In June 2022, an EV Mercedes drove from Germany to the UK on a single charge, travelling more than 1,200km (750 miles) without needing to stop. The average petrol- or diesel-powered car would have had to refill its tank three times on the same journey, though there was a catch. The electric vehicle was a Read more
Despite advances in cleaner water and safer indoor cooking, pollution remains the world’s leading environmental risk factor for disease and premature death, responsible for one in every six deaths, or 9 million premature deaths annually, according to a new report in The Lancet. The report finds the majority of pollution-related deaths today come from what Read more
A Church-sponsored farmers’ group is promoting organic farming as an eco-friendly remedy to the food shortage caused by the climate crisis in the Korean peninsula. The Catholic Farmers Association (CFA) has developed an ‘environmental conservation-type sustainable agriculture’ and consumption method they call ‘life agriculture’, the Gwangju Catholic Peace Broadcasting Company reported. The term ‘life agriculture’ Read more
A move by five environmentally-minded Wellington city councillors who are attempting to put the breaks on Wellington Airport’s development looks likely to fail. The airport is looking to double its capacity by 2040. Veteran councillors Iona Pannett and Sarah Free, along with three first time councillors Teri O’Neill, Tamatha Paul, and Laurie Foon, have put Read more
An Auckland-based organisation is helping the city’s most vulnerable people in the most unlikely of ways – with empty potato chip packets. The Chip Packet Project (CPPNZ) was founded in September 2021 during lockdown, and was a spin-off of the UK-based organisation, Crisp Packet Project. The organisation collects freshly-washed chip packets, or any foil-wrapped food Read more
Marlborough Mayor John Leggett opened Blenheim’s new Repair Café on Saturday morning. Organised by the Nativity Church, the new initiative was based at the Crossroads Marlborough Café on Redwood Street and offered free repairs for the community’s broken bits and bobs, from hair dryers and sewing machines, to bikes and bain-maries. Members of the Church’s Read more
Dear Pope Francis, ‘The purpose of the Synod, and therefore of this consultation, is not to produce documents, but to plant dreams, draw forth prophecies and visions, allow hope to flourish, inspire trust, bind up wounds, weave together relationships, awaken a dawn of hope, learn from one another, create a bright resourcefulness that will enlightened Read more
El Salvador’s freshwater supplies are so endangered the Catholic bishops have adopted it as a pastoral issue. It’s one they want urgent help with from both the government and the international community. To put it bluntly, the vast majority (70 percent) of El Salvador’s 590 rivers are swamped with giant amounts of human poo and Read more
As climate change rages along its disastrous path of increasing and more intense natural disasters – hurting the poor most of all – it now appears that a majority of people are finally beginning to admit climate change is for real – and that pollution from humans burning oil, gas and coal is the main Read more
When Pope Francis issued Laudato Si in 2015, media outlets treated this historic encyclical on climate change and the environment as a “game-changer.” One Jesuit priest told National Public Radio that the encyclical would have a “far-reaching impact,” because it would encourage Catholics “to make major changes in what they consume and how they live Read more