13 h. ago From water pollution to stained cushions: Edith Pritchett’s week in Venn diagrams – cartoon

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Politics

58 h. ago Is this river alive? Robert Macfarlane on the lives, deaths and rights of our rivers

As pollution levels hit record highs and fresh water becomes ‘the new oil’, is it time to radically reimagine our relationship to the natural world?If you find it difficult to think of a river as alive, try picturing a dying or dead river. This is easier. We know what this looks like. We know how it feels. A dying river is one who does not reach the sea. A dying river’s fish float belly-up in stagnant pools. Swans on the upper Thames near Windsor now wear brown tidemarks on their snowy chest feathers, showing where they have sailed through sewage. I recently saw a Southern Water riverbank sign badged with a bright blue logo that read “Water for Life”. The sign instructed passersby to “avoid contact with the water. If you’ve had contact with the water, please wash your hands before eating.” In parts of this septic isle, fresh water has become first undrinkable, then unswimmable, then untouchable.How did it come to this – and where do we go from here? The crisis is one of imagination ...

Events

61 h. ago Would you rather have hayfever – or suffer allergy medicine side effects? The Edith Pritchett cartoon

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Politics

3 d. ago Polluting water bosses face up to two years in jail for illegal sewage spills

Senior executives will also be banned from accepting bonuses if firms fail to meet Environment Agency’s standards

Events

5 d. ago ‘I spent five days in hospital’: Surge in swimmers falling ill from polluted UK waters

Diseases such as dysentry and Weil’s disease have led to swimmers and surfers becoming seriously unwell

Science

7 d. ago Shocking state of Britain’s waters revealed as bathing spots with potentially deadly bacteria double

Surge in coastlines, rivers and lakes with unsafe levels of E. coli and intestinal enterococci due to sewage spills

Events

7 d. ago Grassroots activists who took on corruption and corporate power share 2025 Goldman prize

Seven winners of environmental prize include Amazonian river campaigner and Tunisian who fought against organised waste traffickingIndigenous river campaigner from Peru honouredGrassroots activists who helped jail corrupt officials and obtain personhood rights for a sacred Amazonian river are among this year’s winners of the world’s most prestigious environmental prize.The community campaigns led by the seven 2025 Goldman prize winners underscore the courage and tenacity of local activists willing to confront the toxic mix of corporate power, regulatory failures and political corruption that is fuelling biodiversity collapse, water shortages, deadly air pollution and the climate emergency. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Making a group plan over WhatsApp – a series: the Edith Pritchett cartoon

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Politics

1 week ago Kicking up a stink: row over sewage pollution blighting Cape Town’s beaches

Campaigners say authorities should be doing more to clean up waters around city of nearly 5 million peopleOn a clear summer’s day in Cape Town, the Milnerton Lagoon was serene, reflecting the bright blue sky and Table Mountain. But there was an unmistakable stench, and up close, the water was murky.A few hundred metres away, adults and children played in the water as it flowed into Table Bay. On the boardwalk, a sign read: “Polluted water: for health reasons, swimming and recreational activities are at your own risk.” Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Water pollution across UK surged by nearly a third and highest in decade

Only a third of survey respondents believe their supplier will take the necessary steps to address water pollution

Politics

1 week ago ‘I needed heart surgery after swimming in polluted water’: Health warning as sewage spills reach decade

As a result of sewage pollution, 331 people have seen a doctor with chest infections and gastroenteritis and some were hospitalised

Events

1 week ago 2,487 water pollution incidents recorded in 2024, say campaigners

Firms were collectively set a target of a 40% reduction in pollution incidents but instead recorded a 30% increase, Surfers Against Sewage said.

Politics

2 w. ago From US tariffs to no more Netflix: Edith Pritchett’s week in Venn diagrams – cartoon

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Politics

2 w. ago ‘Yoda’ for scientists: the outsider ecologist whose ideas from the 80s just might fix our future

John Todd’s eco-machine stunned experts by using natural organisms to remove toxic waste from a Cape Cod lagoon. Forty years on, he wants to build a fleet of them to clean up the oceansJohn Todd remembers the moment he knew he was really on to something: “There was no question that it was at the Harwich dump in 1986,” he recalls. This was in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, close to where Todd still lives. Hidden away from the picturesque beaches was the town landfill, including lagoons of toxic waste from septic tanks, which was being left to seep into the groundwater below. So Todd, then a 45-year-old biologist, decided to design a solution. What he was “on to”, he came to realise, was not just a natural way of removing pollution from water, it was a holistic approach to environmental restoration that was way ahead of its time, and possibly still is.An early eco-machine purifying toxic waste on Cape Cod in 1986. Photograph: John Todd Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Campaigners find sewage pollution and E coli in Boat Race water

Tests ahead of Sunday’s race revealed E coli levels three times above the threshold for poor bathing waterWater quality along the stretch of the River Thames which will host the iconic Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race has been classified as poor by clean water campaigners, as a result of E coli from sewage pollution.Testing carried out along the four-mile route, which the university rowing teams will tackle on Sunday, has revealed E coli levels which are three times above the threshold for poor bathing water status. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago From polling to pasta quantities: Edith Pritchett’s week in Venn diagrams – cartoon

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Politics

3 w. ago Cornwall beachgoers urged to AVOID swimming after grim 'slurry pollution' washes up

People have been warned against going into a stream in Cornwall after slurry pollution entered the water, which flows into Mawgan Porth beach - a popular spot with surfers

Politics

3 w. ago Last night’s lovely dinner is today’s leaky, smelly lunch – the Edith Pritchett cartoon

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Politics

4 w. ago Bosses of polluting water firms will lose bonuses if they fail to clean up Britain's rivers, watchdog warns

From next month regulator Ofwat plans to use new powers to stop executives of water companies being rewarded despite poor performance on cleaning up pollution.

Events

last month The beauty counter gets under my skin – the Edith Pritchett cartoon

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Politics