News archive - Week ending 26th October 2007

M&S Eco store Opens

Marks & Spencer has opened its first store designed with the environment in mind. The 70,000sq ft eco store in Glasgow uses 55% less energy than similar normal stores and emits 95% less carbon dioxide. Marks & Spencer already operates a similar eco store in Bournemouth, which was gradually converted from an existing branch but the Glasgow shop will be the first built specifically for the purpose.

It features energy-saving lightbulbs, low-volume flushing toilets, self-closing taps and a wind turbine. The management has promised to recycle and re-use up to 80% of its waste and promote greener ways for staff travelling to work such as cycling and using public transport.

Elizabeth Leighton, Senior Footprint Policy Officer at WWF Scotland, said that it is clear that M&S is attempting to tackle some of the toughest 'eco' challenges facing retailers, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions by using different types of fridges and reducing water consumption by both staff and customers.

Stagecoach Bio-Buses Take to the Road

A fleet of buses fuelled by fat and cooking oil is taking to the roads of Ayrshire in a trial transport project. The initiative will run for the next six months and operators hope that it can be rolled out nationwide. The Stagecoach Bio-Bus scheme also offers a 20p discount for passengers who bring along their used cooking oil. For the first 10 minutes of the morning, the buses run on diesel until normal engine operating temperature is reached and then the system automatically switches over to bio-diesel, which then powers the vehicles for the rest of the day.

The fleet of eight buses, which will run between Stewarton and Darvel, aims to cut harmful emissions by more than 80%. A spokesman for Stagecoach said: "Eight vehicles in Kilmarnock will run on 100% bio-diesel manufactured from used cooking oil and other food industry by-products, resulting in an expected 82% cut in CO2 emissions. Crucially, the bio-diesel is produced from tallow and used cooking oil, both of which are sustainable feedstock sources that do not involve the destruction of natural habits or compete with the human food chain," he added.

The project has been set up in partnership with the bio-diesel business Argent Energy and East Ayrshire Council is supporting the recycling element of the project.

UK Cities' Ranked by Eco-footprint

The WWF has ranked the environmental footprint of sixty of the UKs towns and cities; basing their calculations on average consumption of food, goods, housing, transport and services. The report, which used research carried out by the Stockholm Environment Institute, calculated the land and sea area a person would need for food, energy and resources and to absorb waste and pollution. It did not compare the impacts of city residents with their rural counterparts.

Overall Winchester comes out as least green while Plymouth and Newport have the lowest environmental impact. On average, British cities are using resources at 3.51 times the rate which the world can sustain.

Glasgow had the smallest footprint in Scotland, equivalent to 2.89 planets, while Edinburgh had the largest at 3.2 planets. Aberdeen was listed as 12th worst; 3.18 planets would be needed to support to the worlds population if everyone on earth consumed as many resources as people in Aberdeen. Stirling was measured at 3.08, Inverness 2.97, and Dundee 2.96.