Category Archives: Ethical and green living

Shein fined €1m in Italy for misleading environmental claims about products

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Chinese fast fashion retailer penalised month after €40m fine from French regulator in July

The Italian authorities have fined Shein €1m (£870,000) for making “misleading or omissive” environmental claims about its products, the second time in as many months the Chinese fashion retailer has been targeted by European regulators.

Environmental sustainability and social responsibility messages on Shein’s website were in some cases “vague, generic, and/or overly emphatic” and in others were “misleading or omissive”, said Italy’s competition authority, AGCM.

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UK carmakers on track to meet EV sales target despite intense lobbying to lower quota

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Electric car sales made up 21.6% of sales in first half of 2025, only just below the effective 22% share needed to meet rules

Carmakers are on track to meet existing UK electric car sales targets despite having successfully lobbied the government to water them down.

Electric car sales made up 21.6% of sales in the first half of 2025, only marginally below the 22.06% share needed to meet existing rules once concessions are taken into account, according to an analysis by New AutoMotive, a thinktank.

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Reefs made from human ashes could revive British seabeds, says startup

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UK company offers alternative to land-based burials after success of memorials in Bali made from remains of pets

Death is killing our planet. That is the stark assessment of a new business offering an innovative alternative: having your loved one’s ashes made into a reef and anchored to the British seabed.

There are increasing concerns about the environmental cost of traditional funerals: a single burial generates 833kg of CO2, while a typical cremation has a footprint of about 400kg of CO2. In the US alone, 1.6m tonnes of concrete and 14,000 tonnes of steel is used each year for building graves. Chemicals from embalming processes seep into the soil.

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Labour: changes to EV rules will have ‘negligible’ impact on UK emissions

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Transport secretary says overhaul in response to Trump tariffs supports car firms and climate goals

Labour’s changes to electric vehicle (EV) rules in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs will have a negligible impact on emissions, the transport secretary has said.

Keir Starmer has confirmed plans to boost manufacturers, including reinstating the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.

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‘Patchy and behind deadline’: MPs attack UK rollout of EV charging points

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Committee warns of serious injustice to disabled motorists and those reliant on public chargers

The rollout of electric vehicle chargers across Britain is “patchy”, behind deadline and ignores the needs of disabled drivers, the parliamentary spending watchdog has found.

A report published by the public accounts committee (PAC) warned that the charging points needed to give drivers confidence for the switch to EVs were still lacking, particularly on Britain’s biggest roads.

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‘Homegrown’ Swedish battery startup admits importing vital components

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Northvolt, which claims to run Europe’s first homegrown gigafactory, admits it depends on Chinese suppliers for cathode active material

The Swedish startup Northvolt has admitted that a vital component of its batteries is imported amid claims that the company, which claims to run Europe’s first homegrown gigafactory, depends on Chinese suppliers.

It comes as a documentary programme to be shown in Sweden on Wednesday by the national broadcaster SVT, exposes the company’s failure to build a truly homegrown battery after its attempts to produce its own cathode active material at its Northvolt Ett factory in Skellefteå, northern Sweden, were unsuccessful.

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Heat pump sales in Europe fall 23% to pre-Ukraine war levels

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Growth in 2022 and 2023 was driven by soaring gas prices caused by Russia’s invasion, but 2024 saw sales slump

Heat pump sales fell 23% in Europe last year, industry data shows, reverting to the level they were at before the war in Ukraine and slowing the shift away from gas-burning boilers.

Demand for clean heating devices fell by about half in Belgium and Germany, and by 39% in France, according to data for 13 countries that cover 85% of the European heat pump market.

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‘This is sacred land’: an off-grid Wales community battles to keep their home

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Legal action has begun to remove the tenants after the 80-acre site was sold to be turned into a healing retreat

Lunch around the huge sycamore and oak table in the farmhouse kitchen of the off-grid Brithdir Mawr community in the Preseli mountains of west Wales is a warm, gentle affair.

Members of the housing co-operative share soup made from leeks and potatoes grown in the gardens, served with crumbly goat’s cheese from its own herd, all washed down with mugs of mountain spring water.

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Falsely labelled ‘organic’ products rife on Australian shelves, shoppers warned

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Organic farmers sound alarm about greenwashing amid push to introduce national domestic standard

Organic farmers and retailers have warned that Australians are being misled by producers who engage in a form of greenwashing by falsely labelling their products “organic”.

Australian consumers may be happy to pay higher prices for meat, cheese, cosmetics and other goods marked “organic” but producers can use the term without meeting any particular standards or being certified.

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UK needs to ban full hybrid cars by 2030 or face net zero ‘catastrophe’, says motoring body

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Electric Vehicles UK says hybrids without a plug should be banned or else confidence in electric cars will be damaged

Britain needs to press ahead with a ban on the sale of new hybrid cars with no plug from 2030 or risk taking “a catastrophic misstep” on the road to net zero, ministers have been warned.

Cars such as the Toyota Prius, which charge a battery from an internal combustion engine, need to be excluded from the list of vehicles sold in the UK from 2030 or there will be a “profound” fall in confidence in the government’s commitment to electric motoring, according to the representative body Electric Vehicles UK (EVUK).

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Stop pushing heat pumps or face major backlash, green energy magnate tells Labour

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Party donor Dale Vince warns that urging homeowners to switch to clean-power technology risks political storm bigger than Ulez

The government risks a huge political backlash if it keeps pushing the public to install heat pumps to replace their boilers, one of Britain’s leading green entrepreneurs has warned.

Dale Vince, a major Labour donor and renewable energy advocate, called on Keir Starmer to rethink national programmes, championed by Boris Johnson, pushing the technology. Vince argued that Whitehall should explore alternatives to the devices, which he said were expensive, caused serious disruption and could end up increasing energy bills for some people.

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One in three Australians throwing unwanted clothes in rubbish, survey finds

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RMIT-led study recommends a national recycling scheme to reduce the 200,000 tonnes of textiles sent to landfill each year

Most Australians are confused about what to do with their unwanted clothes, leading about a third to throw their closet clutter in the rubbish, according to the first national survey of clothing use and disposal habits.

The RMIT-led survey of 3,080 Australians found 84% of people owned garments they hadn’t worn in the past year, including a third who hadn’t touched more than half of their wardrobe.

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Almost a third of household smart meters not working properly, says Citizens Advice

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Charity says tech problems and poor customer service mean millions in Great Britain missing out on promised benefits

The number of gas and electricity smart meters that are not working properly is likely to be higher than government figures suggest – possibly 20% to 30% of the total – according to research from Citizens Advice.

The charity said millions of households were missing out on the promised benefits from smart meters due to “problems with technology” and poor supplier customer service.

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Remote working and whiffy workout wear fuel laundry revolution

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Home workers aim to tackle smelly athleisure clothing, save money and be kinder to the environment

For years, laundry detergents have focused their cleaning power on stain removal and getting whites white but now a new invisible enemy has emerged in the shape of the musty smell that clings to your gym gear.

The shift to remote working has fuelled the popularity of “athleisure” clothing such as T-shirts, joggers and leggings which, rather than shirts and dresses, are now the default work wardrobe of many Britons.

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Victoria trials reusable crates for fresh produce to cut ‘invisible’ waste from supply chain

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Pilot scheme supplies 1,000 folding boxes to farms and wholesalers to reduce single-use cardboard, paper and plastic

A pilot scheme to replace cardboard produce boxes with reusable plastic crates has been launched in Victoria, with the aim to cut “invisible” cardboard waste.

The Victoria Unboxed project, led by the food charity Sustain with Sustainable Victoria, has supplied 1,000 reusable plastic crates to transport produce from farms to venues, wholesalers and homes across Melbourne. The trial aims to reduce the need for single-use packaging, including cardboard, plastic and paper waste.

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Make used electric cars cheaper and tackle battery fears, peers tell ministers

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Grants needed towards buying EVs as well as a battery health testing standard to reassure consumers

Ministers need to intervene to boost the secondhand electric vehicle market and allay “uncertainty and concerns” over the health of their batteries, a House of Lords committee has said.

Peers on the environment and climate change committee urged the government to step up efforts to encourage electric vehicle adoption amid consumer jitters over the cost of vehicles, the longevity of their batteries and the availability of charging points.

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Have Australian drivers finally charged into electric vehicles?

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EV sales are booming and longtime favourite makes and models are being ignored in favour of Tesla and BYD

Newcomer brands and luxury marques are dominating booming electric car sales as mainstream players struggle to match the pace of a fast-evolving EV market.

The top three selling electric vehicles in Australia in 2023 were from Tesla and BYD, between them accounting for two-thirds of the 87,217 electric cars sold, according to figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

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Retailers to pay for consumers’ e-waste recycling from 2026 under UK plans

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Households will be able to drop off cables and other electrical waste in-store or have home collections, says Defra

British households will benefit from improved routes for recycling electronic goods from 2026, under government plans to have producers and retailers pay for household and in-store collections.

Consumers would be able to have electrical waste (e-waste) – from cables to toasters and power tools – collected from their homes or drop items off during a weekly shop, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a consultation published on Thursday. The ambition is for retailers, rather than the taxpayer, to pick up the tab for these new ways of disposing of defunct, often toxic products safely. The measures are due to come into force in two years’ time.

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‘It feels very fun and freeing’: US sees ebike boom after years of false starts

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Sales surge as cities and states look to cut pollution from cars and improve options for Americans to get around

After several years of false starts, electric bikes are finally entering the American mainstream, amid booming sales of a multiplying number of models on offer and as more states offer incentives for people to ditch their cars and shift to two, motor-assisted, wheels.

This year could be considered “the year of the ebike”, according to John MacArthur, a transport researcher at Portland State University. Ebike sales in the United States leaped by 269% between 2019 and 2022, with the market size expected to have grown further in 2023, to be worth $2.59bn.

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UK ad watchdog to crack down on ‘biodegradable’ and ‘recyclable’ claims

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Consumers left angry and dismayed when they found out the truth about these terms, says Advertising Standards Authority study

Plastic bottles, takeaway cups and food packaging that could take an unlimited amount of time to break down are being advertised as “biodegradable”, with the advertising regulator calling for more clarity on such claims from businesses.

British consumers believe they are making green choices while disposing of waste when they are often not, according to a new report. The study, from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), based on extensive interviews with consumers, found widespread misunderstandings around common terms such as “biodegradable”, “compostable” and “recyclable”, leaving participants angry when they discovered what they meant.

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