News

Our national health emergency predates covid-19. Britain’s poisonous air causes 40,000 early deaths a year, with almost one in four of those occurring in London. Globally, air pollution kills over 4 million. Year in. Year out. However, the covid-19 crisis is prompting the green shoots of change. New York has legalised pedelecs up to 20 mph,...

You'll be riding your bike less than usual during these uncertain times, so why not give it the clean of its life? We're giving away a top notch bike cleaning kit from Green Oil, a British company that claims to make the world's greenest bicycle maintenance products. Green Oil has been fighting the use of carcinogenic PTFE and...

Cities around the world are waking up to the fact that cycling has a role to play in the tackling of the coronavirus pandemic. Research reveals that air pollution exacerbates the symptoms of covid-19, so space is being taken from cars overnight and given over to walking and cycling. As a result, key workers can continue to travel in safety....

Leading doctors are calling on the government to ease pressure on the NHS by introducing an Emergency National Urban Limit. Driving less fast prevents collisions and reduces the numbers and severity of road victims the NHS has to care for at this critical time. For this reason, the doctors advocate a reduction in the national speed limit...

People exposed to polluted air are more likely to die from Covid-19, according to American research. Scientists at Harvard found that even tiny increases in historic exposure to airborne particulates appears to increase the death rate by 15 per cent. Acute respiratory distress syndrome is associated with Covid-19-related deaths, as well as...

Marie Kondo is a powerful advocate for throwing out stuff you don't need in favour of items that 'spark joy'. Allen key sets have a habit of always missing the size you're after (for me, it's the 5mm). So we were drawn to this colourful set of allen keys from Sealey. The set is manufactured from hardened and heat-treated chrome vanadium...

A wearable poncho tent may look eccentric, but what better way to spend a night under the stars in glorious self isolation? Even if your staycation has to play out in the back garden. Hikers and cyclists already have the option of wearable waterproof sleeping bags, but the poncho appears to be the first tent that can be worn as an item of...

A change in the way that emissions are calculated means drivers who buy larger petrol or diesel vehicles from new will be hit with a higher initial car tax payment. In a bid to increase take-up of electric vehicles, some drivers could be hit with an increase of more than £1,000 on their first year's payment of vehicle excise duty. The...

If you have two metres or so of space, you can sling a hammock. And in these days of social distancing and self isolation, what better way of whiling away your leisure time? Snooze, read a book or daydream about better days to come. The word hammock originates from the Taino people of Central America who used the word hamaca to describe...

Having established a reputation as a Pope who takes the bus, Pope Francis had an opportunity on this day in 2013 to cement his image as the people's pontiff when he was offered the world's first pedal-powered Popemobile. The entirely carbon-neutral, pedal-powered Popemobile was commissioned by us here at the ETA after the previous pontiff,...