Ed Sheeran Plans to Rewild the UK, Starting With His Yard

Good News Notes: “Ed Sheeran has plans for the environment: he aspires to rewild as much of the UK as possible.  The English musician told BBC Radio London late last month: “I’m trying to buy as much land as possible and plant as many trees as possible. I am trying to rewild as much of…

Phykos’s carbon-capturing robotic seaweed farms are like planting fore

Good News Notes: “A new prototype of a small, solar-powered robotic vessel recently started sailing in the Pacific Ocean, pulling an underwater rack filled with seaweed. The startup developing the technology, called Phykos, says each platform holding the fast-growing kelp may be able to capture as much CO2 as 250 trees—and though the approach still needs…

Timberland Launches Upcycling Program to Extend its Products’ Lifecycles

Good News Notes: “Timberland will launch ReCircled, a recycling and upcycling program that will fuel the retailer’s circular design and development cycle. The initiative is a major step in Timberland’s goal of having a net positive impact on nature by 2030, through reuse and promotion of regenerative farming practices. Starting in August 2021, ReCircled will let…

Côte d’Ivoire combats land exploitation via reforestation mission

Good News Notes: “Extensive deforestation to cultivate cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire the world’s leading producer of beans has reduced the surface area of the Ivorian forest from sixteen million hectares — or more than 50% at the time of the country’s independence in 1960, to two million hectares or less than 11% today, according to…

Carbon-capture tech removes CO2 from the ocean by making seashells

Good News Notes: “Even as renewable energy and zero-emissions transportation scale up and the rest of the global economy slowly decarbonizes, it’s likely that the world will still need to suck an enormous amount of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to tackle climate change—10 billion metric tons per year by the middle of the…

Turning tree bark and compost into aircraft wings and plastic bags

Good News Notes: “Trees, crops and even organic waste can be transformed into a bewildering array of plastics to use in products ranging from single-use bags to heavy-duty airplane wings. These so-called biopolymers could play a vital role in weaning us off petroleum plastics—which will help cut greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure plastics come from…