Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Some important stuff from Carl...
Carl has blogged recently on some points of interest:
- an article on The Independent's campaign for less packaging
- and an article on a food critic who will mark down restaurants offering mineral water before they offer tap water
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Marks and Spencer
M&S announced yesterday their 5 year plan to become
This takes the form of 100 points that can be readily monitored. The initiatives will cost £200m over five years not including any advertising costs when the campaign is launched in March.
It's called Plan A because there is no Plan B. These are the endorsements that accompany the press release:
Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future, who has advised M&S on "Plan A", said:
"This plan sets a new benchmark in the way businesses should be tackling critical sustainability challenges like waste, fairtrade and climate change. It raises the bar for everyone else - not just retailers, but businesses in every sector. We all know that even at the end of these 5 years there will still be a huge amount for M&S to do but we warmly welcome the scale of the ambition of this plan in particular the commitment to include customers and suppliers."
Blake Lee-Harwood, Campaign Director, Greenpeace UK said:
"We're glad a company like M&S has proposals that begin to match the scale of the challenge of climate change and protecting our oceans and forests. If every retailer in Britain followed Marks & Spencer's lead it would be a major step forward in meeting the challenge of creating a sustainable society."
Robert Napier, Chief Executive, WWF-UK said:
"Research clearly shows us that agricultural activities and other food production and distribution have some of the greatest impacts upon our environment. It is vital that we all find ways to achieve a One Planet lifestyle. Such bold aspirations as outlined by Marks & Spencer can only help drive other supermarkets and the retail sector towards supplying products in a way that protects our planet and sustains the natural resources we depend upon."
Plan A includes many commitments based around 5 areas:
a carbon neutral, zero-waste-to-landfill, ethical-trading, sustainable-sourcing, health-promoting business
This takes the form of 100 points that can be readily monitored. The initiatives will cost £200m over five years not including any advertising costs when the campaign is launched in March.
It's called Plan A because there is no Plan B. These are the endorsements that accompany the press release:
Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future, who has advised M&S on "Plan A", said:
"This plan sets a new benchmark in the way businesses should be tackling critical sustainability challenges like waste, fairtrade and climate change. It raises the bar for everyone else - not just retailers, but businesses in every sector. We all know that even at the end of these 5 years there will still be a huge amount for M&S to do but we warmly welcome the scale of the ambition of this plan in particular the commitment to include customers and suppliers."
Blake Lee-Harwood, Campaign Director, Greenpeace UK said:
"We're glad a company like M&S has proposals that begin to match the scale of the challenge of climate change and protecting our oceans and forests. If every retailer in Britain followed Marks & Spencer's lead it would be a major step forward in meeting the challenge of creating a sustainable society."
Robert Napier, Chief Executive, WWF-UK said:
"Research clearly shows us that agricultural activities and other food production and distribution have some of the greatest impacts upon our environment. It is vital that we all find ways to achieve a One Planet lifestyle. Such bold aspirations as outlined by Marks & Spencer can only help drive other supermarkets and the retail sector towards supplying products in a way that protects our planet and sustains the natural resources we depend upon."
Plan A includes many commitments based around 5 areas:
- climate change
- waste
- raw materials
- fair partner
- healthy eating
Monday, January 15, 2007
"Green" magazine cat fight
I have a magazine called Triangle that gets delivered to my home every month which professes to be "the only environmentally friendly magazine" in the region. In this month's edition someone takes them to task on that claim by drawing our attention to Echo Eco which has been around for considerably longer than Triangle. It started to get a bit ugly as one accuses the other of lying and the other discredits the inks and printing processes of the former.
In my mind however, anything that results in an end product cannot really be called "green". Even if the inks are vegetable based, even if the paper is recycled, it is still a product that requires energy and resources to produce.
Stop your bickering Triangle and realise that nothing you're saying or producing is ground breaking. Get off your moral high horse and reconsider whether the 10,000 homes and businesses that you deliver to NEED the information that you give. It strikes me that you are just another form of junk mail: unrequested and unsolicited. You ultimately end up in the (recycling) bin.
What do you think?
In my mind however, anything that results in an end product cannot really be called "green". Even if the inks are vegetable based, even if the paper is recycled, it is still a product that requires energy and resources to produce.
Stop your bickering Triangle and realise that nothing you're saying or producing is ground breaking. Get off your moral high horse and reconsider whether the 10,000 homes and businesses that you deliver to NEED the information that you give. It strikes me that you are just another form of junk mail: unrequested and unsolicited. You ultimately end up in the (recycling) bin.
What do you think?
