The government has called to companies to use clearer language when making green claims about their products. The Green Claims Guidance document was published this week by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) with the aim of building consumer confidence in Britain’s growing green goods sector. The market for environmentally friendly services and products is thought to be generating a whopping £106 billion a year and the sector has grown by £7 billion between 1999 and 2009. But also growing is the number of complaints about such goods, with the Advertising Standards Agency recording a four-fold increase in ... Full Story

 A new study has discovered that Greenland’s icecap actually melts more slowly in hotter weather, suggesting it might be more resilient to global warming than previously thought. A team of researchers from the UK have studied satellite pictures of glaciers in Greenland over a five-year stretch and found they actually melt more in cooler summers than warmer ones.   While the scientists stop short of saying that the glaciers ... Full Story

Ed Miliband has declared that climate change is the biggest problem facing the UK in the near future. The new Labour leader, who laid out his vision of the next few years for both his party and the country, also stated that climate change as an issue also requires more interest to be shown in it by politicans. In his first major address since staving off competition and beating his brother David in Labour Party leadership contests, Mr Miliband criticised what he has personally dubbed X-Factor politics as well as the very notion that politicians should not focus on green issues due ... Full Story

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has announced its second wave of a new waste management project designed to involve students, teachers and education communities around Mumbai city in recycling initiatives. After completing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian government, the institute will now be able to implement the second phase of its programme. The memorandum of understanding calls for the TERI to access the state's vulnerability to global climate change. The project has been dubbed SEARCH and was previously launched nationwide back in 2009. The main goal of the scheme seeks to create awareness among educational facilities centred around sustainable ... Full Story

Thirsty residents in the south of England are being urged to take a ‘tap water test’ in a bid to cut down on waste created from bottled drinks. Councils across Dorset are urging people to go back to tap as part of a new drive to cut waste and save money and energy.   Recycling teams are heading out across the region where they are setting up stands and inviting residents to rediscover the taste ... Full Story

  The Price of Wales’s curtains are to be recycled into carrier bags as an exercise in sustainability. People attending the 12-day garden party on the Mall in London in September will be able to sow their own bags out of the former royal curtains of Clarence House.   Known as a Morsbag scheme, after founder Claire Morsman, the Prince believes it is a prime example of how people can reduce ... Full Story

    A TV campaign aiming to create awareness about recycling electronics is to be launched in the UK. Seven of the country’s biggest WEEE repocessors and producer compliance schemes are jointly funding the initiative alongside the Waste and Resource Action Programme (WRAP). The ads aim to boost the relatively low rates of recycling for electronic equipment, known as WEEE.     The project is being coordinated by contracts manager for Kent-based WEEE ... Full Story

A range of newly-released cleaning products give consumers an expanded range of choices when it comes to living in an ecologically-sound manner. When it comes to matters green, the media tends to focus on measures like recycling, green transportation measures, and efficient use of power and heating in the home. However, as consumer awareness of environmental matters expands, more are realising the effect day-to-day choices and home matters can have on the environment. Home cleaning products have long contained a range of chemicals that toxic to both the user and the environment. Consumers interested in reducing the level of toxins ... Full Story

  A boat made from plastic bottles has completed a four-month voyage from San Francisco to Sydney Harbour. The vessel, known as the Plastiki, took the 9,000 mile journey in an attempt to raise awareness of the environmental dangers of plastic waste.   In total, 12,500 bottles make up the boat which is manned by a crew of six, and hundreds turned out in Sydney to witness its triumphant docking. Environmentalist ... Full Story

The London Assembly’s environment committee is to investigate the reasons behind the wide variations in recycling rates among the 33 boroughs in the capital. Assembly Member Gareth Bacon is leading the probe for the environment committee. The study will examine the methods used to manage waste, the financial incentives used to promote recycling and attitudes towards recycling among London residents. London owns the dubious distinction of having the worst performance for recycling across all regions of England. In 2008/2009, London showed a combined municipal recycling and composting rate of just 29 per cent. The environment committee is pinning its hopes on ... Full Story

The British government is shutting down the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC), the independent body monitoring and advising on sustainable development at the centre of government policy. The SDC as formed under the Labour government ten years ago and has only just released a report that details the large sums of money the government saved as a result of green policies. The UK Environment Secretary, Caroline Spelman, issued details of the closure in a statement that reiterated the government’s support for green policies whilst underscoring the government’s commitment to efficiency moves aimed at cutting the budget deficit. Mrs Spelman pointed to the ... Full Story

A North American recycling company is launching an online game to encourage people to build sustainable communities in the real as well as the virtual world. Waste Management, the biggest recycler in the country, is releasing Oceanopolis to social networking website Facebook in a bid to get gamers to think about cleaning up the world and conserving resources.   Oceanpolois will act as a virtual world where players can earn points by recycling virtual rubbish ... Full Story