In a clear sign of Europe’s recent shift away from fossil fuels, it has been found that nearly 90 per cent of the power added to the EU’s electricity grids in 2016 was from renewable sources. Wind farms accounted for more than half of this power (51 per cent), for the first time ever, with the other renewable sources being solar, biomass, and hydro.
Continue reading 90% of new power in Europe from renewable sources
London broke its annual air pollution limit last Thursday, just five days into 2017. UK law states that hourly levels of toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO2) must not exceed 200 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) more than 18 times in a whole year, yet this limit was reached and broken on 5th January on Brixton Road in Lambeth. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise however, when you take a look at last year’s air pollution statistics for Brixton Road: in 2016 it broke the hourly limit 502 times.
It is expected that many other London hotspots will also frequently break the limit throughout the year. London’s Putney High Street broke the hourly limits 1,221 times last year, vastly exceeding the permitted 18 annual breaches, and many other busy areas such as Kings Road, Oxford Street and the Strand struggled with the limit, and will continue to do so this year.
Continue reading London breached its annual air pollution limit in five days
The Big Scoop campaign has kicked off this week; organised by Dog’s Trust and Keep Britain Tidy, this campaign aims to highlight how easy it is to scoop your dog’s poop, and appeals to dog owners to do just that. The Big Scoop will support local councils, and educate dog owners. A survey conducted recently in Cardiff showed that the general public dislike dog mess more than general litter or people smoking in public, making dog poo the nation’s biggest bugbear.
The UK is home to over 8 million canines, who produce over 1000 tonnes of waste between them every day – that weighs as much as 200 double-decker buses! Of course, this wouldn’t be a problem if all of the mess was scooped up, but this is sadly far from the truth.
Alex Jackson, who is Head of Campaigns at Dogs Trust, says:
“Dog poo is still one of the biggest complaints received by local councils every year, with 81,000 complaints received from members of the public last year alone, so it’s important that everyone is aware of how simple disposing of dog mess can be.”
Owners who don’t scoop their dog’s poop are breaking the law, and face an £80 fine if caught. The problem is ‘if caught’; many irresponsible dog owners who don’t scoop, commit the act when nobody is about, or by cover of darkness, knowing they will get away with it.
But why do we dislike dog poo so much? And why should we clear it up straight away from our streets, paths, and parks? We explore the reasons below.
Continue reading Dog mess: the nation’s most hated & dangerous litter
Food waste is a huge problem in the UK. We throw away around 7 million tonnes of food and drink from our homes every single year, and over half of that could have been consumed – if not by ourselves, then by someone else. Not only is this extremely wasteful, it is costing the average family with kids around £60 per month, and if you’re throwing your food waste in your general waste bin, it’ll be heading straight to landfill. Food waste is terrible for the environment and our pockets.
So, how do we tackle this food waste culture? In April this year, the first community fridge was set up in the UK – in Frome, Somerset. After just three months, over 1000 food items had been shared through the use of the fridge, and therefore saved from the bin and landfill. Local restaurants and cafes have been using it too. Whilst food banks handle non-perishables, a fridge means fresh goods are able to be shared also, which covers a much broader selection of consumables, and deals with items that can’t be donated anywhere else. And unlike food banks, the contents of the fridge are accessible to anyone and everyone.
As time goes on, there is increasing chatter about, and hope placed upon, biodegradable plastics. In theory, they sound like a good idea on comparison to ‘regular’ plastics; a strong material which is used for its purpose, and then naturally breaks down over time, leaving no trace – or so we assume. These newer plastics aren’t quite the angelic material they claim to be though, as you’ll discover in this article.
Biodegradable plastics are the supposedly more eco-friendly versions of regular plastics, which are celebrated for the speed in which they are able to biodegrade. However, depending on what they are made from, these plastics require specific environmental factors to trigger the degradation process – for example: a heat of 50C, plenty of oxygen, or exposure to water.
Continue reading Biodegradable Plastic is just as bad for the Environment
In the UK we are a nation of banana lovers – in fact, bananas are our most-loved fruit, but sadly they are also our most wasted food, as the majority of us enjoy eating our bananas before they have fully ripened. So, what do we do with all our overripe bananas? Sadly, many end up in the bin, and then in landfill. There’s no need for this to happen to any banana though; there are so many things you can do with a black spotted banana. We have collected eight ideas below for you. Don’t chuck ’em – use ’em!
Peel your bananas and chuck them in the freezer in a reusable, freezer-safe container. Once they are frozen, remove them from the freezer and blend in a food processor to create a dessert which has an uncanny resemblance to ice cream, and isn’t overly banana-like in flavour either. Add other foods in at the blending stage to change up the flavour, such as peanut butter, cinnamon, or strawberries.
You may have heard talk of coconut oil, and wondered what all the fuss was about. After all, for many years we were told that all fats are bad. Now, it has come to light that this is not the case, and saturated fats, which were always frowned upon in the past, aren’t the artery-cloggers they were once portrayed to be. In fact, our body needs ‘good fats’, which is what coconut oil is; it is packed full of healthy fatty acids too, including Lauric Acid (which also exists in breast milk!)
It has been discovered that coconut oil offers many health benefits for the human body, including antibacterial, antimicrobial, and antifungal properties. So, whilst ingesting it is good for you, so is applying it to your skin. The best part about it all? Buying one product in bulk to perform all of the tasks below means you are cutting down on your waste output significantly! Imagine how many bottles and containers you are cutting out if you just use a large jar of coconut oil for all of the below. Coconut oil is, therefore, a great choice if you’re wanting to move towards a zero waste lifestyle. Let’s take a look at how you can use it.
You might be surprised to learn that the bathroom produces a lot of waste, but it really does: shampoo bottles, conditioner bottles, shower gel bottles, hand-wash bottles, soap packaging, disposable razors, facial wipes, bathroom cleaner bottles, toilet roll inner tubes… you get the idea. In fact, most of our bathroom waste can be recycled, but research suggests most of us don’t even think about recycling when it comes to the bathroom. However, why not go one better than that and cut down on the waste so it doesn’t exist in the first place? The planet will thank you! It’s just about breaking habits.
We have collected some handy hints together for creating a low waste or zero waste bathroom. Even if you make one change towards zero waste, it is better than nothing. What will you try changing? Continue reading Top tips for a zero waste bathroom
It’s a little known fact that us Brits wear just 70 per cent of the clothes that we have stored away in our wardrobes, which leaves us with a total of 1.7 billion unused items. On average, a consumer keeps their garments for three years, but even more shocking than this is the fact that something might be frequently worn in the first year, and then phased into the stockpile of unworn clothes later on. That is why the average British closet is so overstuffed: we don’t wear all of the clothes we own.
The spending habits of the average person in the West have changed dramatically over the last hundred or so years when it comes to buying clothing. Between 2002 and 2003, for example, people in the US spent, on average, four per cent of their income on clothes, whereas back between the years of 1934 and 1946, clothing used up 12 per cent of people’s incomes. The current average expenditure per item in the USA is $14.60. Don’t go thinking that we are all consuming less though. On average, just one person in the UK will produce 70 Kg of textiles waste per year – that is a lot of clothing. Cheap, fast fashion means we are spending less yet buying more.
So, what will happen after you clean out your closet? Continue reading Fast fashion & the destruction of developing countries
Due to the devastating flooding that has blighted Leeds and other parts of the country, Forge Waste & Recycling has placed a large skip on the corner of Kirkstall and Haddon Road – just outside Café Enzo.
Both businesses and residents are welcome to deposit destroyed items and debris within the skip, which shall be emptied and replaced throughout the coming week as and when needed. Continue reading Community skip placed on Kirkstall Road to help flood clear up
