Photo: Abukar Sky/Unsplash (CC0)
In today’s edition: how cheaper waste management systems might be the answer to plastic pollution, Wales becomes the first UK nation to require solar panels on new buildings, and El Salvador’s world-first surf insurance policy.
Strengthening waste management systems in low and middle-income countries could reduce global plastic pollution by up to 98%, according to new data. Nations with effective waste systems release far less plastic into the environment: on average, high-income countries generate 100 times less plastic pollution per person than lower-income ones.
Source: Our World in Data
New city data shows Edmonton, Canada’s restrictions on single-use items have reduced some forms of plastic waste. In a statement, mayor Andrew Knack said “The data shows we are seeing significant amount of reduction of single-use items from our landfills, which is great for the environment, but it’s also great for the financials of the city because that means you’re not creating more landfills.”
Source: CBC
Wales is set to become the first UK nation to effectively mandate solar panels on new buildings, with updated regulations coming into force on March 4, 2027. The policy puts Wales ahead of England, where comparable solar requirements are still expected to be introduced under future national standards.
Source: Taiyang News
Working closely with local authorities and a farmers’ cooperative that manages much of the surrounding land, one small German village has spent decades carefully cementing its status as energy-independent. The community planned its energy system down to deciding where biogas plants and wind turbines could be placed without affecting homes.
Source: Deutsche Welle
In the town of Ozona, Crockett County, seniors are able to age in place thanks to a network of services funded in part by wind energy investments. Local officials have used a tax arrangement with wind companies to channel new revenue into community programmes, making sure older adults get the support they need as the region adapts to a changing energy landscape.
Source: Grist
The Sussex Kelp Recovery Project says the initiative has been unfolding since a 2021 byelaw protected a 117-square-mile (302 sq km) area between Shoreham and Selsey. Five years after the ban on bottom trawling, the restored habitats have brought benefits like storm and erosion protection and supported sustainable fisheries, with increased numbers of black sea bream and mussel beds stretching more than a kilometre.
Source: BBC News
More than 50 years after the ariel toucan was reintroduced to Tijuca National Park in Rio de Janeiro, the world’s largest urban forest, the species is once again playing an important ecological role. A new study finds the bird, which went locally extinct in the 1960s, has almost entirely resumed its function as a key seed disperser, helping regenerate endangered tree species and supporting forest recovery.
Source: Mongabay
In north Lancashire, volunteers are stepping in to protect migrating toads from being killed on busy roads, carrying hundreds to safety during night-time patrols. These “toad patrols” take place at sunset, when volunteers walk local lanes and carefully move any toads they find across the road. The effort typically continues until crossings slow or traffic eases, usually by around 20:00.
Source: BBC News
At Heritage Growers in Colusa, hundreds of acres are being cultivated with a long-term goal: repairing damaged ecosystems and supporting California’s conservation targets. Founded in 2021 by the nonprofit River Partners, the farm is addressing a big but often overlooked challenge in environmental restoration: the shortage of locally adapted native seeds.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
Oriente Salvaje has a thriving surf industry that attracts intrepid wave hunters, who venture out to ride its world-class breaks, Las Flores and Punta Mango. Fearing that extreme weather threatened its epic breaks, Oriente Salvaje is piloting the first surf insurance policy to protect livelihoods and ecosystems.
Source: The Guardian
