Women's Views on News |
| Parliament committee calls for microbead ban Posted: 25 Aug 2016 01:35 PM PDT
Cosmetic companies should be banned from using plastic microbeads in bathroom products – like exfoliating scrubs, toothpaste and shaving gel – because of the marine pollution they are causing, the cross-party House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has said. Microplastic pollution comes from the fragmentation of larger pieces of plastic waste, small synthetic fibres from clothing and the microbeads used in cosmetics and other products. It is estimated that as much as 86 tonnes of microplastics is released into the environment every year in the UK from facial exfoliants alone. Most large cosmetics companies have made voluntary commitments to phase out microbeads by 2020. However, the Committee would like to see a national ban on microbeads by the end of 2017. The Committee found that a legislative ban would have advantages for consumers and the industry in terms of consistency, universality and confidence. Microplastic pollution is potentially more environmentally damaging than larger pieces of plastic because microplastics are more likely to be eaten by wildlife and because they have a greater surface area with which to transfer chemicals to and from the marine environment. But although microbeads are a significant and avoidable part of the pollution problem, the wider issue of microplastic pollution cannot be set aside once microbeads have been dealt with. Opportunities to capture microplastics via enhanced washing machine filtration systems and improved waste and water sewage treatment processes also need to be explored, the Committee concluded. To read their full report, click here. The chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Mary Creagh MP, said: “Trillions of tiny pieces of plastic are accumulating in the world’s oceans, lakes and estuaries, harming marine life and entering the food chain. "The microbeads in scrubs, shower gels and toothpastes are an avoidable part of this plastic pollution problem. "A single shower can result in 100,000 plastic particles entering the ocean. "Cosmetic companies’ voluntary approach to phasing out plastic microbeads simply won’t wash. We need a full legal ban, preferably at an international level as pollution does not respect borders. "If this isn’t possible after our vote to leave the EU, then the government should introduce a national ban. "The best way to reduce this pollution is to prevent plastic being flushed into the sea in the first place.” If you want to show your support for this Committee's findings, write to your MP, or sign this petition urging Theresa May to do all she can to ban these destructive plastics. The industry is also currently failing to label products containing microbeads clearly, the report pointed out. Should the government fail to introduce an actual ban, the Committee would then call on it to introduce a clear labelling scheme for microbeads during the transitional period of a voluntary phase out to provide transparency for customers. “Most people would be aghast to learn that their beauty products are causing this ugly pollution. Cosmetic companies need to come clean and label their products containing plastics clearly,” Creagh said. |
| The ballads of child migration past Posted: 25 Aug 2016 01:15 PM PDT
In 1986, a woman told social worker Margaret Humphreys that she had been taken from a Nottingham children's home at the age of 4 and sent by ship to Australia. This had happened in the 1950s, and apparently there were hundreds more like her. Humphreys was appalled and shocked at what she heard – and then uncovered even more of the child migrant scandal. She discovered that thousands of children from poor families were forcibly deported from the UK in the 1950s to former colonies including Australia and Canada. Many had been told that their parents had died, many were separated from their siblings on arrival and many subsequently suffered abuse and exploitation. Humphreys’ investigations led to the exposure of the child migration scheme in two major articles by Annabel Ferriman in the Observer newspaper in July 1987, and to the establishment of the Child Migrants Trust. 'Empty Cradles', Humphreys’ account of the formation and early struggles of the Child Migrants Trust, was published in 1994 and dramatised as the 2011 feature film "Oranges and Sunshine" about the dreadful plight of these children. Between 1869 and 1970 an estimated 100,000 British children were sent overseas by migration schemes, which were run by a partnership of charities, religious organisations and governments, and claimed to offer boys and girls the opportunity of a better life in Britain's Empire overseas. Many migrants never saw their homes or their families again. In 2010 the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, apologised in the House of Commons to the thousands of British children who were sent overseas. Many have since been re-united with their families, some 40 or 50s years later, but for others it was too late, for their parents had died. As the legacy of the child migration schemes continues to be examined through public inquiries in Britain and Australia, it is clear that this remains an unresolved history with effects still being lived out in the lives of the children and families who experienced these schemes. From this dark period of very recent history came two projects; firstly an exhibition at the V & A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green entitled ‘On Their Own; Britain's Child Migrants‘, which ran from 12 October 2015 to 12 June 2016, the final leg of an extensive six-year tour that has visited Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Fremantle, Canberra, Albury, Hobart in Australia, and then on to Liverpool and London. The exhibition featured detailed first-hand stories, photography and personal items which belonged to child migrants, as well as video and audio which recounted this period of history. There was also a series of specially commissioned folk songs by leading British musicians including O'Hooley & Tidow; Chris While and Julie Matthews; John McCusker; John Doyle; Coope, Boyes & Simpson; Kris Drever; Andy Cutting; Mike McGoldrick and Boo Hewerdine that have captured the reality of child migrants' lives, and highlighted the plight of these youngsters who often endured hard labour and inadequate living conditions far removed from that which was promised, far away from their friends and family. The Ballads of Child Migration had its premiere at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow on 19 January as part of the 2016 Celtic Connections festival. The resulting specially commissioned CD contains the collection of fourteen songs. And a live performance of the songs from this CD was performed at Whitby Folk Week by four of the original artists earlier this week: Chris While and Julie Matthews, Jez Lowe and Boo Hewerdine. Words and music capturing the essence of a shameful period in history and the State’s abdication of responsibility for its most vulnerable children. Then as now. |
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