Wednesday 06-03-2024 - 09:56

Following a motion which was passed by Student Council in April 2023 to reduce Amazon purchases and offer alternative incentives for students, we would like to share the reasons behind this motion along with tips on how you can shop locally and ethically.

 

 

 

The reasons behind the motion

• Amazon has been named as one of the biggest carbon polluters in ‘big tech’, emitting the equivalent of 71.27 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2022.

• “US regulators have finally sued Amazon for using illegal strategies to maintain its monopoly power. The long-awaited lawsuit argues that Amazon’s monopolising strategies allowed the company to insulate itself from competition and extract monopoly rents, leading to higher prices generally. The case picks up on practices that EU and UK regulators had already investigated but it goes further, exposing that there is still much work to be done in Europe.” 

• A 2020 report by TUC found that employees in UK Amazon warehouses worked 55-hour weeks and had extreme targets to hit. It was reported that workers were harassed, disciplined or even fired if they did not meet them. Workers disclosed that they felt unable to take breaks or go to the toilet – some would even urinate in bottles in fear of not achieving these targets. 

• In 2021, the UK lost around half a billion pounds from Amazon’s tax avoidance, according to an investigation by Ethical Consumer. This amount could have paid for payments to the most vulnerable to help with fuel costs, pay rises for nurses, or insulating homes of pensioners.

What this motion means for us

After conducting research around the ethics and sustainability of Amazon, we decided to take matters into our own hands! We didn’t want to ‘bad mouth’ a big corporation, but instead chose to uplift our small local businesses. We did this by actively supporting them through purchasing their products/services and promoting them through our channels, therefore reducing our reliance on Amazon.

How you can support this motion

Instead of getting your goods delivered directly to you, you could get them delivered to a locker which reduces the carbon footprint as the delivery driver only has to do one drop off for numerous orders. Conveniently, we have one located in our Students’ Union building (its name is Jasper). You can select a longer delivery date instead of next day delivery which also lowers the carbon footprint of your delivery. You can also filter your searches on Amazon to only include “Climate Pledge Friendly” options – or better still… shop local!

Where can I shop?

Did you know, Wrexham is home to Ty Pawb? Ty Pawb is our very own local market which comprises of food stalls, local traders and family friendly entertainment. Want to find out more? Click here!

 

 

We also have the Wrexham Street Market which involves local small businesses showcasing their products and services. This is a great opportunity to support small local traders.

 

 

Written by Maisie Head, Students’ Union Vice President

 

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