Ethical and green living

Mike Barry, a sustainability expert who spent 14 years at Marks & Spencer latterly as head of its ethical scheme Plan A, is hopeful refill schemes such as the Loop will succeed but says the sheer volume of consumption on the planet presented a huge challenge. Plastic packaging is a £540bn industry and demand is still rising, particularly in Asia. … [Read more...] about The milkman gets an eco-makeover as refill service knocks on door

Charging: what you need to know There are more than 11,6000 charging sites in the UK, but spend a hour looking at how and where drivers can recharge their cars out on the road, and it’s easy to see why so many use only their home charger. A bewildering range of sockets and a host of companies have popped up at motorway service areas, car dealers, supermarket and local authority car parks and, increasingly, pubs and restaurants. … [Read more...] about Electric cars: five best buys, from new models to used bargains

On 1 July 1940, when Baker was 15 years old, the secretary of state for air in Britain issued the “Destruction of Peregrine Falcons Order”. Adult and juvenile birds were to be shot, eyasses killed in the nests, eggs smashed and eyries disrupted. The order was made under wartime emergency defence regulations: peregrines were deemed too great a threat to the carrier pigeons that RAF bomber crews routinely took with them on flights. If a plane ditched at sea and a location could not be radioed through, the pigeons would be released with a leg tag to report their position. Falcons were dispensable, airmen were not – and so the falcons died. During the six years that the destruction order was in force, around 600 peregrines were shot, and unnumbered eyasses and eggs were destroyed. In certain counties – especially in southern England – peregrines were almost exterminated. By the time the order was lifted in 1946, the number of nesting pairs in England had been … [Read more...] about Violent spring: The nature book that predicted the future