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| Do you know what this is? |
Saw this at my local tip shop recently and wondered what it was. It's a Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) – you put stuff in – in this case your empty soft drink bottles, and it will put money in your bank account or send it to a charity on your behalf.
There are others around the state and they are popping up in many other parts of the world, usually in supermarkets. Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Singapore, Russia, other parts of Australia, some Japanese and Chinese cities, some states in the USA and Canada already have them. The downside is that they are rather expensive - our state government funded this one, but perhaps if the beverage makers wanted to avoid bans or postpone developing alternatives they should be funding these. *See Caveat at end.
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| Bottles, cans and cartons in - money out |
In Other Recycling News
Good to see Amazon sending small electronic parts in small recyclable bags. What a difference compared to the huge boxes and acres of packing material the last time we talked about this. It must also save them a fortune in space and freight. Would that everything was as mutually beneficial.
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| Recyclable packaging from Amazon |
Speaking of Recycling, The UK government has announced new regulations requiring online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay to contribute to
the cost of recycling electronic waste. This move aims to create a level
playing field for UK-based businesses, which have previously borne most of the recycling costs. The new rules will also ensure that overseas
sellers using these platforms contribute to the recycling efforts.
Oceans
It’s been a bumper time for the world’s oceans with the UN World Oceans Conference being held in Nice from the 9th to the 13th of June. Fifty -one countries plus the EU, have ratified the High Seas Treaty with others set to follow later in the year -more than the 60 needed to enable the treaty to become binding international law.
This will extend protection to two thirds of the high seas beyond national borders. Key features of the treaty include fair and equitable sharing of the ocean’s genetic resources, a requirement for Environmental Impact Assessment for activities such as mining, fishing geo – engineering and infrastructure projects and provision of funding for capacity building and technology sharing in poorer countries, so that they too can research, monitor and enforce the provisions of the treaty. There was also some progress on ending Ocean Plastic Pollution with some 90 countries calling for a legally binding Agreement.
Thirty -seven countries have called for a pause on deep-sea mining until more research has been
done.
French Polynesia has pledged to create the world’s largest Marine Protected Area - 5 million square Km and covering most of its entire Exclusive Economic Zone.
The tiny island nation of Samoa (pop. 218,019) has also put
30% of its national waters into Matine Protected Areas where no extractive
industries may take place – no fishing, mining or drilling, to safeguard its unique
marine life and ensure that its traditional lifestyle can continue into the
future.
The good news on World Sea Turtle Day on June 16 , was that record
numbers of sea turtles hatchlings and eggs have been recorded, particularly for Ridley’s
Sea Turtle along the Texas coast, and the Olive Ridley's Sea Turtle in
Goa.
Humpback Whales and Blue whales are also making a comeback
Other Animals
Pink flamingos are returning to a Lake in Mumbai after partial restoration of water flow. It has now been declared a flamingo reserve and part of a broader internationally recognised Ramsar Wetland Sanctuary.
South Africa’s Wattled Cranes have marginally increased and have now moved from Critically Endangered to Endangered after intensive conservation efforts which also involved returning wetlands to something like their former state. This included working with farmers and landowners and putting markers on powerlines so that there were fewer collisions.
The 2025 Chinese Pharmacopeia has delisted products containing Pangolin in the interests of animal protection.
Italy has reaffirmed its 2022 recognition of animals as
sentient beings by instituting harsher penalties for cruelty, mistreatment and abandonment. Organising a dogfight for example, can land you in prison for four years
and sharing digital images of animal cruelty, will be regarded as an “aggravating
factor” which will also attract higher sentences.
Renewable Energy
· Renewables powered 40% of the world’s electricity in 2024. It would have been higher had not higher than average temperatures caused increased demand for airconditioning and refrigeration.
- Renewable
energy is not to blame for the recent Spanish Blackout. It was due to the power
company miscalculating the day’s demand. Thanks to renewables Spain now has the cheapest electricity costs in Europe.
- Greece which faces similar problems on excessively sunny days, simply shuts down incoming solar to prevent excessive loads on its grid. It is expected that battery storage and pumped hydro will soon be able to take up any excess.
- The current costs of energy
production from renewables – excluding subsidies, are lower than that for other sources such as coal and nuclear. The reason we aren’t seeing that in our bills yet is because of the cost of adding storage and upgrading transmission lines.
- There’s been a 15% surge in renewable energy this year, with China adding 105 GW of Solar in the first four
months of 2025, and more than all other countries combined. As a bonus its
emissions have begun to fall despite increased production. Its next energy plan
will begin to decarbonise its transport sector. Click here for a list of countries
leading the way.
- India's solar
installations are skyrocketing too, accounting for 70% of new
generation capacity installed in the last year - more than coal, oil and
gas combined, and overtaking Germany to become the world's third largest renewable energy powerhouse.
- Even the Vatican has gone 100% renewable.
- Wind and solar power permanently overtook coal-fired power in Türkiye in 2024.
- Almost all new homes being built in England will have to have solar panels installed according to new regulations to be published later this year.
- The Sydney Council has made it mandatory for new homes to have electric appliances -stoves, cooktops and space heating, to be all electric as from 1/1/2026, with new commercial buildings, hotels and serviced apartments to follow in 2027. This is expected to save households in the order of $626 on their electricity bills a year as well as reducing indoor air pollution.
- This makes Sydney the 7th council in New South Wales to have enacted similar legislation and it is part of a broader push to phase out the use of gas, despite objections from developers, an apparently large number of wok owners and the housing industry. Gas hotwater systems though still being allowed for the time being, are also being considered. One hopes this initiative does not go the way of the 'Light Roofs' initiative which was partially rolled back due to complaints by the building industry.
- The State of Victoria has in fact been a leader on electrification of homes, having had similar legislation in place for new homes, including hotwater services, since 2024. Its new homes must also meet higher energy efficiency standards under the National Construction Code. There is also help for owners of existing homes, via its Energy Upgrades Program which provides subsidies for purchasing electric appliances when existing gas ones are due for replacement. Large discounts are available for those switching from ducted gas heating to electric. It has been estimated that since this scheme came into operation in 2023, 28 metric tonnes of emissions have been saved.
- For those still complaining about the intermittency of wind and solar as a reason to ditch it, just take a look
at how Wales is managing that. It has two hydro schemes ready to step in
at the slightest drop in generation from other sources. What’s more,
excess energy production is immediately used to pump storages higher –
pumped hydro, to have more energy available when needed. Diversity of supply is the key. A respondent in Scotland tells me there is plenty of scope for pumped hydro in Scotland too.
- France is trialling tidal turbines in Normandy, which are expected to be able to provide continuous power for 15,000 homes.
- Several places have either implemented or are experimenting with the use of former coal mines as gravity batteries for pumped hydro including Germany’s Ruhr district, Pennsylvania in the USA, Switzerland, the UK, Australia and Finland.
- By the way, before we fill up those old coal mines, could we just check that they aren't full of natural hydrogen as has recently been discovered in France. Clean, no emissions, ready to go and in large quantities.
Forests, Restoration and Conservation
- The UK is establishing two new commercial forests – 300 hundred acres near Durham and a further 2,500 ha near the Cotswolds – the Western Forest, to support carbon sequestration, biodiversity, timber production and public recreation.
- Columbia reported a 33% drop in deforestation since last year with a 54% drop in its Amazon National Parks due to a crackdown on illegal activities
- In Australia, the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor in Western Australia is a tree planting and carbon sequestration project stretching for 200 km from degraded farmlands Inland to the coast. Begun in 2008 it also links 12 conservation areas, making an area of 50,000 square kilometres. So far over 30 million native plants have been planted.
- Kyrgyzstan has just announced that it is establishing a Biodiversity Corridor covering 800,000 km2 in the Tian Shan Mountains. This will also link existing reserves and protect endangered species such as the snow leopard. Such corridors also offer animals some protection from climate change in that they will be able to migrate more easily.
Rivers
- Keeping the oceans clean and free of plastic, takes more than just tackling the Great Pacific Garbage Patch as German researcher and ocean cleaner- upper Marcella Hansch discovered. Better to prevent it at the source where possible and at least clean the rivers before they carry rubbish out to sea. As well as mapping and analysing what is in our rivers, she and her colleagues have developed a specialised boat to scoop up debris in rivers and dams.
- The Thames which was considered dead and devoid of life 40 years ago is now one of the world’s cleanest rivers. The next stage is to restore its wildlife, wetlands and estuaries.
- In 1969 Toronto's River Don was so polluted and lifeless, that a community environment group held a funeral for it. After extensive restoration efforts which are still continuing, it is returning to good health and there are hopes that fish and wildlife may soon return too.
- Community Conservation and Restoration Projects are enjoying
between 6 -20 times more successful in many parts of the world than either
government initiatives or those of international NGOs, whether it’s the
establishment of micro hydro schemes in the Philippines – each of the 22
generators powers about 100 homes, village scale water storage in India, replanting
of mangroves in Mexico or restoration of dry forests in Brazil. There are many others here each as different as the places which gave rise to them.
Building and Construction
Concrete making has traditionally been one of the major contributors to CO2 emissions - 8% of global emissions compared to say 2.5% for air travel, and one of the most difficult ones to eradicate. Now there have been several breakthroughs in that regard.- Researchers at Washington State University for example, have begun using biochar - a byproduct of burning agricultural waste, which absorbs 23% of its weight in carbon dioxide, to replace 30% of the cement which has been used to date. Previous concerns over the lack of strength of the new product have been overcome by using the lime waste water from the concrete making process to soak the biochar before using and turning the resulting concrete into a carbon negative product.
- Experiments at North Western University, (Illinois) have involved injecting CO2 directly into concrete during manufacture so that it's permanently locked in and reusing recycled concrete as aggregate in new concrete, making it not only a carbon sink. The new product is not only equal to or stronger than the traditional product but up to 10% cheaper.
- Researchers in Denmark have just a produced a cement made of sea water, crushed shells and marine bacteria, that's stronger than conventional cement.
- In Australia, the concrete industry together with builders, architects, and other stakeholders is developing guidelines which will give preference to carbon negative or carbon neutral construction materials.
This is by no means all the good news, just a few snippets from some of my favourite sites. There have also been great gains in medicine, in social justice, science and many other fields. A few examples follow.
Poverty has been reduced in many countries including India, Nepal, Thailand, Bhutan, Georgia – the country, not the US state, Morocco and Jamaica. In Kenya, almost a quarter of a million people have recently gained access to clean water and almost half a million are set to follow soon in Guinea. Thailand has banned corporal punishment of children making it the 68th country to do so.
As usual this is getting much too long, but I hope you can see that humanity is making progress despite there being dark clouds on the horizon and those achievements receiving little publicity. Anytime you start getting the winter/ summer blues, just skim through some some of the pages below and be inspired all over again.
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| Cute share stand in the vicinity. There's a little free library nearby too |
Some Pet Pages
*I hope the recycling itself is being done responsibly. I have just read an interesting at article - several actually, on a site called Climate Cosmos which calls into question a number of feel -good environmental issues. Read the one about recycling here, especially what the author is doing instead to cut his waste by 70%.
Thank you to Microsoft Copilot, for assorted help with this, particularly in locating references to articles I've seen.
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