Christmas has become a festival of consumerism, rather than giving and family. So how do we fulfil the social expectation to find perfect, novel presents without sending more plastic to landfill. BRENDAN MONTAGUE and LAURA BRIGGS try and find some nice stuff that might just be a little more sustainable.
The law of unintended consequences is usually assumed to mean the best will in the world can still cause terrible harm. But the need to understand the causes of climate change is forcing societies to address other risks from industrial production, argues NATALIE BENNETT.
An ecostay in South India is developing an ambitious plan to expand into the education sector, nearly three years after its launch ROBYN WILSON reports
Editor Dr SANDRA PIESIK discusses her new book Habitat: Vernacular Architecture for a Changing Planet and how it examines what the traditions of vernacular architecture, and its regional craftspeople around the world, can teach us about creating a more sustainable future.
When our Ethical Foodie food columnist was invited to help create a sustainable Fine Dining menu showcasing the values of the UN's World Food Program he jumped at the chance - and left feeling inspired not just by the food choices on the night but by the fact the whole event reinforced his conviction we can all do better, eat better and work together to help alleviate hunger across the world
We need a new paradigm for ocean governance focused on well-being and guided by principles of sustainability, ecosystem health, precaution and interconnectedness, argues MICHELLE BENDER of the US based Earth Law Centre.
As the Brexit negotiations begin, a coalition of grassroots food and farming organisations today launch ‘A People's Food Policy' calling for England to develop a more progressive food policy in advance of leaving the EU. Scotland is already in the process of adopting national food policies and is currently developing a ‘Good Food Nation Bill', while England has yet to make any progress
A local food-production scheme, dedicated to conservation and sustainability in East Sussex, has been crowdfunding to finance the legal battle that will see it in the High Court today. The Crossing - a micro-farm providing affordable and pesticide free food for the surrounding Forest Row community - is taking its local council to the High Court to challenge a decision to turn down its application for planning permission and, say the petitioners, to fight for the rights of small food growers. MATTHEW NEWSOME reports
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
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?
Women are not just a ‘tool' for social and environmental justice - they are agents of real change, and have the right to be engaged in all climate negotiations. ARTHUR WYNS reports on current moves to empower women to tackle climate change
Ethical foodie columnist TIM MADDAMS points the finger at fishing practices which may tick the sustainable criteria boxes but which perpetuate an environmentally damaging broken food production system when you take into account the bigger picture
In the fight for a better, cleaner, more just and sustainable world, it's not enough just to oppose all all the 'bads' that crowd in from all sides, writes Mike Childs. We also have to build our own vision of the future, and map out the changes we must make to get there. And that's what Friends of the Earth is setting out to do in its transformational 'Big Ideas Change the World' project.
The new Index of Sustainable Economic Growth shows there is a shift to strike a healthier balance between support for the economy, and care for essential social and environmental systems. But can it ever replace GDP as a measure of progress? JAMES CURRAN explores the idea
The President-elect may be determined to lead America down an environmentally damaging path, writes Andrew J. Hoffman. But he may find few in the corporate world, where a growing number of major players are committed to eliminating CO2 emissions and making sustainability a core element of their business systems and supply chains, leading to global green transformation.
Will we rein in robotisation soon enough to ensure that 'Peak Robot' occurs under our control, and not as a result of a crash forced on us by collapsing ecosystems, asks RUPERT READ
The idea has yet to catch on in the UK but in Scandinavia, where the very first 'nature house' was built in the 1970s, the idea of surrounding your existing home with what is essentially a 'greenhouse' to create a living home is one that is catching on. PAUL MILES explores the eco benefits
In response to a recent article published in the Ecologist, "Are the UK 'biomass sustainability standards' legitimising forest destruction?", SCS has prepared this point-by-point rebuttal to several misleading and inaccurate statements, and invites readers with additional questions to contact us directly.
In a second response to a recent article published in the Ecologist, "Are the UK 'biomass sustainability standards' legitimising forest destruction?", SBP Chief Executive Officer Carstem Huljus debunks the myths in a right of reply
Reporting from The 5th International Degrowth Conference in Budapest - which continues today and tomorrow - NICK MEYNEN explores the new narrative of ‘sufficiency' being discussed and and asks will it catch on before it's too late?
This month wood pellet mills in the southern US that supply the UK's Drax power station were awarded 'sustainability' certificates under a voluntary scheme governed entirely by energy companies. The certificates provide no credible guarantee that the fuel does not come from ecologically valuable natural forests and wetlands, clear-cut and replaced by industrial plantations.
Building a new more sustainable future is surely best done by creating inspiring alternatives rather than criticising the old. DANIEL CHRISTIAN WAHL celebrates the work of Gaia Education - an educational NGO that is at the forefront of locally focused sustainability education on six continents
