The dismal science no more! With an election coming up here in the UK, we should bear in mind how many voices are saying that mainstream economic theory is horrendously flawed. The major political parties in the UK base their economic policies on mainstream economics. It might seem iconoclastic to say it, but a good…
Newsfeed
Palm Oil
Analysis paralysis in the palm oil industry. Palm oil is grown in the Tropics on land cleared from the rainforests. It is contained in 50% of all products consumed in the industrialised world, including everything from soap to jet fuel. Most efforts to contain the expansion of the industry and save rainforests have failed. The…
Some of the Better Headlines
Negative news headlines have dominated over the last few weeks and the usual doses of “stubborn optimism” and “reasons to be cheerful” didn’t exactly hit the spot last week, so here’s an EcoCounts version:
Lawns, grass and nature
Everyone loves a nice lawn but in the 21st Century, lots of us are seriously worried about the carnage beyond our gardens and what we can do to help nature – #NoMowMay is the latest. Plant fanatics PLANTLIFE advocate not mowing for the whole of May to encourage natural wildflowers to bloom. Admittedly the finer…
Pot Plants for Insects
Honeybees, mining bees, bumblebees, hoverflies, butterflies and moths all need our help. Grow these pollen and nectar-rich herbs: Try these flowering pot plants: but forget about verbena, pelargoniums and fuchsias as far as the insects are concerned.
Organic and Cheap?
Organic food is produced without agrochemicals but generally costs more. Perversely, some marketing for organic food leads us to believe it’s only for the wealthy, presumably because the marketing is based on its high cost or because they believe it must taste better, and usually it doesn’t. It’s just better for nature, the farms and…
Earth Day Workshop Report 2024
We launched a new collaborative game-based workshop tentatively titled “Crisis Origins” that uses the same format as the Climate Fresk. By all accounts it went down well although there are still some rough edges. The game demands players to lay out the causes of the crisis by order of importance, according to the players’ opinions.…
Fresk at St Mary’s Church N19
We ran a Climate Fresk workshop at St Mary’s Church in Hornsey Rise, N19 on an April Saturday afternoon with 2 teams of St Mary’s folk, including Tamsin their vicar and Poppy, an XR Grandparent. There was a great mix of people, probably each and everyone from a different walk of life. We launched straight…
Earth Day Workshop 2024
EcoCounts Workshop II: the London Climate Crisis Changing the World when Change is Hard 🗓️ Earth Day, Monday April 22nd at 7:00pm 🌍 At the Islington Climate Centre, upstairs at Angel Central near Vue Cinema entrance, in the old burger bar next to Wagamama in, 21 Parkfield Street, London N1 0PS 🕖 Duration: 2 1/2…
Green Get-aways
Some tips for travelling