You’re busy, we get it. Here’s everything essential that you may have missed from the last week’s environmental news.
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1. Co-Op and Iceland back bottle deposit schemes
The two supermarkets were the first in the UK to come out in favour of a mandatory bottle deposit return scheme [DRS], after responding to a survey carried out by Greenpeace.
This comes in the wake of the government seeking industry views on implementing such an idea.
“This cannot carry on… deposit return schemes work. In Norway theirs has led to 96% of all bottles being returned, with similar results in other countries that have adopted a DRS. Britain urgently needs to do the same,” Richard Walker, director of sustainability for Iceland, told the Guardian.
Read more here.
2. Research has found that oceans failing to absorb heat will lead to drastic global temperature increases
Research carried out by the experts behind documentary ‘Chasing Coral’ have warned that if our oceans become unable to absorb heat from polluting greenhouse gases, the average temperature on land could rise as high as 50°C.
Read more here.
3. The Mayor of London has a plan to cut down plastic bottle waste
Sadiq Khan has confirmed plans to roll out new water fountains and bottle-refill stations across London. The move should help to cut down on the volume of plastic bottles bought in the capital every day.
Read more here.
4. The UN is in talks about a ‘zero tolerance’ treaty to halt plastic pollution
Due to the threat posed by the plastic pollution of the oceans, experts are encouraging a global treaty that bans plastics flooding into the sea from the land. This is due to be discussed at a UN environmental summit.
Read more here.
5. Thirty-one per cent of Republican voters believe that humans are to blame for climate change
According to a new eight year study looking into the opinions of people who identify with the USA’s two major political parties, a relatively low amount of Republican voters believe that human activity is responsible for the rise in global temperatures.
Eighty-two per cent of Democrats, on the other hand, reckon that human activity is primarily to blame.
Read more here.