Eco Homes – Including The Latest Eco News

From gifts that last to sustainable swaps, how we’re encouraging more thoughtful spending

December 28, 2025 admin

In this week’s newsletter: as we head into 2026, we’ll be testing products to help you cut waste and lighten your load on the planet

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Christmas Day is almost a relief when it arrives, isn’t it? The season of consumption – from overindulging to buying far too many presents – can leave you, your wallet and your conscience feeling rather bloated. Most of us accept that the run-up to Christmas is what it is – a joyful time of excess – and atone for our extravagance by reining in our spending and eating from Boxing Day onwards.

But what if there was another way? A way to consume more consciously, not just at Christmas, but throughout the year?

‘Unashamedly capitalist’ rewilders claim ‘Moneyball’ approach could make millions – but experts sceptical

Crayfish, weevils and fungi released in UK to tackle invasive species such as Japanese knotweed

‘The anxiety never disappears’: Monmouth businesses recover from severe flooding

‘I’ve used it every day for 48 years’: 42 forever gifts that last – and won’t end up in landfill

305 best Christmas gifts for 2025: truly brilliant presents tried, tested and handpicked by us

The Christmas gifts you love the most, from cosy hand warmers to personalised chocolate

Africa’s forests transformed from carbon sink to carbon source, study finds

November 29, 2025 admin

Alarming shift since 2010 means planet’s three main rainforest regions now contribute to climate breakdown

Africa’s forests have turned from a carbon sink into a carbon source, according to research that underscores the need for urgent action to save the world’s great natural climate stabilisers.

The alarming shift, which has happened since 2010, means all of the planet’s three main rainforest regions – the South American Amazon, south-east Asia and Africa – have gone from being allies in the fight against climate breakdown to being part of the problem.

Offshore windfarm projects may be exempted from new UK nature rules

October 29, 2025 admin

Exclusive: Firms say added costs would mean they are unable to install enough turbines to meet green energy goals

Offshore windfarm companies may be exempted from new UK nature rules in an attempt to keep down the cost of renewable energy, the Guardian has learned.

The energy firms have said they would be unable to build the vast number of turbines required to meet the government’s green electricity goals if they have to meet new rules for nationally significant infrastructure projects (Nsips).

Big trees in Amazon more climate-resistant than previously believed

September 26, 2025 admin

Forest is ‘remarkably resilient to climate change’, but remains under threat from fires and deforestation

The biggest trees in the Amazon are growing larger and more numerous, according to a new study that shows how an intact rainforest can help draw carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and sequester it in bark, trunk, branch and root.

Scientists said the paper, published in Nature Plants on Thursday, was welcome confirmation that big trees are proving more climate resilient than previously believed, and undisturbed tropical vegetation continues to act as an effective carbon sink despite rising temperatures and strong droughts.

We face daunting global challenges. But here are eight reasons to be hopeful | John D Boswell

July 30, 2025 admin

Although the trends can be hard to perceive, we are making incredible progress on global poverty, health, longevity and climate change

Don’t fret the future.

A lot of people do, and for powerful reasons – we are facing enormous challenges unprecedented in human history, from climate change and nuclear war to engineered pandemics and malicious artificial intelligence. A 2017 survey showed that nearly four in 10 Americans think that climate change alone has a good chance of triggering humanity’s extinction. But we seem largely blind to the many profound reasons for hope – and it’s not entirely our fault.

Ministers vow to tackle all forms of water pollution in England and Wales

July 19, 2025 admin

Exclusive: Commitment comes as data shows serious pollution events involving water firms up by 60%

Ministers will take action to tackle all forms of water pollution in England and Wales, the government has promised, as the sector awaits the findings of a report on the water industry on Monday.

The commitment by Steve Reed, the environment secretary, aims to highlight that, while sewage spills into waterways are a significant source of public concern, runoff from farms and roads also makes up a critical part of the pollutants going into rivers and other bodies of water.

Thames Water court case shows there are alternatives to massive infrastructure

June 29, 2025 admin

It is what we might call the HS2 fallacy: new reservoirs as tall as high-rise buildings that boost water companies’ assets

Britain is running out of water, we are told. Soon there will be curfews, banning people from turning on their taps, as happens in Italy. Standpipes will sprout on the side of parched roads where trees once stood.

Rivers will run dry and rural communities will begin digging wells in response to a water apocalypse destined to arrive courtesy of the ravaging effect of climate change.

Google’s emissions up 51% as AI electricity demand derails efforts to go green

June 28, 2025 admin

Increase influenced by datacentre growth, with estimated power required by 2026 equalling that of Japan’s

Google’s carbon emissions have soared by 51% since 2019 as artificial intelligence hampers the tech company’s efforts to go green.

While the corporation has invested in renewable energy and carbon removal technology, it has failed to curb its scope 3 emissions, which are those further down the supply chain, and are in large part influenced by a growth in datacentre capacity required to power artificial intelligence.

Safe and easy ways to recycle electricals – and even get money for your old gadgets

May 27, 2025 admin

From collection bins at your local supermarket to trading in or reselling, there are options for unwanted tech

Batteries can start fires if they are not disposed of properly, so it is important not to throw them away in your regular bin. Instead, look for recycling bins for used or old household batteries near the entrance or customer service desk of a supermarket. Most of the big ones have them including Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Lidl and Aldi. You will even find them in some libraries.

‘It shapes the whole experience’: what happens when you build a city from wood?

April 25, 2025 admin

Transforming a former industrial area in Sweden will bring psychological benefits for future residents and reduce construction’s climate impact

Although activity is high, it is surprisingly quiet inside the construction site of a high school extension in Sickla, a former industrial area in south Stockholm that is set to become part of the “largest mass timber project in the world” according to the Swedish urban property developer Atrium Ljungberg.

Just a few months remain until students enter the premises, but there is no sound of drilling or pounding against concrete walls. The scent of wood is unmistakable, and signs of the material can be spotted everywhere – from glulam (glued laminated timber) columns and beams in the building’s frame to cross-laminated timber (CLT) slabs in the floors, ceilings and staircases. CLT, made by gluing together layers of planed wood into panels, offers strength and rigidity comparable to concrete but is significantly lighter and quicker to build with.