Hand-written love letters

The milkman gets an eco-makover as refill service knocks on door

The home delivery model pioneered by milkmen is getting a 21st century makeover as part of the war on plastic. A major new online service backed by the world’s biggest brands will deliver products ranging from soft drinks to washing powder and shampoo in refillable containers to your front door.

The Loop, which launches next month, is one of the most ambitious attempts yet to eliminate plastic waste from the weekly shop. It is backed by major consumer goods companies Unilever and PepsiCo, who have created eco-versions of popular brands including Tropicana, Persil and Hellmann’s, to sell via the website.

The service will also include products such as refillable Sure and Dove deodorant sticks, and pots of Signal toothpaste pellets, which do away with the need for plastic tubes.

The delivery service, which bills itself as the “milkman reimagined” aims to change the way households shop and consume amid growing concern about the global plastic binge.

At first shoppers will only be able to buy from the Loop website but a partnership with Tesco aims to put dedicated aisles in its stores later this year. It operates in the same way as other online supermarkets except, when the shopping arrives, the groceries are in durable metal, glass or plastic containers that can be returned and reused.

Afterwards the empties, like milk bottles, are collected from the doorstep, cleaned and reused up to 100 times.

Supermarkets have already begun to gauge whether shoppers are willing to put in the extra effort required to make refill schemes economical in their stores. Last year Waitrose created dedicated areas in a handful of supermarkets where customers can replenish products ranging from wine and beer to rice and cleaning materials. Sainsbury’s is to sell milk and fizzy drinks in returnable glass bottles this year as part of its plastic reduction drive.

Tesco is eager to shrink its massive plastic footprint and has announced a series of initiatives – including the recent decision to banish shrink-wrapped multipacks of baked beans and soup from its shelves.

Giles Bolton, its responsible sourcing director, thinks re-use schemes could have a big impact. “Loop has the potential to fundamentally change the shopping basket and how customers shop,” he said in a recent blog.

Read more clicking here:  Milkman_The Guardian

'Escaping the madness': steep rise in Londoners moving to northern England

I wish something like this happened in the so-called "Empty Spain".

Patrick Cox’s patience with London snapped when he was charged £3.50 for a cup of tea. For Amy Everett, it was the overcrowded commutes on trains that broke down so often she regularly worried she might never get home.

The pair are part of a rising tide of Londoners moving out of the capital, revealed in new figures suggesting the popularity of settling in or returning to northern England has more than doubled since 2014. While in 2009 only 1% of people leaving London bought or rented homes in the north, in 2019 that figure reached 13%, data from the Countrywide network of estate and lettings agents shows.

Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle upon Tyne are experiencing the fastest rises among northern cities in the number of escapees arriving from the capital, according to separate data from the Office for National Statistics, which indicates a possible shift east of the London escape route from the well-worn path to Manchester. Sheffield had a 12% rise in Londoners moving to buy or rent in 2018, followed by Newcastle and Leeds, which both recorded 5% increases.

Dramatically cheaper housing – the ratio between house prices and income is 5.8 in Sheffield and Newcastle but 12.9 in London – is a key factor. But the lure of a slower, less work-focused and healthier lifestyle is also driving decisions to “escape the London madness”, as one leaver put it.

The figures are another sign of Britain’s shifting human geography, which could be accelerated by this week’s green light for the £100bn HS2 high-speed rail line cutting travel times to northern cities and bringing Leeds, for example, just 81 minutes from the capital.

In 2018 London lost population through internal migration, with 340,498 residents leaving for other parts of the UK, while 237,270 people arrived from elsewhere in the UK, ONS figures showed. Most go to to just outside the capital, but the biggest savings on housing costs are in the north. The average house price last year was £475,000 in London, £132,000 in Liverpool, £155,000 in Newcastle and £164,000 in Sheffield.

The figures are another sign of Britain’s shifting human geography, which could be accelerated by this week’s green light for the £100bn HS2 high-speed rail line cutting travel times to northern cities and bringing Leeds, for example, just 81 minutes from the capital.

In 2018 London lost population through internal migration, with 340,498 residents leaving for other parts of the UK, while 237,270 people arrived from elsewhere in the UK, ONS figures showed. Most go to to just outside the capital, but the biggest savings on housing costs are in the north. The average house price last year was £475,000 in London, £132,000 in Liverpool, £155,000 in Newcastle and £164,000 in Sheffield.

Municipal leaders are trying to capitalise on the trend. Sheffield city council has been using the term “north shoring” to try to attract more employers to move out of London, promising considerably cheaper office rents, and the prospect of 20,000 graduates each year from its two universities. Leeds has attracted Channel 4’s new base, where 250 people have started work, and a new hub for HM Revenue and Customs is due to open later this year with 6,000 employees.

In the drive for attention, Newcastle is pushing ahead with plans for a new landmark on the quayside – a giant ferris wheel taller than the London Eye, the “Whey Aye”, and is hoping to attract businesses to the new 24-acre Helix science district focusing on green technology and solutions for the ageing population.

                                                                 The Guardian, 14th Feb 2020

South Korea Celebrates Historic Oscar Wins for ‘Parasite’

Congratulations, South Korea!!

South Koreans are celebrating after movie director Bong Joon Ho and his film Parasite won big at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles.

Parasite won the Oscar for Best Picture and three other Academy Awards Sunday night.

Parasite is a dark comedy about a poor South Korean family that makes up false job experiences so they can work for a wealthier family. The wealthy family gives them positions as tutors, housekeepers and personal drivers.

Its wins made history in both the Hollywood and South Korean film industries. Parasite is the first non-English-language film to win best picture in the 92-year history of the award ceremony. It also is the first South Korean film ever to earn an Oscar.

“Can you believe that Parasite won the Academy best picture?” asked South Korea’s biggest newspaper, Chuson Ilbo. “It rewrote the Academy’s 92-year history,” the paper added.

South Korean social media were flooded with congratulatory messages. Bong Joo Ho, Parasite and related film industry news were the top internet search terms throughout Monday. In the days before the awards ceremony, searches had largely been about the outbreak of the coronavirus from China.

But concerns about the virus as well as political and economic problems seemed to ease Monday as South Koreans celebrated the film’s success.

President Moon Jae-in and his advisors began a meeting by clapping their hands in celebration. Moon later wrote on Twitter that he is proud of Bong and others involved in the film. The South Korean leader said he was “grateful to them for giving courage and pride to our people who are overcoming difficulties.”

At Yonsei University in Seoul, the university Bong attended, students belonging to a school movie club watched the awards show together.

                                                                                                      Adapted from VOANEWS February 10, 2020

More people than ever turning to food banks, charity says

I'm afraid the situation is not much better in Spain.

More people than ever are being forced to turn to food banks, after welfare problems over the last six months have led to the steepest increase in emergency food parcel handouts in five years, according to the anti-poverty campaign the Trussell Trust.

The trust, which runs two-thirds of the UK’s food banks, said it distributed a record 823,145 food parcels between April and September, including 301,653 that went to children. This was a 23% increase on the same period last year, representing the steepest rise the charity has witnessed since its network of food banks was fully established.

The top three reasons cited by people needing emergency food were insufficient benefit income, at 36%, followed by delays in benefit payments at 18% and changes to benefit at 16%.

The top three reasons cited by people needing emergency food were insufficient benefit income, at 36%, followed by delays in benefit payments at 18% and changes to benefit at 16%.

Emma Revie, the trust’s chief executive, said she was especially alarmed by the steep rise in food bank use because unlike previous sharp rises, it has come at a time when the number of food banks has remained stable.

She said: “What’s really concerning us is the steepness of the increase – 23% compared with the same period last year is such a step up. We’re really worried about what the coming winter is going to look like.”

She added: “Our benefits system is supposed to protect us all from being swept into poverty, but currently thousands of women, men and children are not receiving sufficient protection from destitution.

“We want our next government to start working towards a future where no one needs a food bank by ending the five-week wait for universal credit; ensuring benefit payments cover the cost of living; and investing in local emergency support for people in crisis. It’s in our power as a country to end the need for food banks. This can change.”

Margaret Greenwood, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “It should be a source of shame for this government that food bank use has risen so sharply yet again. These figures show clearly how harsh, punitive Conservative policies like the five-week wait for universal credit are pushing people to the point of destitution.

“When universal credit payments finally arrive they may not even cover the most basic living costs, leaving parents unable to feed their children.

“Labour will scrap universal credit, halve food bank usage within our first year in office and end it within three years. Nobody should ever be forced to turn to food banks to survive.”

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “We spend over £95bn a year on welfare, and have simplified the benefits system through universal credit.

“Free school meals are provided for 1.3 million disadvantaged children, and up to £26m is also being invested in a breakfast club programme. People can get universal credit urgently if they need it and 95% of payments are made in full and on time.”

The Guardian Wed 13 Nov 2019