The Not so Weekly Edit
One week after World Environment day we have focused our Edit on all things concerning Mother Earth. With a special focus on Beating our Plastic addiction. We still can't shake off the image of a whale found with 17 pounds of plastics in her stomach. In an era charged with ethical, technological and environmental concerns, we must reshape how we use, make and re-use. Here are some recent facts we came across in our research.
TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY | Researcher and PhD student Vijay Kumar has developed the first traceable tag twisted into textile yarn which would provide an unprecedented level of transparency to the supply chain. The tag would become a part of the fabric/garment and would provide insights into how the garment was manufactured, further pushing accountability.
ENVIRONMENTAL DATA | What our Take out coffee habit does to the planet according to Quartz.
2.5 billion: Coffee cups are used in the UK every year
2 million: Coffee cups sent to landfill in Ireland every day
26 million: Tonnes of plastic waste generated in Europe every year, only 30% of which is recycled
25 pence: Amount taxed on every disposable coffee cup used, as proposed in the UK discussion of a “latte levy” in January 2018
400: Number of times Germany’s “Freiburg Cup” can be re-used. It’s provided by councils to around 80 venues across the state of Baden-Württemberg, for the cost of a €1 deposit.
Additional facts we gathered outside of Quartz:
- The main problem with paper coffee cups is that the inner layer coating is not recyclable therefore they end up in a landfill.
- If we all switched to reusable cups we would divert 500 billion take-away coffee cups from landfills every year
- Currently at retail as seen in our recent retail safari in London, a number of fun, attractive reusable cup options are available. For those based in london, Selfridges is offering a variety of reusable water bottles and coffee cups.
If you're ready to stop throwing that coffee every day and to beat plastic pollution, here is a list of options suggested by the Telegraph.
FASHION | Customizable and re-usable eyewear (as well as clothing if we might add) is the future as shown in activist and model Lily Cole's new venture Wire Glasses. The environmentalist and fashion savvy brand offers interchangeable frames and lenses and recently received an additional round of funding.
ACTIVISM | If you don't know what Earth Overshoot Day is, it marks the date when humans have used more from nature than our planet can renew in the entire year. Currently we are using 1.7 Earths, using more ecological resources and services than nature can regenerate. Earth Overshoot Day lands August 1st this year. Explore Solutions here with the Global Footprint Network.
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