The U.K. government plans to prohibit the sale of plastic straws, stirrers, and plastic-stemmed cotton buds this year in a bid to cut plastic waste, Theresa May has announced. May credited the British public with showing *passion and energy embracing our plastic bag charge and microbead ban” and labelled the U.K. as a “world leader” on talking plastic waste. May’s …
P&G announce Environmentally Sustainable Goals for 2030
Today, The Proctor & Gamble (P&G) have become the latest large multinational company to announce new environmentally sustainable goals. This comes after McDonald’s released their intentions to remove straws from their restaurants last week. After announcing that they have already reached many of its 2020 environmental sustainability goals, they have now established new, broad-reaching goals for 2030, called “Ambition 2030, aiming …
Why Some Big Companies Are Moving Towards Zero Waste, Despite Extra Costs.
After McDonalds announced that they are phasing out plastic straws from their restaurants, we take a look at what effect this could have on other businesses and society, Unilever’s contribution to sustainability, and why businesses are finally switching to zero waste. Although the plastics industry maintains that its products are safe after many years of testing, there is evidence to …
How Bea Johnson transformed the Zero Waste movement
Almost a decade ago. Bea Johnson and her family in California set out to live a zero waste lifestyle. Bea and her husband realised after moving homes and placing most of their belongings into storage, that almost 80% of their possessions weren’t needed or missed at all by the family. From this point on, Bea and her family lived a …
The story of the Zero Waste Movement
The term zero waste was first used in the 1970’s by Paul Palmer, a chemist who’s company Zero Waste Systems was established to reduce the amount of chemical waste in laboratories across the United States. Following his initial success, Palmer created the Zero Waste Institute. The institute shifted focus from the electronic world into general waste management. As emphasis shifted …
Starbucks, are they doing enough?
Coffee on the go has become a common part of so many of our lives. Coffee has always been a popular breakfast drink but now, consumers are getting their caffeine hits at any time and through a variety of coffee based drinks. Nobody has capitalised on this new phenomenon more than it’s innovator, Starbucks. The Seattle based coffee chain has …
10 Tips for Going Zero Waste
Trying to live a zero waste lifestyle can be tough. The convenience culture we live in has made it extremely easy to produce and dispose of waste. Unfortunately, our planet has suffered from centuries of poor waste management. Starting your zero waste journey may seem daunting and close to impossible at first but by following some easy first steps you …
The Journey of your Waste
As a society, we have come a long way in terms of recycling and the redistribution of our waste products. Recycling has become an essential part of every household, recycling schemes are state sponsored and children are taught at a young age what we should recycle and how not to damage the environment. However, we still have a long way …
Minimalism V.S. Zero Waste
Minimalism is a movement which shifts focus from material possessions and encourages us to embrace what we all need and what we should value above all else. In its essence, minimalism is the decluttering of your life. It is the removal of material possessions, the removal of excess clothes, gadgets, electronics, furniture and all the other aspects of our lives …
Why is Elon Musk so important?
With the news that President Donald Trump’s administration is to pull the United States out of the the Paris Climate agreement, one of Trump’s senior advisors decided to leave his role. That man is Elon Musk, the creator and mastermind behind PayPal, SpaceX, Tesla and SolarCity. As one of the most important figures in the field of technology and engineering …