[Please do no contact the news team of Inspir’Action! We’re not owners nor reseller of Brikawood. See contact details below.] … More
The Plastic Road project in the Netherlands gives new life to plastic waste, while, at the same time, avoiding millions … More
Good news, on the environment, is scarce. For the first time, a group of English and American scientists succeeded in … More
Good news, on the environment, is scarce. For the first time, a group of English and American scientists succeeded in … More
[Please do no contact the news team of Inspir’Action! We’re not owners nor reseller of Brikawood. See contact details below.] … More
The Plastic Road project in the Netherlands gives new life to plastic waste, while, at the same time, avoiding millions … More
Good news, on the environment, is scarce. For the first time, a group of English and American scientists succeeded in … More
[Please do no contact the news team of Inspir’Action! We’re not owners nor reseller of Brikawood. See contact details below.] … More
The Plastic Road project in the Netherlands gives new life to plastic waste, while, at the same time, avoiding millions … More
Good news, on the environment, is scarce. For the first time, a group of English and American scientists succeeded in … More
A local community capable of producing its own food and its own energy? Many of us dream about it. For … More
In order to make your fastest meals come together with eco-responsibility, German company Leaf Republic has devised a biodegradable alternative … More
At the beginning of the previous century, around 1925, consumers were buying food at the grocery’s store or butcher’s with their own containers. We are currently witnessing a return to these practices with Montreal’s zero-waste grocery stores. (Article inspired from Le Devoir, published on November 7, 2016)
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US $ 300,000 financing have been earmarked by Thread PBC International Ltd., Timberland, Hewlett Packard (HP) Inc. and the Clinton Global Initiative to provide services, health care, education and vocational training to 300 waste collectors in Haiti, including 200 children. The multinationals will use the collected plastics in the manufacture of their products. Read more
In the United Kingdom, 7 million coffee cups are being thrown away a day. Even when they are disposed in recycling bins, less than 1% of these cups are recycled. Chef-turned-waste-activist Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall from environment charity Hubbub decided to take the bull by the horns and launched the #1MoreShot campaign in Manchester. Read more
It all started with the petition “Stop food waste” in Hauts de Seine in France. Gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures, it grew into a striking lobby at breakneck speed. And today, this national movement has given France the ultimate international recognizance as being the first country to ban food waste by strengthening its legal framework.
Annually, each French household throws an average of 20 to 30 kg of food, according to the report entitled “The fight against food waste: proposals for public policy” submitted by Guillaume Garot, deputy PS of Mayenne and former minister of Agro Industry and Food Security. What was pinpointed is the fact that a third of these products was never even unpacked. The new law against food waste, adopted in February 2016, came to slow down this trend.
Voted unanimously, the new legislation aims at reducing food waste in supermarkets. The latter can therefore no longer throw food or make products unfit for consumption. Bleaching unsold food and garbage bins was, in fact, a common practice adopted by supermarkets to prevent homeless people or other individuals from taking away these food products.
Under these new laws, supermarkets that extend over 400m2 are required to donate edible unsold food to charities with which they will have to sign a formal agreement. The large supermarkets have a year ahead of them to review their system, counting from the date of the enactment of the law.
They now find themselves bounded to exercise better management of food supply and to review how consumers are informed about commodities, especially those which are going to be expired soon
So that it is respected as it should be, the law also makes provision for sanctions against distributors of foodstuffs who will continue to deliberately destroy edible food. In cases where these items are not edible for humans, it is proposed that the products can be recovered and converted into animal feed or into compost.
This legislation will also ensure that “10 million French eat to their heart’s content,” according to Arash Derambarsh, Municipal Councillor of Republicans of Courbevoie (Hauts-de-Seine) who launched the petition “Stop food waste.” He sought the support of President Francois Hollande and his approach has proved fruitful. The petition was presented and acclaimed at the Parliament; the law itself has been promulgated on 11 February 2016.
This new legal framework is a big step in the fight against food waste. It furthermore announces the setting up of a structure targeting the integration a well-defined program on food waste in the curriculum of the country. The objective behind is to push children to learn, from an early age, to become environmentally responsible. It also aims at encouraging companies to include measures taken against food waste in their social and environmental performance.
While the Rio Olympics and Paralympic Games have just ended, all eyes are now turning to Japan. The land of the rising sun, who will host the next Summer Games in 2020, is already working hard to organize this great sports festival. Among the many practical challenges, is that of the manufacture of gold, silver and bronze medals that victorious athletes will proudly wear after the events. A challenge that may seem trivial but which is no less capital.
“The first time my friends saw me rummaging through a trash can, they thought I was going crazy, recalls Robert Tedonfo. They ran to tell my aunt to check with her own eyes.” Patiently, the young man, aged 26, will attempt to explain what it does: collect packaging and plastic bottles in the trash of Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, to make “green” paving stones, useful for the construction of roads and houses. Read more
Thirteen years back, San Francisco set a revolutionary goal: recycle 100% of its waste by 2020. With four years to go, this city of 850,000 souls is not far off the feat. It has given itself the means … and it pays a lot of money! Read more
What do we do to reduce our ecological footprint? More and more conscientious people around the world are asking this question. In order to conserve our planet, ordinary citizens are joining an ecological movement known as Zero Waste internationally. Read more
“Pee for science” is the name of the operation that led to Ghent University researchers to collect more than 1 000 liters of urine which they have transformed into drinking water, then into beer and fertilizers for developing countries. (Article from We Demain, 1 August 2016)
Can we let the planet turn slowly into a dumping ground? No! Elisabeth Tricot and Nicolas Gluzman proclaimed. These citizens from Lausanne in Switzerland have decided it is time to take action. (Article from 24 Heures, on 24 July 2016) Read more
