Recent highlights

You're probably bankrolling climate change via your pension. Let's fix that!

13 Jun 13

Coal reclaimer

Tuesday: took the bus to football practice. Wednesday: financed a brand new COAL-O-TRON 5000. Photo: Cypheroz

It's a very modern sort of paradox. Most of us are fighting climate change at home, and funding it at work through our pension.

Obviously this isn't your fault. Pensions are like toilet brushes – good to have, but not something we think about more than we need to. But, unlike toilet brushes, pension funds are big players in the stock market, and love investing your money in the mining, drilling and lobbying that keep fossil fuels flowing and good climate policy on the backburner. 

If your MP is on this list, they did something amazing this week

5 Jun 13

Wind turbines in Yorkshire

As you've probably heard, the big clean energy vote in parliament didn't go our way. In the end, we lost out by just 23 votes – one of the closest results since the coalition government came to power in 2010.

Carbon Brief and BusinessGreen have already published great pieces explaining What It All Means, and why this narrow margin of defeat means it's not the end of the road for the decarbonisation target quite yet.

So rather than rehashing their analysis or joining the chorus of shame, I want to show some love to the Lib Dem and Tory MPs who defied their party to vote in favour of the clean energy target.

Britain's five most beautiful holiday spots

5 Jun 13

Arncliffe, in the Yorkshire Dales. Photo: Ben Bodien

Growing up, my family nearly always took holidays in the UK, so I've experienced the whole spectrum of 'staycation' experiences: from stumbling around a field in freezing fog looking for Hadrian's Wall (we never found it), to surfing perfect waves under a warm Cornish sun.

I've visited dozens of places over the years, but, these, in particular order, are my favourites. If you're looking for a beautiful spot to escape to this summer, you could do a lot worse.

I'll be straight with you: it might rain. Ok, it'll probably rain at least once. But you'll see sights that make your jaw drop and your heart soar. And you'll definitely be able to drink the tap water.

Why we should learn to love packaging

4 Jun 13

Photo: David Schofield

Wandering the aisles of your local supermarket, have you ever wondered if that cucumber really benefits from being shrink wrapped? Or whether it's necessary for a pair of pears to be nestled in a styrofoam tray inside a plastic bag? If so, you're not alone.

Packaging is one of those things that always gets people's backs up. In fact, 88% of people think it's an equal or bigger problem than food waste itself.

Here's why they're wrong.

Solar School of the Week: Hethersett

22 May 13

For Hethersett Junior School in Norfolk energy saving has been high on the agenda for the last five years. With an eco team in place, double glazing and LED lights installed, the next step was to start generating their own clean energy. Solar Schools beckoned!