Cycling cities, sewer-heated housing and more exciting climate solutions of 2023

In the 1970s the “garbage warrior” Michael Reynolds headed into the New Mexico desert to develop his earthships – homes made out of empty bottles and used tyres that relied on passive solar for their heating and were more or less off-grid. Over in the Netherlands, at the same time, the city of Groningen was tearing up roads and installing cycle lanes instead. In 1980, the world’s first windfarm – 20 turbines – was being built in New Hampshire.

The world was slowly waking up to the multiple environmental crises coming. In 1966, the Observer’s science editor John Davy wrote a new scientific study and noted that “some inadvertent climate intervention may already be in progress due to the release of huge amounts of carbon dioxide from burning oil and coal. This is probably warming the atmosphere by trapping more solar heat”. Everywhere there were pioneers and communities who were beginning to experiment with solutions.

Just as we at the Guardian and Observer covered the growing body of science and politics around the climate crisis, we’ve also been looking at the alternatives, with ethical living pages (our doughty reporter Leo Hickman even spent a year trying to live ethically and detailing the outcome of those experiments); our cities project which, for six years, studied what cities all over the world were doing to thrive; the Upside, and others. We are always looking for constructive solutions that communities are working on – and the environment desk’s alternatives series is part of that tradition.

For this week’s newsletter we look back at some of the projects we’ve profiled, and the people making a difference for our environment. But first, this week’s most important reads.

What are we looking for when we commission a new column? It varies wildly. In many cases the projects surprise and often tickle us – we’re after something that we’ve not come across before. When Oliver Milman suggested a column about car-free developments in the US it was immediately fascinating; it came on the back of some very depressing reporting on how the demand for parking spaces (eight spaces for every car!) has dominated the way US housing and cities are designed.

Some columns are about communities who are trying to create something brand new, such as Bude’s climate jury or New Orleans’ Lighthouse project. It is inspiring to see how these local communities are finding their own way. We’ll come back to these projects in a couple of years’ time to see what the outcomes were, and whether the centre held together.

Some are bold, even apparently bonkers ideas, like the Dutch housing project which plans to generate heat from its sewers, or the architects who want to put gardens on the rooftops of Paris.

But we also wanted, as often as possible, to find ideas and projects that had been in place for a couple of years, like the Bus Rapid Transit system in Jakarta, Indonesia, a public transport infrastructure that now covers more than 251km and costs 18p a trip. For this week’s column, writer Stephen Burgen got in touch after he’d been to the Spanish city of Vitoria-Gasteiz (pictured above), because he’d been so impressed by the work they’d been doing for decades on making it as green as possible.

The ideas and stories come in thick and fast – always more than we can cover. But it’s immensely cheering to turn to the column after a day of dealing with scientific studies highlighting the potential devastation to come. These stories are living, breathing solutions which are already part of people’s lives. Change happens slowly – and then all at once.

Bibi van der Zee is an assistant editor on the Guardian’s environment desk

Read more from The alternatives:

The good news

The bad news

Down to Earth readers on the eco-friendly changes they made for the planet

Reader Carol Rahn emailed some simple advice that sticks: give up the clingfilm and instead rely on containers and recycled fabrics.

“I started to see all the plastic that I use and realised there were alternatives,” Rahn says (see this Guardian article for our suggestions). “Most households already have a stock of containers at hand – just get into the habit of using those for food storage.”

And some bonus advice from Rahn about making such a seemingly small step: “There are so many painless ways to help the environment – just make it a habit to find them. And don’t burden yourself with guilt about the ones that are too hard for you.”

Let us know about the positive change you’ve made in your life by replying to this newsletter, or emailing us on downtoearth@theguardian.com

Profiling the Earth’s most at-risk animals

Population: Estimated 7,000
Location: New Zealand coastal waters
Status: Endangered

Among the rarest – and smallest – dolphins in the world, Hector’s dolphins have distinctive black facial markings and stocky bodies, and are threatened by oil exploration, bycatch and boat strikes. Conservationists were buoyed up by a new drone programme to study their habits, environment and numbers. They’re considered a national treasure by New Zealanders.

For more on wildlife at threat, visit the Age of Extinction page here

One image that sums up the week in environmental news

Credit: Olivia Heller/The Guardian

Olivia Heller’s illustration features in this Guardian piece where chefs share their advice on how to help reduce landfill by diverting scraps from the trash to your plate

For more of the week’s best environmental pictures, catch up on The Week in Wildlife here