Warning issued to disposable vape owners before UK ban
Disposable vapes will be banned from all shops starting Sunday to reduce use among young people and address litter.
The ban makes it illegal for retailers to sell disposable vapes, but concerns exist about people stockpiling them.
The Local Government Authority (LGA) warns that lithium batteries in disposable vapes pose fire risks if not stored correctly, potentially leading to thermal runaway and toxic gas release.
Disposable vapes are hazardous in waste disposal, causing fires in bin lorries and requiring manual disassembly for recycling, with costs borne by council taxpayers.
The ban applies across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, with retailers facing fines for violations; the government aims to curb vaping among young people and reduce environmental impact.
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The Guardian
19 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Why we shouldn't cheer Earth's growing population
Jonathan Kennedy raises the tired spectre of 'population control' advocates to argue that we should be happy that the world's population may be undercounted by several billion (Are there billions more people on Earth than we thought? If so, it's no bad thing, 31 May). But while acknowledging that coercive measures to reduce population are a thing of the past, he does not mention that, even historically, the majority of these measures were voluntary and based on educating, empowering and providing contraceptive access to women and girls. This works because women choose lower fertility as soon as they are able to. Yet Kennedy ignores the millennia-old history of empires, churches and the military pushing for them to have more children. He is correct that we should not fear the prospect of immigrants populating rich countries, but wrong that we need them to perform low-wage labour to save us from dire consequences. Alarmist fears of low birthrates are most often spread by the Elon Musks of the world, who have obvious reasons for cheering the cheap labour that comes with population growth. That they are being increasingly parroted by 'liberal' outlets shows that we have lost sight of the lowest- hanging fruit towards taking care of our citizens – taxes that make the wealthy and corporations pay their fair share rather than pressures that push women to have babies they don't want. In a time of deepening climate change, species extinctions and pollution, and of soaring global inequality where people in high-fertility countries want, and deserve, materially secure lives, we should not be cheering the prospect of billions more humans to add to our already dire ecological and social predicaments. Kirsten StadePopulation Balance An entire article about overpopulation and no mention of myriad other species that are being wiped out to accommodate us. I'm not sure that any other animals will be left alive when the population peaks 'at about 10.3 billion in the mid-2080s', or if the planet will still be BinghamMuswell Hill, London Jonathan Kennedy builds on Isaac Asimov's 'bathroom metaphor' to demonstrate the dangers of populist leaders' hostility to immigration. Figuratively speaking, he says they want to keep one bathroom for themselves and force everyone else to share the other one, but that this comes with risks: 'Perhaps the other toilet becomes blocked and the whole flat is inundated with raw sewage.' Right. But this is also what inevitably happens when a limited number of bathrooms are shared with an ever-increasing number of people, even if they are shared equally. We must absolutely become better at sharing resources, but this won't enable infinite growth on a finite planet. There is nothing 'alarmist' about acknowledging that the Earth has limits. In fact, at our current population size, we've already breached close to seven out of nine critical planetary boundaries. It's good to see Kennedy acknowledge that today's population movement focuses on women's empowerment: 'Educating women and giving them control over their lives has proved remarkably effective at reducing fertility rates.' Precisely, not to mention that empowering women is morally essential in its own right. So if we can improve lives and at the same time ensure that there are enough 'bathrooms' for everyone to be comfortable and to avoid disasters, why wouldn't we? Small changes in fertility rates have major impacts on future population sizes. While we are on track for a peak of over 10 billion, the UN's projections also show that if every other woman had one more child than currently expected, our global population would soar to 14.4 billion by 2100, while if every other woman had one fewer child than expected, our global population would decline to 7 billion by 2100. One of these is a lot more compatible with a happy, healthy planet than the NaterPopulation Connection Jonathan Kennedy acknowledges that current concerns about overpopulation relate to 'climate change, resource depletion and biodiversity loss', but then bewilderingly fails to address any of these issues. An implied cornucopian perspective is taken – these issues do not need to be addressed as either humankind's ingenuity will sort them out or humankind at least will not suffer too much from their effects (with no regard paid to the non-human species that we inhabit the planet with). With humankind currently transgressing at least six of nine planetary boundaries, the cornucopian perspective is a dangerous one and needs to be challenged wherever encountered. Overpopulation needs to be acknowledged as a major challenge to bringing human impacts on our world back within sustainable DelphineMelbourne, Australia Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
BBC News
20 minutes ago
- BBC News
A buzzard named Brenda has caused a school playground ban
A buzzard named Brenda has been causing a bit of chaos in the village of Havering-atte-Bower, in bird of prey has been spotted swooping down at people - so children at the nearby local primary school have been told they cannot play outside while the bird is RSPCA thinks that Brenda's behaviour could be because she is protecting a nest or are one of the most common birds of prey in the UK, and are a protected species under UK law, meaning that the options on what to do about Brenda "are very limited" according to the local council. Havering Council said its health and safety team has given "detailed advice to the academy trust which looks after the school", including things they can do to safely deter Brenda from swooping at people, including hiring a falconry expert who understands the bird's school's Head Teacher Stella McCarthy told the BBC they were trying to figure out a way to allow children to play outside where possible, including taking pupils to a nearby school for outdoor play and finding a different location for sports day."We had to think about how to risk assess this... it's quite an unusual situation, having to risk assess a buzzard," she said. After accepting that "there was nothing we could do" to remove the bird of prey, the school decided to embrace her instead."The children named the bird Brenda and put out posters for protecting Brenda and looking after her... they've been writing stories, reports; next week they'll be doing newspaper articles, they've done artwork."As part of their learning, they even had a bird of prey expert visit the school - bringing with him a Chilean blue buzzard eagle called Ross Hicking said: "Guido (can) help educate the children about what Brenda the buzzard is dong, why she's behaving like this, the natural habits of buzzards, to foster interest in birds of prey and also to teach them about conservation and what we can do to protect birds of prey in the wild."He also said that, while "99% of the time" buzzards would avoid people due to fear, Brenda's swooping could be connected with the nesting also said that living in an area near to people meant that "she's a lot more comfortable around people and lot less fearful than most buzzards would be."
The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Northumbrian Water to pay out £15.7m after sewage and water network failings
Northumbrian Water has agreed to pay out £15.7 million after failures in the maintenance and operations of its sewage and water network. Water sector regulator Ofwat said the firm will pay out the 'enforcement package' to local environmental causes and improvements to the region's water infrastructure. Bosses at the watchdog said its failures led to 'excessive spills from storm overflows'. It comes a week after Thames Water was fined a record £122.7 million after it was found to have broken rules over sewage treatment and paying out dividends. Ofwat said the enforcement package is 'greater than the penalty which would otherwise have been imposed' if it had fined the business. It also said the package agreed with the company means it will be spent on local improvements for customers, rather than being directed to the Treasury's consolidated fund. Northumbrian Water chief executive Heidi Mottram said: 'We agree with Ofwat's announcement that the financial settlement will be directed into speeding up our storm overflow reduction plans and in meaningful local initiatives via our Branch Out fund. 'This investment, which will come entirely from Northumbrian Water shareholders and will not be paid for by customers' bills, will enhance our ongoing efforts to support local communities and protect and improve the natural environment here in the North East.' Lynn Parker, senior director for enforcement at Ofwat, said: 'Our investigation has found failures in how Northumbrian Water has operated and maintained some of its sewage works and networks, which has resulted in excessive spills from storm overflows. 'The contraventions we have found at some of their sites will have had an impact on the local environment and customers and it is unacceptable. 'We are pleased that Northumbrian Water has agreed this package. 'We now expect them to move at pace to correct the issues our investigation has identified. 'We hope more companies will follow this example so that the public sees transformative change across the sector.' Northumbrian Water said in December last year that it plans to increase its average water bills by around 21% over the next five years.
