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  The Greener Summer Holiday: Can We Relax Without Wrecking the Planet? Perhaps the greenest summer holiday is not the one where we do less, but the one where we notice more. Summer holidays are supposed to restore us. They are meant to get us away from the daily routine, away from the inbox, away from the washing machine that appears to generate laundry even when nobody has worn anything. But modern holidays can also come with a rather large environmental shadow. Flights, long car journeys, hotel air conditioning, disposable beach gear, new clothes, plastic bottles, imported food, overfilled suitcases and the mysterious holiday habit of buying things we would never dream of buying at home can all add up. The question is not whether we should stop having holidays. That would be joyless, unrealistic and deeply unpopular with anyone who has survived a British winter. The better question is this: Can we have summer holidays that refresh us without quietly wrecking the very places we a...

  What If Every School Became a Sustainability Lab? Children Learn Far More From a Working Solar Panel Than a Worksheet About One There is something slightly tragic about teaching children about climate change from a laminated worksheet under fluorescent lights in an overheated classroom, while the school roof above them sits empty, doing absolutely nothing except keeping out the rain. We tell pupils that renewable energy matters. We teach them about biodiversity, water conservation, recycling, carbon footprints, food miles and the importance of careful measurement. Then, at the end of the lesson, they close their books, put away their pens and walk past a building that could itself be teaching the same lesson far more powerfully. What if the school was not just the place where sustainability was discussed? What if the school became the experiment? What if every school became a sustainability lab? Not in the vague, glossy-brochure sense. Not a poster in the corridor with a smiling ...

The Problem With “Eco” Products Why Buying Green Is Not Always the Same as Living Green Buying a brand-new eco gadget to replace something that still works may be the least eco thing you can do. There is a very strange moment in modern life when you find yourself standing in a shop, holding a bamboo washing-up brush, a recycled cardboard notebook, a “plant-based” phone case, or a reusable water bottle in a shade of green so virtuous it almost hums — and you think: “Am I saving the planet, or have I just been very cleverly sold something?” This is the uncomfortable problem with many “eco” products. They look green. They sound green. They are often packaged in brown cardboard with tasteful leaves printed on the side. But that does not automatically mean they are better for the environment. The real question is not: “Is this product eco?” It is: “Do I actually need to buy it?” And that is where things become much more interesting — and slightly more awkward. The Rise of th...