Environment

By James Rubin, CEO, www.envirowaste.co.uk UK recycling rates increased rapidly by 32% between 2000 and 2012 but recently this rate has flatlined. Only 33.9% of household waste in London was sent for recycling last year despite Boris Johnson suggesting an initial target of 45% and the EU setting a target of 50% recycling by 2020. As Europe’s greenest major city with 40% of surface area made up of public green spaces, we should be able to work towards these targets....

By Dr Stephanie Wilkie, senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Sunderland Ask people what ‘home’ means to them and there is no doubt you’ll get a variety of answers. Some people say it’s the bricks and mortar of their dream house, while others may talk about ‘home’ being where their family and loved ones are. The answer might relate to a particular town or district – perhaps where you were brought up. And there are even people who...

By Dr Robin Andrews The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is a chain of fifteen islands adrift in the Pacific Ocean owned and administered by the United States. Due to rising tensions between China and America in the Pacific, one of these small landmasses is suddenly facing two very different futures. On one hand, it could become the site of unique ecological haven; on the other, it could be bombed to oblivion by the U.S. military. This is quite...

By Dr Robin Andrews, TLE Science Editor Everyone’s heard of climate change, but have you ever actually heard climate change? Well thanks to an intrepid musician, now you can. What do you get when you cross a cellist with some scientific know-how? A symphony of the latitudes, of time and space, and of rising global temperatures, as it turns out. I have often thought that there are two distinct stages to humanity’s evolution. There’s the biological kind espoused so wonderfully...

Japan’s new volcanic islands provide scientists with an opportunity to study new life colonising untouched land By Dr. Robin George Andrews, TLE Science Editor  Have you ever heard of an island called Atarashii Shima, off the coast of Japan? I’m betting you haven’t, but to be fair, before November 2013, neither had anyone on the planet. This little island, not given an official name but which the Japanese media christened “new island”, formed close to Nishinoshima (meaning “western island”), a small...

By Joe Mellor, Deputy Editor Drawing on culture to promote well-being: communities united by their precarious circumstances Leading academic Matthew Johnson, Aboriginal community leader Mary Graham and Ashington community researcher Tony Bennett, examine how so-called ‘good culture’ can unite communities on opposite sides of the world. The Northumberland pit village of Ashington and Aboriginal settlements around Brisbane are communities united by their experience of relatively stable and long-established social systems being dismantled and replaced by apparently ‘precarious’ ‘circumstances’ including unemployment,...

By Elsa Buchanan, International Politics Correspondent  A Tories U-turn vote on fast-track fracking is being dubbed a ‘huge victory’, but campaigners say now is not the time to celebrate. The government made a major U-turn on plans to fast-track UK fracking after accepting Labour proposals to tighten environmental regulations on Monday (26 January). Campaigners welcomed the changes, describing the vote as “mark a huge loss for the fracking industry”. “This is a win for the people-powered anti-fracking campaign,” said Martin...

By Michael Boxwell Eco-friendly cars have long been a good investment for Londoners. Driving an electric vehicle means you are exempt from both congestion charges and VED (road tax) both pet hates of the average motorist. There are an abundance of charging points around the City and local government offer a grant that will give you up to 75 per cent off the cost of installing a domestic charge point. With no fuel charges and the majority of car journeys...

By J T Coombes    www.globalmagnacarta.com     @GMagnaCarta In this new millennium 21st century Society is saddled with systems way past their sell by date. . . . A 15th century democratic system, complete with glass ceiling . . . An 11th century monetary system that increasingly holds the world to ransom . . . A 2000 year old surveillance system being replaced by modern technology Voting with what we now have will never solve the problems we now face  In this...