-build-affordable-homes/

8.     Glasgow City Emissions Continues to Fall

Glasgow City, which is historically home to some of Scotland’s most polluted streets due to traffic emissions, reported that their CO2 emissions fell by 13% since 2020 and 50% since 2006.

The Scottish Environment and Protection Agency (Sepa) said their latest statistics across Scotland follow a downward trend in emissions since 2007.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/scotlands-greenhouse-gas-emissions-continue-171614944.html

For other Scottish news head on down to: 

https://www.lovelierplanet.com/2021/12/2021-eco-news-in-scotland.html

9.     Salvaged Metal in Future Coins

A newly planned Royal Mint factory set to open in South Wales in 2023 will aim to use salvaged metals in the production of new coins. 

Precious metals (including gold) can be extracted from used mobile phones, laptops and circuit boards. They aim to process up to 90 tonnes of UK sourced circuit boards per week, to retrieve hundreds of kilograms of gold per year.

https://www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk/royal-mint-to-turn-electronic-waste-into-gold/

10.     Milestone Reached in Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Ocean Cleanup team released prototypes to skim plastics from an area in the North Pacific Ocean known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. 

Their first ocean plastic cleaning prototype (system 001 Wilson), was launched September 2018 which collected a little over 7,000 kilos of plastic. 

The 2nd system (system 002 Jenny), was released August 2021 and has collected over 100,000 kilos during its 45 extractions, which is equivalent in weight to 2.5 Boing 737-800s - wow!

1,000 more extractions will be needed to complete the mission but they are delighted a milestone of 100,000 kilos has been reached. 

The Ocean Cleanup Team are hoping to release system 003 soon for more sweeps to take place at a faster rate (at 3 times the size of system 002).

https://theoceancleanup.com/updates/first-100000-kg-removed-from-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch/

11.     The Great Bubble Barrier!

Meanwhile, entrepreneur Claar-els van Delft in the Netherlands devised a clever plastic catching device to be placed in rivers. 

Known as the Great Bubble Barrier it uses compressed air to push up plastics and push them to one side to be collected. This will help reduce the number of plastics that make it out to the oceans!

The project was part funded by the People's Postcode Lottery 'Green Challenge', so the UK played a part in making this happen too!

https://www.onlygoodnewsdaily.com/post/brilliant-bubble-barrier-stops-plastic-reaching-the-sea

Check out our positive news section for more encouraging reads. 
https://www.lovelierplanet.com/p/lovelier-news.html

Enjoy!

🍁

Plastic Free July

 The Big Plastic Count Results Are In!

Just in time for Plastic Free July, the Big Plastic Count results are in. A survey was sent out to interested hosueholds in May 2022. Published by Greenpeace & Every Day Plastic, the results of the survey are indeed very shocking. 

Some takeaway nuggets include:

🌍  Nearly a quarter of a million people (248,957) from 97,948 UK households took part in the biggest ever Plastic Count Survey.

🌍 On average, each household threw away 66 pieces of plastic packaging in one week, which amounts to an estimated 3,432 pieces a year.

🌍 Over a million pieces of plastics were counted from fruit & veg packaging whilst over a million more made up of snack bags, packets and wrappers.

🌍 The majority of these types of plastics (57%) are soft plastics which are less likely to be recycled.

🌍 The survey found that just 12% of the type of plastics discarded will likely be recycled in the UK whilst 17% shipped abroad, 25% could end up in landfill whilst 46% be incinerated.*

🌍 The UK is the 2nd worse country for plastic waste per capita after the USA and is almost double the weight than plastic waste generated in Italy.

*Different local authorities handle recycling in different ways so there's some level of guesswork involved but the calculations were based on types of plastics being discarded in the week (a tick off chart helped categorise what was being used, ie cartons, peelable lids, trays, wrappers etc and also categories for food, personal products (for body washing etc) & household products such as cleaning sprays & wash tabs etc etc.)

🌍 They concluded that 62% of the pieces of plastic recorded in the count are either not collected or poorly collected for recycling by UK local authorities, and likely to end up in landfill or incinerated.

🌍 Incinerating plastics cause way more pollution/carbon emissions than burning coal & releases toxic fumes into the environment.

🌍 Landfilling meanwhile releases methane & ethylene into the atmosphere as the plastics are broken down (if the landfill is exposed to the elements), coupled with microplastics being carried by wind.

This highlights the need for much better investment in recycling products, reducing single used products & encouraging a deposit scheme for return of plastic bottles as an urgent requirement. The government discussed previously a deposit return scheme however a scheme has yet to be implemented.

Also a bigger look at circular economy would be a help, for instance Mother Nature has far less waste, what is no longer needed goes back into the system and used by some of other part of the eco system. Humans have a much more linear system, make something, use it, discard it, buy another and so on. 

We need to be more forward thinking rather than letting waste pile up to the point where we can no longer live due to all the products we rely on (meat, plants, water, air) becoming too polluted to rely on. Many would say we are already past the tipping point.

A thorough report of the Big Plastic Count is available at: 
https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Final-Big-Plastic-Count-Results-Report-V2.pdf 

So how did I do? 

I've been trying to reduce plastics for a number of years and have been recycling plastics since the late 80s/early 90s. Even so, my weekly plastic tally came to 40 plastic items. 

A portion of these items are re-used as we wash out plastic bottles for making our own fizzy drinks, using a ginger beer plant as a base plus plastic ziplock bags are used for disposing of cat litter. 

The majority of plastic products I buy have recycled content in them, however 40 items was still shocking to me - this is under the national average but it's still too much.

Some useful links for you:

🌍 5 Surprising Things from the Household Plastic Count
https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/news/5-surprising-things-we-learned-from-the-biggest-ever-household-plastic-count/

🌍 Government on the Next Steps to Tackle Plastic Waste
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/next-steps-to-tackle-plastic-waste

🌍 Dame Ellen MacCarthur Foundation - A Circular Economy to Encourage Less Waste
https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/

🌍 Greenpeace, Plastic Questions Answered
https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/plastic-pollution/

🌍 Books on Plastic Waste for Adults
https://www.lovelierplanet.com/2019/12/plastic-free-books.html

🌍 Eco Friendly Books for Children
https://www.lovelierplanet.com/2020/01/eco-friendly-books-for-children.html

Is Cop 26 a Cop Out?

 Cop 26 –
A Cop Out or Copping On?

verb To wise up; to employ common sense or logic; to understand the situation.

I don’t know about you but I feel a little sad that humans come together to find ways to heal the planet, whilst at the same time using the very thing (plane fuel) that will damage the climate. An example is the modes of transport used by world leaders and their counterparts to attend Cop 26 – the climate change summit held in Glasgow this year.

Air fuel emits greenhouse gases high up in the atmosphere where it often stays. If private jets are used, the carbon footprint is much higher (per passenger) than commercial flights. If they do use commercial flights, business and 1st class seats emit more greenhouse gas per passenger due to the larger seating area they take up onboard.

So, how much do we think will change, how quickly can it happen and can they reclaim back the carbon they used whilst travelling to the summit in the first place? 

Probably some things WILL change BUT probably much too slowly to make a difference. They are already in debt with the planet so using up even more carbon emitting fuel, to congregate together to talk about how we can STOP damaging the environment, seems really strange to me.

I’m as much to blame as anyone, I drive around in a car and have taken flights myself – I don’t think any of us claim to be angels, but I do wonder whether there were better ways to make a difference and make agreements but in a much greener way?

Some statistics!

Policy actions and the efforts of industry have led to improvements in fuel efficiency over recent years. For instance, the amount of fuel burned per passenger dropped by 24% between 2005 and 2017. 

However, these environmental benefits have been outpaced by a sustained growth in air traffic, with passengers in 2017 flying on average 60% further than in 2005.

The aviation sector creates 13.9% of the emissions from transport, making it the second biggest source of transport GHG emissions after road transport.

✈ If global aviation were a country, it would rank in the top 10 emitters.

✈ Someone flying from Lisbon to New York and back generates roughly the same level of emissions as the average person in the EU does by heating their home for a whole year.

https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/transport-emissions/reducing-emissions-aviation_en

An article from the BBC stated that non-CO2 emissions such as nitrogen oxides also cause detrimental affect - they persist for longer at high altitudes and cause a warming effect to the planet.

For example a plane from Madrid to London emits 118kg of CO2 per passenger, however if non CO2 emissions (secondary conditions caused by nitrogen oxide) is then included this totals 265kg per person, in comparison to just 43kg per passenger if the journey was undertaken by train.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-49349566

A Little Personal Viewing

One good thing so far about the climate debate is the increase of programmes on TV to help us learn more about our contribution to environmental decay. I realise that I am spouting about damage to the environment whilst typing in my computer and talking about television both of which uses electricity. 

Our electricity supplier is 100% green energy (so they say) but the TV and laptop themselves used up resources in their production; in fact all of us are taking from Mother Earth every day by eating, drinking, breathing and washing our clothes.

But I have found the TV programmes to be very eye opening and they triggered my desire to make some changes of my own and hence create this blog.

Recent programmes have included ‘Celebrity Trash Monsters’, where celebrities carried around their plastic waste around their waist for two weeks, including waste created by their families. Was quite a shock for anyone who regularly eat take-away to see just how much waste is generated by one family alone.

Another thought provoking programme was ‘Joe Lycett v The Oil Giant’, which had quite revealing information on Green Washing tactics used by oil and energy companies, who are huge polluters themselves.

‘How We Forgot to Save the Planet’ is another show that I intend to watch soon.

More on these programmes available on channel 4 catch up can be found at:  

https://www.channel4.com/press/news/climate-matters-channel-4-reveals-collection-new-shows-ahead-cop26

Kudos goes to BBC for the coverage of the 'Earthshot Prize - Cleaning the Planet', with Prince William & Sir David Attenborough. 

Episodes covering Cleaning the Air, Protecting Nature, Preventing Waste & Reviving the Ocean are available on BBC iplayer at:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p09w80wb/the-earthshot-prize-repairing-our-planet

It's a Wrap!

It’s encouraging to see that the UK government is introducing more bans on plastic items – following on from the ban on plastic cotton buds and straws, in unison with WRAP they are now focussing on throw away plates, single use cutlery and polystyrene cups.

The plastic tax is also set to come into effect April 2022, where a product has less than 30% recycled content.

More on government approaches to plastic waste can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/next-steps-to-tackle-plastic-waste

Tree planting and sea-grass planting schemes have also been encouraged. Recently, a ‘Green Recovery Challenge Fund’ created by DEFRA, Natural England, the Forestry Commission and the Environment Agency have granted £80m (£40m per funding round) to help kick start environmental projects.

Some of the projects supported include wildlife trusts, community forestry areas and Chester Zoo; to help create a wild nature corridor to restore wetlands and wildflower meadows.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/multi-million-pound-boost-for-green-jobs-and-nature-recovery

The fund also supports delivery of the 'Ancient Woodlands and Trees' programme. This £4.6 million, 15 month programme of activity will make a difference to the condition of ancient woodlands. The Woodland Trust and the National Trust are working in partnership to deliver the programme.

The government say:
 

‘The fund is supporting a range of nature conservation and recovery and nature-based solutions projects, which will contribute towards the Government’s wider '25 Year Environment Plan' commitments, including commitments to treble tree-planting rates in England by the end of this Parliament and restoring 35,000 hectares of peat.’

So we’re going in the right direction but I do wonder if 25 years is quick enough considering the alarming rate of knots that we are adding to carbon emissions in our every day lives. Trees take decades to mature, so as speakers are saying at the climate support conference, now is the time for action rather than words.

As 15 year old Earthsot Prize Finalist Vinisha Umashankar points out:

‘Today I ask, with all due respect, that we stop talking and start doing".

Let’s hope we haven’t left it too late!

Positive News for Autumn

Good News Stories Autumn 2020

Positive news helps us with a lift & shows us that good things can happen.

Here’s a few roundup stories to keep us all in good spirits! 

1. The Upside of Lockdown?

During Covid Lockdown, folks had to take stock of their lives and make new choices, whether by being more resourceful and making things last longer, or getting fitter by cycling or walking.

The Country Living magazine reported a new study (see link below) by Princes Fish, where they found 27% of people have been cutting back on food waste, while 22% now wash clothes at a lower temperature, to reduce their environmental impact.

Meanwhile 28% have been cooking from scratch and upcycling household items, while a further 29% have been cycling or walking to places rather than driving.

Here’s 20 ways on how householders reduced their waste: https://www.countryliving.com/uk/news/a34138520/eco-habits-uk/

2. On Yer Bike

According to Positive News, the government encouraged people to get on their bikes during lockdown, by giving away thousands of cycle repair vouchers and earmarking £2bn to boost walking and cycling. 

As a result, the UK saw a 146 per cent increase in cycling with a reported 1.3m bikes being sold in the same period. 

Some councils have redesigned their town centres to make them more bike & pedestrian friendly. Many hope this will be the start of a greener way of living. 

Cycling UK are looking for volunteers for their ‘Pumped Up’ campaign to keep the momentum going. 

3. Getting Heavy on the Levy

It’s been 5 years this October since the plastic bag levy of 5p was introduced in the UK. 

The Pre-loved web site reports that plastic carrier bag sales have fallen by more than 95%, with charities receiving nearly £180 million since 2015.

The average person in England now buys just four bags a year from the main supermarket retailers. The UK Government are planning to raise the bag levy to 10p from April 2021.

4. Sea Kayaks Made from Marine Waste

The group Clean Ocean Sailing have collected 5 tons of marine waste off the coast of Cornwall. The waste including barrels and hard plastics, was transported by their boat ‘Annette’ to Exeter, where they will be converted into kayaks by the Ocean Recovery Project.

The Ocean Recovery Project has recycled over 20 tonnes of material and achieved an 80% recycling rate.

It’s wonderful to see great minds come together for the greater good and help to reduce marine waste at the same time.

Check out this BBC Report: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-cornwall-54190973 

5. Re-purposing Discarded Tents

Remember the shameful sights of discarded tents where festival goers had left them behind?

A resourceful team at 2 Minute Beach Clean got to work collecting them, to turn them into beach cleaning sacks.

In turn these sacks help clean up plastic waste - waste from one venture being used to help clean up another (yes we humans are messy).

Simply a great idea – see this BBC video and report for more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-cornwall-49182294 

6. Is There Wind in Your Wales?

Per a Positive News article, the Crown Estate, which manages the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has granted two new leases for windfarms in Welsh waters, including one that will float.

Floating windfarms can be useful where the seabed is too deep, which would normally inhibit installation.

Meanwhile, the Gwynt y Môr offshore windfarm in North Wales has been granted permission to extend – they are currently the 5th largest offshore windfarm in the world.

7. Free Those Trees (yes please!)

The Woodland Trust are providing free trees to local communities and schools.

‘We want to make sure everybody in the UK has the chance to plant a tree. So we’re giving away hundreds of thousands of trees to schools and communities.’

All trees supplied are sourced from UK & Ireland - deliveries take place March & November.

For more details go to: 

https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/schools-and-communities/

8. Dubliners Go Wild!

In February 2020, Trinity College in Dublin submitted a poll to ask who would like to see a wildflower meadow in their College Green. A whopping 90% of respondents voted a resounding yes!

The wildflowers planted include a mix of annuals and perennials, with as many as possible being of known Irish origin. 

Planting may be supplemented with bulbs and plants such as wood anemones. The main aim will be flowering to extend over as long a period as possible. 

Trinity College is in the centre of Dublin, so tourists as well as students will get to admire the colourful scene. How wonderful!

For more on the story go to:
https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/trinity-plants-wildflower-meadows-on-college-green/

9. Lego Maybe Bricking It!

After pressure from children, the BBC reported that Lego have agreed to be more environmentally friendly.

They will replace plastic packaging with paper from 2021 and are investing up to $400m (£310m) over three years to improve its sustainability efforts.

In 2015 the Danish firm set a target, to make its products from sustainable materials by 2030. As part of this pledge it will expand the use of bio-bricks, such as those using sugar cane as a component.

2030 seems an awful long way away, so keep up the pressure kids! 

10. Have your Cake & Eat It?

I leave you with news of a zero waste and organic veggie shop newly opened in Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire. With a cheery yellow façade, Artichoke Natural Foods stock an amazing array of organic fruit and veg.

Check out their Facebook page for a look at their tasty bakes, fresh bread, gluten free options, dried pasta, re-fillable herbs, spices and pulses, plus plastic free bathroom products.

https://www.facebook.com/artichokefoods

See other feel good stories!

https://www.lovelierplanet.com/p/lovelier-news.html

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How to Have a Greener Christmas

Less Waste this Christmas

Eco Product Reviews

Books on Going Plastic Free

Home Made Eco Gifts

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Positive News for Wildlife

Positive News for Wildlife

 

This report reflects how our wildlife can make a comeback with a little support. Enjoy! 💕 

1. Sea Life Returning to the River Thames

According to Octopus Optimist Report: In the 1950s, London’s River Thames was so polluted it was declared biologically dead. However, after 62 years of conservation efforts, the River Thames has once again been deemed a “hub of life” by the Zoological Society of London. 

In 2019, ZSL launched its Mother Thames campaign, calling for public awareness of – and participation in – conservation efforts. In September, after their first comprehensive survey, the charity announced that 138 seal pups had recently returned to the Thames’ riverbanks!

They join more than 120 species of fish, including two species of shark, short-snouted seahorses and the critically endangered European eel.

2. Re-wilding Project to Help Nature Recover

A new national wildlife charity called Heal Rewilding is planning to buy ecologically depleted land across Britain and give it back to nature.

The charity will seek former farms, green belt or lower-grade land where wildlife can recover. The sites will be within easy reach of large towns and cities to benefit more people.

According to the Guardian: The initial £7m, 500-acre project will be in the southern English lowlands on a site yet to be announced, avoiding wildlife-rich land. The site will grow wild from its seed bank, animal seed dispersal or by spreading seeds from nearby land.

3. Beaver Population on the Rise in Britain

The River Otter Beaver Trial followed the two families of beavers introduced under licence into the wild in Devon in 2015. By 2019, the population had increased to at least eight breeding pairs across 13 territories.

Per the Positive News site: 'The report noted that beavers help to increase diversity of habitat for fish; higher numbers of brown trout, minnow and lamprey were recorded in beaver impacted areas of the river.'

Meanwhile, pools created by beaver-made dams contained 37 per cent more fish than stretches of the river with no dams.

4. Grass Cutting Being Stopped to Create Wildflower Meadows

Helen Tandy, from Friends of the Earth’s Chester and District branch said, “The Friends of the Earth team is really excited to be involved in the Urban Meadows project (at Chester and Ellesmere Port). We have been campaigning to protect our pollinators for over 10 years now and as part of that encouraging more local pollination strategies."

This project is part of the Council’s new Pollinator Strategy to boost biodiversity in the borough.

The Chester Standard reports: The new urban meadows will have nectar-rich plants like oxeye daisy, field scabious and knapweed which will provide nectar for bees and other insects into late summer. 

5. Providing Habitat for Lemurs in Madagascar

The People's Trust for Endangered Species are working with partners on a project to help lemurs in Madagascar. The project called SEED aims to replant trees to help them survive.

The team have collected 20,000 Acacia mangium seeds and 5,000 other seeds of 17 different native species. This vital work will reconnect lemur habitat and increase the forests by 58 hectares. 

The Acacia grows really quickly, plus fixes nitrogen into the soil and has a high survival rate. So growing this species first makes the environmental conditions more favourable for planting native species. Then native species are added to increase diversity.

6. Barn Owls Growing in Number in the UK

In 1987 barn owls were at their lowest ebb with around 4,500 breeding pairs, having declined by 70% since 1932.

According to the Guardian: In 1988 their fortunes started to change thanks to the work of Colin Shawyer, who set up the Barn Owl Conservation Network with the aim of doubling the population by 2020. More than 20,000 boxes have been put up nationally, with Shawyer installing 4,000 personally.

Shawyer’s ambitious targets have been smashed: barn owl numbers have nearly tripled and he doubts they will be able to climb much higher. Up to 80% of barn owls now nest in man-made boxes. There are an estimated 12,000 breeding pairs in the UK.

7. White Stork Chicks Hatched in the Wild for the 1st Time in Centuries

Eggs in one of three nests at the Knepp estate in West Sussex have hatched, the White Stork Project announced. It came after the same pair of white storks unsuccessfully tried to breed at Knepp last year.

Lucy Groves, project officer for the White Stork Project, said it was the first time in hundreds of years that wild white stork chicks have hatched in the UK.

According to the Guardian: The project aims to restore a population of at least 50 breeding pairs of white storks in southern England by 2030.

8. Numbers of Greenback Turtles Spotted by Drones in Australia

Drones spotted endangered greenback turtles over the Great Barrier Reef heading for Raine Island in Australia. They estimated 64,000 turtles heading to shore ready to lay their eggs.

Young turtles are very vulnerable and a recovery project team on Raine Island are hoping to monitor the young ones to ensure their chances of survival improve. 

Videos of the mass migration can be seen here at: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/09/world/green-turtle-drone-nesting-intl-scli-scn/index.html

9. House Sparrows Make a Comeback in the UK

The Guardian reports: Since the Big Garden Birdwatch began in 1979 house sparrow numbers have declined by 53%. But in the past 10 years their numbers have begun to recover, with a 10% increase in sightings.

This year the house sparrow remained at the top of the rankings as the most commonly seen garden bird. Starlings were the second most sighted, followed by the blue tit.

More gardens also reported seeing long-tailed tits, which were up 14%, while wrens were up 13% and coal tits up 10% in 2020 compared with 2019.

10. Giant Orchard Planned for the West Country

Octopus Energy are working with Yeo Valley to plant a giant apple orchard in the British west country.

From the Octopus site: Over the last 100 years, apple orchards have disappeared from the British landscape, so ours will be planted at the site of a lost orchard where only a couple of ancient trees remain. 

The trees will suck carbon out of the atmosphere, and act as a supportive habitat for endangered British birds, insects, and mammals - like the vole!

Some Other Links of Interest:

Feel Good Stories Mar 2020 / Positive News Jan 2020  / Lovelier Planet News 2019 

Lovelier Planet News!

Good news stories (to keep us all going)

News articles on how we are damaging the planet can be soul destroying and occasionally we do need a pick me up to keep us all positive.

The advances below are just a tiny tip of the iceberg it does at least give us all hope. So here’s my round-up of feel good stories to keep us all going!

Nespresso Helping to Plant Trees!

To protect our planet and coffee production which are both at threat, Nespresso has been planting millions of trees. The National Geographic Magazine state ‘Between 2014 and 2018 alone, 3.5 million trees were planted in three countries (Colombia, Guatemala and Ethiopia). Over the next 30 years, those trees are expected to remove (sequester) an estimated 398,000 tC02e (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent) from the atmosphere.’

By 2020, Nespresso plans to add five million new trees to its coffee-producing regions in Colombia, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Mexico, and Nicaragua. This helps the company to become carbon neutral, aids the planet in terms of oxygen production and carbon absorption, and also supports the coffee farmers build long term futures.

Kerbside Meadows Begin to Take Shape 

The National Guidelines for Managing Roadside Verges, commissioned by the charity group Plantlife, recommends only 2 cuts per year instead of the usual 4. This not only saves councils money but also wildflowers can begin to take shape. These wildlife corridors will encourage nature & wildlife to spread to parts that are currently being fragmented by roads. 

The Guardian reports that 97% of wildflower meadows in Britain have been destroyed in less than a century and that roadside grassland is a crucial wildlife habitat for more than 700 species of wildflowers.

Not only do flowers give life to insects but also can be cheerful for the public to see. According to the BBC ‘ An eight-mile "river of flowers" alongside a major route in Rotherham was widely praised on social media recently and roadside meadows have also popped up in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Birmingham, Newcastle and Sheffield.’

A small path can be mown through the meadow to allow for public access where required. 

Great Garbage Patch Cleanup Under Way

An ocean clean up device designed in the Netherlands was built to catch floating plastic debris in a huge area (3 times the size of France) called the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch'. The project hit problems and was delayed for years. Finally though the first successful catchment has taken place. 

The Ocean Clean up site states that, ‘Over 5 trillion pieces of plastic currently litter the ocean. A full-scale deployment of our systems is estimated to clean up 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch every five years'. 

The device is made up of a 600m length of floating buoys with an anchor that acts like a parachute to slow the device down, so that passing plastics pushed along by wind and waves can become trapped and later collected by shipping vessels. A 3m skirt allows for marine life to pass through safely underneath. 

Floating plastics is not our only problem, plastics also sink to the sea floor and can be washed up onto beaches. Beach cleans are becoming more popular as a way to help clean up the environment. 

According to Eunomia though ‘94% of the plastic that enters the ocean ends up on the sea floor. There is now on average an estimated 70kg of plastic in each square kilometre of sea bed.’ So we must do more to prevent the plastic reaching the sea in the first place.

A Fungus Eating Plastic?

According to Sky Ocean Clean Up, a fungus discovered in Pakistan has been found to biodegrade a type of plastic called polyester polyurethane (PU) into smaller pieces. The fungus secretes enzymes and essentially dissolves the plastic. It has been suggested that it can help too with toxic cleanups, ocean spills etc. so could be a powerful tool. 

For more info plus see a great video of the 'Ocean Garbage Patch' clean up vessel check out: 
https://news.sky.com/story/plastic-eating-fungus-could-help-fight-against-waste-11495833

UK Company Burns Waste to Generate Electricity

Our local council say they send non recycled waste to an Energy Recovery Facility where it is then burned to generate electricity. Keen to learn more I found a video by Viridor (see below) that explains the process. 

It is reassuring to know that rubbish can be used to generate power, thereby reducing reliance on fossil fuels for our power needs.

More Plastics to be Recycled

I was also interested to find the company Viridor, in unison with Pennon have invested a large amount of money to increase its plastics processing plants, by recycling plastics and using the electricity created by landfill type waste (per video above) to power it. 

The company claims this also reduces the need to send plastics abroad. “There is a clear ambition from both UK consumers and politicians to improve recycling rates and reduce the amount of waste which is sent to export. Our research shows that 80% of people believe the UK should find a way to deal with its own recycling without having to ship it to other countries." Bravo!

Final Piece of Good News

In September Lovelier Planet donated £10 to the New Mills project to increase trees in an area of Derbyshire. 

For more tree saving ideas check out our recent blog post: 

https://www.lovelierplanet.com/2019/09/trees-for-life.html

Ah, now that's lovelier. How about a cup of plastic free tea to celebrate. Chin, chin!

Other links of interest: Save Our Sea Meadows / Compostable Coffee Pods