Green

Germany is making major strides towards trying to practice what she preaches in terms of environmentalism.

The country announcement yesterday that it will be implementing a ban on the sale of a multitude of single-use and disposable items in a bid to reduce the amount of plastic and polystyrene waste in the environment.

This includes things like plastic straws, polystyrene cups and boxes (think Cup-O-Noodles), single-use cutlery, plates, and stirring sticks.

German Environmental Minister Schulze said the move was part of an effort to move away from “throw-away culture,” according to AP.

The government’s ban will go into effect next year on July 3, 2021.

The new plan also legislates the closure by 2022 of eight brown-coal operations—mostly located in economically depressed regions—as the number of jobs in renewable energy, which already generates 50% of Germany’s power, increase in those regions.

(Photo by Swansea University)

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Would you agree or disagree with this statement: Climate change in the long term is as serious a crisis as the current COVID-19 pandemic? If you agreed, you answered the same as 71% of participants in a recent 29-nation survey from public opinion research firm Ipsos.

The Earth Day 2020 survey measured public opinion from many of the world’s principle producers, buyers, and populations, and almost all metrics suggest that a large majority of the world’s citizens consider climate change an important aspect of moving forward after the coronavirus pandemic.

Chinese participants registered 87% agreement with the above statement—the most of any country—while 59% of Americans and Australians agreed, tallying the smallest majority, with only 38% disagreeing.

65% of those surveyed worldwide want governments to prioritize a green economic recovery, as their lockdown measures from coronavirus are lifted. Respondents from India, China, and Mexico were emphatic about this directive, with 80% insisting on sustainable, clean measures.

Slightly more people, 48% to 44%, said that economic recovery from the pandemic should not supersede environmental regulations, and any recovery should be environmentally responsible.

The survey didn’t include only COVID-19-related questions, but a variety of others involving what people’s habits might be in the face of climate change and whether theywould be willing to alter them. Overall, consumer or lifestyle behavior did not change from the last Ipsos survey in 2014, but in certain categories there were major fluctuations.

In Great Britain for example, 70% of those surveyed said the government would be failing them if it didn’t take action now to try and prevent the worst effects of climate change— with 59% saying they would consider not voting for a political candidate who didn’t pledge to take sufficient action to mitigate climate change.

57% of total participants surveyed would avoid buying a product with too much plastic packaging, with a whopping 80% of the hyper-techno denizens of South Korea strongly agreeing, and 71% of Chinese.

South Korea came in first in another category, with 70% of the East Asians agreeing to the idea of avoiding buying new goods by mending what you have, or buying used products instead, as a way to prevent excess waste.

Even as COVID-19 news saturates the media, occupies every headline, and is the first topic on the lips of every journalist, this survey suggests people aren’t short sighted, and a large portion of the world’s population are keen to prevent irreversible damage to the environment both with their dollar, their ballot, and their conscience.

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Tag: Green

In a Victory for the Environment Germany Bans Single-Use Plastic and Styrofoam

29-Nation Poll Shows a Huge Majority Are As Concerned About the Climate Crisis As They Are About COVID-19