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The festivities in the annual calendar when I was growing up (long time ago, sure) were Christmas; and then Easter. There was no Black Friday, no Thanksgiving, and absolutely no Halloween. I don’t mean to be a killjoy - I confess that I have, in the past, gone out with my two kids and a crowd of friends, dressed up to the hilt as ghouls and monsters (the kids, not me) and knocked sheepishly on the front doors of those neighbours game enough to put the right signs up outside their homes, asking for free sweets. Halloween, it turns out, is not a new addition to the festive rota. Actually the origins of Halloween can be traced back to the ancient Celts, across the lands we now know as Britain, Ireland and northern France. This farming community celebrated the end of the bountiful harvest season and the beginning of the cold dark winter with festival of Samhain. The festival symbolised the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead. A few invasions and conversions later, Hallowe'en (a contraction of Hallows' Even or Hallows' Evening, or Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), and the last vestiges of Halloween, now a religious festivity, were largely represented by such harmless activities as apple bobbing, whose aim is to see who can retrieve most apples from a barrel of water without using hands. The mid 19th century saw a mass Irish and Scottish migration to North America to escape the devastating consequences of the potato famine, and there, it seems, everything changed. The USA put their relentless commercial spin on Halloween, and it was hastily re-imported into the UK as a new business opportunity, transforming it from a harmless activity into an environmental and health calamity. Today Halloween is a major money-spinner, the UK’s second largest retail festival after Christmas. It was estimated that in 2019 Brits will spend an extraordinary £474 million!   Image courtesy of Finder.com
Let’s explore the various bits of Halloween in more detail: Pumpkins Carved out vegetables (mostly turnips) were used in celtic times to represent the spirits of the dead; but in the mid 1800s, irish immigrants found, on US soil, an abundance of something much better: ‘Jack o’ Lantern’ pumpkins, producing a similar effect at a much bigger scale. An estimated 15 million pumpkins are grown in the UK every year – 95% will be carved into hollowed-out lanterns for Halloween. According to food waste organisation Hubbub.org, about 33% of Halloween celebrators say they use the carved out interior of their pumpkin to use for food. However, in the vegetable world, size often compromises flavour and texture, so british pumpkins don’t always translate into a great dinner; but with a blender and a good dose of spices or sugar you can still cook up a soup, stew or pies and cakes. A further 39% claim to put the leftover flesh in the food waste bin or compost heap, while 25% say they put it in the general bin, equating to 18,000 tonnes of wasted food, or 360 million portions of pumpkin pie! Pumpkins that end up in landfill will decompose and eventually emit methane – a greenhouse gas with more than 23 times the warming effect of carbon dioxide. Image courtesy of Hubbub.org Trick or treat In Celtic times on "All Souls' Day", traditionally on November 2, the needy would beg for pastries called soul cakes. In exchange, they would pray for the dead relatives of whoever showed them generosity. This practice was known as "souling," the medieval version of asking for a treat. Today, children no longer ask for nutritious food, but instead compete with each other for sweeter, sugar-dominated sweets and treats. I can’t find the exact amount that Brits spend on sweets (please do let me know if you are able to help me here), but for candy-loving Americans, (and candy selling retailers) Halloween is the high-point of the year. Halloween treats spread way beyond the doorstep treat, and now encompass all kinds of cakes, breakfast cereals and biscuits, that fly off the shelves at the end of October at an otherwise quiet time for retail. According to the (US) National Confectioners Association, Americans are expected to spend $2.5 billion (£1.94bn) on candy this Halloween. According to University of Alabama, American children collect an average of 3,500 to 7,000 calories on Halloween night. It’s hard to say how much of this children actually eat (my kids’ Halloween trophies stayed in their cupboard until I chucked them out in June or July the following year), but the average 13-year-old boy would need to walk more than 100 miles to burn off those candy calories. A few months down the line, I wonder too how many more fillings are being added to children’s mouths! Dressing up in scary Costumes The medieval version of asking if someone wanted a "trick" was known as "guising." On Halloween, medieval children would dress up in costumes and offer a song, poem or joke in exchange for food, wine and money. Today this tradition continues with the sale of millions of cheap items of disposable clothing and accessories, many of which will be used just once before being dumped. It is estimated that 33 million people dressed up for Halloween in 2017 and a shocking four in 10 costumes were worn only once. According to an article in The Metro last week, Halloween costumes sold this year by some of the UK’s biggest retailers will contain the equivalent of 83 million plastic bottles. An investigation of 324 clothing lines sold by 19 retailers found that 83% of the material in the costumes is oil-based plastic. The most common plastic polymer found in the clothing sampled was polyester, making up 69% of the total of all materials. The study predicts that the costumes will add up to 2,000 tonnes of plastic waste in the UK this year. Spraying plastic micro fibres all over your hedges Perhaps the most ridiculous of all Halloween habits is the spraying of fake spider’s webs on your outdoor environments. In my neighbourhood, hundreds of front gardens have white webs all over the hedges bordering their front gardens. It should be noted that these actually look nothing at all like real spider’s webs even in the loneliest and most abandoned spaces. These webs are sprayed from an aerosol can and are plastic-based. Some of this material will inevitably end up on the pavement to be washed down into the drains and then to our waterways in the form of micro-plastics and plastic debris. According to a 2018 report in Nature Geoscience last year, some of Britain’s rivers have more plastic particles in them per square meter than anywhere else in the world. Halloween surely must be contributing to this statistic. I am not against the celebration of this deeply rooted and ancient tradition. But if you are planning to go out for Halloween this evening, take a few minutes to think about how you can do it in a healthier and more sustainable way. Plenty of advice to be found on the internet or on Hubbub’s wonderful website www.hubbub.org. By Clare Brass
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5 sustainability lessons learnt from the Lion King movie Having grown up watching the original Lion King cartoon as one of my all-time favourite films, the new one was a must-see! It was both nostalgic and fresh, not only because of the incredible CGI and effect, but because of a new point of view as a father and as a sustainability-focused professional. I was delighted to see the sustainability messages throughout the film, some very bold, others more subtle. I want to believe that my love for the original cartoon 25 years ago has contributed to my passion for sustainability and the path I took to dedicate my career to making our planet a better place. It is great to see that blockbusters like this are educating children about the right values and inspiring them to live a more planet-friendly life. Here are my top 5 messages from the Lion King movie:
1. Balance QUOTE: Mufasa: Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king, you need to understand that balance, and respect all the creatures - from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope. Simba: But, Dad, don't we eat the antelope? Mufasa: Yes, Simba, but let me explain. When we die, our bodies become the grass. And the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life. INTERPRETATION: This is one of the main messages from the film, explaining that everything in nature is connected and that in order for the planet to function, everything needs to stay in balance. It suggests that as long as we do everything responsibly and in moderation, the balance remains in harmony. This is a crucial educational message in today’s planetary circumstances, where we have put almost all of our ecosystems out of balance through the negative consequences of actions that we take as individuals, governments and businesses. SIMBA'S BUSINESS TIP: Consider adopting Circular Economy thinking into your business operations and supply chain, to shift away from a Linear (take-make-use-dispose) model, which takes resources out of the system and doesn’t offer anything back to it. 2. Greed QUOTE: Scar: When I am king, the mighty will be free to take whatever they want. Because a hyena's belly is never full. INTERPRETATION: Greed for money and growth is one of the underlying problems of our society, which is a cause for a lot of our environmental problems. In this scene, Scar is depicted as a rogue leader, which could be interpreted as both big corporations or political leaders, that are greedy for profit, power and popularity. The approach of “the mighty will be free to take whatever they want.” is what is creating unsustainable systems, where there is no consideration for the other inhabitants of the planet and the negative impact that is creating. SIMBA'S BUSINESS TIP: Set a mission and vision for your business that embeds social and environmental responsibility and ensures that your business decisions will not jeopardise these values when your business grows. Consider becoming a Certified B Corp - a new kind of business that balances purpose and profit. B Corp’s are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. 3. Overhunting (exploitation of resources) Nala: Everything's destroyed. There's no food. No water. Simba, if you don't do something soon, everyone will starve. Sarabi: You’re overhunting, Scar. Scar’s approach (and the hyenas’ endless demand for more) to keep hunting as much as they want as long as there is food has led to an environmental disaster, with no living flora and fauna in the Pride Lands. Overexploitation of resources by companies and governments is caused by a growing market demand and therefore a need for greater supply of products. We are becoming more and more consumerist, believing that we always need new clothes, new phones, new cars, even if we already have enough and they are in perfect functional conditions. This has caused an equally alarming environmental disaster on Earth, with deforestation, biodiversity loss, overfished oceans and other destructive consequences. SIMBA'S BUSINESS TIP: Understand the Life Cycle Analysis of your products and the resources that go into producing them, in order to reduce reliance on scarce ingredients and materials and consider finding more sustainable alternatives with a lower environmental impact and lower carbon footprint. 4. Alternative Proteins QUOTE: Simba: I'm so hungry I could eat a whole zebra...Any antelope? ...Hippo? Timon: Nope! Listen, kid; if you live with us, you have to eat like us. Hey, this looks like a good spot to rustle up some grub. ...Mmmm. Tastes like chicken. INTERPRETATION: Not sure if this was an intentional message in the original 1994 film, but it’s certainly a trendy topic in 2019! The point is...We could all do with less meat in our lives! If Simba - a lion can (I’m dubious about that), then humans certainly can! The meat industry is one of the highest emitters of GHG - Green House Gases and is also creating other environmental damage through the pollution of waterways, deforestation and antibiotic use, amongst many others. The answer is a more planet-friendly diet that involves less meat, especially less red meat. Vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diets are trending and alongside plant-based alternatives, another industry on the rise is - insects as a source of protein, in the form of powder supplements, energy bars, crisps and burger blends (eg. half-beef, half-crickets). SIMBA'S BUSINESS TIP: If you are a food business, begin the shift towards meat alternatives and broaden your offer. The demand is growing and consumers are becoming more and more environmentally conscious! If you are non-food related, consider transforming your company catering to a vegan-only offer or try introducing new ingredients such as plant-based proteins and insects. After all, as Timba says - “Tastes like chicken!” :) 5. Optimism QUOTE: "Hakuna Matata" INTERPRETATION: Although I wouldn't agree that we can adopt a "no worries" philosophy to our planetary problems, I strongly believe that we must overcome the 'helpless doom' approach and that the only way we can achieve anything good is if we have a positive and optimistic vision for a better future! SIMBA'S BUSINESS TIP: Have clear, optimistic plans for what your business can achieve and how it can make the world a better place and never lose faith in it! By Dejan Mitrovic Serving up the perfect partnership Over the past few years, Department22 has been exploring ways to make the food industry more sustainable and adhering to circular economy principles. We focused on food because, on the face of it - there’s an obvious link between our food systems and the health of the planet. The two are deeply intertwined and critical for our long-term survival. Therefore, food is a seemingly worthy sector on which to focus our energy and expertise. Sport, on the other hand, is less easy to make a connection with sustainability. This summer, there seems to have been a push from the sports industry to reference its wider impact on society and talk about sustainability. I have been enjoying some of the major sporting events which have graced our screens this summer: the Women's World Cup, Men’s Cricket World Cup and Wimbledon to name a few. Wimbledon made the headlines in June with the tournament’s new policy to remove the transparent plastic bags from players’ newly-strung rackets. Those who watch tennis will be familiar with what this looks like: a player pulls a new racket from their bag, holds it out for one of the ball boys or girls to pull the bag off, scrunch it up and rush to the nearest bin. Wimbledon says the new policy will prevent 4,500 single-use plastic bags being used. Wimbledon faced some backlash on social media - 4,500 is a tiny drop in the ocean when it comes to reducing plastic waste - but the real impact is the removal of this small, seemingly harmless, ‘throw-away routine’, which is watched by millions of people around the world. Whether Wimbledon realised it or not, this will have a far greater impact than simply talking about the amount of plastic saved. During a 90-second changeover in the men’s semi-final at Wimbledon this year, one of the commentators talked about the new ‘sustainability area’ at the Championships which highlighted numerous ways the All England Club are trying to improve their sustainability credentials, including the world premiere of Evian’s 100% recycled water bottle and an interactive quiz about Wimbledon’s British sourced-food. Given the context of the match, Roger Federer facing arch-rival Rafael Nadal, this connection should have seemed off-topic, but strangely it didn't. The climate agenda is creeping to the forefront of many businesses, and the sports industry is improving its credentials too. Many sports clubs now boast that they are running stadiums on renewable sources of energy and every sport, from cricket to golf, is introducing some kind of reusable scheme for drinking cups. On a bigger level, sport is also educating and influencing its global audience on climate change. It may seem that the escapism and excitement of sport, along with its fierce spirit of competition, could conflict with the more caring and conservationist traits associated with sustainability and environmentalism. But we are seeing a surge in efforts from the sports industry to harness these traits and use the spirit of competition and excitement to turn the tide against climate change. In June this year, all four of the major tennis Grand Slams committed for the first time to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change - Sports for Climate Action - aiming to use sport to influence climate awareness. This is great news as it means that sustainability will be increasingly discussed in sports and it will not be out of the ordinary for a commentator to mention climate change in the same breath as remarking on the beauty of a Federer backhand… By Thomas Leech
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