England’s Green Social Prescribing Pilot Program Yields Positive Results
In 2020, the UK government introduced seven prescribing pilots that encouraged patients diagnosed with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety to find meaningful ways to connect with nature.
According to The Wildlife Trusts, more than 8,000 people took part in the government-funded pilot program. Participants went on nature walks, gardened in their communities, planted trees, and more.
The recent publication of the commissioned report, Preventing and Tackling Mental Ill Health through Green Social Prescribing, noted that participants reported significant improvements in their mental health. They said they felt happier, less anxious, and viewed life as worthwhile.
Since the pilot program went so well, the UK Government has already re-invested in the program to ensure that it continues through at least March 2025.
NatGeo Publishes Article About Technology’s Role in the Future of Ocean Exploration
National Geographic recently published an article titled “How billions of dollars and cutting-edge tech are revolutionizing ocean exploration.” The article details how technology works to scientists’ and researchers’ advantage as they pursue their exploration of the depths of the ocean and the mysterious creatures within it.
Submersibles and high-tech robots are capable of diving thousands of feet underwater and the data these vessels collect, and the photos and videos they capture are being pieced together to reveal what life looks like near the seafloor. Take the OceanXplorer as an example, a vessel where passengers were able to study bluntnose sixgill sharks residing in the ocean’s mesopelagic layer—a layer so dark and cold that it’s often referred to as the twilight zone.
“The deep sea still has plenty of mysteries to reveal,” the article’s author, Annie Roth, notes. “It is the largest habitat on Earth, comprising more than 95 percent of the ocean, yet remains the least explored.”
The World's First Chocolate Alternative Company Makes Chocolate Without Cocoa Beans
NPR reports that a warming planet has the potential to inhibit the growth of cocoa trees, which, in turn, could affect the production of chocolate. They write, “Cacao trees are notoriously finicky and grow within a range of just about twenty degrees north and south of the equator.
Two countries, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, are responsible for over half the global supply of cocoa beans. But climate change is contributing to erratic weather where cocoa beans are grown and threatening the global chocolate supply.”
A company called Planet A Foods is on a mission to create innovative solutions, and they’ve invented a product that tastes like chocolate but isn’t made from cocoa beans. The brand, called ChoViva, uses a unique fermentation-like process to create a chocolate substitute made of, believe it or not, sunflower seeds and oats!
“We have studied the history and production of chocolate in depth and discovered that the typical taste does not come from the cocoa bean alone,” their website states. “Rather, up to 80% of the flavors are formed during production processes such as fermentation and roasting.”
By producing up to 80% less CO₂ than chocolate, ChoViva exists to relieve the strained cocoa supply chain and demonstrate that there is a sustainable solution available that looks, tastes, and even melts like “real” chocolate.
Kentuckians Still Waiting for Updates on Proposed Green Aluminum Plant
In March 2024, Century Aluminum revealed its intention to build a virgin aluminum plant in the United States, and the company’s CEO pinpointed northeastern Kentucky as a possible location.
The first new U.S. primary aluminum smelter in 45 years could be the largest investment on record in Eastern Kentucky, Canary Media reports. The massive plant, which would emit up to 75 percent less carbon dioxide than traditional smelters, would be funded in part by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Since Kentucky is not known as a producer of green energy—especially because this is a state where coal mining remains prevalent—the possibility that this plant could be built here signals a noteworthy path forward when it comes to decarbonizing aluminum production in the United States.
Residents and climate activists are still waiting for an update on the plant, and they are urged to contact their local Sierra Club chapter to get involved, which could involve writing to local government representatives in support of the Inflation Reduction Act, which is aimed at reducing climate pollution 40 percent by 2030.
Chemicals Leaching from Food Packaging Alarms Scientists and Researchers
Researchers from Switzerland and other countries have discovered that of the roughly 14,000 known chemicals in food packaging, approximately 25 percent have been found in the human body.
The study, published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, notes that metals, phthalates, volatile organic compounds, PFAS, and other harmful chemicals found in everyday food packaging were found in human samples of blood, hair, and breast milk. The aforementioned chemicals are known to disrupt hormones and cause cancer.
Researchers also discovered that chemical leaching from plastic and paper packaging into food was increased when the packaging held fatty, acidic foods or was exposed to high temperatures. Shannon Osaka, a climate reporter for The Washington Post, expressed that scientists believe “there is a need for better testing of food packaging and further regulations on what is considered safe to put food in.”
