Every year the UK produces around 26 million tonnes of waste but fortunately about 12 million tonnes of this massive amount is then recycled. This equates to 45% whereas the recycling rate in 2000 was just 11% so clearly both consumers and businesses have stepped up to the mark and adopted a greener approach to the way in which their waste is handled.

Whilst Gaza recycles bomb wreckages, we have a recycling rate of just 39% in the UK.

Humans are both the most creative and most destructive force on this planet, living often in disharmony with one another, and ourselves. We stretch our time, our energy, and our resources, putting ourselves under great scrutiny and pressure. But, as a wise person once said, ‘pressure makes diamonds.’

There are a lot of positive things to be said about Nespresso and their endeavours to make a better world.  As part of the Nestle they have a range of sustainability initiatives which are very colourfully displayed on their website.  They pay their Sudanese coffee farmers around forty percent more than the current rate conventional coffee growers receive.  This has led to Sudan having a viable commodity to export which is very important for an African state. 

Making your business greener not only helps the environment but it can also increase sales. With consumers becoming increasingly aware of the impact that human activities have on the environment, introducing an eco-friendly approach to your business operations may give you a competitive edge that will translate into higher sales and profit margins as well as a better world.

When we talk about consumer spending, we are discussing a selection of different factors relating to the ways and reasons that people buy goods and services. In traditional economics, consumer spending is simple, it is the relationship between the power of individuals to buy things versus their cost and availability. 

Leaked Documents Reveal that Dyson is Working on an Electric car

In March of this year, The Guardian reported that Dyson were quietly working on an electric car.  The newspaper came across UK government documents that the public were not meant to dwell over.  Naturally, it published every word in the document, entitled the ‘National Infrastructure Delivery Plan’.

Now that it’s finally warming up outside, you can feel your mood lifting with the temperature. You go out into the garden to prepare for today’s barbeque and feeling unusually hot you decide to get yourself a cool, refreshing can of Coca-Cola. The condensation droplets trickle down the can, the sun is shining, life is beautiful! You finish your drink, throw it in the recycling bin, and BANG! Your curious mind has a new question just itching to be answered!

According to the environmental protection agency, 73% of consumers value the environmental records of the companies they buy from. Knowing this, and also just wanting to do good, has made businesses more savvy to the world of eco-friendly business. Simple switches can have huge results for sales, but what about internal productivity? 

Although multinationals have to show how they are reducing emissions and enacting sustainable measures in their business practice, it is fair to say some are going further than others.   On the one hand you have companies that are paying lip service to those that are actively trying to achieve zero waste.  Ikea is not just fighting climate change with its sustainable practices; it is leading the charge in true Viking style.

What a year it’s been...Not only has it affected our mental and physical wellbeing, but it has also traumatized our financial health too. Having had all that free time to ourselves, we’ve realized what’s important in life and have strengthened our values. With this comes the understanding that money is not everything, but it certainly makes life easier when we have it. 

Passivhaus Can Give you Freedom from Bills

With energy bills rising year on year the prospect of living in a house that has none is appealing.   In 2014 the average electricity and gas bill cost came to £1,344 annually.  This is a considerable amount.  Just think what you could do with an extra £1300 a year. 

Brexit is still somewhat of a mystery to us. Nobody really knows what’s going on, and whether there are good times ahead, or some doom and gloom. What we do know is that there are going to be repercussions for the environment, and so this thought piece will look at what we can hope to gain, prepare to lose, or should start putting thought to.

In 2007 Marks & Spencer launched Plan A.  A set of sustainability directives to improve the way the retail giant interacts with the environment and its supply chain.  Now, nearly ten years later, Plan A 2020 is a new revised set of initiatives with the aim to make M & S carbon neutral.

The UK is in the midst of a waste crisis. It’s been in the news, it’s been in blogs, but worse than that, it’s been washing up on shores in Asia, it’s being uncovered in illegal landfills in Malaysia and Poland, it’s being burned in Africa, and it’s being put on ships and sent back from all around the world.

Urban mining is the recycling of unwanted products, stripping out anything useful and repurposing it for other projects.  The industry grows year on year, with firms dedicated to collecting unwanted office and industry waste, and selling it on to someone who wants it.  What is rubbish to one business can literally be gold to another.

The fact is that when we travel we tend to create a larger carbon footprint than when at home.  We often have a holiday vibe when we’re abroad, and this makes us a little more carefree.  This is taking its toll on the planet, as everywhere from beaches to ski slopes are beginning to suffer. 

I was at a conference in London recently when another event attendee turned to me and asked, ‘Do you think London is doing enough to support the circular economy?’. It was such a loaded question, with so many variables, and it felt unfair to say either yes, or no, without really sitting down and doing my research. I responded ‘I’ll have to get back to you on that one’, and so I set about writing this piece.

Walmart is the world’s largest retailer and the world’s largest private employer with 2.2 million employees worldwide.  It has a vast supply chain that spans the globe, and it relies heavily on materials which if poorly managed damage the world.  As such, taking a sustainable approach to business is not an easy thing for the retailer to do.

 Actress, mother, and business woman Jessica Alba could become Silicon Valley’s richest woman if the sale of her company, Honest Company, goes through.

Before we get involved in the ‘how’, we thought it would be a good idea to start this guide with the ‘who’, showing you some of the UK’s best examples of zero waste to landfill companies. These businesses have made a strategy, a culture, and a series of decisions that have led them to this point; to say it’s impossible for your company to do the same is to accept defeat without even trying.

Big brands attract their share of controversy regardless of what they do.  Some of it is driven by the brands themselves and arguably is deserved; some is generated because the brand has grown so large that they become an easy target.  Apple, arguably the biggest brand in the world easily falls into this category. 

Landfills pose a major problem for climate change around the world.  They release methane, a greenhouse gas.  In most developed world countries, 50% of landfill gas is methane, and this contributes significantly to climate change.  Although recycling schemes have been introduced, the issue of methane gas is still a problem to be solved.

Green Alchemist has been here for you as a resource for several years, connecting you and your recyclable materials to paying outlets, essentially turning your trash into treasures. For those who now have treasure chests full of gold coins, you’re probably interested in other ways that you can monetise your waste. Well, that’s not what this article is about.

Plastic is a damaging substance to the environment.  Often derived from fossil fuels such as gas, oil, and coal, it is estimated that most of our discarded plastic ends up in the ocean.  By 2050, it is believed there will be more plastic in our seas than fish.  So what are we doing to bring about this end of this environmentally damaging substance?

New £3.8m Food Waste Facility will Power Gatwick Airport’s North Terminal

It is fair to say that we have all been waiting for a flight, bus, or train, and have left food to board it at some point in our lives.  You have probably felt guilty as you threw away a half eaten sandwich or a coffee knowing that it was going to landfill. 

Here at Green Alchemist, we want to see you turn waste in profit, to embrace the idea that ‘trash’ can be treasure, and essentially maximise both rebates on materials, and minimise costs for waste services. To do that, you have to be willing to change some things… but what are those things exactly?

Rubber is an essential substance to humankind.  It has tens of thousands of applications from car and aircraft tyres to medical equipment.  At this time synthetic rubber simply does not offer the same load –bearing qualities or resistance performance.   As such, rubber is one material we can’t live without. 

Clothing manufacturers are not known for having responsible manufacturing processes or sustainability practices.  This was more than highlighted in 2013 when over a thousand people died when the Rana Plaza garment factory collapsed in Bangladesh.  Timberland, however, is the exception to the rule.  The company has been taking action against climate change since 2003.