Eco Tips

Pollution and Pollination
According to the first study of its kind by the University of Reading (UK), air pollution in both rural and urban areas may reduce insect pollination.  In its study the university found that diesel exhaust fumes and ozone  reduced by as much as 90% insect visits to plants by bees, moths, hoverflies, and other insects thereby reducing pollination success by 31%.  So in addition to cost and contribution to global warming, we now have an additional incentive to switch to electric vehicles.

​How often do we shop?
Many of us have to use the car to go shopping. Can we make one larger shop less frequently so we use the car less often saving money and carbon emissions?

Bitcoal Mining
No, this is not a typo.  Production of Bitcoins requires a tremendous amount of electricity -  in 2020 amounting to ½% of all the world’s annual production!  Worse still much of this energy comes from burning coal.  In 2021 when new laws in China devastated Bitcoin production there, energy production shifted to the US in part because it has a growing number of idle fossil-fuel power plants.  Purchasing and reviving them is an efficient way for Bitcoin entrepreneurs to make millions, according to the Sierra Club, but at tremendous cost to the environment.  According to the journal Nature and Climate Change over the next 30 years Bitcoin production alone could produce enough carbon dioxide to raise global temperatures by 2o  C (3.6o F).  So, apart from being a risky investment, this is another good reason to give bitcoins a miss.