The Daily Telegraph reports grand gestures aren’t all that can be done to help the environment. Here, we have compiled a list of easy steps you can take from the comfort of your own home to reduce your carbon footprint. These include: change your kettle, find alternative sources of energy, become a flexitarian, use refillable containers, invest in renewable energy, save water and start small.
How 8 million trees were brought down in one winter
BBC News reports forest managers warn that already “catastrophic” damage will be made worse by Storms Dudley and Eunice. There are warnings that the heating climate is making our weather more severe and unpredictable, and that management and planting strategies must adapt more quickly.
World’s largest trees to find their home in Britain as ‘peaceful giants’ rapidly die out in US
The Daily Telegraph reports UK’s climate means giant sequoia will thrive in areas like the Brecon Beacons, as global warming hastens its demise in America… A company called One Life One Tree has already planted over 700 sequoias in the UK. There are plans to reach 100,000 by 2030, with sites in Buckinghamshire, Hampshire and around the Brecon Beacons. They call the project “The Great Reserve”, to maintain numbers of the trees for generations to come.
Each sequoia is planted with three native British trees to maintain biodiversity in the groves. The company charges patrons £395 to plant a sequoia, with the promise that it will help to offset their carbon emissions.
Blooming flowers, fledgling birds … the UK’s spring is early – and always will be
The Guardian reports wildlife experts and gardeners are reporting a series of highly unusual early sightings of flora, fauna, insects and birds across Britain, some of them weeks before when they would normally appear, in a further sign that rising global temperatures are having a significant impact on British wildlife.
Perthshire estate sanctioned after ‘clear evidence’ of wildlife crime
The BBC report a Perthshire estate has been sanctioned after “clear evidence” of wildlife crime was found on the property.
It included a satellite-tagged hen harrier found dead on Lochan Estate in an illegally-set spring trap.
Small gardens as vital as big ones for conserving bees, says study
The Guardian reports many urban gardens rich in pollinator-friendly plants and provide food all year round, find Bristol researchers.
‘I feel I’ve made a mark’: the man who built homes for 60,000 swifts
The Guardian reports retired salesman John Stimpson was so moved by the cries of birds unable to find nests, he decided to act. Now he has made enough boxes to house half the UK’s swifts.
Rogue waste firms tackled in fly-tipping crackdown
New species of coral discovered in Scottish waters, shedding new light on deep sea biodiversity
Inews reports Pseudumbellula scotiae was found growing at a depth of up to 2,000 metres in a deepwater basin off the North West coast of Scotland by scientists from the Scottish Government and the University of Seville. It is a type of seapen, a group of soft corals that grow in cold and tropical waters around the world.
No English river is free from pollution – Parliament report
BBC News and Sky News report raw sewage, microplastics and slurry are coursing through all of England’s rivers, putting health and nature at risk, a parliamentary report concludes. Agriculture and water companies are the biggest contributors to this “chemical cocktail”, the Environmental Audit Committee warns. Car tyre particles, oils and wet wipes are also clogging waterways.