News from the Earth — beeswax

Cups, straws, plates and other plastic items frequently used in everyday life will be banned on Russian territory. The production of disposable plastic items and packaging is expected to be permanently phased out in Russia in 2024, as stated by the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. A recent poll reported that 80% of Russian citizens are ready to abandon the use of plastic plates, forks and glasses. 44% admitted to being categorically opposed to the use of disposable tableware, and another 38% are ready to give up the use of plastic. In 2019, 170 countries, including Russia, pledged to...

This summer's devastating fires are also resulting in very serious losses of bees, both wild and bred. The numbers of losses are enormous and threaten to undermine the work of beekeepers.  Agronomists and environmentalists believe it will take at least 15 years to rebuild forested areas destroyed by the fires. Some hives that survived the fires have already resumed producing honey, and farmers who suffered damage have no plans to stop.  The reconstruction after the fires passes through the welfare of the fauna, represented until recently also by millions of bees, which have become innocent victims of the recent fires....

The honey bee population decreased 40% in the winter of 2018 to 2019 alone, and the annual rate loss for the 2019 to 2020 winter was also 40%, declines that experts described as "unsustainable." 

Researchers have shown that the choices that are made for a vacation are the ones that determine the greatest amount of emissions. For this reason, various types of more sustainable vacations were analyzed, including train tours (which included both accommodation and travel) or staycations. This term refers to vacations taken within a certain mileage of one's home, during which one participates in concerts and outdoor activities.The analysis showed that choosing these two alternatives saved up to 10 times the emissions produced by air travel and 6 times those produced by car travel. How do you spend your holidays? Remember that helping the planet...

Environmentally friendly food is one of the most important challenges of the moment. But according to some, organic agriculture is still too small a resource and inefficient on the yield front to ensure a sustainable diet for all. Recent studies by several European universities have concluded that in 2050 organic agriculture could feed the entire European population, estimated at 600 million people by that date, and would be able to reduce water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Essential is the need to reduce meat consumption, which would allow limiting intensive farming and eliminate feed imports. Today in Europe 55% of the...