Eco News Round-Up May 2021
ASDA starts selling preloved secondhand clothes.
ASDA is rolling out a preloved clothing section at 50 of its UK stores. Retailing under the PVW (Preloved Vintage Wholesale) brand name, the second-hand clothes will be available in stores in London, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Brighton, among others. As fast fashion brands have taken over the clothing market, without seasonal collections and promoted through fashion hauls, our relationship with fashion has changed. By supermarkets promoting re-use, re-loving, re-wearing of fashion, this opens up the marketplace for all. Thrifting now doesn’t mean you have to go to a vintage store, this convenience means every person has the opportunity to shop secondhand.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56916414
France To Permanently Ban Many Short-Haul Flights
The French Government has banned short-haul internal flights when rail alternatives could cover the journey in two-and-a-half hours or less. The decision was made in the French Parliament on 10 April, will only apply to a handful of routes, such as those between Paris and Nantes, and Lyon and Bordeaux. In this way, carbon emissions will be reduced. The Citizens’ Convention for Climate, set up by President Emmanuel Macron in 2019, and included 150 members of the public had originally recommended the abolition of all flights between French destinations where an alternative direct train journey of less than four hours existed. This was later reduced to two-and-a-half hours.
Australia Will Invest $100 Million to Save Its Oceans
Australia just announced an ambitious $100 million investment aimed to protect the world’s oceans. This plan will focus on protecting and restoring Australian Marine Parks, expanding Indigenous protected areas, and protecting threatened marine species. It will also go beyond Australia and assist developing countries to restore and protect their coastal ecosystems. This investment comes in addition to the Australian government’s recent $1.1 billion pledge to develop low emissions technologies, as well as carbon capture and storage. We are thrilled by the example Australia is setting. Now we just need the rest of the world to follow suit!
Netflix Targets Net-Zero Carbon Footprint by End of 2022
Netflix has announced its three-step plan to hit net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the end of 2022, with a big part of the streaming giant’s efforts aimed at operating more eco-friendly film and TV productions. The three-step “Net Zero + Nature” plan includes; reducing internal emissions and retaining existing carbon storage. This would be achieved by investing in carbon capture projects, beginning with conserving at-risk natural areas like tropical forests. Lastly, they plan to remove carbon from the atmosphere by restoring grasslands, mangroves, and healthy soils, capture and store carbon.
Deposit return recycling scheme in England
The UK government have announced a Deposit Return Scheme will be introduced. The scheme is for drink containers where consumers are encouraged to take their containers back to retailers (usually for money to spend at the store). These bottles are then recycled. It’s a key way to encourage those who don’t usually recycle to join the bandwagon. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has also announced that they will be introducing a polluter-pays type scheme called the Extended Producer Responsibility for packaging. This means that manufacturers will pay the full costs of managing and recycling their packaging waste, with higher fees if the packaging is harder to reuse or recycle.
Sources:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs