Down To Earth

Electric Picnic is over for another year. There was plenty of furore last year over the amount of litter, as well as used tents, that were left over at the end of the festival. Was this year any different?  And what would our environment expert do to help the cause? Cara Augustenborg joined Ivan once again on Down To Earth to give her views, as she insisted that enough is being done to stop this scourge.

Cara Augustenborg joined Ivan to discuss the impact of the fires raging in the rainforests of Brazil

Our Down To Earth slot is back after a three-week summer break, where our resident environmental scientist, Dr. Cara Augustenborg, and her 9 year old daughter, Eva, spent their time at “Bee Keeping Summer School” and in this weeks Down To Earth Cara is back to day Buzzing with enthusiasm for all things Bee related.  

The headline on the front page of the Wicklow Times last week said ‘Attack of the Giant Hogweed’ and reported of an invasion of giant hogweed in the Garden County which caused toxic burns on an 11 year old girl. Our resident environmental scientist, Dr. Cara Augustenborg, joined Ivan on this evenings Down To Earth to discuss this and other kind of invasions making their way to Ireland.

We've heard all about Minister Bruton's Climate Action Plan this month but just how hard will it be for us to lower our individual carbon footprints to the level Bruton says we must address climate change? Our resident environmentalist and fellow in environmental policy at UCD, Dr. Cara Augustenborg joins Ivan with the math on our carbon footprint challenge. 

Every Tuesday we go "Down to Earth" with our residential environmentalist Dr Cara Augustenborg. This week Cara tackles the topic of climate protesters- what methods work? And do they go too far?  

Summer is most definitely here now and with sweltering heat being experienced across the continent and more of this to come in the future due to climate change, our resident environmental scientist, Dr. Cara Augustenborg, joins Ivan with her top tips to have an Earth-friendly summer holiday here in Ireland.   d

Last week, the state-owned Forestry company Coiltte announced formation of a new not-for-profit wing ‘Coillte Nature’, whose first project involves the conversion of nine commercial forests in the Dublin mountains into recreational and biodiversity use.  Our resident environmental scientist and UCD Fellow in Environmental Policy, Cara Augusteborg takes us Down To Earth following this new announcement to let tell Ivan whether our Forestry business is really getting closer to nature.   

Last week, the state-owned Forestry company Coiltte announced formation of a new not-for-profit wing ‘Coillte Nature’. Their first project involves the conversion of nine commercial forests in the Dublin mountains into recreational and biodiversity use.  Our resident environmental scientist and UCD Fellow in Environmental Policy, Cara Augusteborg joined Ivan to take us Down To Earth following this new announcement and let us know whether our Forestry business is really getting closer to nature. She isn't totally convinced.

Minister of Communications, Climate Action and Environment -Richard Bruton – unveiled his “All of Government Climate Action Plan” on Monday which some in Government are calling a “landmark moment in Ireland’s climate change awakening”.  On this weeks Down To Earth our own resident environmental scientist and UCD Environmental Policy Fellow, Dr. Cara Augustenborg joins Ivan to give her thoughts on what this means for Ireland.