The UK’s DIY sector has made significant progress towards meeting targets to reduce packaging and the amount of waste sent to landfill, WRAP chief executive Liz Goodwin revealed today. Speaking at the RWM Exhibition in Birmingham, she said the signatories to the Home Improvement Sector Commitment – a UK-wide voluntary agreement between DIY retailers and manufacturers and WRAP – had reduced packaging by 12% (14,000 tonnes) and waste sent to landfill by 64% (61,000 tonnes) between 2007 and 2010. read more...

The Campaign to Protect Rural England is calling on Ministers to keep to their pre-election promises and rebalance the planning appeals system. Neil Sinden, Director of Policy and Campaigns at CPRE, says: “Before the election, both coalition parties promised local communities would have real influence over development in their neighbourhoods. The Government has dropped an important commitment that would have helped make this happen in order to give developers what they want. read more...

Despite another 300,000 homes being insulated over the last three months, the total percentage of adequately insulated homes is still only just over half the total housing stock, new figures published this week reveal. The most recent round of insulation measures brings the total number of British homes that have sufficient loft insulation to 58% and cavity wall insulation is now present in 58% of homes with cavities. read more...

The Renewable Energy Association have recently launched a new campaign urging Government to ‘Back Biomass’ heat and power in its proposals on the incentives regime for renewable energy. The REA say sustainable biomass offers a proven, practical, secure source of low carbon energy as part of a balanced energy mix. The Back Biomass campaign aims to deliver the clear message to Government that it must not let the opportunity to reap the benefits of this flexible and affordable technology slip away as they fix the details and levels of future support for planned projects over the coming months. read more...

Aiden Dwyer, an innovative 13-year-old from Long Island, USA, has come up with a brilliant idea to make solar cells 50 percent more efficient. This is compared to the traditional flat and tilted array of solar panels and uses the concept of the spiral growth pattern of leaves on an oak tree pattern in conjunction with the Fibonacci Sequence ( a mathematical formula which occurs in nature) in the trees. read more...

A pioneering green distillery on the Hebridean island of Islay has taken a further step towards complete self sufficiency with the purchase of an electric car. Nissan’s 100% electric LEAF has provided the crucial last element in an innovative business owner’s attempts to be as green as possible on the remote island. The 130-year old Bruichladdich whisky distillery has established a successful Biowayste system allowing it to generate its own electricity by using the waste products from the distilling process. read more...

The Environment Agency has announced that it has cut its CO2 emissions by almost a fifth since 2006/07. And they urged other large organisations to follow their example and improve their environmental reporting and performance. The organisation measures its environmental performance in five key areas, with ambitious 2015 targets set for each. New figures, in the Environment Agency’s first internal environment management update, show that the 2006-2011 performance on each is as shown below :- read more...

Recent sightings of two otters in Kent have delighted conservationists, who once feared that the iconic mammal could be lost from England’s waterways forever. A country-wide wildlife survey published by the Environment Agency last year found that otters, which almost disappeared from England in the 1970s due to a number of environmental problems, were recovering well and had been found in every English county except Kent. Now otter monitors at the Environment Agency have confirmed that there are at least two otters in Kent, which have built their holts on the river Medway and the river Eden. read more...