Author: BBC World Service

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CrowdScience - What does a sustainable life look like?

Many of us are worried about the environment, but the aim of living in a truly sustainable way is hard to pin down. Do we all need to stop buying things? Is it down to governments to make the changes for us? Is there somewhere in the world painting a picture of the end goal?

It’s a question that has bothered CrowdScience listener Cate for 20 years! She’s worried we’re not doing enough for the environment and just wants a clear scenario of what it might look like to live sustainably, in a way that could work for all eight billion of us on the planet.

It’s a big question, so this week presenter Caroline Steel has teamed up with her friend and colleague Graihagh Jackson from The Climate Question podcast to answer it.

They head to the remote Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea, which is aiming to go carbon neutral by 2025 and zero waste by 2032. How are they going about it and could this be replicated elsewhere? We visit a ground-breaking project turning nappies into compost, meet a glassblower making tableware out of wasted insulin vials, and find out how pig waste can power homes.

This edition of CrowdScience hones in on Bornholm’s zero waste goal. Will the island make it?

Listen to The Climate Question’s look at the island’s quest to go carbon neutral here: BBC World Service - The Climate Question, Going carbon neutral - lessons from Denmark - www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct5bkg (Available from 3rd September)

Presenters: Caroline Steel and Graihagh Jackson Producer: Sophie Eastaugh Editor: Richard Collings Production Coordinator: Jonathan Harris

(Image: Dr David Christensen, Project Manager at BOFA, Bornholm’s waste authority with presenter Caroline Steel in front of a giant mound of waste bound for the island’s incinerator. The incinerator will be shut down in 2032 when the island aims to be zero waste. Credit: Sophie Eastaugh)

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Focus on Africa - South Africa fire: What are Johannesburg’s hijacked buildings?

Many buildings in the centre of the South African city of Johannesburg, where a horrific fire has killed more than 70 people, are deemed unfit to live in. Yet these old blocks, abandoned by their owners or the city authorities, are full of families often paying rent to criminal gangs who run them. The buildings, which lack running water, toilets or a legal electricity connection, are then said to have been "hijacked". We find out what this means. A private plane found with more than $5m in cash, fake gold, guns and ammunition on board, is at the centre of a deepening investigation in the Zambian capital, Lusaka. The African Climate Summit will take place in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi next week, featuring speakers from Kenya’s government, the African Union and the United Nations. Will the event be just hot air or will it provide a solid plan of action?

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World Book Club - Audrey Niffenegger: The Time Traveler’s Wife

American writer and visual artist Audrey Niffenegger talks about her bestselling novel The Time Traveler’s Wife - a magical love story with a twist.

Funny, quirky, and occasionally heartbreaking, this is the story of a relationship lived in the moment – even if those moments are all in the wrong order.

Clare and Henry met when Clare was six and Henry was thirty-six, and were married when she was twenty-two and he was thirty. Because Henry is a time traveller. He suffers from a rare genetic condition that means he can be pulled forwards or backwards through time at any moment, without his control.

Against this backdrop, Clare and Henry build a deep and passionate relationship that spans Clare’s whole life and most of Henry’s – all while trying to live a normal life. But unlike most couples, they know how it will end from very early on. Audrey Niffenegger explores the depths of love and trust and inevitable grief and loss through her unusual and moving novel.

(Picture: Audrey Niffenegger. Photo credit: Dennis Hearne, courtesy MacAdam/Cage.)

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Science In Action - Drowning coastal ecosystems

Global sea levels are rising more than 3mm per year under current climate conditions. At this rate we are due to hit an alarming 7mm rise per year by the end of the century. If this is not slowed, it could lead to the drowning of essential coastal ecosystems like mangroves and lagoons, professor of environmental science Neil Saintilan tells Science in Action.

The seas are also heating up. We’ve covered the devastating effect of marine heatwaves on vibrant sea life like coral reefs before. But what about the less glamourous bottom-dwelling fish? Ecologist Alexa Fredston has found that they may be more robust than we think.

Also this week, bird virus expert Michelle Wille tells us about the imminent threat of bird flu spreading from South America to Antarctica where hundreds of thousands of sea birds are at risk.

And from one south pole to another, we have an update on how India’s mission on the lunar south pole is going with Lunar and Planetary Institute scientist David Kring.

Image Credit: Marie Hickman

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Ella Hubber Editor: Richard Collings

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Focus on Africa - Climate change: 15 truck drivers die on Egypt-Sudan border

At least 15 truck drivers stuck on the Egypt-Sudan border have recently died from heat stroke.  Hundreds have been stuck at the border due to bureaucratic red tape causing congestion

What are the medium and long term implications of the coup in Gabon?

Plus we meet Koyo Kouoh, the woman in charge of the biggest museum of contemporary art in Africa.

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Focus on Africa - Climate change: 15 truck drivers die on Egypt-Sudan border

At least 15 truck drivers stuck on the Egypt-Sudan border have recently died from heat stroke.  Hundreds have been stuck at the border due to bureaucratic red tape causing congestion

What are the medium and long term implications of the coup in Gabon?

Plus we meet Koyo Kouoh, the woman in charge of the biggest museum of contemporary art in Africa.

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Unexpected Elements - Protecting the Moon

India's successful moon landing has the Unexpected Elements team engaging in some serious lunacy. We look at where the moon even came from, how it helps us navigate, and whether it has a cultural and ecological heritage.

Also on the show, is Dr. TikTok leading to a raft of self-diagnoses, should we be eating banana peels and worms, and we go back to the moon to see if it has any effect on our sleep.

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Focus on Africa - Sierra Leone considers health emergency over illegal drug Kush

Sierra Leone is grappling with a serious substance crisis. A cheap and illegal synthetic drug known as Kush that is wreaking havoc among the youth.

Around 500 schools have been shutdown in Cameroon. Will they open in time for the new school year?

Plus what's life like as the great granddaughter of Emperor Haile Selassie?

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Good Bad Billionaire - Jeff Bezos: Get big fast

How did Amazon boss Jeff Bezos become the first person worth over $100 billion? BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng tell the story, from zero to his first million, and then on to the billions. Then they judge him - is he good, bad, or just another billionaire?

In the podcast that uncovers how the world's 2,668 billionaires made their money and asks if they are good or bad for the planet, Simon and Zing discuss a man who has climbed to the very top of the world's richest person lists. Find out what drove a boy born Jeffrey Jorgensen in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1964 to found one of the biggest corporations of the internet age and change the way the world shops.

We’d love to hear your feedback. Email goodbadbillionaire@bbc.com or drop us a text or WhatsApp to +1 (917) 686-1176.

To find out more about the show and read our privacy notice, visit www.bbcworldservice.com/goodbadbillionaire