With the UK currently set to crash out of the European Union on 31 October, Britons are particularly worried about their food supplies .

Surfing has a dirty secret: surfboard production techniques are often at odds with the sport’s eco-conscious image. Most modern surfboards are a sandwich-like construction: a polyurethane foam core – known as a blank – coated in a fibre-reinforced composite.

Every year the EU produces around 15 million tonnes of bitumen . Most of this is mixed with aggregates such as crushed rock, sand and gravel to create asphalt – the sticky bitumen binds it all together – to build roads.

When Dutch artist Jalila Essaïdi was looking to import some American goats, they produce a protein she needed for a ‘bio-art’ project, she hit an unexpected obstacle.

Skiing has been around for at least eight millennia. Skis from 6000 BCE have been found in northern Russia , while 5000-year-old cave paintings in China appear to show people skiing .

If you walk into a council office or a recycling centre in Germany today you might see a poster for the #wirfuerbio campaign , which states that no plastics including compostable plastics should be added to organic bins.

Bio-composites have become increasingly popular with car manufacturers because they can reduce vehicle weight, which improves performance and lowers CO 2 emissions .

In recent years, plastic pollution has hit the headlines as a major environmental issue. While gardening is an outdoor activity involving organic material and natural products, the uncomfortable truth is that gardeners use a lot of plastic .

Researchers in the US have developed bio-based air filters that they claim can capture toxic chemicals that current filters can’t.

Hospitals generate huge amounts of rubbish. According to the World Health Organization , high-income countries produce up to 0.5 kg of hazardous waste per hospital bed per day.

Regenerated fibres are man-made, or synthetic, fibres created from natural polymers. These polymers are broken down by chemical processes and then reformed into fibres that can be spun and woven to produce fabric.

Plastic toys are everywhere and with good reason: plastic is great for making toys. It is cheap and durable, and can be moulded into pretty much any shape.