Costing the Earth
Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
Episodes
Introducing Rare Earth
19 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Heap introduces Rare Earth, a programme exploring major stories about our environment.
Steve Backshall Goes Off Grid
23 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Backshall lives in a new build house which is very energy efficient and almost totally off-grid. However, achieving this has been extremely tim...
Save the Microbes!
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's said that a teaspoon of soil contains more life than all of the humans on earth. Microscopic life that is - bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematode w...
Gardens of the Future
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Climate resilient gardens are a feature of this month's Chelsea Flower Show, but how can the experts help the typical British gardener prepare for the...
Investigation DRS
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Many of us can remember returning our pop bottles to the shop in return for cash and wonder why we can’t use a system like this today to reduce, reu...
Water pollution solutions
25 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sewage is now discharged into our rivers and seas on a regular basis. It's joined by agricultural pollution and a host of microplastics. In this speci...
Losing Our History
18 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
When castles collapse into the sea or ancient burial places succumb to floodwaters we lose a slice of our shared culture. Qasa Alom reports from the ...
Costing the Earth - The Power of Nature Writing
11 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Costing the Earth - The Power of Nature Writing
Energy Lessons
04 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After a winter of spiralling energy prices, Tom Heap asks whether our attitudes to energy consumption have changed. What lessons have we learned in th...
The Sound of Nature
28 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Waves crashing on the shore, footsteps crunching on the forest floor. Stress levels plummet when we immerse ourselves in nature. Nick Luscombe meets ...
Jobs for a Green Future
21 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
UK commitments to phase out gas boilers and petrol cars may be good news for the environment, but do we have the skill to realise our ambitions? Where...
Greening the City
14 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
New technologies are vital in the drive to turn our fossil fuel-based economies green and drastically slash carbon emissions. That technology require...
Prawn Free
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Where do the prawns in your takeaway curry or pad thai come from? Peter Hadfield travels to South-East Asia to investigate the environmental impact o...
Surrendering to the Waves?
28 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As sea levels rise, tough decisions are going to have to be taken about the flood defences of coastal Britain. How realistic will it be to continue to...
A Greener Government?
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Months of governmental chaos have seen contradictory policies on the environment come and go. Tom Heap asks where the Conservative Party now stands o...
Community Energy
22 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Community energy might conjure up images of off-grid villagers working together to put up solar panels on a remote community hall. This is one model, ...
How can I be a more sustainable parent?
15 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Since becoming pregnant, environmental historian and broadcaster Dr Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough has aspired to bring up her two children as sustainab...
COP27: Meeting the Promises
08 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The COP 27 summit in Sharm-El-Sheikh is welcoming world leaders and climate negotiators to Egypt. In a year that has been rocked by the war in Ukraine...
CSI Oceans
04 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Anna Turns investigates what over 30 years of post mortems on dolphins, porpoises, and whales has revealed about the state of the seas. The Cetacean S...
The Lost World of Ice
25 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The world's glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate. 2022 has been a particularly disastrous year in the Swiss Alps, where new figures show that...
Saving Vietnam's Wildlife
18 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Life can be pretty tough for the pangolin. This scaly-skinned ant-eater is the most heavily trafficked mammal in the world. Followers of some branches...
The Prehistoric Hitchhiker's Guide to Climate Change
11 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Early humans adapted and survived in the face of a changing climate. Eleanor Rosamund-Barraclough joins an archaeological dig in Malta to learn the le...
An Environmental Paw Print
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For many dog owners, watching your pet race around after a crow or leap joyfully into a stream is a source of great pleasure...but these natural behav...
The True Cost of Energy
27 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the UK, more than half our electricity is generated without using fossil fuels. Despite that, the rocketing price of gas has lead to matching incre...
Wild Highway
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Running 12500km from the Arctic Circle to the borders of Greece, the European Greenbelt is one of the most ambitious conservation schemes ever devised...
Future Tourists
13 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Nature and wildlife tourism has surged in recent years. Millions of us seem to want to want to follow in the footsteps of David Attenborough; meeting...
Steve Backshall Listens to the Whales
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Steve Backshall explores whether slowing down and quietening noisy shipping could help protect Canada’s whale population.A busy shipping lane betwee...
Ukraine: A War on Nature
24 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's said that the environment is the silent victim of war. In this programme, Tom Heap finds out how the conflict in Ukraine is affecting environment...
Sustainable Sport for the Future
17 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Two of the biggest sports events of the year, the Commonwealth games in Birmingham and the FIFA world cup in Qatar have pledged to be the most sustain...
How Green Is My Money?
10 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Making your finances work harder against climate change. Tom Heap speaks to Richard Curtis, British film director and architect of Comic Relief, about...
Green Power in the Far North
03 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Green industry is heading to Scandinavia's far north. Fossil fuel-free steel and clean, green wind energy are in great demand but what does this rapi...
Timber!
26 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Millions of trees were brought down by this winter's storms. Storm Arwen in November proved particularly damaging, taking out whole swathes of woodlan...
Government Energy Strategy
25 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The government announced its new energy strategy last week, outlining plans to tackle energy supply over the coming decades. In this edition of Costin...
The World's Toughest Conservationists
19 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's not easy fighting for nature in many of the former Soviet states. Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent reports from Tajikistan, on the trail of the snow leop...
Rip It Up And Start Again?
05 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The pandemic has changed the way we work and shop meaning a growing number of offices and retail outlets are empty. So, what do we do with them? Knock...
Northern Ireland's Environmental Future
31 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In Northern Ireland peace and prosperity have long been prioritised over environmental protection. Tom Heap asks if a new generation can push nature ...
Energy Prices
22 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Energy prices have hit new heights. Gas and electricity bills will rocket for most people at the end of this month as the price cap is lifted and nob...
Carbon Farming
18 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Landowners are being offered big money for land to absorb carbon dioxide emissions. What does it mean for British farming and the shape of the country...
Britain's Dark Waters
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Perfluoroalkyl substances - or PFAS - are a group of thousands of man-made chemicals which have been widely used in everything from frying pans to fir...
The Right to Swim
01 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On a hot summer's day the River Wharfe in Ilkley in West Yorkshire is a tempting place to swim. In 2020 it was designated as the first inland waterwa...
Seeing the Wood for the Trees
30 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There have been big promises about tree-planting numbers over the last few years - but is there much point in planting more trees, if we're not lookin...
All Aboard the Sir David Attenborough
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The public wanted to name her Boaty McBoatface, but in the end she got a slightly more stately name. The UK's newest polar research vessel, the RRS Si...
Canoeing the Cam
23 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Britain's rivers are in crisis, with only 14% of them deemed to be in a good ecological state. Chalk streams are particularly vulnerable, as so much i...
How green is my golf course?
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Golf courses do not have a good reputation when it comes to the environment. Keeping the greens and fairways looking immaculate usually means using pe...
My Toxic Cocktail
19 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We are all surrounded by synthetic chemicals in our everyday lives - from pesticide residues in food to chemicals used in the manufacture of household...
COP26: A Turning of the Tide?
09 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
World leaders have offered up a suite of promises at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow but how many of them will make a real dent in our greenhouse ...
COP26: The Unheard Voices
02 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
As world leaders gather in Glasgow you can be certain of one thing - the loudest voices won't be coming from the people most impacted by climate chang...
Six Months on St Kilda
26 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Abandoned by its entire population in 1930, St Kilda has been uninhabited ever since. What's it like to spend six months with the birds on one of Brit...
Earthshot: The Winners
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Taking inspiration from President Kennedy’s Moonshot which united people around a goal to put man on the moon and spurred the development of new tec...
Earthshot: More Fresh Ideas for the Environment
12 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Taking inspiration from President Kennedy’s Moonshot which united people around a goal to put man on the moon and spurred the development of new tec...
Earthshot: Fresh Ideas For the Environment
05 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Taking inspiration from President Kennedy’s Moonshot which united people around a goal to put man on the moon and spurred the development of new tec...
Qasa’s Farm - Building Resilience in Bangladesh
29 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Qasa Alom has always been told that his family farm in Sylhet, Bangladesh is his heritage. His parents have spent their time and money trying to maint...
Britain's Changing Flowers
14 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Naturalist and broadcaster Mike Dilger takes to the road to map the impact that global warming is having on Britain's plants and flowers. From the hi...
Beaver Town
25 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Adrian has a big idea. His home of Braunton, a village in North Devon, has a problem with flooding. Over the last decade he has seen it get worse. The...
"Greenfinger"
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Government action on climate change is sluggish. Could rich individuals cut through red tape and fund measures to cool the planet from their own pocke...
New Grid for the New Age
13 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How will Britain's power system need to change for a zero carbon world? Tom Heap investigates.Producer: Alasdair Cross
The South Australian Miracle
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Australia's government is famous for its lack of interest in climate change. Despite increasing problems from bushfires and droughts, Prime Minister ...
Shipping
27 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
When a cargo ship blocked the Suez canal for nearly a week, the eyes of the media focussed on shipping. Hundreds of vessels were stuck as tailbacks bu...
Landfill Legacy
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The UK has dramatically reduced the amount of waste which goes into landfill over the last 25 years, but there are are still decades worth of rubbish ...
Maritime Nation
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How well protected is Britain's coast and its wildlife after Brexit? Chef and fisheries campaigner, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall joins Peter Gibbs to ...
Gene Editing Nature
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The powerful gene editing technique CRISPR that allows us to rewrite DNA may soon provide a tool to help save our planet’s biodiversity. CRISPR has ...
Killer Kitties
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Realising your pet cat has brought home a 'gift' or perhaps a snack they plan to eat in front of you is never pleasant. Many owners will scramble to i...
The New Environmental Sheriff in Town
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dame Glenys Stacey is charged with the job of keeping the government on track toward a greener future. She talks to Tom Heap in her first interview as...
The Lorax
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Seuss' fable of needless consumerism and environmental ruin, The Lorax, is half a century old this year. The 'shortish, brownish, oldish and mossy'...
Lockdown Planet
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How has one year of lockdown changed our environment in the UK and around the world? Tom Heap is joined by air quality expert, Ally Lewis, psychologi...
How to Halve Emissions by 2030
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The COP26 conference in Glasgow in November is going to be a very important moment in tackling climate change. We are currently not on track to meet t...
China 2060
24 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In September at the UN General Assembly China announced that it will aim for carbon neutrality by 2060. Celia Hatton and guests discuss how China migh...
Too darn hot
03 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As some places in the world become too hot for humans to live, Tom Heap explores the cost to the environment of air conditioning.Air conditioning is o...
The Future of Environmentalism
27 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
As our planet continues to warm, and climate issues move rapidly up the political agenda, the environmental movement itself is also changing shape.In ...
A short history of environmental protest
20 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It's fifty years since the first blossoming of environmental campaign groups. Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the organisation which was eventual...
World on Fire
13 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Last year wildfires in the Amazon made headlines news. This year we've hardly heard about them - but that doesn't mean they're not happening. In fact ...
Bushfire Animal Rescue
06 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Record-breaking temperatures and months of severe drought fuelled a series of massive bushfires across Australia last winter. Dozens of people died a...
The Great Leaky Loo Scandal
29 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Do you know how much water you use? Despite campaigns to reduce our personal water usage from around 143 litres each per day to closer to 100, it's n...
Swimming in Superbugs?
22 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Ellen Husain investigates the presence of pathoghens in the marine environment. She learns how surfers and regular sea swimmers may be more likely to ...
Build, Build, Build
15 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
With an ever greater demand for more housing, and Boris Johnson calling for the country to "build buld bulid" post lockdown, Peter Gibbs looks at curr...
Autopia to Utopia? Car-Free Cities
08 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Lockdown saw many more people jumping on bikes and walking - as much as a way to get out of the house as get around - but pollution levels dropped and...
Forests of the Future
26 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Just a few months ago politicians across the spectrum were promising trees, glorious trees, in abundance. In an unlikely game of Top Trumps the number...
Flooding Britain
25 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What's the best way to prevent flooding? Caz Graham finds out whether there might be environmental alternatives to building ever-higher flood defences...
Is this something I should be doing?
20 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A decade ago, many people saw carbon offsetting as an excuse for carrying on bad behaviour. Need to fly? I can still fly ... look at me - I'm not so b...
Silencing with Noise
05 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Sound is what the world does. From the tiniest bugs to the largest whales, animals use sound to communicate, for example, they sing to attract a mat...
Zero Carbon Britain
28 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In June last year the UK government committed us all to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050. To reach that ambitious target we're going to hav...
Music's Green Day
21 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In November 2019 the band Massive Attack announced it was working with the Tyndall Centre in Manchester to devise a strategy for touring without emitt...
Covid-19: the environmental impact
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Tom Heap talks through the environmental issues emerging during the coronavirus pandemic and asks what the legacy might be. He's joined by climate c...
Fantastic Plastic
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Plastic waste is the scourge of developing countries. Many have poor waste collection and virtually no recycling. But there may be ways in which local...
Plastic Burnout
31 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Every year billions of products are sold around the world in plastic packaging. But some countries lack a waste system to collect and recycle or dispo...
Turning Japan Green
24 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Cherry blossom is a perfect symbol of Japan's relationship with nature and the broader environment. It's beautiful, flawless and disappears with the ...
Eco Homes Now!
17 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The demand for housing is pushing through developments of millions of new build homes. So why aren't these all being built to the best energy efficien...
Fate of the Falcons
10 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Naga people of north-east India and Myanmar have long been famed for their hunting prowess. In the days of traps and catapults a balance was main...
Mark Ruffalo vs Chemical Pollution
03 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
When a frustrated farmer dumped a bag of VHS video tapes onto the desk of Cincinnati lawyer Rob Bilott it kick-started a legal process that would ulti...
Election 2019
03 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Britain's politicians have been promising the Earth on climate change. Tom Heap chews over the plausibility of their pledges.He's joined by Angela Fr...
Vegan World
28 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What would the British countryside look like if we all adopted the vegan diet recommended by many environmental campaigners? Tom Heap hosts a discuss...
Dry Me A River
12 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Whilst this Autumn’s heavy rainfall has caused some rivers in the north of England to burst their banks and flood neighbourhoods there are rivers in...
Iron Curtain Turns Green
29 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The Iron Curtain was an accidental wildlife haven. 30 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Tom Heap walks the borderlands to see how nature has co...
Plastic Gardens
22 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
The last decade has seen a huge rise in the number of people opting for artificial turf in their gardens. Meanwhile businesses and corporations are ma...
Powering Britain
16 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Britain urgently needs a zero carbon source of reliable energy for our homes, industry and the new generation of electric vehicles. This summer's el...
Carbon Free Islands
08 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Orkney's strong winds and powerful tides have attracted renewable energy pioneers for decades. For much of the year the islands produce more energy t...
The e-DNA Revolution
01 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
From the Loch Ness Monster and mammoths to the Amazon river and uncharted river flies - 'environmental DNA' is revolutionising how we tell what speci...
Ghost Fishing
24 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Plastic nets and equipment left in the ocean by fishing boats is estimated to make up over 10% of marine rubbish and in the 'Great Pacific Garbage Pat...
Fire in the Amazon
20 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
How can we prevent a repeat of the devastating fires in the Amazon? Tom Heap and Lucy Siegle search for solutions.Producer: Emma Campbell
Verity's Wild Garden
11 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Verity Sharp wants to turn her small garden into a haven for wildlife. She's inspired by the Rewilding movement, but her neighbours aren't too keen on...