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 […]
Why do we all hate plastic bags?(Feb08)
“Why do we all hate plastic bags?” I ask in The New Green Consumer Guide. Now, the headlines are screaming about their horrors and the campaign to ban them seems to be endorsed by every living celebrity. You might think the answer is obvious. Plastic bags are produced in their billions, litter the countryside, pollute […]
Bottled Water – Eau No! (Feb08)
“I’ve been drinking bottled water for 30 years and I’ll go on doing it until the day I die” said one caller to the Radio 5 phone-in I was participating in. The debate was supposed to be about whether it is immoral to drink bottled water. Actually, most of the callers were more concerned with […]
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 […]
Whole foods (Oct07)
A few years ago I went to a Whole Foods store in New York. This week I visited the London Whole Foods Market, situated on the old Barkers site in Kensington High Street. Rather like a trip to French street markets, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘Why don’t more shops make food […]
Waste disposal is not for seagulls (Jun07)
I love the Brighton buses. Every stop has a sign telling you how long it is before your bus arrives. I also rather liked the sound of seagulls when I woke in the morning a stone’s throw from Brighton beach. But I discovered that residents are not so keen. I had thought that bird-related complaints […]
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 […]