a well known retailer, marks and spencer, is using customized atmosphere packaging. this modified packaging uses less water for transporting thousands of flowers over valentine&rsquos day. marks and spencer is already using the special packaging to ship vegetables and fruits. the company mentioned that, by applying this technology to offer its £22 bouquets of fairtrade red roses, they will save around 10,000 litres of water on valentine&rsquos day. according to m&s, map bags have been used by finlays horticulture to transport flowers to the customers of m&s since 2011. as soon as a bag is sealed, levels of oxygen in the bag lessen and levels of carbon dioxide boost naturally. the alteration in atmosphere minimizes the respiration rate of the flowers. this reduces the need for water and extends storage time, said m&s. the map packaging has been developed in order to be airtight. this requires less space and weight in delivery trucks, which ultimately results in saving on fuel. in recent years, marks and spencer has made a lot of green commitments. the company&rsquos how we do business report of 2012 was released in the month of october. this report outlined the first five years of development of its plan a program. out of the 180 ethical and environmental targets mentioned in plan a, until now, m&s has achieved 138. plan a was introduced in the year 2007 with 100 pledges, and in march 2010, it was extended by a further 80. the program has already achieved its aim of not generating waste that will end up in the landfill. the program mainly concentrates on involving customers for tackling concerns such as climate change, raw materials, waste, and health and being a fair partner, m&s mentioned. last year, the company has also implicated stricter rules on the use of chemicals through its supply chain, as well as a commitment to stop the use of all pfcs by the month july of 2016. the company worked closely with greenpeace to create new chemical commitments and reinforce its chemical & environmental policy. this policy is a set of standards, which all dyehouses have to meet to work with m&s suppliers. in the month of june, all marks & spenceroperated offices, stores, delivery fleets and warehouse in the uk were certified as carbon neutral. this goal reached by considerably cutting emissions and buying carbon offsets. source of information httpwww.environmentalleader.com20130212msusingwatersavingpackagingtotranspo…
