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1. Blue Planet Live and Blue Planet UK comes to the BBC

   Posted on 12:00pm Sunday 24th Mar 2019

   There’s some fantastic television to watch on the BBC this week (starting Sunday 24 March 2019), with Blue Planet programmes in abundance. Pick of the Week, according to The Sunday Times (Culture Section) is Blue Planet Live.   It’s on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings on BBC1 at 8pm.  This short series sets out on a mission to explore the health of the oceans.  An aquadynamic team will be broadcasting live from different marine locations during the week. Chris Packham examines the well being of whales in Mexico; this includes mother-and-calf arrivals in the largest whale nursery in the world. Steve Backshall is in the Bahamas and sees sharks and shipwrecks. Liz Bonnin is at the Great Barrier Reef.   She is meeting baby turtles and shearwater chicks and she checks up on the coral itself. Visit Blue Planet Live’s website here And there’s more! Blue Planet UK looks at the UK side of marine life.  There’s reports on Yorkshire seabirds, kayak clean-ups and shark science with Gillian Burke, Steve Brown and Chris Packham. Blue Planet UK is on just after 4pm on BBC1 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Don’t miss it!  Visit Blue Planet UK’s website here Get involved in ocean conservation – tips from the programme’s website

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2. Save the planet - dry your clothes outside and help Brabantia plant a tree with WeForest!

   Posted on 8:00pm Tuesday 26th Feb 2019

   There’s nothing like getting into bed with really clean, fresh smelling sheets.  I just love it! You can always tell the difference between those sheets which have been dried off in a tumble dryer (boo, that won’t help the environment or your energy bills) and those that have dried off outside in the fresh air. I’m so keen to save on my energy bill and to get into bed with the bed linen smelling of fresh air that I actually check the weather forecast to look for the best days to do the bed clothes wash on.  Then I know I can put stuff out on the line, knowing they will dry naturally. My favourite reasons to dry my clothes on a line It saves me money – I can control my electricity bill more closely It doesn’t matter how much electricity prices go up – the wind and dry weather is free! My clothes and linen smell fantastically fresh Actually, the fresh air I get when I put everything on the line is a welcome break from being indoors I get exercise putting the clothes on the line – bending and stretching I can hook the clothes off the line to iron as and when they are ready and I find them easier and faster to iron It helps the planet.  I’m not devouring the earth’s resources for something which isn’t necessary to use. I’ve made a conscious choice to make a difference and stopped draining the earth of resources unnecessarily Anyway, when we needed a new washing line, we bought a Brabantia.   I love it – it does the job beautifully and I find I can get several wash loads on the line at once.   It’s easy to put up and to clean, and also easy to take down and put away.  And as a great added bonus to buying a Brabantia – they’ve teamed up with WeForest.  For each laundry tree that’s sold, WeForest will plant a real tree on behalf of Brabantia!  And that makes washing and drying all the sweeter…  For the exciting thing I discovered when I looked at WeForest's website and the information about the partnership between WeForest and Brabantia, is that Brabantia are on a mission to plant trees.  Trees take carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and pump oxygen out for everyone to breathe.  That's a terribly simplified description and I'm sure some scientist will take issue with it but it's my way to explain why trees matter simply.  So far, over 1.5 MILLION trees have been planted as a result of Brabantia's efforts.  This is a huge number.   There's a wonderful quote from Brabantia's CEO on WeForest's website, namely: “He who plants a tree, plants hope for generations to come. Brabantia aims to plant more than 1,5 million trees.”   Tijn van Elderen, CEO Brabantia Brabantia is helping to make the Burkina Faso and Ethiopia desert a greener place as part of the international "Great Green Wall".  And the company is working to promote the environmental benefits of drying outdoors.  Every single one of us who can dry our clothes in the fresh air instead of in a tumble dryer is reducing our drain on the earth’s resources.   Plus it gives us more £££ to spend on other things!!

    

3. A bill to ban single use plastic goes forth in Rwanda...

   Posted on 12:00am Wednesday 20th Feb 2019

   BBC Africa has reported that the Rwandan government wants the parliament to pass a bill to ban single use plastic to protect the environment in the country. A draft bill suggests a 2 year moratorium for companies to stop making single use plastics. In 2008, plastics were first banned in Rwanda; however some plastic materials are still used.  Mineral water and juice bottles, straws in bars and hotels, and single use dishes are still used. So the government now wants to ban these too, and a bill will go to parliament for a vote. Good luck to it!

    

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4. Palau - islands making a difference

   Posted on 9:00pm Friday 2nd Nov 2018

   What’s special about Palau? It’s an island situated in the western part of the Pacific ocean and it consists of one large volcanic island and several smaller coral reef associated islands. It’s small.  But it takes action. Palau is imposing a widespread ban on sunscreen in order to protect its coral reefs.  This ban will come into effect in 2020. The sale and use of sunscreen and skincare products which have a list of 10 different chemicals will be restricted.  Researchers believe that these ingredients are highly toxic to marine life.  They can also make coral more susceptible to bleaching.  The ingredients oxybenzone and octinoxate are particularly believed to make coral more susceptible.  Scent Free Sun Lotion from Green People    Palau has taken the lead in protecting marine life before. Back in 2015 it designated almost its entire ocean territory as a marine protected zone. It was the second nation to ratify the 2016 Paris climate agreement. Thousands of visitors go to Palau every year – and the islands are determined to protect their coral reefs. As well as sunscreen, reefs are also threatened by sea water warming, over fishing, nutrient enrichment and pollution. These all need to be stopped to halt the continuing degradation of reef ecosystems. But that said, there is always more that can be done, we have to start somewhere, so thank you Palau for leading the way and showing that action can be taken. After all, many visitors to come to see the coral reefs in all their beauty, not bleached coral reefs in a terrible state. There are bans in other places.  Mexico has banned sunscreen in nature reserves.   The Island of Bonaire in the Caribbean and the state of Hawaii have also passed laws.  But Palau is leading the way as it covers 10 chemicals. Needless to say, some of the big corporates who produce sunscreen products are sulking, saying that there isn’t enough evidence of the impact on coral.  But some have come together to form the Safe Sunscreen Council and they’ve welcomed the move.  Come on other nations – if little Palau can do it, why can’t you?  Visit also Maui Nui Marine Resource Council, a nonprofit organization working for healthy coral reefs, clean ocean water and abundant native fish for the islands of Maui Nui

5. Apathy kills, action inspires

   Posted on 8:00am Wednesday 31st Oct 2018

   It’s very motivating to browse the internet and come across something which really strikes into your heart. The sort of thing I’m thinking of spurs you to take action – not just to want to take action, but to actually do it. How often do we come away having read something, thinking," That’s terrible," and then go on as if we had read nothing or not been affected at all? The key to successful wildlife conservation is to moving people literally to take action, to do something, in whatever way we all can, to do something to save this wildlife on this planet and most particularly, to save and protect their habitats.  Number of actions for wildlife... ___________________________________________________________ 0              1             2              3              4              5              6              7                                          1 action                 is better than                 no action at all The good thing about taking one action is that we tend to feel good about doing it.  And often we may think, "That was easy!  What else can I do?"  Sometimes it’s just the getting started and doing something however little time it takes. The one thing wildlife cannot afford at all is for us all to sit at the zero action position.  We need a total army of people who will move from the zero point to doing stuff.  And if each of us already do stuff, we need to do more. E.O.Wilson is a scientist.  In his book Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life , (which inspires us to set aside half of the earth’s surface for nature), Mr Wilson writes: “To those who are steering the growth of reserves worldwide, let me make an earnest request:  don’t stop, just aim a lot higher.” We all need to act for the sake of wildlife and this beautiful planet of ours. Please take an action to help wildlife today.  One way is to support those already working to grow and protect reserves around the world or protecting the wildlife already there.