Horizons

STEAM ON:The Co Laois village of Stradbally will be droning with the sound of steam engines next weekend as about 30 vehicles give working demonstrations at the Stradbally National Steam Rally on Sunday and Monday, August 2nd and 3rd.

The annual event, organised by the Irish Steam Preservation Society, has incorporated new outdoor activities in recent years, including sheepdog and bird-of-prey demonstrations and a steam-train ride through the Cosby estate. See irishsteam.ie.

SETBACK FOR THE WILD:Wildlife organisations have strongly condemned proposed cuts to the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (Reps) announced earlier this month.

“The Reps scheme has been of massive value to wild species and habitats,” says Billy Flynn of the Irish Wildlife Trust. “No other scheme in Ireland has had such a wide-reaching positive environmental impact on our farmed countryside.”

The scheme has been credited with protecting existing habitats, creating new ones and improving river-water quality.

TIME FOR MORE REFILLS:We've become proud of ourselves recently for our rates of recycling, but, as usual, other European countries are way ahead. In places such as the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland, 80-90 per cent of soft drink and beer containers are refillable. And while some of us refill computer ink cartridges, the potential for refillables goes way beyond that.

“If refillable packaging is designed carefully and applied to appropriate products, it has a great opportunity to reduce household waste,” says Dr Vicky Lofthouseof Loughborough University. See theecologist.org.

ECOWEB

fairtradetowns.org

Check out this new website on the international Fairtrade movement. There’s a map of Fairtrade towns across Europe, news and reports from around the world, and examples of best practice from the 600-plus Fairtrade towns in 18 countries.