Our Darling’s getting dearer

With the Senate about to consider allocating more money to the Murray Darling Basin Plan, it’s time to reconsider the issue afresh. Increased efficiency in agricultural water use should result in more water being available for environmental management, not less.

Saving the reef needs a sea change in tactics

The government’s announcement of $500 million for the Great Barrier Reef is welcome, but the new funding is focused on measures that are already in the foreground. Australia actually needs a sea change in tactics to save the reef from destruction.

Consumers can change the recycling story

It is hard to know who is really making a difference in the war on waste but QUT Business School Associate Professor Gary Mortimer believes that consumers have the power to drive change if they want to.

Trees improve our lives – and save cities money

Trees are keystone species in the urban ecosystem. They clean the air and water, reduce stormwater floods, improve building energy use and mitigate climate change. Trees make people’s lives more liveable and save cities money.

Australia embraces organic food

New findings released by Australian Organic, the organic industry’s leading body, show an uptake in household food shopping allocated to organic produce and goods, with now more than 6 in 10 Australian households claiming to buy organic in any given year.

Designing ‘compassionate’ cities

The Dutch concept of ‘woonerfs’ – ‘living yards’ designed to invite walking, playing, socialising and cycling while curbing motor vehicles – has spread around the world and should be embraced by Australia.

Australian sponges made from waste can soak up oil spills

Australian scientists have developed a reusable sponge-like polymer to efficiently soak up environmentally damaging oil spills in the world’s oceans.

The limits of modelling – Knowing what we don’t know

Modelling the impact of mine developments on groundwater is critical for protecting ecosystems and agriculture, but it can go astray if we don’t recognise that all models lack certainty.

Hacking the reef

Queensland’s innovation festival Myriad is hosting a ground-breaking creative think tank today to find solutions to the problem of plastics and other marine debris despoiling the Great Barrier Reef.

The threatened species in our urban jungle

Far from being a biodiversity wasteland, our sprawling conurbations are home to some of Australia’s most threatened species. While some have already been lost, others can still be nurtured to maintain a toe-hold for nature in an increasingly man-made environment.

South Australia’s supermarket bag ban won’t cut plastic pollution

State bans on plastic bags may reducing the litter on our streets but won’t do enough to tackle the global problem of plastic pollution.

Marine heatwaves are getting hotter, longer and more frequent

Marine heatwaves have increased over the past century as a direct result of warming oceans, with significant impacts on biodiversity, fisheries, tourism and aquaculture.