Month: August 2022

Kew Botanical Gardens has announced it will be relaunching its kitchen gardens – but this time with a focus on sustainability.

Back in Georgian times, the Kew Kitchen Garden supplied fruit and vegetables to members of the royal family living in the Kew Palace. This new garden, which was created on the site of the original kitchen garden which would have served King George III and his family, is one of the first kitchen gardens open to the public to have a sustainable focus.

“The veggies you grow yourself always taste extra delicious, and here at Kew we’re dedicated to researching and showcasing how you can get the very best out of your plot in a sustainable way,” says Hélèna Dove, Botanical Horticulturist, RBG Kew. “This is more important than ever as the price of food increases globally. Edible Science: Kew’s Kitchen Garden will be ever changing, always offering something new to see, and I hope visitors walk away feeling inspired.”

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Kew are using a no-dig policy to help retain carbon that is currently trapped in the soil, rather than disturbing the earth and releasing it into the atmosphere. By placing compost on top of the beds, more carbon is trapped, making the practice carbon-negative.

Additionally, in an effort to grow winter vegetables for the first time in decades, Kew have created eco-friendly, no-mow paths. These paths are created from Cedec, a sustainable, porous material, and make the gardens more accessible, as well as removing the reliance on fossil-fuel heavy mowing techniques.

The kitchen gardens continue to implement more and more sustainable development practices, backed up by research, to ensure that the gardens are as sustainable as possible. 

GET INVOLVED: Get stuck in with Garden Organic to help support sustainable gardening practices.

A daily cuppa could lower your risk of death, a new study has suggested. 

Research by the National Institute of Health, utilising data from the UK Biobank, showed that compared to those who didn’t drink tea, those who drank two or more cups per day had between a 9% and 13% lower mortality rate. 

The study used questionnaires answered between 2006 and 2010 and followed up on the participants over more than a decade to get these results. The research was performed on half a million men and women, aged between 40 and 69, 85% of whom reported regularly drinking tea. Of those participants, 89% said that they mostly drank black tea.

The best news? According to research, it doesn’t even matter how you take your tea – the benefits are still there. So whether you take milk, sugar, cream, or drink black, green or mint, you can rest assured that you’re reaping all of the benefits.

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The research was described as “a substantial advance in the field” by Fernando Rodriguez Artalejo, who is a professor of preventive medicine and public health at the Autonomous University of Madrid.

“This article shows that regular consumption of black tea (the most widely consumed tea in Europe) is associated with a modest reduction in total and, especially, cardiovascular disease mortality over 10 years in a middle-aged, mostly white, adult general population,” added Artalejo.

Though the results are promising for those tea-drinkers among us, it’s important to note we can’t be certain tea was the sole cause of this lower mortality rate, as there’s no way to rule out other health-related factors.

SUPPORT: Give to Stroke, the UK’s leading stroke-related charity.

GET INVOLVED: Get ready for National Cream Tea Day in 2023, and help raise money for charities all across the UK.

The pandemic was traumatic for a multitude of reasons, but one group of people most at risk of loneliness was the elderly.

Between family moving on and friends passing away, people that reach retirement age can often find themselves isolated. To combat that two sisters in Boston, US, Shreya and Saffron Patel, wanted to do something. 

At the beginning of Covid, the duo made a point to consistently reach out to their grandparents, then got an idea when their grandma was ecstatic at receiving a handwritten letter. One thing led to another, and they decided to try and reach out to other elderly people that may find themselves isolated. 

“This small gesture of connection meant the world to her,” Shreya tells Upworthy. “We realized that many other seniors may also be feeling disconnected, and that they may appreciate a letter.”

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The sisters began by reaching out to Boston assisted living facilities to see if they would accept letters to the residents, which was met with enthusiasm. 

They named their initiative Letters Against Isolation, with a simple mission. “We fight senior loneliness one letter at a time,” they say. “Through handwritten messages of love, hope, and joy, our volunteer community brings seniors connection and improves their mental and physical health.”

In just under two years, the organization became an award-winning non-profit and with the help of over 28,000 volunteers, the organization has helped deliver over 460,000 letters to seniors at assisted living homes and care facilities in seven countries, including the US, Canada, Ireland, England, Australia, South Africa, and Israel.

Inspired to Act?

DONATE: Letters Against Isolation accepts donations if you want to help fund their cause. 

SUPPORT: Consider getting involved with the organization and donating your time to help send out some letters.

Between 2000 and 2019, people’s life expectancy across Africa has risen by about 10 years – a trend that’s continuing today.

While the average quality years in the continent is still lower than international averages, according to a WHO report, the average increased to 56 years in 2019, compared with 46 in 2000. The international average is 64 years.

“While still well below the global average of 64, over the same period, global healthy life expectancy increased by only five years,” the report explained.

This data spans 47 of the 54 countries in Africa that make up the WHO Africa region.

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“The sharp rise in healthy life expectancy during the past two decades is a testament to the region’s drive for improved health and well-being of the population,” said Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.

“At its core, it means that more people are living healthier, longer lives, with fewer threats of infectious diseases and with better access to care and disease prevention services. But the progress must not stall. Unless countries enhance measures against the threat of cancer and other noncommunicable diseases, the health gains could be jeopardized.”

Another thing that has challenged the progress in Africa is the Covid-19 pandemic, as many countries in the region reported major disruptions due to the pandemic. According to a WHO survey, more than 90% of the 36 countries that responded reported one or more disruptions to essential health services, with immunization, neglected tropical diseases, and nutrition services suffering higher disruptions.

“COVID-19 has shown how investing in health is critical to a country’s security. The better Africa can cope with pandemics and other health threats, the more our people and economies thrive.”

Inspired to Act?

DONATE: Healthy Women Healthy Liberia is an organization that helps provide medical care to women in Liberia. Consider donating. 

SUPPORT: Read more about what’s happening with WHO’s work in Africa look here.