By Maanvi Singh, The Guardian For 41 years, the charming Theodore Payne Wild Flower Hotline has led people to California’s most bountiful blooms For Californians, it is a rite of spring to seek the yearly wildflower blooms that erupt across arid shrublands, hillsides and desert landscapes in kaleidoscopic colour. For …
Paris 2024 gives first look at its circular approach to Olympic Games
By Sustainable Brands Focusing on the material footprint of the upcoming summer Games, Paris 2024 is leaning heavily into recycled materials and plans for reuse of all temporary infrastructure, furniture and equipment. This week, Paris 2024 unveiled the first results of its circular economy strategy for this summer’s Olympic Games. Integrated into every …
A mecca for rewilders: the community-led project restoring Scotland’s southern uplands
By Ben Martynoga, The Guardian Established 24 years ago, the Carrifran Wildwood has been credited with inspiring the current surge of rewilding projects across the UK and beyond. About 6,000 years ago, most of southern Scotland was covered by broadleaf woodland, interspersed with patches of rich scrub, heath and bog. In …
Nearly 130,000 children exposed to lead-tainted drinking water in Chicago
By Erin McCormick, The Guardian Study says the 19% of kids using unfiltered tap water have about twice as much lead in their blood as they would otherwise. About 129,000 Chicago children under the age of six are exposed to poisonous lead in their household drinking water because of lead …
A Florida neighborhood says an old factory made them sick. Now developers want to kick up toxic soil
By Jordan Blumetti, The Guardian Residents already hit with disease are fighting the multibillion-dollar corporation DR Horton, America’s largest homebuilder. Kristen Burke and her husband, Harold, moved into their home in Russell Landing, a rural suburb just outside of Jacksonville, Florida, nearly 15 years ago. The quiet and tight-knit neighborhood …
Swept away: $500,000 sand dune built to protect US homes disappears in days
By Erum Salam, The Guardian Property owners dumped 15,000 tons of sand in a Massachusetts town to fend off dangerous tides, but it was swept away in 72 hours. A sand dune that cost homeowners on a Massachusetts beach more than half a million dollars to construct has washed away …
Legal action could end use of toxic sewage sludge on US crops as fertilizer
By Tom Perkins, The Guardian Intent to sue federal regulators charges they have failed to address dangerous levels of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ known to be in sludge New legal action could put an end to the practice of spreading toxic sewage sludge on US cropland as a cheap alternative to fertilizer, and …
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon down 30% in February
By Reuters SAO PAULO, March 8 (Reuters) – Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fell 30% in February from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday, as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government worked toward a pledge to end illegal deforestation by 2030. According to preliminary satellite data from …
Earth’s Fountain of Life Is Vanishing Beneath Our Feet
By Darren Orf, Popular Mechanics With each passing year, the world’s groundwater reserves shrink. Groundwater aquifers provide vital freshwater to homes, farms, and industries, but decades of mismanagement and political action are draining this resource around the world. A new study from an international team of scientists concluded that depleted …
In Wyoming, Sheep May Safely Graze Under Solar Panels in One of the State’s First “Agrivoltaic” Projects
By Jake Bolster, Inside Climate News The elevated photovoltaic panels can actually improve grazing conditions, a novelty that could help make solar projects more land-efficient and accepted in the ranching-heavy state. Converse County is one of the most welcoming areas in Wyoming when it comes to clean energy. For roughly …