Going Green Podcast, Video blog and Daily News

  A Fragile Comeback: Young Salmon Return – But the Bigger Picture Is Alarming There’s a flicker of hope in our rivers. Young Atlantic salmon have been recorded in three rivers in north-west England for the first time since 2015 , described by conservationists as a “significant environmental turnaround.” Cleaner water, habitat restoration, and reduced pollution really can work. But zoom out, and the story turns worrying. Record Lows on the River Frome On the River Frome in Dorset , the annual salmon count tells a far more troubling tale. For the second year running , numbers of juvenile wild Atlantic salmon have collapsed. Since 2002, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust has spent four weeks every late summer catching, measuring, weighing, and micro-chipping juvenile salmon – known as parr – along this 35-mile chalk stream. Target each year: 10,000 tagged parr This summer: just 3,226 Last year: 4,593 Another record low. Another warning sign. Why This ...

  Warming World, Hungrier Insects: What Can We Do About It? As global temperatures push beyond 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels , researchers are warning that key crops such as wheat could suffer damage rates of up to 46% from insect pests . That isn’t a distant, abstract problem — it’s a direct threat to food security, prices, and farming livelihoods. Why warming favours pests Rising temperatures change the balance between crops and insects: 🐛 Faster insect life cycles → more generations per growing season ❄️ Milder winters → fewer pests die off 🌍 Range expansion → insects moving into regions where crops have little natural defence 🌾 Stressed plants → crops weakened by heat and drought are easier to attack In short: warmer climates tilt the playing field in favour of insects. What can we do about it? 1️⃣ Smarter pest management (not just more chemicals) Heavy pesticide use creates resistance and harms pollinators. Instead: Integrated Pest Managem...

  Near-1.5 °C: A Line We’re About to Cross The UK Met Office has issued a stark forecast: 2026 is likely to be one of the hottest years ever recorded . Their projections suggest global average temperatures could reach between 1.34 °C and 1.58 °C above pre-industrial levels . That upper figure matters — because 1.5 °C isn’t just a number . 📏 Why 1.5 °C Is So Important The 1.5 °C threshold, set out in the Paris Agreement, was never a “safe” limit — just a line beyond which risks escalate rapidly : More frequent and intense heatwaves Increased flooding and drought Accelerating ice melt and sea-level rise Greater stress on food, water, and ecosystems Crossing it temporarily doesn’t mean failure — but lingering above it does . 🌡️ What Makes This Forecast Different? This isn’t just a long-term climate projection. The Met Office is factoring in: Underlying human-driven warming Natural climate variability A growing chance of warming spikes that push us ov...

  The Cosy Myth of the Christmas Log Fire There is something deeply comforting about sitting next to a roaring log fire at Christmas. The flicker, the warmth, the sense of tradition — it feels timeless, almost wholesome. But behind that cosy glow lies a much less festive reality. 🌫️ What’s Really Coming Out of the Chimney? Wood-burning fires release a cocktail of pollutants: Fine particulates (PM2.5) that penetrate deep into the lungs Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide Nitrogen oxides and other harmful compounds In fact, a single evening of wood burning can produce more particulate pollution than hours of traffic on a busy road . These particles don’t just disappear — they linger in local air, drift into neighbouring homes, and contribute to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. 🏠 “But It’s Natural Wood…” Yes — but natural doesn’t mean harmless . Even seasoned logs burned efficiently still release particulates. Older open fires are especially problematic...

  New Year, Greener You Simple New Year’s Resolutions That Really Do Make a Difference The New Year has a habit of encouraging grand gestures: complete lifestyle overhauls, heroic pledges, and promises that quietly fade by mid-January. Going green doesn’t need to be like that. In fact, the most effective changes are often the smallest ones — repeated daily, quietly compounding into something meaningful. If you’re thinking about making New Year’s resolutions to live more sustainably , here are a few simple, realistic changes that genuinely add up. 🔌 1. Use Less Energy — Without Freezing You don’t need to live in a woolly hat indoors to cut energy use. Turn thermostats down by 1°C Heat rooms you actually use, not the whole house Switch devices fully off at the wall instead of standby Why it matters: Energy savings are immediate, visible on bills, and reduce carbon emissions straight away. 🛒 2. Buy Less. Choose Better. Perhaps the greenest resolution of all: p...

  What Can We Do to Prevent Fatbergs Building Up in Our Sewers? Fatbergs sound faintly comic, but the consequences are anything but. These vast, concrete-hard masses of fat, oil, grease and so-called “flushable” wipes are one of the biggest causes of sewer blockages in the UK — leading to flooding, pollution of rivers, expensive clean-ups, and higher water bills for everyone. The good news? Fatbergs are almost entirely preventable — and prevention starts at home. 🧈 1. Never Pour Fat, Oil or Grease Down the Sink When hot, fat looks harmless. Once it cools in the sewer, it solidifies and sticks to pipe walls — acting like glue for everything else. What to do instead: Let fats cool and solidify, then scrape into the food bin Wipe greasy pans with kitchen roll before washing Collect liquid oil in a jar and dispose of it in household waste or recycling schemes 🟢 If it’s solid at room temperature, it doesn’t belong in the drain. 🚽 2. Follow the “3 Ps” Rule Only P...

  Are Dishwasher Tablets Harming You – and the Environment? And what are the greener alternatives? Dishwasher tablets are wonderfully convenient: pop one in, shut the door, and forget about it. But behind the lemon-fresh scent and shiny plates is a cocktail of chemicals – and some uncomfortable environmental questions. So, are they actually harming you or the planet? And if so, what can you do instead? What’s inside a typical dishwasher tablet? Most mainstream dishwasher tablets contain a mix of: 🔹 Alkaline cleaners Sodium carbonate (washing soda) Sodium silicate These break down grease effectively, but are highly alkaline and energy-intensive to produce. 🔹 Enzymes Protease (for proteins) Amylase (for starches) Generally low-risk for consumers, but can be problematic for aquatic ecosystems once discharged. 🔹 Bleaching agents Sodium percarbonate (releases hydrogen peroxide) Improves whitening, but contributes to chemical load in wastewater. 🔹 Su...

  Could This Be Britain’s Greenest Christmas Day Ever?   There are many ways to measure Christmas success. Some people count roast potatoes. Others count arguments. This year, Britain may be counting grams of carbon dioxide . Britain’s electricity system could deliver its greenest Christmas Day on record , according to the National Energy System Operator (NESO). If the weather stays mild and windy through the rest of December, NESO says carbon intensity on 25 December could be the lowest ever recorded for Christmas Day . What does that actually mean? Carbon intensity measures how much CO₂ is produced to generate each unit of electricity . Lower numbers mean: More electricity from wind, solar, and nuclear Less from gas and coal A cleaner grid overall Christmas Day is a perfect storm (the good kind): Factories and offices are shut Electricity demand is lower Wind farms keep spinning whether anyone’s carving a turkey or not In other words, the ligh...

  The Greenest Thing You Can Do Today? Stop Buying Stuff. There’s a particular kind of pressure that appears in the final hours before Christmas. The shops are still open. The ads are louder. The emails insist you’ve forgotten something . Somewhere, someone is telling you that love can still be expressed with a last-minute purchase. It’s exhausting. And environmentally speaking, it’s spectacularly unhelpful. The lie of the “one last thing” Last-minute shopping rarely produces meaningful gifts. It produces: Panic purchases Poor quality items Fast fashion Gadgets that need batteries Things that will be returned, regifted, or quietly binned by February Each of those steps adds transport, packaging, energy use, and waste — all for something nobody actually wanted. Consumer pressure thrives on urgency Sustainability fails when we’re rushed. Urgency bypasses thought, values, and restraint. The entire system depends on the idea that doing nothing is not an optio...

  A Greener Approach to the Traditional Christmas Dinner Christmas dinner is one of those moments where tradition, nostalgia and comfort food collide. Roast potatoes must crunch just right, gravy must be plentiful, and someone will inevitably ask whether Brussels sprouts are meant to squeak. But Christmas is also one of the most resource-intensive meals of the year. From imported ingredients and energy-hungry ovens to food waste and disposable decorations, the environmental footprint of the festive feast is larger than many people realise. The good news? You can make meaningful improvements without turning Christmas into a joyless exercise in self-denial. Here’s how to keep the spirit of Christmas while lightening its environmental load. Rethinking the Centrepiece For many households, turkey is non-negotiable. If that’s the case, choosing free-range, UK-reared turkey with strong welfare standards already reduces impact compared with cheaper, intensively farmed alternatives....

  2025’s AI Boom Came With a Hidden Environmental Cost Artificial intelligence had a spectacular year in 2025. Faster models. Smarter assistants. AI everywhere — from education and healthcare to marketing and music. But while the tech headlines celebrated innovation, a quieter story emerged in the background: AI’s rapidly growing carbon and water footprint . Recent research has shown that the explosive growth of large AI models in 2025 drove significant increases in CO₂ emissions and water use , largely due to the energy demands of data centres that train and run these systems. Why AI Uses So Much Energy Training modern AI models requires: Vast data centres running continuously Thousands of high-performance GPUs Massive cooling systems to prevent overheating All of this consumes electricity — and in many regions, that electricity still comes from fossil fuels . Even once trained, AI models continue to draw power every time they are queried. As AI tools become embe...

  The EU Just Weakened Its Own Green Rules – And That Should Worry Us All This week, the European Parliament approved a major rollback of the EU’s flagship sustainability reporting and corporate due-diligence rules. It didn’t make many headlines. It probably should have. The changes dramatically reduce the number of companies required to report on environmental damage, human rights abuses, and supply-chain harm . Even more concerning, they strip out plans to harmonise access to justice across member states , making it harder for affected communities to hold companies to account. In short: fewer companies covered, weaker oversight, and less legal protection for people and the planet. What was supposed to happen? The original laws were designed to: Require large companies to report honestly on their environmental and social impacts Hold businesses responsible for human rights abuses and ecological damage in their supply chains Create consistent legal routes across the E...

  Still Burning: When Will the Age of Fossil Fuels Actually End (and What Can You Do About It?) Governments dither. Oil giants drill. But change can still start at your front door. ⏳ The Clock Is Ticking. Loudly. We’ve known for decades that fossil fuels are the main driver of climate change. And yet… the coal chugs on, the oil keeps flowing, and natural gas is still branded “clean” in some circles. While world leaders shake hands at summits and sign pledges with increasingly distant targets, emissions continue to rise. The age of fossil fuels is like your least favourite dinner guest — long overstayed and increasingly toxic. Why the Delay? Despite the science being clear: Fossil fuel subsidies still amount to trillions globally Many climate pledges are non-binding or delayed until 2050 or later Countries fear economic instability or political backlash from a rapid transition Fossil fuel lobbies are… not shy And all the while, extreme weather events ar...