Tag: Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth, Keep Britain Tidy and City to Sea urge Government to set concrete targets to tackle plastic pollution

Stuart Mitchell

Friends of the Earth, Keep Britain Tidy and City to Sea have joined forces to urge the Government to set legally binding targets to reduce plastic pollution. The call comes in an open letter to Environment Secretary George Eustice MP published today that describes the piecemeal banning of plastic straws and cutlery as the just “first steps” towards tackling plastic pollution. The letter comes as the Defra consultation for banning some of the most polluting single-use plastic items, such as cutlery, plates and polystyrene containers, closes. In the letter, the…

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Global movement unites to tackle plastic pollution, urging governments and brands to put reuse at the heart of recovery plans

Stuart Mitchell

Global environmental NGOs including Friends of the Earth, City to Sea and Break Free From Plastic are joining forces to call on businesses, governments and individuals to put reuse and refill at the centre of their efforts to tackle plastic pollution.  The urgent call came on World Refill Day (16th June) to highlight the fact that despite an increase in public awareness over recent years, plastic pollution remains a growing environmental problem. Exclusive analysis released by City to Sea of data from Reloop, shows that currently Europe burns, landfills and litters over 50 billion single-use beverage containers a year, the majority of which are plastic. But significantly the analysis suggests that with…

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World Water Day: Action urged on plastic water bottles

Stuart Mitchell

City to Sea and Friends of the Earth are marking World Water Day today by urging politicians, companies and the public to help reduce plastic pollution caused by the billions of single-use plastic water bottles used in the UK every year. • Around 14 billion plastic bottles were estimated to be used in the UK in 2018.• Billions of these are plastic water bottles – 7.7 billion it was estimated in 2017. • Every single day, it’s been estimated that around 16 million plastic bottles in the UK are not recycled,…

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#LetBristolBreathe: campaign groups call for clean air with new street art in the city

Stuart Mitchell

Friends of the Earth, People’s Republic of Stokes Croft and Medact call for a clean-up of Bristol’s toxic air with the  launch of a series of street artworks. The campaign will see further air pollution artworks unveiled as the Global Parliament of Mayors Annual Summit takes place in Bristol from 21-23 October 2018. The artwork on Jamaica Street, in Stokes Croft, depicts Bristolians breathing clouds of pollution with the words “Marvin, #LetBristolBreathe” along with facts about the health implications of polluted air. Friends of the Earth is calling on the…

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World’s first floating wind farm has started production

Stuart Mitchell

Hywind Scotland, the first floating wind farm in the world, has started to deliver electricity to the Scottish grid. The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, has officially opened the wind farm. The 30MW wind farm, operated by Statoil in partnership with Masdar, is located 25 kilometers offshore Peterhead in Aberdeenshire, Scotland and will power approximately 20,000 households.“Hywind can be used for water depths up to 800 meters, thus opening up areas that so far have been inaccessible for offshore wind. The learnings from Hywind Scotland will pave the way…

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