Environment & Climate Change News | Totally Vegan Buzz

Botswana lifts 5-year elephant hunting ban

A ban on elephant hunting has been reversed by Botswana’s government, sparking outrage from conservation groups The five-year ban was seen as key in suppressing the ivory trade, as Botswana has the most elephants of any African country – between 120,000 and 130,000. Africa’s elephant numbers have dwindled in recent years due to poaching – …

Morrisons is the first UK supermarket to ban plastic fruit packaging

Morrisons is set to ban plastic fruit packaging across all supermarket stores in the UK. Customers can now choose from 127 different fruit and veg options and buy them loose or use recyclable bags. Fruit will be exclusively plastic-free, but the supermarket will still stock vegetables in plastic packaging alongside the loose options. Morrisons trialled …

Vegan activists convince Prada to ditch fur

Fashion giant Prada has agreed to ditch all fur products thanks to years of pressure from animal welfare groups. The brand will continue to sell existing fur products on its website, but no new designs will include the material meaning the company will be fur-free by summer 2020. The move and will also include brands …

UK Government bans plastic straws, cotton buds and drink stirrers

The UK Government has banned plastic straws, drinks stirrers, and plastic stemmed cotton buds following overwhelming public support to reduce plastic use. In England 4.7 billion plastic straws, 316 million plastic stirrers and 1.8 billion plastic-stemmed cotton buds are used each year. The ban will come into force from April 2020 after a public consultation …

A 10 tonne Glastonbury festival stage will be made from recycled plastic collected from beaches, streets and parks

The environmental impact of music festivals can be devastating, as fields are littered with plastic cups, tents and general chaos. But this year, Glastonbury organisers are introducing some imaginative new methods in attempts to reduce the festival’s environmental impact. In the most innovative plan, 10 tonnes of plastic is being sourced from beaches, streets and …

Zimbabwe Has Sold 97 Baby Elephants To China And Dubai For $2.7m

Zimbabwe has sold and exported 97 baby elephants to China and Dubai for $2.7m. The Environment, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Priscah Mupfumira announced the sale, explaining the money will be used for conservation efforts. Young elephants fetched from $13,500 to $41,500 in sales which date back to 2012. Selling animals and animals parts for …

Koalas declared ‘Functionally Extinct’ after numbers fall below a sustainable level

Koalas have been declared ‘functionally extinct’ and therefore an unsustainable species after numbers in the wild have plummeted to just 80,000, activists have warned. The Australian Koala Foundation said that numbers of koalas have fallen so dramatically that they will not be able to sustain the next generation or play a significant role in the …

Labour and Tories told to act on climate promises by going vegan

Major political parties in the UK are being urged to honour their promises to tackle the climate emergency by including veganism and plant-based eating in their official policies.   Last week the UK became the first country to declare a national climate emergency, and The Vegan Society is telling politicians to ‘translate this announcement into …

UN report reveals 1 Million animals face extinction because of humans

The most detailed assessment of the threat to nature ever undertaken has warned that one million of the world’s species faces extinction because of humans. The report released by the UN, written by 145 experts from 50 countries, warned that species extinction is ‘already tens to hundreds of times higher than it has been, on …

One in six Americans believe global warming is a ‘hoax invented to deceive people’

More than one in six US citizens do not believe humans are damaging the climate, and many do not believe climate change is happening at all. The YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project compared answers to environmental questions from participants in 23 countries. The results revealed that 13% of Americans believe ‘human activity is not responsible at all’ …

‘Chicken, beef or nothing’: campaigners fight for in-flight vegan meals to be introduced as standard

Travelling by plane as a vegan can involve a familiar disappointment when the food options arrive, particularly if you don’t warn the airline in advance. But a new campaign is fighting to improve the standard of vegan food beyond the usual ‘chicken or beef’ options. To hold airlines to account, the FlyVe website has been …

Orangutans face extinction within a decade if no action is taken

Orangutans will completely extinct within ten years if current trends continue, conservationists have warned. The International Animal Rescue (IAR) has given a frightening report into the risks posed to the orangutan population, and said they’ll disappear altogether if no action is taken. Last month the Bornean oranutan joined the Sumatran orangutran on the critically endangered …