This Monday saw Earth Day, and so our team Lunch and Learn this week tackled fast fashion, and its impacts on the planet and beyond.

Fast fashion is actually a pretty new phenomenon. Go back a couple centuries and fashion was very slow by necessity. Most people made their own clothes - sourcing material, preparing it and weaving it together themselves. But fast forward to the overconsumption of the 21st century...

Today, we move at breakneck speed from trend to trend to produce cheap garments. But this comes at a steep human, animal, and environmental cost. As advocates of social change, our team discussed our best practice tips for avoiding fast fashion and overconsumption as best we can.

- Cressida, Head of Content

QUICK FIRE NEWS 🧨

🤳 Manchester tackle covert filming of women

❤️ Police apologise over Stephen Lawrence case

🗳️ Female candidates are in short supply in elections

🇸🇪 Sweden lowers legal gender change from 18 to 16

🎼 Government rejects recommendations of Misogyny In Music report

LET'S GET INTO IT 🤓

Sunak wants to end "sick note culture"👀

PM fuels harmful rhetoric suggesting benefits are "becoming a lifestyle choice.”

What's happening? Sunak has caused controversy in a recent speech announcing plans to tackle the UK’s so-called ‘sick note culture.' A record 2.8 million people are currently out of work due to long-term sickness which Rishi suggests may be unnecessary. His speech was backdropped by the work and pensions secretary Mel Stride's recent comment that mental health culture has “gone too far."

The response The speech was met with immediate criticism and horror from mental health and disability bodies. They suggest his comments "demonise" the sickest people in our society and form part of a wider government attack on disabled people which include proposed reforms to universal credit. They also suggest that focusing on sign off procedure for sickness overlooks the key reasons people stay out of the workforce.

“Many disabled people want to work, but don’t get enough help to do so either from employers or from the government," says Chief Exec of Learning and Work Institute. Making it harder for people to access benefits and forcing people to work without the right support is not the answer, and could lead to some dangerous outcomes.

Don't write off Gen Z just yet ✋

It's a generation of massive change, but the resilience and success of Gen Z should not be discounted.

Are the kids alright? There tend to be defining moments of influence on a generation. Boomers were shaped by the post-war plenty, millennials by financial crisis. For Gen Z, the consensus is forming of a generation of smartphone-obsessed kids which is making them miserable. They're defined by doomscrolling, climate change, rising costs of living, and general anxiety. However, this might be an unfair assessment.

Not all doom and gloom The perception that today's young people are worse off than their parents is very western-centric. In places with emerging economies - such as Mumbai, Nairobi - the younger population are decidedly better off than their predecessors with better education, health and prospects. There are many advantages for Gen Z in the Western world too...

📲 Rising tech comes with its issues, but it also means we're better informed and connected than ever before.

💰 Wages are rising faster than ever, and Gen Z are transforming the world of work for the better! They're taking back agency for employees.

💼  Youth-unemployment rate across the rich world is at its lowest in decades.

Gen Z are tackling a technological revolution but they are tackling it and adapting as they go to a new digital-first world. Don't knock 'em, okay?

Rwanda bill passed in Parliament 🧑⚖️

What does this mean? The Rwanda bill - first proposed in 2022 - will facilitate plans to send some asylum seekers looking for refuge in the UK to Rwanda instead. Sunak says the bill was created "to deter vulnerable migrants" and send the message that "if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay." But criticism has delayed the bill, ranging from an "expensive gimmick" to claims it breaches international law.

And now? Now the bill is set to become law after opposing peers eventually backed down on pushes to amend it. Home Office sources say that a group of asylum seekers have already been identified as the first to be sent to Rwanda in July. They will be given just 7 days notice before their removal. This can only be halted if lawyers can prove the move would be unsafe to the individual. About 52,000 people could be sent to Rwanda under this new law - people who fled to the UK for safety.

THIS WEEK WE'RE LOVING ✨

🚽 Another reason to love John Waters

💚 Getting educated on greenwashing