Julia Hailes MBE

Sustainability Pioneer

M&S Packaging fact sheets for consumers (Dec08)

Public concern about over-packaging so often misses the point that we should be looking at how to reduce the environmental impact of producing, distributing, storing, selling and consuming food, rather than the amount of packaging waste we have to throw away. Consider the fact that overall the carbon emissions from wasted packaging is one tenth […]

Biodegradable is not my bag (May08)

Chuck away plastic and it lasts forever. That doesn’t sound great, particularly for things that are only useful for hours at best – seconds at worst. And if that plastic ends up littering the hedgerows or floating around in the oceans it’s not only an eyesore but can be damaging to wildlife too. So, many […]

Carrier bags – Fact sheet and video – (Apr08)

M&S took a lead in charging for carrier bags and have subsequently reduced the amount handed out by a staggering 80%.  My view is that this is a good initiative but that the issue of carrier bags has been given far too much attention, given the relatively small impact they have. Early in 2008 I […]

M&S Plan A – 1 year on (Jan08)

One year ago I went to the launch of Mark’s & Spencer’s Plan A initiative – and last week I went to hear how it was progressing. M&S say that it’s Plan A because there is no Plan B.  And they do seem committed.  Stuart Rose ruefully forecast a difficult year for the store but […]

Food Advice (Oct07)

In 2007 I was asked by M&S to help them in developing their food strategy, thinking creatively about what innovations they might consider.   Clearly, sustainability issues relating to food are becoming increasingly important.  And, as M&S says, they may need to think the unthinkable.  Topics covered included climate change and food crops, vegetarianism, local sourcing, wild […]

Sunny day in London (May07)

Unusually I didn’t have meetings in the morning, so I headed for the Lido on the Serpentine. Delicious ‘pain au chocolat’ and not such a delicious organic orange juice for breakfast, whilst reading Rosie Boycott’s Our Farm, published earlier this month. A man approached me saying something about the child he was carrying not being […]

Marks & Spencer (Mar07)

I first started working with Marks & Spencer in 2002 when I was commissioned to do a report on sustainability issues relating to the food sector.  The brief was to look at the broad drivers for change, to prioritise the key issues affecting food, identify the key organisations shaping the debate and make recommendations on […]

Report on sustainability issues in the food sector (Jan02)

  I first started working with Marks & Spencer in 2002 when I was commissioned to do a report on sustainability issues relating to the food sector.  The brief was to look at the broad drivers for change, to prioritise the key issues affecting food, identify the key organisations shaping the debate and make recommendations […]