Back to School Promos? The kids have only just finished!

Walking along Oxford Street in London's West End you could have been forgiven for thinking it was mid/late August...not only was it fairly empty but any shop with even a vague connection (and some that didn't even seem to have that) were announcing Back to School promotions!

Most schools had not ended for the summer break more than 48hrs earlier....I remember when I was at school that seeing the Back to School signs was always a pre-cursor to the end of the fun, summer day and return to uniform and dark afternoons of the Autumn term....but to start telling kids (and parents) to get ready for school only as they finish just seems, well mean spirited! What happened to a Summer Sale or something - give the kids a break!!

Now I'm all for offers/deals/promotions - call them what you will, but next thing they'll be advertising Christmas in September...oh hold on...they already do don't they?!

Every little helps the planet - except Tesco.

It would seem that Tesco has been helping to keep prices low at the cost of one of the most delicate eco-systems on the planet by sourcing its own-brand stationery items from a discredited paper mill that uses rainforest trees to make paper - and it has known about it for years!

More environmentally focused Sainsburys and Marks & Spencer have chosen previously to cease buying their own-brand paper products from the Asia Pulp & Paper group (which lost is Forest Stewardship Certificate 3 years ago) but, accordingly to The Times, Tesco seems to feel that the paper it is using for more than 80 of its own brand products (which The Times believes to be cut from Indonesian Rainforest) is still ok in this day and age.

It is a shame that a company that can influence so much chooses to move so slowly on such an important issue - whilst hypocritically shouting loudly about it's other environmental efforts! We at UOE call for Tesco to join us in promoting the use of recycled and FSC products and stop using excuses like "we expect to stop using this source by the end of 2010". You can stop today. Right now. Come on Tesco - every little helps!