The world of sustainability has moved on from ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’. Nowadays, two more guiding “Rs” are incorporated: ‘Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot’. With this in mind, single use wine bottles have stumped many green-minded hospitality businesses. Recycle sounds like problem solved, sure, but what about the energy required to take a wine bottle away, turn it back into sand, only to rise from the ashes as a very similar looking wine bottle? With no or few other options to Refuse or Reduce (short of not drinking wine at all - the horror!), Sustainable Wine Solutions - the brainchild of...

Mention Japanese Knotweed and you're likely to trigger unlucky homeowners up and down the country. First introduced in the 1800s as an ornamental plant, knotweed quickly thrived - much to the distress of anyone in ownership of a smooth piece of driveway or load bearing wall. Structured like bamboo, knotweed is expert at punching through infrastructure to an alarming degree: it'll devalue your home by thousands if it's found in the vicinity.  Also like bamboo, if handled with care it can be reimagined as a delicious and interesting ingredient - the Japanese have been onto this for centuries. If you can't beat...