Reducing packaging, reigning in the aviation industry and putting a stop to censorship on the net are all on the agenda.
WI packaging
The UK produces enough waste in one hour to fill the Royal Albert Hall, and 100,000 tonnes of plastic bags are thrown away in the UK each year – the same weight as 70,000 cars. The National Federation of Women’s Institutes (WI) cited these and other statistics in its launch of a campaign on June 20 to persuade supermarkets to eliminate unnecessary food packaging.
Aviation is the fastest growing contributor to climate change, yet the UK government has not included planes in its targets to reduce CO2 emissions by 20% of 1990 levels. In its Rethink! campaign launched on June 27, AirportWatch calls on the government to rein back the expansion of the aviation industry, removing tax breaks and revisiting its policy of allowing the industry to grow in line with current demand.
Amid growing concerns of oppressive regimes limiting the online freedom of citizens, Amnesty International launched a campaign on May 28 against internet censorship. They singled out Yahoo, Microsoft and Google for complying with restrictions imposed by China, in particular, but also noted that Vietnam, Tunisia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Syria were areas of concern.
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