Archived

Hedging to combat traffic emissions

We know trees are good at absorbing CO2 but our town planners should plant hedges near roads too, say scientists. Researchers from Surrey University's Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE) looked at how three types of road-side planting – trees, hedges, and a combination of trees with hedges and shrubs – affected concentration levels of air pollution. The study used six roadside locations in Guildford as test sites, where the green infrastructure was between 1-2 metres away from the road.

Build a summer house in sunny Spain

'The house is located in an elevated residential area, which is dominated by the hillside that leads down to the sea,' explains architect Ramón Esteve. 'This view marked the direction that the walls would follow, in an abstract manner, defining the project,' 

Grand design: archeologist couple restore petite Scargill Castle in County Durham

It's a castle for two nestled in the Teesdale landscape, close to the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District National Park. So if you want to get away from it all with your most favoured loved one and enjoy modern luxuries while feeling steeped in history, Scargill Castle is for you.

The Collier Campbell Archive

Textile designs are everywhere and we have strong instinctive responses to them, i.e we like them or don't like them.

And if you find you have a negative response to patterns, the root of that instinctive dislike may well lie in the repeat. Because a repeat can be too repetitious, which is why the wallpapers of the 1930s, say, seem so intolerable to us today.

Summertime: July shopping

2020 has been a hard year so far and Covid-19 looks set to mean restrictions will remain on our ways of life for some time yet. The UK economy has of course been badly hit by people being confined to barracks, so if you're in the fortunate position of not having spent every penny on food, you might feel like spending, if not exactly splashing, a bit of dosh on a few things for your homestead. 

Luxury interior design: yes it does do green

luxury design can product very eco friendly interiors as many homeware product are hand-made using sustainable timbers and fabrics. Luxury designers in the UK include laura Hammett

Green Homes Grant Scheme

FLINT: documentary about toxic tap water in the US

FLINT - described as a 'monumental testimonial' -  provides chapter and verse on what is the largest water poisoning disaster in American history.

Reduced plastic in Wilko Christmas paper products

As we now know, many Christmas paper products aren't recyclable because they have hard-to-separate coatings of plastic or are covered with non-recyclable glitter or foil. This year retailer Wilko has taken steps towards eliminating single-use plastic from its paper and packaging. For example its gift and bottle bags are now 100 per cent recyclable, as are  its duo cocktail kisses and duo Christmas foliage 16-pack Christmas card packs - both cards and the boxes they come in. 

Beaver Trust launches film to promote beavers as friend not foe

Britain’s beavers could be major allies in tackling the climate and extinction crises – but without more public and government support face a fragile future, says Beaver Trust, which is launching a new documentary exploring the UK's relationship with the endangered but controversial species.

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