Restitch the Future: Making Sustainable Fashion More Accessible
A new four-year project, Restitch the Future, has secured almost £850,000 in funding to encourage more people to embrace sustainable fashion and take climate action.
Launched by Bath Spa University and Bristol-based community interest company A Single Thread, the project will create hubs on high streets across the country. These will offer clothing repair workshops, clothes swaps and opportunities to share skills, helping people make the most of their clothes and reduce waste.
The project will also research people’s attitudes and behaviours towards sustainable fashion, exploring how to make more environmentally friendly choices accessible to everyone.
Amelia Twine, founder of A Single Thread CIC, highlighted that sustainable fashion is often seen as expensive or out of reach. Restitch the Future aims to challenge this perception and show that making more sustainable clothing choices can be practical, affordable and inclusive.
With fashion contributing significantly to global carbon emissions, with up to 10% of global emissions, initiatives like this offer an opportunity to reduce waste, extend the life of clothing and inspire positive environmental change within communities.
UK Approves New North Sea Gas Extraction Project
The UK government has approved plans to extract gas from the Jackdaw field in the North Sea, sparking debate about the country’s energy future and climate commitments.
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh approved the project following months of discussion. Supporters argue that it will help strengthen the UK’s energy security, protect hundreds of jobs and contribute an estimated £2.9 billion to the economy, particularly amid ongoing concerns about fossil fuel supplies linked to the Middle East.
However, the decision has also raised concerns about the UK’s commitment to tackling climate change. The government has acknowledged that approving new fossil fuel production could make it harder for Britain to persuade other countries to move away from oil and gas.
The decision highlights the challenge of balancing energy security and economic interests with the need to reduce emissions and transition towards cleaner energy sources. It also raises an important question: how can the UK meet its energy needs today while building a more sustainable future?
Meet Sgiath: The Sniffer Dog Helping Protect Scotland’s Coastline
A six-year-old black Labrador named Sgiath has been crowned UK Animal of the Year at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) awards, thanks to her unusual role in protecting marine wildlife.
Working along Scotland’s coastline at low tide, Sgiath uses her incredible sense of smell to detect carpet sea squirt, an invasive marine species sometimes nicknamed ‘sea vomit’.
Trained by marine ecologist Dr Texa Sim, Sgiath can locate hidden colonies of the invasive species among seaweed and rocky shorelines. Carpet sea squirt can spread rapidly, smothering native marine life and causing significant damage to marine ecosystems. Controlling its spread can also cost millions of pounds.
Believed to be the UK’s first sea squirt-detecting dog, Sgiath is also trained in mountain rescue work.
Her award highlights the important and sometimes unexpected ways animals can help scientists protect nature and tackle environmental challenges.