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Will clothes companies do the right thing to reduce microfiber pollution?

Synthetic fibers are polluting the world’s oceans – but a new report shows how apparel companies have been far too slow to respond. Can they change their ways? Over the past few years, evidence has been mounting that synthetic textiles such as polyester and acrylic, which make up much of our clothing, are a major […]

Sweet-scented scurvy-grass is a spring tonic in every sense

South Uist The bitter leaves of this hardy little plant once provided a welcome dose of vitamin C after a hard winter Scurvy-grass is usually found in coastal regions, where its high tolerance of saline conditions enables it to flourish where other plants fail to thrive. It is an early flowerer and will grow abundantly […]

Free water from the bar tap? Get the app | Letters

Guy Hodgson has a tech solution for reducing the amount of plastic drinking bottles we use I can quite understand why people feel awkward asking for tap water without making a purchase (British embarrassment over asking for tap water in bars fuels plastic bottle waste – survey, 11 May). Fortunately, the Refill app from refill.org.uk […]

Cockney sparrows living the high life | Brief letters

Kelvin MacKenzie and Ross Barkley | Return of the sparrows | Management speak | Kings killed in battle | Grandparents’ names | 35mm film canisters Kelvin MacKenzie loses his job over “racial slurs” (Report, 10 May). Are we to infer that the nasty abuse of Ross Barkley would have been fine had his grandparents all been […]

Locals dismayed as Trump's EPA gives new life to controversial Alaska mine

Pebble Ltd Partnership allowed to seek permit to build mine near Bristol Bay Environmental activists say gold and copper mine threatens local community Further legal battles and protesters “standing in front of bulldozers” could be in store in Alaska, after the Trump administration on Friday settled a lawsuit over the proposed development of a massive […]

Historic Turkish tomb moved to make way for hydroelectric dam

1,100-tonne Zeynel Bey monument relocated despite legal challenge to Tigris river construction project An enormous 15th-century tomb in south-eastern Turkey has been moved to make way for a hydroelectric dam on the Tigris river. The 1,100-tonne Zeynel Bey monument was lifted whole on Friday and transported more than a mile on a wheeled platform, the […]

US signs treaty to protect Arctic, giving some hope for Paris agreement

Secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, signs a commitment to curb greenhouse gas emissions and to extend scientific cooperation in the Arctic region Environmental campaigners were given some hope that the US may stick to its commitments under the Paris climate change treaty when Rex Tillerson, the US secretary of state, signed a commitment to protect […]

UK farmers call for cross-country pipelines after driest winter in 20 years

Farmers and conservationists warn of water shortage, with ‘water shunting’ from wet north to dry south seen as one solution Farmers are warning that water may have to be transferred across Britain after an unusually dry winter and spring left more than four-fifths of rivers with too little to support local growers. Fears of a […]