There’s another kerfuffle about getting rid of plastic bags, since one of the government’s waste advisers has suggested that government plans to ban plastic bags, or charge for them, are a diversion from more pressing environmental issues. While it is true that plastic bags represent only a small amount of waste, or of oil use, [...]
I blogged earlier this year on the toy industry and Chinese production, and on the idea of ‘toxic consumption‘ - that the things we buy are bad for our health. Christmas seems a good time to come back to it, and Core 77 (thanks) points me in the direction of a long article by Jonathan [...]
The average British child sees at least 10,000 commercials a year, many unsupervised - according to David Piachaud of the London School of Economics. The result is increased family conflict and greater pressure on poorer families. Piachaud says the case for greater regulation or legislation to protect children from exploitation is strong. The research is [...]
CNN’s ‘health’ blog has a take on five healthy food trends. They’re a bit impressionistic - although some data is attached - and maybe apart from the first one won’t come as much of a surprise to European readers. The way in which consumer wellbeing (and lifestyle) trends are aligning with both health trends [...]
What happens if the pervasive chemicals in the everyday products we buy and use are the reason that we generally feel below par so much of the time? It could cause a backlash by consumers who increasingly regard their well-being as important to them. The thought comes both because of the wave of stories about [...]
Remiss of me not to mention that 6th October - last Saturday - was the day when the planet went into ecological debt this year; or in other words that we’re now using up resources which the earth isn’t able to replace. The new economics foundation (nef) marked the date with a report (free, but [...]
The price comparison site uSwitch got quite a lot of PR at the weekend for a report which said that UK disposable income had fallen to its lowest level for ten years (the report’s not on their site, but there’s a reasonably detailed summary in the Telegraph.) The coverage is generally about consumers running to [...]
I blogged a while ago about how the shape of container ship had influenced the shape of the modern cruise ship. There’s some striking data on the long-term growth in global shipping traffic.
I spent Friday at an event in Reading organised by the Sustainable Development Commission to explore the sustainable future of the retail sector. Easy to imagine that in the coming world of more expensive energy, increased transparency, tighter borders and tighter money, maybe there isn’t one, at least not in a form similar to that [...]
Some recent reports and trends - the Conservatives propose a happiness index; first UK wave turbine off Cornwall; and Greenspan teases on oil and the war.
