Green Options » supermarkets

22 Fish You Mustn’t Eat

Chris Milton — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:34:18 +0000

The devastation Man’s appetite for seafood is wreaking on the ocean environment has been thrown into sharp relief by a “red fish list” published by Greenpeace.

These are the fish which are most in peril from destructive, illegal or simple over fishing. It lists 19 fish, two shellfish and one crustacean.

Cod we all know about and hopefully everybody avoids. However the list also includes other common white fish, including hoki and pollock.

Then there are other common seafood: salmon, quahog, swordfish, red snapper, halibut and most types of tuna.

The list goes on and on and is truly astounding: you can read it all at the Greenpeace Red Fish List page.

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Supermarket Freezers – Major Contributor to Global Warming

Richard Elen — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 16:21:27 +0000

In a worrying report published yesterday, the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) calculates that about a quarter of the carbon footprint of a supermarket is the result of the use of HFCs in refrigeration equipment.

HFCs – hydrofluorocarbons – are the usual replacement for CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) as a refrigerant. CFCs were phased out because of their damage to the ozone layer – but the fact remains that HFCs may not hit the ozone, but their global warming contribution is many thousands of times greater than CO2 itself.

The problem is that refrigerants leak. And EIA research indicates that supermarkets are the biggest source of HFC released in Britain. In 2005, HFC emissions from refrigeration and aircon systems in supermarkets amounted to the equivalent of two million tonnes of CO2. EIA says that this is “equivalent to flying a plane from London to New York over 2.5 million times”.

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Discount Organics: Greenwash Agent or Nutritional Revolution?

Meredith Melnick — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:09:11 +0000

I just read an article about a new in-house organics label from a retail giant here in Canada, Shoppers Drug Mart. Despite the name “drug mart,” Shoppers carries an impressively large inventory of edible items. And while I have always appreciated their supply of organic shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste, I haven’t given the food aisle a second glance.

Most of their offerings are of the Doritos n’ gummi worms variety. You know, food that isn’t labeled with real words. It made me think of the changing landscape of discount organics and what it means for consumers.

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How Green Is Your Shopping?

Mark Seall — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:22:31 +0000

It’s often hard to be green. I have recently written elsewhere about the phenomena of Greenwashing, pointing to recent research showing that consumers rarely get what they sign up for out of green products. Wary of this, Swiss supermarket chains are launching new initiatives to provide better consumer guarantees for lowering the environmental impact of their purchases, making it just a little easier to be a good green citizen.

Switzerland’s two major supermarket rivals, Migros and Coop have launched different schemes – although potentially confusing for customers, this is at least an indication that competition for greenness is heating up.

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