As the bottled water market grows, it is more important than ever to strengthen legislation that regulates the industry and its water quality standards. Such legislation can impact bottled water quality control, groundwater exploitation, land use, plastic waste management, carbon emissions, finance and transparency obligations, to mention a few. Zeineb Bouhlel and Vladimir Smakhtin from … Continue reading “The highly profitable and fast-growing bottled water industry is masking the failure of public systems to supply reliable drinking water for all”
Category: consumers
Is “de-growth” the way forward to address climate change?
Timothée Parrique, Researcher in Ecological Economics at Lund University writes on The Conversation website about a new report by Kohei Saito arguing that “degrowth communism” could halt the escalating climate emergency. EiD looks forward to the comments of readers. Economic growth is fuelling climate change – a new book proposes ‘degrowth communism’ as the … Continue reading Is “de-growth” the way forward to address climate change?
New EEA briefing on how to handle discarded textiles in Europe
Discarded textiles in Europe, including used clothing and footwear, are an increasing waste and export problem. Rapidly increasing EU exports of used textiles — some of which is reused and some of which ends up in landfills — show that Europe faces a challenge in how to handle its own used textiles, according to a … Continue reading New EEA briefing on how to handle discarded textiles in Europe
Britain’s winter fuel support failing to tack high levels of fuel poverty
The billions paid out to pensioner households each winter in Britain are failing to tackle rising levels of fuel poverty, writes Andrew Warren, chair of the British Energy Efficiency Federation, on the BUSINESS GREEN website. This is an important message for all countries addressing fuel poverty. More quantitative easing than fuel poverty alleviation: The … Continue reading Britain’s winter fuel support failing to tack high levels of fuel poverty
New EEA assessment on secondary raw material markets in Europe
Europe’s ambitions for a circular economy require the timely provision of good-quality recycled raw materials to manufacturers. However, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) assessment published this week, from the eight most common recyclables, only aluminium, paper and glass have well-functioning secondary markets. Lack of standardisation and competition with new materials are among the … Continue reading New EEA assessment on secondary raw material markets in Europe
Wood burning in homes produces more small particle pollution than all road traffic in the UK
Wood burning has increased in popularity over recent years, yet it remains a major source of air pollution. Damian Carrington has written several articles in The Guardian on the subject but this piece from February highlights the issues. EiD notes that in our neighbourhood of Paris (including several in our building), many are still having … Continue reading Wood burning in homes produces more small particle pollution than all road traffic in the UK
Understanding the carbon footprint of coffee consumption
Luciano Rodrigues Viana, Charles Marty, Jean-François Boucher and Pierre-Luc Dessureault, all of the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC) write on The Conversation website about better understanding the carbon footprint of coffee. They decided to study the carbon footprint of several techniques used to prepare coffee at home, and it turns out that coffee capsules … Continue reading Understanding the carbon footprint of coffee consumption
The future of climate-friendly travel
Travel allows us to explore other cultures, but it's also harmful for the environment. Can changing your mode of transportation make a difference? Lisa Stüve discusses the issue in an article on the Deutsche Welle website. How bad for the environment is traveling? Recent summers have brought about seemingly more extreme weather events, while … Continue reading The future of climate-friendly travel
Our climate and energy transition: when people speak up and work together, they can spur powerful changes
Adam Aron, Professor of Psychology at the University of California, San Diego writes on The Conversation website about the results from his recent books that explains three reasons why local action addressing climate change is more powerful than many people realise. 3 reasons local climate activism is more powerful than people realize Global warming has … Continue reading Our climate and energy transition: when people speak up and work together, they can spur powerful changes
New EEA briefing on impact of plastic packaging
Plastics are used across Europe in everything from construction materials to consumer products. Recent policy actions on plastic packaging at EU and national level have established collection schemes and introduced waste prevention measures. However, according to a European Environment Agency (EEA) briefing, published this week, a significant fraction of Europe’s total plastic consumption is outside … Continue reading New EEA briefing on impact of plastic packaging
Energy in Demand - Sustainable Energy - Rod Janssen 