Ethical Living

Got something to say about the environment and the way we do (or don't) care for it? Here's your chance to get what you think noticed and published....

The winner of the 2017 Ashden Award for Sustainable Energy and Water - announced today (12th June, 2017) - is Futurepump, which manufactures an affordable, highly efficient and portable solar irrigation pump aimed at the millions of smallholder farmers in Kenya and around the world, writes CHHAVI SHARMA

Almost since the advent of genetic engineering the food industry, the research establishment and parts of the media have been saying that the public is becoming more accepting of the technology. However, with no credible independent evidence to support this view it remains little more than wishful thinking and as this new survey, conducted by Beyond GM shows, most diners want to see more transparency about what's actually in our food

No More Styrofoam presents the WooBox - a new alternative to the use of Styrofoam in food transportation - and a Serbian project that is supported by a crowdfunding campaign that launches today (1st June 2017). LAURA BRIGGS reports

London-listed copper giant Antofagasta has been entangled in scandals in Chile involving water depletion, dangers to local communities, corruption of national politics and environmental contamination, write Ali Maeve & Liam Barrington-Bush. Yet the London Stock Exchange remains silent. Following the company's AGM last week, a new London Mining Network report puts their actions and operations into the spotlight.

By shifting from globalisation to localisation, and creating smaller, self-sufficient communities within sustainable developments, cities could regain their equilibrium, writes Paul Jones. From where we stand today, the Organicity may sound like a Utopian dream. But if we're to avoid an urban apocalypse, we're going to need strong alternative visions, to change the way we imagine and plan for the cities of the future. Too good to be true? Or the way to human survival?

Alanna Smith aka the UK blogger Ecowildchild will be going plastic-free from 1st June as part of the annual Marine Conservation Society (MSC) campaign to raise awareness of the devastating impact single-use plastics are having on the environment. This is her invitiation to YOU to join her in this endeavour...

Ecological farming has taken root in the UK, writes Phil Moore: drawing inspiration from the past while employing the latest ideas and techniques from organic, no-dig, permaculture, agroecology and agroforestry methods. But with agricultural fields selling for up to £10,000 an acre, there's a big difficultly for many would-be eco-farmers: access to land. Now, with public support, that's a problem the Ecological Land Cooperative is determined to solve.

Scottish recycling expert, Angus Carnie has built an eco cabin in his native Carnoustie, Dundee, using only materials that were free. Now living happily without bills, he tells MATTHEW KONG how his modest home could help inspire a new vision for social and affordable housing

Food is so much more than a heap of pre-processed consumer products snatched from supermarket shelves or websites, writes Paul Mobbs. And the key to unlocking its deeper meaning is to prepare, bake and cook your own from basic ingredients: in the process expressing creativity, developing skills, building independence from the industrial food machine, meditating in doing, saving money ... and making some pretty amazing hummus!

With the diversity of food crops falling dramatically and just three giant corporations controlling over 75 per cent of the global seed supply, it's no wonder people feel disconnected from their food. LAURA BRIGGS learns more about a new UK Seed Co-operative which aims to redress the balance

The ability to repair malfunctioning machinery from toasters and computers to bicycles and lawnmowers is essential to avoid all the waste, expense and pollution of dumping consumer goods prematurely, write Christine Cole & Alex Gnanapragasam. Many of us how no idea how to even begin doing that, but a new 'repair revolution' is sweeping the UK and other countries, with free-to-attend pop-up parties where you can learn the skills and fix your broken stuff.

How can we bridge the gap between ‘fast food' living and responsible consumption when mass production and a throw-away mindset still dominate the lifestyles of most people? LAURA BRIGGS has some thoughts...

Before taking to a low impact lifestyle aboard his narrowboat, PAUL MILES imagined foraging - especially in springtime - would keep his galley larder well stocked but learns the reality is very different ...

The sonic backdrop to our lives is increasingly one of unwanted technospheric noise, writes Paul Mobbs. And as it eclipses the sounds of nature, it's taking its toll on our health, wellbeing and quality of life. So as well as campaigning for more trees, and quieter cars, trucks and aircraft, what's to be done? Let us seek out calm moments of quiet tranquillity - and listen to the birds.

Get your planner out says HAZEL SILLVER. Here's 12 eco-minded and outdoorsy festivals to book and enjoy in 2017

Efforts to address the planetary crisis must include a contemporary spiritual ecology to cultivate the deep humility and fierce resolve required to live sustainably and create a new story about the place of humanity in a post-capitalist world, writes KARA MOSES

If you love wildlife and enjoy country walks, you've got the makings of a badger patroller, writes Lesley Docksey. You can walk at night if you want to, but daytime observation on country lanes and footpaths is no less important, watching out for the signs of cullers at work. And with the trust and warm friendship that builds among badger patrollers, you'll never be without congenial company.

We should resurrect the 1940s plans for a Grand Contour Canal - a 100ft-wide waterway that would have followed the 300ft contour line around England from Newcastle to London to Southampton and many places in-between - and then we could all travel more pleasurably, writes PAUL MILES

LAURA BRIGGS reports on an innovative project that turns city-centre air pollution from vehicle exhausts into Air-Inks for artists

Consumers could be doing far more to help combat global food wastage with relatively little effort according to a new study showing that every year, a third of all food produced ends up being binned. LAURA BRIGGS reports

In the first of his new Ecologist columns on the ups and downs of trying to live a Greener, low-impact lifestyle, writer PAUL MILES debates the eco pros and cons of getting his first dog

With the UK capital struggling to get commuters to work on time following strike action by tube and train drivers this week, JAN GOODEY reports on a project that will bring the first solar-powered electric buses to the public in the Spring

Nominations have opened for the new Lush Spring Prize. Launched jointly with the Ethical Consumer Research Association this is a new and very welcome £200,000 annual prize fund that aims to support those projects around the world that work towards environmental and social regeneration.