Chilling Facts about supermarket refrigeration and cooling systems (Mar11)
The Environmental Investigation Agency’s (EIA) Chilling Facts campaign began in 2008. Since then – it’s now in its third year – we have seen significant progress by UK supermarkets in reducing the global warming impact of their refrigeration and cooling systems. I helped to get the campaign up and running and have been a judge ever […]
Shops aren’t closing doors (Feb11)
I went into Jessops in Yeovil on a cold winter evening. The door of the shop was open and the hot air was being pumped out into the street. They’re not alone. When I looked up and down the precinct I realised that there were more shops with their doors open than closed. […]
M&S Introduces Marc Bolland (Jun10)
Marc Bolland’s move from CEO of Morrisons to M&S has been widely publicised. Less well know is what stance he plans to take on M&S‘s Plan A initiative. The breakfast event hosted by M&S at the end of June was well attended. Most of the questions were directed at Stuart Rose but I managed to […]
Judging M&S your green idea competition (May10)
The £100,000 winning prize will need to be spent on greening an organisation of your choice, such as a school or a charity. The Your Green Idea competition was launched alongside M&S‘s announcement that it aims to become the world’s most sustainable retailer by 2015. I’ve been asked to be a judge alongside M&S Chairman, Sir Stuart […]
M&S listening to underwear concerns! (Mar10)
Mike Barry – Head of Sustainable Business at M&S I buy most of my underwear from M&S. You won’t be surprised to hear that this winter I’ve bought some thermals! Reading the pack I was surprised to see the following instructions – ‘It’s easy to look after too – just put it in the […]
The Environmental Investigation Agency – Fighting Eco-Crime (Mar10)
I’ve been made a lifetime member of the Environmental Investigation Agency or EIA for short. I think this campaigning organisation fighting eco-crime should be getting more attention. Founded in 1984, the EIA is rather unique in its approach to campaigns. Whether it’s illegal logging, smuggling ozone-destroying chemicals or trading in endangered species, they have under-cover […]
M&S Suppliers Conference on Plan A (Mar10)
M&S suppliers came to be briefed on the M&S‘s groundbreaking Plan A initiative. Sir Stuart Rose announced that M&S planned to be the world’s most sustainable retailer by 2015. I was asked to talk to packaging suppliers about key issues for them. One particular them I covered in my presentation was the switch in emphasis […]
M&S Food (Feb10)
“Thank you for all of your challenges and great ideas that have helped us develop our strategy to 2020.” Helene Roberts, Head of Packaging, Food Division (Feb10)
Chilling Facts Campaign on Supermarket Refrigeration (Feb 10)
Launched on 1st February, 2010, the second Chilling Facts survey has been very successful in drawing attention to the huge impact of supermarket refrigeration on climate change. I’ve been working with the Environmental Investigation Agency on their campaign to get the supermarkets to switch to climate-friendly refrigeration gases. We ranked the retailers on their performance and gave them detailed […]
Chilling Facts II The supermarket refrigeration scandal continues (Feb10)
Did you know that as much as one third of the carbon footprint of most supermarkets comes from cooling gases used in their refrigeration systems? And the energy used is on top. See Chilling Facts Campaign from the Environmental Investigation Agency The Co-operative Group’s green and ethical credentials are called into question in this […]
BBC 3 Counties Radio – plastic bag rant from presenter (Jan10)
Jonathan Vernon Smith from BBC 3 Counties Radio rants to Julia about why he doesn’t thing people should be charged for plastic bags. Julia gives a robust response and explains that he shouldn’t be complaining about something so trivial. [embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4C0WkuoiZs&&width=200&height=125[/embedyt]
Food Innovation (Sep09)
The Food Ethics Council Business Forum meeting focussed on radical innovation. I was chairing the session with a presentation from Sander Mager, Programme Manager at the groundbreaking Dutch technology incubator TransForum – a quango supporting projects ranging from closed-loop farming to producer-managed supermarkets.