Tag: Nature

A shady place, thoughtful Mother’s Day gift, natural garden fences – plants, flowers and trees provide joy in many contexts. They are an important part of our delicate eco-system, absorbing CO2 and providing fresh oxygen. What’s more, with careful planning we can use specific plants to manage environmental issues. At least according to the latest research, which saw scientists...

When we go somewhere on holiday, the satnav (usually) helps us. Migrating songbirds, however, routinely travel more than 10,000 kilometers – come rain or shine. The tiny birds exhibit remarkable navigational precision. Even when they get lost or fly somewhere new, they always reach their destination. It’s a mystery scientists have been trying to unravel for years. Now, growing...

Whether we’re feeling sad, romantic or joyful, there’s music to fit our every mood. Music connects people and spreads important messages across the globe. Greenpeace knows this, and has made its natural sound library available to musicians. Artists are encouraged to make use of the library, which comprises a range of sounds collected over the course of numerous campaigns,...

It isn’t just kids who dream of an adventure in the wilds. Increasingly, adults are trying to reconnect with nature too. A California-based firm’s new treehouse project offers the perfect opportunity for a mini getaway. Boasting optimum sustainability and a high quality design, its luxury treehouses have been conceived with modern eco-tourists in mind. But while the treehouses provide...

Peace helps us to revitalize, especially if we are used to loud environments. Most materials used in soundproofing are difficult to recycle, however. Scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute have turned to fungus for the answer, or rather its vegetative component, mycelium. Lab-developed mycelium is mixed with a substrate made of straw, wood fibers and waste from the food industry,...

Condoms, car tires and balloons have one thing in common. Elastic rubber. The material comes mainly from the latex on rubber trees and is currently shipped globally without much concern for the environment or the Southeast Asian plantations where it grows. For some time dandelions have been considered a renewable alternative, above all a Russian variety, which despite its...

What could be better than sinking into freshly laundered bedsheets? Wrapping yourself in sustainably laundered bedsheets, of course! That, at least, is what five schoolchildren from Hamburg thought, when, as part of a school competition, they began to experiment on a 100% biologically safe detergent made from ivy. The creeping plant, whose fast-growing nature is the source of many...

For many, the island of Ibiza is synonymous with party culture. But as one twenty-four year old local entrepreneur has shown, there’s a lot more to the island’s energy. And his invention mixes well with people, too. It’s a biological battery partially hidden in the soil that, with the help of microorganisms, generates electricity for lights and sensors –...