Who is that bird?
The Ragged Optimist 106
There’s a lovely quality to the light that falls through the leaves of the London Plane Tree outside, across the window above the bookshop where The Ragged Optimist is writing this. It’s almost like being underwater — at the very least, it’s more ’inside the tree’ than just adjacent to it. And watching the leaves appear and unfurl, over just a few days at the start of spring, was wonderful. But this tree is bursting with seeds, in spiky-ball-shaped seed pods. It’s heavy with them, more than seems practical, and I’m sure I remember some Sussex folk knowledge of that meaning the tree is in trouble and is trying to carry itself into the future.
“We wondered what a field guide or bird book would look like if it asked not ‘what is that bird?’, but ‘who is that bird?’; if it worked to help readers not only identify birds, but also identify with them.” The Book of Birds by Robert Macfarlane & Jackie Morris.
Super Biochar are a company tailoring biochar to individual locations to improve soil fertility and structure, rebuild microbial life,, improve water balance and aim for long-term carbon stability. They’ve also developed an app, to allow the biochar use to be measured and monitored. So there’s a proper way to track results over time to prove the work is real.
Now, this is niche, The Ragged Optimist admits, but … there’s a new type of cardboard for food packaging, made from recycled card and recycled plastic. But here’s the good bit: the plastic content is low enough that the packaging can be popped into normal paper recycling bins after use.
Councillors in Leicestershire have backed the release of beavers, even though their party is opposed to rewilding. Which just goes to show - people don’t understand what ‘rewilding’ means until they see the benefits. They should probably subscribe to this weekly publication, The Ragged Optimist thinks.
And beavers have been spotted at Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve, near Ringwood in Hampshire, for the first time.
Biodegradable drinking glasses made from 3D-moulded paper covered in beeswax. Neat.
From the BBC Archives - Mick Farren and co talking about the Alternative Press. A fascinating little time capsule.
The National Trust is partnering with collector, author and curator, Karun Thakar to invite visitors to see things differently at a property with strong links to global trade and Empire through the East India Company.
Last year, China installed three times as much wind power capacity as the rest of the world combined (making them pretty resilient as oil prices increase). And its turbine exports jumped - the world’s six largest wind turbine manufacturers are now Chinese.
A few weeks ago, ArtBomb put on Beyond The Scroll, a day of conversation and exploration of how socially-engaged practice can reclaim focus and meaning in a digital age of distraction. It’s led Charlie Waterhouse to ask ‘What if Church did the decent thing and handed their spaces over to be of service to neighbourhoods first, God second?’