Solar panels are one of the least cost-effective ways of combating climate change and will take 100 years to pay back their installation costs, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) warned yesterday.

About 80 percent of the reductions could be made using technologies already proven in the United States or elsewhere in the world, the report said.

As a rule of thumb, the larger the seed the easier it is to save. It is also easier to see whether it has been damaged by mildew or rot. Usually, the sooner you sow a seed, the higher the chance that it will germinate and flourish.

Here are 10 ways to be a 'green' decorator this holiday season: 1. Try a live tree for once. If you have some space in the yard, buy a balled-and-burlapped evergreen, decorate it for a few days close to Christmas, then plant it outside soon after.

And I hated to eat out without knowing what I was eating. That's how I became interested in a vegetable diet. People say vegetarianism is spreading, but vegetarians still account for only about 5 percent of the population.

Chicago has decided to retrofit its alleys with environmentally sustainable road-building materials under its Green Alley initiative, something experts say is among the most ambitious public street makeover plans in the United States.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, California: It used to be so final: Flush the toilet and waste be gone. But this week, for millions of people here in Orange County, pulling the lever will be the start of a long, intense

At the bill's rollout, US Representative William Delahunt pointed out that Massachusetts has 500,000 acres of farmland and, in what was probably meant to be a rhetorical question, asked, "Why not grow energy crops there?"

Not content with being the poster bears of environmentalism, our polar friends are taking over the TV and cinemas screens too. Sam Delaney salutes the new kid on the ice block

Italian-American immigrants moved into the neighborhood near the beginning of the last century and planted trees that still bear fruits like lemons, figs and plums.