Giant Wooden Megaphones Amplify Forest Sounds

By Sw4n4ge

Architectural students in an Estonian forest designed three cone-shaped megaphones made entirely of wood. They are used as sound amplifiers to better understand nature and they also serve as places for recreation. In order to maximise the communion with nature, they installed their creations in a clearing, next to the Pähni Nature Center . This space has been transformed into a place of…

Climate change: Study underpins key idea in Antarctic ice loss

By Sw4n4ge

BBC Science correspondent Jonathan Amos, reports that a new study has found the diminishing thickness of ice shelves is matched almost exactly by an immediate acceleration in the glaciers feeding in behind them. It means we can’t rely on a lag in the system to delay the rise in sea-levels as shelves melt in a…

The Tyranny of Time Poverty

By Sw4n4ge

The headlong obsession with corporate and economic growth, creates societies of time-impoverished individuals who can easily lose any holistic sense of their place in the environment. In the Western world, the progress of society is measured by capital flows and commercial growth. These financial goals are often put ahead of life values. The pace of…

Bees on The Brink

By Sw4n4ge

Many species of bee are on the brink of extinction in parts of the UK – and some types have been lost entirely, a report has found. Climate change, habitat loss, pollution and disease are threatening the pollinators, the analysis of 228 species concluded. It discovered that 17 species were regionally extinct – including the Great Yellow Bumblebee, the Potter…

Why Australia’s Mining Boom Will Leave Permanent Scars

By Sw4n4ge

With the coal boom on the wane, mining companies want to escape the cost of rehabilitating their sites. But even if governments effectively restrain them, many of the huge voids in the landscape will never be filled in. The Australian coal industry is dotted with recent examples of major miners selling projects to smaller players…

Was The Fracking Ban a Cynical Election Ploy?

By Sw4n4ge

The Conservative Party has been accused of using a fracking ‘ban’ as an ‘election ploy’ after admitting the suspension may only be temporary. The Government is facing growing calls for a permanent ban, as Labour raised concerns the apparent U-turn was only a part time measure in the run up to the election next month. Our future…

Let’s Try A New Way

By Sw4n4ge

RECOVERING EDEN has always been a dream of ours but individually, our lives had some other lessons for us to learn first.

I’m Terry, a 61 year old Australian. Mel is 55 and from Wiltshire. We both knew we wanted something different from the life of desperate conformity and relentless capital growth that has brought our existence on this planet to such a precipice. But we ploughed very different furrows until, finally, we were presented with the signs that can no longer be ignored…divorce, disenchantment, burn-out, health issues…a healthy dose of life-sabotage to promote a hand-brake turn onto a new path.

Happily, our respective paths converged and our respective slices of idealism found new resonance. We actually believed we COULD FIND A NEW WAY together.
getting down to earth


Pretty quickly, some practical hurdles became apparent. We weren’t too flush for cash; we weren’t that young or able bodied (plenty of middle-age aches as well as a hip and knee replacement to be getting on with); we had pets that would almost certainly never co-exist in harmony (a young Saluki hound with formidable credentials as a ‘sight-dog’ and a grumpy, late-middle aged cat who has little regard for anyone or anything).

Then there was the question of finding a plot of land and financing an eco self-build.


We want to create a healthy, sustainable and low-impact lifestyle for ourselves but also to inspire, involve and educate others.
This blog is intended as the first step in that direction. YES, the posts contains some articles that present depressing data and sobering statistics. We believe it is essential to foster awareness about the gravity of our global situation and debunk the pseudo-science and denial rhetoric. But we also believe that it is unhelpful to confront individuals only with a punitive message of shame and despair. What we need right now is hope and the belief that we can each make a meaningful difference via measures that are not tantamount to living in grass huts and eating raw berries.



In early 2020, we embarked on the purchase of a 3 acre plot with outline planning consent in Ceredigion, Wales. Then came COVID-19 and a period of limbo from which we are now hopefully emerging.

Check out our next post for details on our land and the initial challenges we face. Meanwhile, here’s a bit more about our ethos.



THE BIG THINGS STAY THE SAME UNLESS WE MAKE LITTLE CHANGES. That is our call to action and our mission is to provide resources and opportunities to interact and learn pleasurable and rewarding alternatives that can help us live more sustainably. Individually, we may not change the world but if we become the change we want to see, then collectively we can be an instrument for global change. Your idea of ‘little’ may differ from ours but we accept the different starting points and mental preparedness we each bring to this challenge. Lao Tsu said it best with, the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.



Our intention is to create a sustainable and largely self-sufficient living space with on-site resources to offer teachings in a range of subjects including:
– Mindfulness, meditation and walking meditation
– Art in Nature
– Vegan/Vegetarian Lifestyle Options
– Herbs and Health
– Foraging
– Sustainable Living


Our initiatives are ambitious and exceed our financial reach at this time. But we will continue to engage via this website with information, ideas and resources. We have a range of original nature photography on sale for download at a modest price. We are also offering a SUBSCRIBER ONLY section which contains sustainability tips and detailed guidance based on our experiences and research as well as free full-resolution downloads of our PHOTO OF THE WEEK and access to our cartoon page featuring FLOODED WELLIES. This will help fund this site and our training initiatives. A portion of any subscription or purchase funds will be used to support appropriate tree planting.


Thank you for visiting RECOVER EDEN. Let’s make a difference together.

Australian PM: Coal Industry Defender and Climate Change Denier

By Sw4n4ge

In the Guardian Article Scott Morrison and the big lie about climate change: does he think we’re that stupid? Richard Flanagan argues that the Australian PM is so determined to protect the coal mining industry that he even denies the possible influence of climate change in recent devastating droughts and bushfires. In a year that…

Are We Missing the Real Issue?

By Sw4n4ge

In his article, Don’t Call Me a Pessimist on Climate Change, I am a Realist, William E Rees explores the possibility that the switch to green energy sources will not meet our growing demands. Survival will ultimately depend on us facing hard facts about energy, growth and governance. In fact, he ventures to assert that…

Renewable Electricity Finally Overtakes Fossil Fuel for UK Homes

By Sw4n4ge

In the 3rd quarter of 2019, renewable electricity overtook carbon fuel generated power after its share of the electricity mix rose to 40%. It is the first time that electricity from British windfarms, solar panels and renewable biomass plants has surpassed fossil fuels since the UK’s first power plant fired up in 1882. The new…