Nature is returning to Mincinglake Valley Park near Exeter two months after a wildfire tore through more than 50 acres of it. Bramble bushes, wildflowers, songbirds and small mammals are re-establishing in the scorched landscape, with rabbits and harvest mice also seen. Wildlife experts were surprised by how quickly the recovery is happening.
A Kent winemaker has installed a unit that captures carbon dioxide produced during fermentation so it can be reused on site or sold to other producers. The firm says it is believed to be the first UK winemaker to use the technology, which is being promoted by an Ashford company to breweries and other businesses.
Recycling firms in Peterborough and Northamptonshire are turning waste polyester and leather into new textiles, with major brands now using the materials. One plant can recycle fabric into pellets for new clothes, and a Peterborough company has saved thousands of tonnes of leather from landfill.
A wildlife charity in the Thames Valley is aiming to raise £70,000 for a project to help birds, bees and butterflies on farmland. The money would go to its Nature Recovery Fund, with measures including fewer chemicals in farming and setting aside grassland corners for wildlife.
