Latest news with #LauraYoung
BBC News
a day ago
- Health
- BBC News
The influencer whose tweet led to a ban on disposable vapes
There are not many times when a single social media post can trigger a snowball effect which leads to a significant change in the social media influencer Laura Young's actions did exactly that when she started noticing a litter problem while walking her dog in Dundee.'Less waste Laura' - as she calls herself online - said she was "sick of litter picking" disposable vapes and wanted to campaign against years on and her campaign has led to a UK-wide ban now coming into force. Laura realised her message had struck a chord when a TikTok video she created was viewed 10.5 million led to a prominent newspaper campaign and then calls from government officials requesting meetings with told BBC Scotland News: "If you look up disposable vapes, (mine) is the first (tweet) that comes up."Within five weeks it had made the headlines and of course everyone was showing where these vapes were." The year after Laura first raised the issue, the Scottish government commissioned an urgent report into the impact of single use vapes on the environment and on young revealed that 2.7 million vapes had been littered on Scotland's streets in a single year - about 10%t of the total report also found that 22% of all under-18s - about 78,000 people - were using vapes. But it was the environmental impact which concerned Laura the said: "They begin to fall apart. They get broken, they get damaged and the metal can pop tyres so it's a really big problem." In the same year that Laura first launched her campaign, it emerged that a fire which destroyed a recycling facility in Aberdeen had "most likely" been caused by a discarded devices contain lithium-ion batteries which, when damaged, can spontaneously blaze took just 10 seconds to take hold and the entire facility has had to be Scottish ban was first proposed in February 2024 and was due to be introduced last UK and Welsh governments then confirmed they would follow suit and the Scottish ban was delayed by two months to bring them all into line. Retailers have been increasingly providing recycling bins in shops so the devices can be disposed of Laura says she's probably collected thousands of littered vapes over the last few adds: "It's was fantastic to know that throughout the campaign we were really building up momentum. We had lots of councils support a ban, we had the Scottish government putting out reports and then, of course, we had the commitment to a says she's incredibly proud of what's been achieved but adds that the campaigning has also raised the issue of other disposable technologies and how damaging that is for the not sure what campaign she might start next but admits that she's received a very long list of suggestions from family and friends.
Daily Mirror
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mirror
Woman who started disposable vape ban campaign hailed 'hero' but some see issue
The ban on disposable vapes comes into effect on June 1 following a campaign to outlaw them - and it applies to all businesses and organisations that sell or supply single-use vapes in the UK Disposable vapes are to be banned in the UK from Sunday (June 1) in a bid to cut back on waste. The new law will be applied to businesses rather than individuals, however, meaning that it will be a criminal offence for retailers to sell or supply such single-use products - but not illegal for vapers to smoke them for personal use. It follows a campaign by Laura Young, whose campaign pointed out that a staggering 5 million disposable vapes were discarded every week in the UK in 2023, which over a year is equivalent to the lithium batteries of 5,000 electric vehicles. In the build-up to the ban, meanwhile, Dan Marchant, Managing Director at the UK's largest online vaping retailer, Vape Club, and Co-Founder of the UK Vaping Industry Association, reported that disposable vape sales have increased by 50-100%, with some of the most popular flavours more than doubling according to his latest sales figures. "It's not surprising that adults who have been relying on these products to remain smoke-free are stockpiling ahead of the ban," Dan said. "It can take some time to find a replacement product that the user is comfortable with, so having enough disposables to get you by for a few weeks will be a safety blanket for those who are scared they may return to smoking otherwise." With the ban's introduction, just 48 hours away, Laura took to TikTok to share a video in response to one frustrated vaper who admitted he "doesn't know what to do" after the ban seemingly "crept up" on him. Laura highlighted the "interesting part" of the man's video - a part in which he simply stated he "just likes disposable ones". Laura continued: "It explains the problem - people just like disposable vapes. They don't want to use a reusable. They think it looks uncool and that's the reason they use disposable. "That's where the problem lies - they are very convenient, they are very cheap and they're easy just to use and then throw away. But that's the whole problem - every single disposable vape has a battery, a lithium ion battery and it's full of metals and minerals that are very precious. And then we are using that electronic device and then throwing it away." Writing in response, hundreds of Brits hailed the move including one who penned: "I see vape bars discarded everywhere, it's the right decision to ban them. If you are that addicted to flavoured air you need to seek help to stop." A second person added: "Thank God I won't have to look at bins completely covered in the little stickers from disposables or discarded ones all over the ground any more." A third TikTok user noted: "Vaping looks uncool regardless. I honestly think it looks embarrassing whatever way you do it, so he needn't worry too much about that. I can't wait for the ban, I work for a local authority litter department and they are an absolute menace." Whilst a fourth praised Laura's endeavours, saying: "Well done for achieving something which is really, genuinely impactful and important. I never even considered that each vape had a battery and it was just binned. I can't stand vapes, what a hideous invention they turned out to be." Others, however, pointed out problems amid the ban. One suggested: "The risk is this opens up a massive black market opportunity." Another sceptic told Laura: "Hate to burst your bubble, but many brands have added charging slots to their disposable vapes so they can continue selling. It doesn't make them any less disposable, nothing has really changed." A third vaper shared: "I've only ever used reusable vapes but I think this is unlikely to change much. The people who are littering with them will pay the extra and do exactly the same as they did before. If anything, bigger batteries will be left strewn around. A reusable is only a couple of £ more than disposables." And a fourth individual commented: "You can still get the disposable ones for the same price. But the batteries can be reused now. It's just that now you can replace the pods but they are basically the same. And they will get disposed of the same." Regarding the ban, the government's website states: "From 1 June 2025, it is illegal for businesses to sell or supply single-use vapes. It is also illegal to offer to sell or supply single-use vapes, or to stock single-use vapes that you plan to sell or supply. Single-use vapes are also known as disposable vapes. "The ban applies to: Sales online and in shops All vapes whether or not they contain nicotine "You must arrange to recycle any leftover stock of single-use vapes from 1 June 2025. You can still sell and supply vapes that are reusable." The government adds: "The ban applies to all businesses and organisations that sell or supply single-use vapes in the UK. This includes: Retailers – such as convenience stores, market stalls, petrol stations, specialist vape shops and supermarkets Manufacturers Wholesalers Importers Healthcare settings and stop smoking services. A vape is single-use if it either: Has a battery you cannot recharge Is not refillable To be reusable, a vape must have a: Rechargeable battery Refillable container that holds the vaping e-liquid (such as a chamber, capsule, cartridge, pod or tank) Removable and replaceable coil (if the vape contains a coil)." Those who supply single-use vapes from Sunday face fines of £200 with increased penalties for further offences.
The Guardian
29-04-2025
- General
- The Guardian
The poop scoop: is bagging it really the best solution?
When Laura Young got Cooper the cavapoo in 2020, she knew that single-use plastic poo bags weren't going to cut it. 'Having a dog is a lifestyle extra,' says the 28-year-old environmental scientist. 'I was aware that I wanted to try not having a negative environmental impact.' But where to start? The shelves seemed to be divided into two camps: bog-standard, single-use plastic wisps, and shiny, expensive bags brandishing eco buzzwords. 'I was conscious that compostable bags weren't the solution,' says Young. 'But initially that's all I could find and so that's what I bought.' Often marketed as biodegradable, compostable or made from an alternative material such as cornstarch, they promise a more environmentally friendly option than single-use plastic. (Plastic poo bags, frequently made from low-density polyethylene, will sweat in landfill for thousands of years, breaking down into harmful microplastics and releasing climate-warming methane as they go.) 'You've got plastic bags, you've got recycled plastic bags, you've got compostable bags, you've got biodegradable bags,' says Young. 'There are actually so many materials now that it's confusing.' She's not alone in puzzling over which to buy, with the nation's dogs producing more than 1,000 tonnes of poo every day in the UK. Compostable and biodegradable bags promise to break down in the right conditions but given that oxygen and light are needed for biodegradation to take place, these types of bags are rendered useless if binned and sent to landfill. Then there's the danger that because they say biodegradable on their packaging, people won't throw them in the bin in the first place. 'People don't clearly understand what buying a biodegradable bag means,' says Karl Williams, the director of the Centre for Waste Management at the University of Central Lancashire. 'There's the risk that dog owners go: 'Well, it's OK now because it's biodegradable, so I can leave it in the forest.'' The bags won't biodegrade if just dumped out in the open, dog poo can contain harmful pathogens such as E coli and it is, for the record, littering. Some even argue that the environmental impact of manufacturing these types of bags does more harm than your standard plastic fare. 'When you do the life cycle assessment of the whole process, they're actually worse because you're using so much energy to make the bag in the first place,' says Mark Miodownik, professor of materials and society at UCL. 'It's a very small industry, and its small size basically makes it inefficient. You're still using a lot of energy and water to make these bags, but you're competing with the scale of the trillion dollar plastics industry, which does things much more efficiently per bag.' It's no wonder, then, that some dog owners are attempting to get rid of bags altogether. 'In an ideal world, I kick the poo to the side,' says 55-year-old Lynda. 'As long as it's off the path, I think it's going to decompose there better than being in any kind of bag.' Known as the stick and flick method, this type of dog waste disposal is controversial: a recent study from Belgium found that dog faeces and urine were being deposited in nature reserves at such a rate that it was overfertilising the soil and harming biodiversity. 'Intuitively, you would think that nutrients are good for plants – adding nitrogen and phosphorus is something we do in agriculture and arable fields,' says Pieter De Frenne, professor of applied plant sciences at Ghent University, who led the study. 'But only a subset of plant species can really take advantage of the additional nitrogen and phosphorus inputs.' As a result, many local flora will be driven out by thriving plants such as nettles and hogweed, reducing biodiversity. De Frenne advises against stick and flick in any ecosystem – whether you're walking on or off the beaten track. So what's the solution? For Miodownik, it's surprisingly straightforward: 'If you're going to put it in a municipal bin or your own bin, you're better off trying to reuse a bag that you already have in your possession that would otherwise go in the rubbish. You give it a second life, and you're not consuming resources by buying a bag.' Dog walkers from across the country have come up with innovations of their own. Jacqueline Moore from Musselburgh fashions a folded sheet of newspaper into a parcel: 'I can usually slide it under her while she poos.' While other intrepid owners have reported reusing everything from cereal bags to magazine postal pouches. As for Young, she's settled on the best solution she could find: Scottish brand Project Harmless's £15.50 bags that dissolve in water. That is, when she can't find an old bread bag to use instead.
