Recent highlights

So, you want to start fixing your bike?

14 May 13

MadeGood.orgWe've teamed up with MadeGood.org to bring you these tips. Visit their site for loads more like this.

It's a great time to get into bike fixing. The rise of the online how-to video means you can get expert walkthroughs of almost any specific problem, but if you're just getting started, following these five basic groundrules will make everything else easier.

Climate change: the very big picture (and what you can do about it)

13 May 13

Power station chimneys and streetlamps

In the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams describes the ultimate torture device:

When you are put into the Total Perspective Vortex, you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it a tiny little mark, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says, 'You are here.'"

I imagine Duncan Clark has a good idea of how this feels. Along with his co-author Mike Berners-Lee, he's spent the last few years studying international politics, the workings of the fossil fuel industry, and the latest research to take stock of where we are with climate change – and it's not pretty.

How tiny Pendock primary became a solar success story

8 May 13

Pendock school's brand new solar roof

You couldn't have picked a better day to go solar. Under an impeccably blue bank holiday sky, Mechteld Blake watched a team of builders bolt the last glinting PV panel to the roof of her son's primary school.

Pendock primary in Worcestershire is among the first of this year's Solar Schools to turn its virtual panels – sponsored by parents, former pupils, local businesses and others from the community – into real ones.

But it's been quite a journey. Here's how Pendock's solar success story unfolded...

Applications are now open for Solar Schools 2013-14

1 May 13


Ready to take your carbon cutting to the next level? After two amazing years, we're recruiting a new group of schools to join our Solar Schools project. 

Led by a team of local volunteers, schools work with the whole community to raise the cash for their very own solar roof. Each school can take donations and tell their story through their own page on solarschools.org.uk.

Not a teacher? Not a problem!

This isn't just for teachers: some of the best Solar Schools teams are led by parents, governors or support staff. You don't have to be a pro fundraiser or a solar expert either: if you're connected to a school and can spare some time to make this work, we want to hear from you!

Learn more and start your application at solarschools.org.uk/apply

Want more clean energy? Get your MP to vote for it!

20 Mar 13

UPDATE 16 May 2013: We've got a date! The key vote is scheduled for Monday 3 June. If you haven't already contacted your MP about this, now's the time!

Great news – we've got another chance to put Britain on the fast track to fossil-free electricity!

MPs are about to decide whether to set a 2030 target for ultra low-carbon power. This is the biggest climate vote in years, and it's looking winnable.

Clean electricity means a smaller carbon footprint for everyone. If you want it, tell your MP to vote for it!

Our email tool makes it ridiculously easy, giving you writing tips tailored to your MP's position.

Let's get writing!