November-19: Environment Snippets
- Posted by CERC India
- Posted in monthly, November-2019
Chocolate production may be harming environment
Bitter chocolateÂ
A recent study has revealed that chocolates may be significantly harming the environment, as the chocolate industry is reportedly producing tonnes of greenhouse gases in a year.
Researchers from the University of Manchester in the UK studied the carbon footprint of chocolate and assessed the impact of chocolate ingredients, manufacturing processes, packaging and waste on the environment. The study, published in the journal Food Research International, found that the UK chocolate industry alone produces about 2.1 million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year and that it takes around 1,000 litres of water to produce one chocolate bar.
Not so sweet endings
UK bans wet wipes to save marine life
Dangerous hygiene
Household wet wipes will be banished in the UK to tackle the menace of single use plastic and their effects on ecosystems. Wet wipes are mostly made of polyester and contain millions of microfibers infused with chemicals. Tens of thousands of wet wipes are sold in Britain each year, and despite public awareness campaigns, many are still flushed into lavatories, where they end up clogging mains sewers, and go on to kill fish in rivers and other marine life as the fibres are released.
Ban single use plastic
Multinational Companies sign UN Emissions Pledge
 For a better future
As many as 87 multinational companies including Unilever, Danone, Ikea, Nestle and L’Oréal during UN Climate Action Summit have pledged to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions. The companies have pledged to meet a range of independently verified targets for carbon reduction within two years as a way of helping to keep global warming below the critical level of 1.5OC. They are also being encouraged to become net zero carbon emitters by 2050. Though no major oil companies have joined the campaign, the pledge is designed in a way that urges the signatory companies to push their entire supply chains — including their energy suppliers — to become more climate friendly. This would ultimately pressure the non-signatory companies to clean up their acts.
Together we can
