Down to Earth
Dettagli canale
Down to Earth
We meet the people behind fascinating environmental, health and technological innovations in a bid for sustainable solutions to our changing world.
Episodi recenti
32 episodi
Pioneering Scottish eco-village masters art of sustainable living
Today, more and more people are rethinking their way of life: what they eat, what they buy and how they move around, all in the name of environmental...
Illegal trade in rare insects on the rise
The illegal trade in rare insects is booming across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Exotic ants, spiders and beetles are collected and sold as pets. S...
Eggs, zoos and tech at the heart of France's food waste revolution
Every year, the world throws away 1 billion tonnes of food and households are responsible for 60 percent of it. As we mark the International Day of Aw...
Earth's oldest living organisms survive in Europe's last wild forest
It’s a sacred sanctuary for bisons, wolves and countless birds. The Białowieża Forest is the last untouched forest in Europe. Not a single tree has ev...
Road to COP30: What are the climate targets?
World leaders will convene at a climate summit hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday in New York. Countries face mounting press...
Au revoir, imported red roses: France's flower industry bounces back
From carrot flowers to potting soil made of concrete waste – could local, organic and eco-friendly bouquets be the future of floristry? In France, nin...
Unstoppable predator: Lionfish take hold in Greek waters
As human-induced climate change intensifies, waters are warming and the sea life within is beginning to change its behaviour. For the past couple of y...
Is the Mediterranean turning into plastic soup?
The Mediterranean is thought to be the most polluted sea on Earth. The equivalent of 34,000 plastic bottles are dumped into it every minute. This unpr...
The Bright Side: Morocco turns fog into drinking water
For the past six years, Morocco has endured a severe drought that has drastically affected agriculture and water availability. Olive groves and vineya...
Want to shrink your carbon footprint this summer? Try slow travel!
Summer holidays are in full swing, but how can we travel without polluting? One option is sailing across the Mediterranean. A French cooperative is of...
Green activism or public threat? UK cracks down on environmental groups
In the UK, an ongoing crackdown on environmental activists is becoming ever tighter. Those who cause "public nuisance" by sitting on a road to block i...
Early springs are killing Bambi
This summer could be one of the hottest ever recorded on Earth, marked by early heatwaves, droughts and storms. As the weather grows more unpredictabl...
Fast fashion: From your wardrobe to Chile's Atacama desert
Every year, more than 60,000 tonnes of clothes are shipped to northern Chile from Europe, the US and Asia. Whether they're brand new, unsold or second...
Diving: Can coral reefs survive mass tourism?
On the French archipelago of Guadeloupe, thousands of snorkellers visit the Pigeon Islands every year, putting the reef under huge stress. Despite war...
Ocean warriors: The race to save seahorses, seagrass and flat oysters
As the UN Ocean Conference kicks off in Nice, we're focusing on seagrass meadows: vital climate allies that are among the least protected ecosystems o...
French company upcycles old shipping containers
Shipping containers usually last 15 to 18 years at sea. Their durability and structure make them ideal for transformation. Around the world, these big...
Chemical-free farming brings life back to rural France
Faced with widespread chemical pollution and a dramatic collapse in biodiversity, farmers and scientists in western France have been testing a revolut...
In Guadeloupe, local pesticide-free farming restores trust in food
Fed up with pesticide pollution and bland produce, Steve Salim is teaming up with farmers in the French overseas region of Guadeloupe to bring back he...
Arctic foxes: A comeback against the odds
Once on the brink of extinction in Scandinavia, the Arctic fox is slowly returning. Threatened by hunting and climate change, the animals' population...
🌟The Bright Side: Beer waste? You might be eating it or sitting on it!
Beer is Europe's most consumed alcoholic beverage – but what happens to the waste it creates? In France alone, breweries generate over 600,000 tons of...
Indonesia: The dark side of the nickel powering our electric cars
Indonesia leads the world in nickel production, fuelling the global shift to electric cars. But this rapid growth comes at a steep environmental cost....
From killer grass to flesh-eating worms: The invasion beneath your feet
What do a colonising plant and a carnivorous worm have in common? Both come from South America and threaten our ecosystems. They are among invasive ex...
Oceans vs cities: France's beaches are shrinking
Roughly 40 percent of the world's population live in coastal areas. What once felt like a privilege — living close to the sea — is becoming increasing...
Global wildlife trafficking: Endangered felines found in Paris apartments
Wildlife trafficking is one of the most profitable criminal activities in the world, after drug trafficking, human trafficking and arms smuggling. At...
Turning unrecyclable trash into heat: French district leads the way
In northern France, an entire district is now heated thanks to waste that was previously unrecyclable. Every day, Le Havre converts 300 tons of trash...
Denim revolution: How plants and tech are cleaning up jeans' dirty secret
Jeans are the most popular trousers in the world. Every year, over 2 billion pairs are made. But most travel one and a half times around the planet be...
Want to ride an e-bike? No batteries needed!
Tired of carrying your electric bike's battery with you everywhere you go? The good news is that you can now buy electric bikes without batteries. Thi...
French fishermen 'talk' to dolphins to save them
For the first time ever, fishermen in the Bay of Biscay are testing new high tech fishing gear that "speak dolphin language" to warn them of danger. T...
Fancy an avocado? Try a French one!
Celebrated as a superfood, avocados are so popular in Europe and North America that global production has tripled in two decades. But their farming an...
Sewage scandal: The dirty secret polluting England and Wales
Since Brexit, the UK is no longer subject to European water quality standards. In England and Wales, floods of untreated wastewater have been discharg...
Could dead leaves turn into green gold?
Imagine a world where we could make paper, cardboard and packaging without cutting down a single tree. Today, that dream is becoming reality. The star...
Would you live in a cardboard house?
The construction industry is one of the biggest polluters in the world, consuming half of the planet’s natural resources, 40 percent of its energy and...