Articles

Sustainability consultant Dr David Strong tells Pat Thomas why the way we think about sustainable building needs to be demolished and rebuilt In the recent budget, the chancellor committed the UK to the world’s first carbon budgets, which fix binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions over five-year periods, including carbon dioxide reductions of 34 per […]

In the movie The Matrix, characters are presented with a stark choice related to self-imposed ignorance. They can choose to swallow a red pill, after which they will become immersed in the real world, with all its hopelessness and despair and desolation. Or they can swallow a blue pill, which will cause them to forget […]

A little bit of natural seasoning won’t kill you, it’s what gets added – or taken away – that matters. Pat Thomas explains why refining and demonising salt is such a crude response There was a time when salt was worth its weight in gold – literally. And quite right too. Without salt, life would […]

Lack of funding for environmental groups is a chronic and worldwide problem. These groups are arguably some of the most important change-drivers. They are the ones with the data at their fingertips, the energy and creativity to tackle environmental problems head-on, and the will to keep at it even when the mainstream media has decided […]

In the last few years the Ecologist has written extensively on the flu – both the garden variety that strikes us on an annual basis and the wider threat of avian influenza, H5N1. The latest H1N1 virus is somewhat more worrying than H5N1 because of the greater ease with which swine viruses can be passed […]

Don’t believe what you read in the papers. It’s not about the economy, or energy, or pollution or population. There is only one crisis: the crisis of transformation. I was reminded of this as an old friend, Rachel’s Democracy and Health newsletter, published its final edition last month. Rachel’s was a deep pool in an […]

In the pantheon of great first lines, ‘It was the best of times; it was the worst of times’ ranks pretty highly. In the 150 years since A Tale of Two Cities was published, countless grateful journalists have opened their reflective pieces with a touch of Dickens. In a very real sense we have enjoyed, […]

Environmental affairs are a lot like love affairs. There’s a lot of difficult territory to negotiate. A lot going on under the surface. On a nearly daily basis your emotions can range from bright, brilliant optimism to deepest, darkest despair. So it has been with campaigner Georgina Downs’ landmark High Court victory against the UK […]

In response to Geographical’s special issue on the future of travel, Pat Thomas, editor of the Ecologist, pulls no punches as she offers her assessment of exactly what’s wrong with the global tourism industry. Another travel company bites the dust, thousands are stranded overseas. Some are stuck at home with no prospect of that dream […]

Love doesn’t have to be a dirty business – unless, of course… This Valentine’s Day Pat Thomas makes a heartfelt plea for a little non-toxic lovin’. Candles, cards, chocolates…condoms. You may well be one of those love scrooges who refuses to give in to a bit of romantic indulgence. But if you are among those for […]