We told you to rinse your recyclables. "But what about the wasted water?" you asked. So we asked some scientists. The short answer is, a quick rinse is usually worth it. The long answer is also pretty interesting!

In a continuing campaign against single-use plastic, Woolworths has announced it will discontinue sales of plastic straws from the end of the year. It's a great step forward for environmentalism, but what does it mean for people who rely on straws for medical reasons, or just prefer it with their weekend cocktails? Here are some alternatives.

Do you have a few unused mobile phones gathering dust in your house somewhere? You're not alone: it is estimated that Australians are holding onto more than 23 million unused phones. All of these products contain valuable materials that could be returned to the supply chain via recycling. Here are seven expert tips for getting rid of unwanted e-waste in ways that will help the planet.

Android/iOS: Smoking is one of the best-known ways to poison your lungs, but good old fashioned air pollution plays a role, too. An app called Shit, I Smoke! (free on iOS and Android) puts your local pollution in terms you can understand.

Technology is unavoidable, whether it's the smartphone in your pocket, the computer on your desk, or the emails in your inbox. Unfortunately, all those gadgets and apps also have a pretty terrible impact on the environment.

First its Select range of products and now the humble plastic bag! It's political correctness gone mad I tells ya! Except, you know, it's not. Woolworths had decided to do what's best for the environment and by June 20, it'll have killed off single-use plastic bags in all of its stores.

Feeding wild birds in your backyard can be an exciting yet soothing experience - especially if you have small kids in tow. However, have you ever wondered if what you're doing is legal? Here are the rules (and warnings) you need to know about.

To reduce energy consumption, many jurisdictions around the world are transitioning to outdoor LED lighting. But as new research shows, this solid-state solution hasn't yielded the expected energy savings, and potentially worse, it's resulted in more light pollution than ever before.

Australia is one of the fastest growing vegan markets in the world. We have no shortage of food, drinks, coffee shops, even dessert bars that pimp themselves out as vegan.

So, that’s your social life and your stomach sorted, but what about your sex life? Should we ever compromise on our beliefs to get our kicks? The answer is, quite simply, no.

Urban greening projects in Melbourne’s west are contributing to making the region cooler, more pleasant and healthier to live in and travel through. The key to this success is the Greening the West initiative. Since 2011 this has brought together 23 organisations that, by the end of 2018, will have collectively planted more than 1 million trees in Melbourne’s west.

The program’s efforts not only offer clear health and economic benefits for the region’s residents, but are also welcome news in the face of reports that tree canopy cover in Australian cities is generally declining.

There is about a tonne of plastic for each person living in the world today -- that's 8300 million tonnes of plastic produced since 1950, most of which has become waste and ended up in landfills. Even worse, plastic production is increasing and half of all the plastic on Earth was created in the past 13 years. But you can reduce your own impact by cutting back your plastic consumption. Here are eight steps you could take.

There's no doubt that if we're going to stop or even slow down climate change, we have to get our collective crap together. But collective action starts with individual choices, and for all the data-driven decision makers out there, the path forward just got a bit more lucid. A new study in Environmental Research Letters has determined exactly which life choices reduce our carbon footprints the most.

In Pieces is an interactive environmental protection site where you can learn about your favourite animal, what's killing them, and where you can donate to help.

We knew it was coming, but that hasn't made it any easier to swallow. Today, President Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, just as he had promised during the election campaign.

In effect, the world's biggest superpower is walking away from a landmark global agreement to lower greenhouse gas emissions and minimise the harm from climate change. Most experts agree: Pretty much everybody loses.

Once a fortnight we diligently wheel our recycling bin to the kerb, and then probably give ourselves a pat on the back while thinking of the resources and energy we have saved. Yet it pays to think a bit more deeply about what is going into each bin.

I grew up mowing a giant, mangy lawn. My family lived on an acre of hilltop land, which we kept shaggily mowed, too spiky to walk on in our bare feet. On one side was a cornfield. On the other side was our neighbour, Mr Howland, the Ned Flanders of lawn care. He seeded his lawn with fine golf-course-grade grass, mowed and sprayed it weekly, and even rolled it flat like an off-season Zamboni driver.

Europeans use them; 60 per cent of Japan uses them; 90 per cent of Venezuelans use them. They're called bidets: Basins that jet water straight to the parts that need to be cleaned after you've used the bathroom. And according to Scientific American, they could play a major part in living a green, environmentally sustainable life. But for some reason, North Americans and Australians are not on board.

The morning coffee ritual is serious business; Australians drink roughly 16.3 million coffees a day. Plenty of news coverage has been devoted to its health benefits, but how much do you know about the environmental cost of your daily latte? Shopping can be confusing at the best of times, and trying to find sustainable options makes it even more difficult.

Environmental issues often feel too massive for a single person to make any sort of difference -- and that's partially true. It will take a lot more than recycling. Still, there are plenty of small, realistic things you can change in your own life to do your part while the rest of the world catches up.