Nix Rust

That sounds fun!

Oh wow I never knew that jam had butter in! I used to make it all the time when I was younger and didn't add it in but maybe I was doing it wrong?!

Love the label! What makes jam not vegan? 🤔

I've spent the afternoon decluttering. Was finally going to get rid of this t-shirt, which I've had for 30 years (!!). But before I did....

#DogSky #DogsOfBlueSky #RescueDog

Limited carbon sequestration potential from global ecosystem restoration - Nature Geoscience The maximum carbon sequestration potential from global terrestrial ecosystem restoration efforts until 2100 is 96.9 Gt, which is equivalent to 3.7–12.0% of anthropogenic emissions until then, accordin...

We should come to terms with the fact that forest, shrubland, grassland, and wetland ecosystems cannot offset fossil fuel CO₂ emissions.

But we should still protect and restore them for biodiversity and other ecosystem benefits.

I've spent the afternoon decluttering. Was finally going to get rid of this t-shirt, which I've had for 30 years (!!). But before I did....

#DogSky #DogsOfBlueSky #RescueDog

🦇 Bats, newts & the Great British distraction machine. 🐉 Or how Labour borrowed a Tory tactic and just changed the scapegoat

Historically in Westminster, if a government wanted to distract from crumbling public services, obscene inequality or the slow implosion of the economy, they knew what to do:

Thread: money and power control the story so that you support their aims...

Agree? Disagree? Tag your favourite newt-hating policymaker below and let’s discuss.

#Biodiversity #Labour #Scapegoating #EnvironmentalJustice #UKPolitics

The Office GIF ALT: The Office GIF

It’s about who gets blamed, and who gets protected. And if we let nature take the fall for the failings of a broken growth-obsessed system, then we’ve learned nothing.

So let’s not fall for it. Call it what it is.

Biodiversity scapegoating is the new border control dog whistle.

a woman is laughing with her arms in the air while standing in front of a door . ALT: a woman is laughing with her arms in the air while standing in front of a door .

Because while we’re squabbling over whether the badger sett is delaying a bypass, the real villains are popping champagne in Canary Wharf, watching as the protections for people and planet are slowly unravelled.

So no, this isn’t just about bats; it’s about narrative control.

And unlike immigrants, bats don’t vote and newts don’t have lawyers, so they’re the perfect target.

But the rest of us? We should be furious.

a poster for minions the rise of gru ALT: a poster for minions the rise of gru

Because if this strategy sounds familiar, it's because we've seen it before and it ends badly. Scapegoating is always about manufacturing an enemy to avoid confronting real power or dealing with the real issues.

And here's the kicker: it works. The public love a simple villain.

a cartoon character is laying on the ground with a pile of money . ALT: a cartoon character is laying on the ground with a pile of money .

Or that the private sector is still sitting on billions in unspent capital while our rivers run with sewage.

No. Apparently it’s the 'overreach' of those pesky ecologists who actually read the Environment Act and thought it meant something.

This is dangerous.

a group of goats with the word scapegoat in the middle ALT: a group of goats with the word scapegoat in the middle

This is pure distraction politics with a sustainability sheen. It's green scapegoating.

Never mind that the UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries on Earth. Or that planning delays are mostly caused by underfunded planning departments, legal challenges, or crap proposals from developers.

a bald man pointing at the camera with the words woke alert behind him ALT: a bald man pointing at the camera with the words woke alert behind him

Instead of blaming immigration for everything, they’re now blaming... biodiversity.

Suddenly, it’s the newts blocking your new home. The bats that stopped your train line. The Environmental Impact Assessments (those bureaucratic "woke red tapes") that killed your job prospects.

a black and white cartoon of a bat sitting on a branch . ALT: a black and white cartoon of a bat sitting on a branch .

But now we’re in a new era; a more 'progressive' one, apparently. And guess what? They've swapped scapegoats.

🆕 Step aside, scapegoated refugee. Enter stage left: the newt. And its sidekick: the horseshoe bat.

Labour’s new growth narrative is straight from the same playbook, only rebranded.

an orange background with the words " don 't look up " on it ALT: an orange background with the words " don 't look up " on it

Blame the immigrants.

"Your train's late? Must be the immigrants."
"NHS on its knees? Immigrants."
"Can't afford rent, or retire before you're 90? IMMIGRANTS."

It was easy. Cruel, yes. Racist, obviously. But very effective. Keep the public punching down and don't look up.

🦇 Bats, newts & the Great British distraction machine. 🐉 Or how Labour borrowed a Tory tactic and just changed the scapegoat

Historically in Westminster, if a government wanted to distract from crumbling public services, obscene inequality or the slow implosion of the economy, they knew what to do:

🌐 A Eulogy for the Extractivist Economy, and a Love Letter to What Could Be 🌎

We humans are meaning-making creatures. We wrap stories around our systems, weave logic through our lives, and make monuments of the myths we’ve told ourselves for centuries.

No prob, glad you liked it!

#ClimateGrief is a natural part of the process. It's needed for understanding of our situation and to move to real action.

"Natural disasters in the first half of the year have cost China 54.11 billion yuan ($7.5bn; £5.7bn), its emergency management ministry said earlier this month. Flooding accounted for more than 90% of the losses"

"At least 30 people have died in Beijing & more than 80,000 were evacuated to safety"

Beijing floods: 30 killed as China sees summer of extreme weather President Xi Jinping called for

Whilst it's difficult to attribute single extreme weather events to climate change, what we do know is that climate change is making extreme weather events more common & more dangerous.

Tackling climate change isn't an environment issue; it's an economic & social one

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

It's true that the current system can often feel like an omnipotent beast, devouring any semblance of alternatives. The way I see it, we don't need to bring down this beast - we just need to shine a light on the alternatives, at the boundaries, in the liminal space of the old and the new.

Great reflective🧵 from @nixrust.bsky.social
Applied to the food system, we're clearly at v early stages of new growth but little belief by those in power & tweakers that radical changes needed are possible - we've built such huge edifices & power structures, in supply & consumption.. But it will

Because the economy we build next must not be built on the Earth; it must be built with Earth. And that, perhaps, is the most important story we will ever tell.

✨ With thanks to Talia Smith from the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance for the inspiration of this post. ✨

A final reflection:

The death of a system is not the end of the world, but it is the end of *a* world. We must have the courage to mourn it - fully, honestly, with all our hearts. Only then can we look up, clear-eyed and steady, and begin again.

Community currencies, climate commons, and faith-rooted finance systems built on moral obligation, not profit. Farmers paid not just to grow food, but to grow life.

This is not utopia. It is already happening, at the margins, in the cracks, through the soil. We do not need to wait for permission.

From the ashes of extractivist capitalism, something extraordinary is growing.

Place-based economies governed by watershed boundaries and communities, not GDP targets.

Indigenous-led stewardship models grounded in reciprocity, rights and reclamation, not commodification.