the times | Saturday December 18 2021 51
News
The sale of peat for gardens will be
banned by 2024 under government
plans but environmentalists have
called for an immediate ban to protect
peatlands and tackle climate change.
Proposals to prevent the destruction
of Britain’s carbon-storing wetlands by
banning the sale of peat were set out
yesterday by the government.
Labels could be added to peat
products being sold in garden centres
warning of the environmental impact
of digging up the fens. A government
consultation calls for a levy to be added
to the products, while a total ban on
their sale is also being proposed by the
end of this parliament in 2024.
Environmentalists have said that
Scythes are set to cut a swathe through
British gardens once again as Britons
turn to environmentally friendly alter-
natives to lawnmowers.
The Royal Horticultural Society has
listed the agricultural hand tool as one
of its predicted trends for 2022, along
with home composting and bolder
plant colours.
Scythes, traditionally associated
with the Grim Reaper, have had an im-
age boost thanks to an appearance in
the hit BBC series Poldark. However, its
Garden peat ban will come too
late, warn climate campaigners
Kaya Burgess Science Reporter action needs to be more urgent. A vast
quantity of carbon is locked away inside
peatlands, described as the UK’s “rain-
forests”. When they are dug up, mainly
to help boost the growth of garden
plants, this carbon is released as carbon
dioxide, a greenhouse gas.
The Environment Department said:
“Peat extraction also degrades the state
of the wider landscape, damaging habi-
tats for rare species of flora and fauna,
and negatively impacting peat’s ability
to prevent flooding and filter water.”
The government announced in May
that it wanted to ban the sale of peat by
2024 and the department has now an-
nounced the details of a consultation.
Ailis Watt, from the Wildlife Trusts,
said: “Though this new consultation...
is a step in the right direction, the meas-
ures proposed only scratch the surface
of the problem. We need to end the use
of peat in horticulture entirely, with
immediate effect, not wait until 2024 as
the government proposes, if we are to
restore these damaged habitats, allow
nature to return and enable them to
store carbon rather than emit it.”
The 12-week consultation will ask for
feedback on a “point-of-sale charge”
for a growing bag of peat and “manda-
tory labelling and material” explaining
the environmental arguments.
Sellers of peat may be forced to
report their sales. Any ban may contain
“potential exemptions, including for
scientific purposes” and a maximum
amount allowed in certain products.
The government said that this would
“need to be strictly defined and en-forced to prevent exploitation”. Rebec-
ca Pow, the environment minister, said:
“The amateur gardening sector has
made huge strides in reducing peat use.
There are now more sustainable and
good quality peat-free alternatives
available than at any other time, so I am
confident now is the right time to make
the shift permanent.”
The Royal Horticultural Society
(RHS) insisted that it would be peat-
free across all its operations by 2025.
“However, far greater government
collaboration and support is needed if
we are to ensure a sustainable and
thriving horticulture and landscape
industry for the future,” it said. The
RHS said that a “collective effort should
be made on helping to grow home
composting” as an alternative.Scythes the new must-have for green fingered
latest revival has less to do with bare-
chested mowing than a desire to cut
down carbon emissions, according to
the RHS. “Scything is easier than a
mower on wildflower patches and
minimises the need for petrol or diesel-
powered tools,” the charity said.
Environmental concerns could also
spur a resurgence in home-grown flow-
ers to replace shop-bought bouquets,
with summer displays of cosmos,
dahlias and zinnia.
Guy Barter, chief horticulturist for
the RHS, said that in 2022 gardeners
would concentrate “their efforts onreducing, reusing and recycling”. He
added: “That might include putting
leftovers and waste to better use in the
form of composting and own-grown
bouquets for indoor and outdoor enjoy-
ment all year long.”
The RHS predicted a general trend
towards more confident colours such as
reds, oranges and purples. In particular,
there could be an increased appetite for
red-fleshed “Snow White” apples and
plants like crocosmia, the charity said.
Gardeners are also expected to grow
more exotic fruits such as pomegran-
ates, chokeberries and serviceberries.Peter Stubley
Stoves worse
than cars for
cancer in city
Kaya BurgessWood burnt in stoves and fireplaces is
likely to cause more cancers in cities
than vehicles, a study suggests.
When organic material such as
wood, coal or oil is burnt it produces
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs), which are “long known to have
mutagenic and carcinogenic effects”,
scientists said.
A year-long analysis in Athens found
that 31 per cent of these chemicals were
created by wood burning compared
with 33 per cent from the burning of
diesel and oil and 31 per cent from
petrol. They also analysed the
concentrations of a PAH called
benzo(a)pyrene which is associated
with high cancer risk. This showed that,
when quantifying cancer risk from
PAHs in cities, 43 per cent comes from
wood burning, 36 per cent from diesel
and oil, and 17 per cent from petrol.
Only 8 per cent of homes in the UK
burn wood, but domestic wood burning
is the biggest source of small particle air
pollution in Britain, a study showed.
“We know that [smoke from] wood
burning is much more toxic than other
types of particles,” said Athanasios
Nenes, of the Foundation for Research
and Technology in Patras, Greece, who
helped to conduct the study. He told
The Guardian: “You basically stop
burning wood. That’s the bottom line.”
The study, published in the Atmos-
pheric Chemistry and Physics journal,
suggested that new rules might be
needed to limit wood burning and more
research was needed.Poldark helped the scythe’s image but
the tool also reduces carbon emissionsT
ravelling to
France at the
moment might
be tricky, but
there is one
surefire way to feel à la
mode Parisienne this
Christmas. In
Francophile fashion
circles, the beret is back
(Hannah Rogers writes).
The second season of
Emily in Paris returns to
our screens next week,
along with the
protagonist’s collection
of French headgear.
With clothes by Patricia
Field, costume designer
on Sex and the City,
Emily (played by LilyCollins) has quickly
become the small
screen’s latest
fashion plate.
As ever, members
of the style set have
theirs already. The trend
started when Maria
Grazia Chiuri put a £750
black leather iteration
on Dior’s autumn 2017
catwalk. Every fashion
editor wanted one of
those. They might
struggle to choose which
they’d buy now — the
brand stocks seven
different versions, from
pearl-veil adorned to
animal print.
This season theberet returned to the
catwalk again at
Emporio Armani,
Givenchy and Vivienne
Westwood. At Ganni,
the Copenhagen-based
brand beloved by It girls,
its £50 recycled wool
berets are a bestseller.
John Lewis &
Partners customers
are buying up its
own-brand wool or
cashmere styles.
Zara stocks no
fewer than 12.
Lyst, the
global
fashion
shopping
platform,
reports that
searches for berets
increased 49 per cent
in October. Its
customers have been
shopping for wool and
leather iterations. At
the luxury e-tailer
Net-A-Porter, buyers
have launched eight
different beret styles
to meet demand in
the past two months,
most recently a
monochrome sequin
check take from the
French atelier Maison
Michel.
French people might
see them as a cliché,
but a beret could be
the closest you get to
l’Hexagone this
Christmas — as well
as a Netflix
subscription and good
cheese and wine.If you can’t head
to Paris, let Paris
go to your head
If ’t h d
From leopard print to
bold check, there are
berets to suit any
outfit. The blogger
Alexandra Lapp, far
left, says they “look
great in all kind of
colours and fabrics”