Fire chief says incorrect disposal of devices powered by lithium-ion batteries are ‘disaster waiting to happen’
Fires caused by batteries in waste have gone up by 71% in the UK since 2022, as the rise of disposable vapes and other portable battery-powered devices leads to more lithium-ion batteries ending up in the bin.
An increase in the number of these devices being thrown in household rubbish bins has led to more than 1,200 fires in the waste system in the past 12 months, compared with 700 in 2022, according to research conducted by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and the campaign group Recycle Your Electricals.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/10/2024 - 09:07
Group says two women in their 80s took hammer and chisel to protective glass at British Library
Two Just Stop Oil protesters have smashed the glass around Magna Carta at the British Library.
The Rev Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judy Bruce, 85, a retired biology teacher, targeted the protective enclosure with a hammer and chisel on Friday morning.
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05/10/2024 - 09:00
All designers who have gone through carbon audit are eligible for consideration for green award
A green medal for sustainability is to be introduced at the Chelsea flower show, rewarding gardens with the lowest carbon impact.
Landscape designers are reporting that clients are commissioning them to make their gardens more wildlife-rich and eco-friendly, and that nature-friendly gardening is becoming increasingly important.
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05/10/2024 - 07:05
British-grown fruit much bigger after unusual winter and spring conditions led to slower ripening
Tennis fans may be treated to juicier strawberries at Wimbledon this year after a wet and dark winter slowed growing times, resulting in bigger and more flavoursome fruits.
Growers said the further wet and cold weather this spring, as well as less sunlight, had delayed the British strawberry season by a fortnight, with the main harvest expected at the end of this month.
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05/10/2024 - 07:00
One way to mitigate the eco-guilt of a to-go habit is to choose restaurants that serve food in sustainable containers
Getting restaurant meals to go often comes with a side of guilt: “Did I need to supersize? I should have saved the money and cooked at home.” And the final sting, perhaps muttered while hovering over the trash and recycling bins deciding where to toss the empty boxes: “Oh, the waste.”
Dietary and budgeting concerns notwithstanding, one way to mitigate the environmental impact (or the eco-guilt) of a takeout habit is to choose restaurants that serve their food in more sustainable containers.
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05/10/2024 - 06:00
Trust builds passes under road bisecting Berkshire commons for increasingly endangered venomous snake
How did the adder cross the road? It didn’t – it was too scared.
Now, however, road-shy populations of the increasingly endangered snake are being given a helping hand with the construction of Britain’s first adder tunnels.
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05/10/2024 - 04:00
NFU’s director of strategy asked for review of EU-derived protections as part of post-Brexit loosening of rules
The National Farmers’ Union lobbied to increase the amount of pesticides allowed in the UK’s drinking water and to allow farmers to spread manure more frequently as part of a post-Brexit loosening of environmental regulations, it can be revealed.
Nick von Westenholz, the director of strategy for the lobby group, met Timothy Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, the Earl of Minto, who is the minister of state for regulatory reform, last year and asked him to review EU-derived environmental protections.
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05/10/2024 - 02:00
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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05/10/2024 - 00:00
Trust aims to boost small pearl-bordered fritillary colonies in Shropshire Hills by planting 20,000 violets this year for their caterpillars
A mass planting of marsh violets across England’s Shropshire Hills is to take place to try to prevent further decline of the small pearl-bordered fritillary or Boloria selene, a rare UK butterfly.
The small pearl-bordered fritillary’s distribution across the UK has plunged 71% since the mid 1970s and the species is now listed as vulnerable, according to the 2022 state of UK butterflies report.
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05/10/2024 - 00:00
Waste and cost among drawbacks, as researchers say renewables could power UK entirely
In the battle to prevent the climate overheating, wind and solar are making impressive inroads into the once dominant market share of coal. Even investors in gas plants are increasingly seen as taking a gamble.
With researchers at Oxford and elsewhere agreeing that the UK could easily become entirely powered by wind and solar – with no fossil fuels required – it seems an anomaly that nuclear power is still getting the lion’s share of taxpayer subsidies to keep the ailing industry alive.
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