'Just throw it out' - Council advice on toxic lightbulbs

Ian Randall

9th March, 2010

An Ecologist investigation reveals that three quarters of London Boroughs are advising their residents to simply throw compact fluorescent lightbulbs in their general waste, despite the hazard posed by their mercury content more...

The human cost of 'super-clean' sugar ethanol

Ella Windsor

2nd March, 2010

Brazil is hailed as a biofuels success story - producing and using ethanol from high yielding crops within the country. But those indigenous families who have been displaced by sugar cane cultivation see things differently more...

How we poison Bangladesh with toxic ship carcasses

Andrew Hickman

23rd February, 2010

Workers are dying in Bangladesh’s shipyards because the west's shipping industry - including UK companies - is not taking responsibility for the disposal of ageing vessels more...

Jatropha biofuels: UK investors sell controversial crop as 'green'

Andrew Wasley

15th February, 2010

UK fund managers are selling investments in jatropha plantations as a wallet-swelling, planet-saving financial bonanza. But the reality for poor farmers is very different more...

Jatropha biofuels: the true cost to Tanzania

Thembi Mutch

15th February, 2010

Billed as wonder crop, the establishment of jatropha plantations on the ground in Tanzania has been far from successful, or, in some cases, ethical more...

Copenhagen failed. So should we tax carbon at the border?

Dan Box

8th February, 2010

The lack of agreement at Copenhagen has left some thinking that the only way to protect national economies is to tax imports from nations who don't pay a carbon price... more...

What is the Pill doing to our bodies and planet?

Yanar Alkayat

2nd February, 2010

It was the drug that fuelled the sexual liberation of the 1960s, but what price are we paying for our love of the contraceptive Pill? more...

Farmers' markets, coops and repair shops will seed the new economy

Tim Jackson

26th January, 2010

It's called the 'Cinderella economy'. You know it as the local, sustainable businesses that don't make the GDP figures soar, but do provide jobs and glue communities together... more...

How green are tetrapak food cartons?

Emilie Filou

19th January, 2010

They're becoming more and more common - wrapped around everything from milk to chickpeas. But just how environmentally friendly are composite cartons compared to the good, old-fashioned tin or jar? more...

Peak phosphorus: our most important nutrient running out

Ewan Kingston

12th January, 2010

It has no synthetic alternative and some scientists believe supplies may already be in a terminal decline. But there is still no international effort to tackle the massive agricultural problems that will come when the phosphorus runs out more...

How can we have fish tomorrow? Ask the past

Anthony King

5th January, 2010

Dismissed initially as a good storyteller but nothing more, environmental historian Poul Holm has mapped the history of marine animals in such detail that it is having profound impacts on our current understanding of the oceans more...

Who needs Africa's land more: us or wildlife?

Thembi Mutch

29th December, 2009

An explosive mix of animals, people and economics means that land in Africa is becoming more valuable - and more contested - than ever more...

Learning from remote, sustainable communities

James Morrison

22nd December, 2009

Being off the beaten track need not require lashings of fossil fuels to provide a comfortable lifestyle. James Morrison tells the remarkable story of the inhabitants of Scotland's Knoydart Peninsula more...

Will carbon capture and storage work?

Mark Jansen

15th December, 2009

Carbon capture sounds like a fantastical idea: dig up fossil fuels, burn them, then return the captured CO2 underground. But the hurdles that stand in its way are formidable more...

Have greens got it wrong about tar sands?

David Strahan

8th December, 2009

For environmentalists, tar sands are a 'climate crime'; for peak oil experts, they can never do the job of ordinary crude. But neither critique tells the full story: that exploiting tar sands may worsen both the climate crisis, and the energy crisis... more...

Will sugar be the oil of the 21st century?

Matilda Lee

1st December, 2009

You can turn it into everything from fuel to plastics. But will the surge in demand for sugar end up having a serious environmental impact? more...

Selling Indonesia's coast for cheap prawns and profit

Jim Wickens

24th November 2009

In an exclusive investigation, the Ecologist Film Unit reveals the impact of Indonesia's plans to privatise its entire 90,000 km coastline more...

All carbon is not born equal

Eric Marx

17th November, 2009

Are we risking serious problems if action to tackle deforestation assumes that a tonne of tree carbon is the same as a tonne of fossil carbon? more...

What use is evolution to environmentalists?

Amelie Wachner

10th November, 2009

Evolution may be a brilliant model by which to explain the diversity of the natural world, but it doesn't contain the slightest hint as to how human beings should act towards that world more...

A melted Arctic: gold mine or honey trap?

Andrew Marszal

3rd November, 2009

As the melting Arctic ice cap opens a new ocean to the world, governments and private speculators are rushing to cash in on lucrative resource deposits and shipping lanes. But they may find these virgin waters a dangerous place to do business… more...

Does shipping have a green future?

Chris Carroll

27th October, 2009

The aviation industry has its climate change plans, car manufacturers are working on 'eco' alternatives, and rail is considered top of the class, but what has the transport mode that delivers 90 per cent of goods to the UK done to improve upon its environmental credentials? more...

Is this the future of fish farming?

Edward Helmore

20th October, 2009

Inside vast, 360-sided, 7000 cubic metre underwater cages off the coast of Panama, marine biologist Brian O'Hanlon is trying to solve some of the problems with large-scale aquaculture more...

Killing fields: the true cost of Europe's cheap meat

Andrew Wasley

13th October, 2009

Cheap meat has become a way of life in much of Europe, but the full price is being paid across Latin America as vast soya plantations and their attendant chemicals lead to poisonings and violence more...

How can we tell which companies are really green?

David Ord

6th October, 2009

Green claims are everywhere: surely there must be some simple way of measuring exactly what impact a company is having on the climate? more...

Conned for her copper: Zambia pays the price for aid

Khadija Sharife

29th September, 2009

Copper underwires the modern world, running through everything from the gas guzzler to the wind turbine. Any country that finds substantial reserves of the metal ought to consider itself to have struck gold. That is, until you let the World Bank decide how your mines should be run… more...

Can we trust the FSC?

Matilda Lee

22nd September, 2009

It's the logo we all look for when buying furniture and wood products. But the Forest Stewardship Council has come in for some serious criticism. Matilda Lee looks at both sides of the argument more...

Can cows help stop climate change?

Ed Hamer

15th September, 2009

Meat, dairy... in fact, livestock in general has in recent years joined the ranks of the 4x4 and the short-haul flight. But could a change in the way we graze animals not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but even remove them from the atmosphere? more...

Greening the church: a reluctant sacrifice or a new lease of life?

Tamsin Omond

8th September, 2009

Taking responsibility for our actions, fighting for justice and living in harmony with the rest of creation are among the founding principles of every religion. So why is there is no interfaith, or even inter-Christian statement on climate change? more...