The Story of Your Stuff – Investigating the long-term impacts of everyday decisions at heart of EPA second-level schools’ competition
The EPA has launched The Story of Your Stuff, a competition which challenges students to investigate the life cycle of their everyday ‘stuff’ through a creative medium, considering the entirety of the item’s life cycle. Students are encouraged to use the EPA’s Ireland’s Environment website, www.epa.ie/irelandsenvironment/ as a main resource to assist their research. The Story of Your Stuff […]
IFA Potato Chairman Says Retailers Are Causing Food Waste
IFA Potato Chairman Thomas McKeown has called on all retailers to recognise the work of potato farmers and to consider the economic sustainability of the Irish potato sector. In recent weeks some retailers have raised the specs on potatoes to unattainable levels. This is hitting producer incomes and leading to high levels of food waste. […]
Overall quality of Ireland’s environment is not what it should be, and the outlook is not optimistic unless we accelerate action – EPA
The outlook for Ireland’s environment is not optimistic unless we accelerate the implementation of solutions across all sectors and society. Climate and biodiversity are two of the key challenges we need to address. An investment in the environment is also an investment in our health. Environmental indicators are going in the wrong direction across many […]
Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions decrease as coal and peat in electricity is phased out
Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 4.5 per cent in 2019. This is the largest annual reduction in emissions since 2011. Despite the decrease, Ireland is still not on the pathway required to meet future targets and a climate neutral economy. Energy Industries emissions decreased by 11 per cent with a significant decrease in coal […]
Climate Bill’s ambition must be increased and loopholes closed
On the eve of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action’s first meeting to discuss their recommendations to Minister Eamon Ryan on Climate Bill, the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition publish key demands informed by new expert testimony. The Stop Climate Chaos coalition of over 40 civil society organisations today published its recommendations for amendments to the draft Climate […]
Food Waste is robbing you blind: freeze your food before its use-by date to save money and reduce global greenhouse emissions
Food waste is costing Irish households up to €700 per year, and 68% say that food passing its use-by date is the main reason we throw out food. Latest EPA survey reports that only 10% of people rate themselves as good at keeping track of food in the fridge. EPA campaign highlights that freezing is […]
Uncertainty and delays in delivering critical wastewater infrastructure is undermining confidence and prolonging risks to public
Raw sewage from 35 towns and villages flows into our environment every day, with 33 areas unlikely to receive treatment until after 2021. Treatment at 19 of Ireland’s 172 large towns and cities, including Dublin and Cork, failed to meet standards set to prevent pollution. This is down from 28 over the past two years. […]
A Just Transition has to be Circular, Members of the European Parliament agree
The European Parliament’s plenary vote yesterday made clear that a circular economy is a precondition for a just energy transition in Europe – a positive step that couples climate solutions with zero waste solutions and points towards stronger circularity in the future. Yesterday’s vote by the European Parliament (1) narrowly avoided presenting incineration and Waste-to-Energy as a […]
Shannon Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) import project suffers second set-back in one week
Last Thursday, 10th September, New Fortress Energy, the company behind the controversial Shannon LNG project, suffered a second blow in a week to its plans to bring US fracked gas to Ireland. US Governors have blocked the company’s plans to build an export terminal in New Jersey. See full press release on this below, released by Catskill Mountainkeeper, an […]
The Irish Ladybird Research Project calls on the public to help log records
Fota Wildlife Park along with the Irish Research Council co-fund the Irish Ladybird Research Project and the project scholar, Gill Weyman, is based at Fota Wildlife Park and School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences in University College Cork. Gill is now calling on the public in the Glanmire, Ballincollig and Cork City areas to […]