Blog Archive
Please call Minister Naughten as he bows to vested interests, scraps latte levy
Posted on April 26, 2018 by Meaghan Carmody
You’re not going to believe this.
Our Minister for Climate Action, Communications and Environment has just rowed back on his commitment [i] to implement a levy on single-use, non-recyclable coffee cups, of which we use half a million every single day.
Permanent link | Categories: waste
#ShopAndDrop is today, and you are making it our biggest ever action.
Posted on April 21, 2018 by Oisín Coghlan
The Sick of Plastic day of action on supermarket packaging is here. Thousands of people up and down the country are planning to shop in their local supermarket today and leave their unwanted packaging at the checkout. 400 people have registered to promote the action outside supermarkets, from Buncrana to Kinsale and from Westport to Waterford. Local organisers have been on radio stations from Cork to Dongeal and today's coverage alone includes the Irish Times and the Sun. We have never had a response like it, and it's all down to people like you.
Permanent link | Categories: waste
'Shop and Drop' is Next Saturday. And we need your help!
Posted on April 14, 2018 by Oisín Coghlan
Next Saturday, April 21st, is the Sick Of Plastic Day of Action on Supermarket Packaging. We're asking all our supporters to "Shop and Drop" - shop as normal in your local supermarket and then drop your unwanted packaging at the checkout after you pay.
Hundreds have people have signed up to volunteer outside supermarkets on the day. Thank you so much if you are one of them. And we've had more media interest in this than anything else we have ever organized.
Now we need to make sure it really happens on the day. And we need your help to maximize the impact. Can you:
1. Chip in to cover the costs
2. Volunteer on the day
3. Spread the Word
1. Chip in to cover the costs
Permanent link | Categories: waste
Tell supermarkets where to stick it! (very politely :-)
Posted on March 23, 2018 by Cara Augustenborg
This week, we once again saw how sick of plastic the Irish public are, as we announced our “Shop and Drop” day of action taking place nationwide on April 21st. We had an amazing response in the media, including RTE TV, Newstalk Breakfast, Ireland AM, and The Irish Times, just to name a few.
It’s time for Irish retailers to help us turn the tide on plastic pollution, but we need your help to make that happen!
In just four weeks, on Saturday April 21st, we’re asking people to “Shop and Drop” - shop as normal in your local supermarket and then take off the excess plastic packaging at the checkout and leave it in the shop.
Permanent link | Categories: waste
We're looking for supporters who would like to join the Board
Posted on March 02, 2018 by Jamie Gorman
We’re expanding our Board at Friends of the Earth. And we're asking you - and all our supporters - to consider putting their name forward. If you are interested, then fill in this application form before 5pm on 15th March.
Friends of the Earth is a small and nimble organisation campaigning for environmental justice in Ireland and globally as part of the Friends of the Earth International federation. Our vision is of a just world where people and nature thrive.
It’s an exciting time for the environmental movement in Ireland and globally as we campaign for a just and equitable transition to a fossil-free future, call for a re-think on unsustainable resource consumption and work in solidarity and partnership with communities and other movements for justice.
Permanent link | Categories:
48 hours to get TDs to take quick action on plastic
Posted on January 15, 2018 by Oisín Coghlan
Our plastics campaign is off to a flying start.
On Wednesday, TDs and Senators will begin considering the Waste Reduction Bill. It proposes concrete steps to cut plastic waste, like a deposit and return scheme for plastic bottles and a ban or a levy on plastic-lined coffee cups.
We're joining forces with Zero Waste Ireland, VOICE and Uplift to present a petition outside the Dáil to urge TDs to pass the law quickly, before any election derails progress. They have been working on plastics for a while. Now we're adding our weight, and your voice, to the campaign.
Two things you can do:
Click here to add your name to the petition.
Permanent link | Categories: waste
"The only option was to put my body in between the diggers and the earth"
Posted on December 08, 2017 by Guest Blogger
A member of Fossil Free TCD went to the UN climate talks in Bonn last month. This is the first of two reports she wrote for us.
I am crouched behind a damp sand bank and can feel my heartbeat in my ears. People shuffle hurriedly in both directions next to me, careful not to slip into the trench behind. I am too terrified to peer over the bank, in case I come face-to-face with a riot cop, and his shield or baton comes crashing into me. I huddle down smaller. Can they see my rucksack over the edge? Someone grabs by elbow violently and I almost shout out - but it is ok. My affinity group is planning our next move. We turn to the hundreds lining the cusp of the pit above, as high up as House 6 from the base: “Which way?” we whisper-scream up at them. “Go left!”, “Left!”, “No cops left!” they shout back, and we are off. Last chance to go back, but we’re up and over and gone. Police far to the right but they’ll never reach us in time. I am running before I know it, and look back for my “buddy” Emma, who has asthma. Her, Tony, and Frodo are close behind. Of course, as it turned out, none of these were their real names.
Permanent link | Comments (0) | Categories: climatechange • energy
Ladybird Expert series on Climate Change - A Summary
Posted on December 04, 2017 by Guest Blogger
Notes on: Climate Change, by Tony Juniper and Emily Shuckburgh
Ladybird Expert series 2017, (52 pages including some illustrations)
Summarised by:
Paul Donnelly, August 2017
Paul was a highly respected, committed member of Dublin Friends of the Earth and suddenly passed away in November 2017. He spent much of his time collating information about climate change in order to make the topic more accessible for people. May he rest in peace.
Background:
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy • transport • foodandfarming
Plastic & Microbeads - FAQ
Posted on December 04, 2017 by Guest Blogger
by Amelie Deinhard, Dublin FoE member
What is Plastic?
Plastic consists of synthetic organic polymers. Their base units are monomers, which in turn consist of ethylene and propylene: carbon-hydrogen compounds with non-metals.
History
Plastic was invented in the 1920s by Belgian scientist Leo Hendrik Beakeland and correspondingly called Bakelite (1). Industrial production of plastic began in the 1950s. The American "Life Magazine" then jumped to the topic and advertised on its cover pages the new fabric as "throwaway material" for every-day-life.
Permanent link | Categories: waste • water • plastic
A scare in time?
Posted on November 02, 2017 by Oisín Coghlan
The scariest thing I saw this Halloween was this new report about carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. The last time CO2 stayed this high, sea levels were 20 metres higher than they are today.
But there is hope . Research also reported this week concludes "an energy transformation big enough and fast enough to curb global warming remains within reach. Better still, we do not need to wait for new inventions to implement the changes we need; the transformation can happen right now".
Permanent link | Categories: climatechange • energy
