tree day.A greener world.
A life well lived.
IDEAS TO TAKE INTO EVERYDAY LIFE
Explore practical guides on trees, climate, gardens, wildlife, water, food, homes and community life.
321 articles
Homes & energy · Environment news
Nairobi, Kenya
UNEP’s October update describes electric motorcycles, battery swapping and leased buses in Nairobi, alongside the financing and charging constraints shaping their expansion.
Homes & energy · Environment news
Singapore
The Global Cooling Pledge Assembly in Singapore announced a nature-based cooling challenge, work on a heat resilience roadmap and a voluntary platform for cooling manufacturers.
Gardens & growing · News & context
ENO’s 2026 activities paired a May planting day with a student art competition whose results were announced in June. The learning lasts longer when planting is followed by observation and care suited to the site.
Climate & change · Guide
Climate change is a long-term shift in average weather patterns, from local rainfall and temperature to global conditions. Today’s warming trend is driven mainly by human greenhouse gas emissions, though natural influences also affect climate.
Wildlife & biodiversity · Guide
Biodiversity is the variety of life, from genes and species to ecosystems, including organisms that are small, uncommon or easy to overlook. Thinking across these levels helps explain why a habitat’s condition cannot be judged by counting only familiar plants and animals.
Water & oceans · Guide
A watershed is the land area that drains water toward a shared outlet. Learn how slopes, streams, groundwater and human-built surfaces shape its boundaries—and how to recognize the one you live in.
Wildlife & biodiversity · Guide
An ecosystem is a community of organisms interacting with one another and with the physical conditions around them. Thinking in terms of relationships, flows, and boundaries makes the concept useful in a yard, pond, forest, or city block.
Climate & change · Guide
The greenhouse effect is the natural process that keeps Earth warm enough for life. Learn how gases slow heat loss, why human activity is strengthening the effect, and how it differs from weather or the ozone layer.
Wildlife & biodiversity · Guide
A keystone species has an ecological influence that is especially large relative to its abundance. The label describes a species' role in a particular community, not a universal ranking of which organisms matter most.
Water & oceans · Guide
The water cycle is water moving among the atmosphere, land, oceans and underground stores, changing form along the way. Sunlight and gravity drive its flows, while human activity can alter timing, storage and quality.
Climate & change · Guide
A carbon footprint estimates greenhouse gas emissions linked to an activity, product, household or organization. Understand what it includes, why estimates vary and how to use one as a practical guide rather than a personal verdict.
Homes & energy · Guide
Solar panels turn incoming light into electrical current through semiconductor cells. Follow the path from sunlight to usable household power and learn what the inverter, grid connection and shade change.
Homes & energy · Guide
A heat pump moves heat instead of making it through combustion. Learn how its indoor and outdoor parts work, why insulation and system sizing matter, and what to ask before considering one for a home.
Seasons & outdoor life · Guide
El Niño and La Niña name opposite phases of a Pacific climate pattern, but the references do not document their mechanisms or effects. Here is how to separate that broad question from the seasonal cycle and a local forecast.
Wildlife & biodiversity · Guide
Biodiversity matters because living systems connect species, habitats and ecological processes, while people rely on some of those relationships for food, livelihoods and well-being. Its value is practical and ecological, even when individual organisms are not immediately visible or useful to us.
Water & oceans · Guide
Microplastics are tiny plastic particles, often discussed as fragments, fibers or other small pieces. Their small size makes them easy to overlook, but it does not reveal where they came from or what exposure means in a particular setting.
Climate & change · Guide
Weather describes short-term atmospheric conditions; climate describes the patterns and averages that emerge over decades. Keeping the timescales distinct helps explain why a cold day can occur during a warming trend.
Homes & energy · Guide
LEDs generally use less electricity to produce light than incandescent bulbs, which make more heat as they operate. Compare the bulb’s output, fit and use pattern before replacing lamps throughout a home.
