April 9th, 2019
A plastic-fighting initiative aimed
at reducing supermarket-generated plastic rubbish has urged shoppers to
participate in its second year of action.
The new wave of the Sick of Plastic campaign’s shop and drop
movement is set to kick off on April 13. The project encourages shoppers across
Ireland to leave their excess plastic waste at the supermarkets’ check out
points.
Last year, the campaign’s first round
of plastic disobedience saw thousands of shoppers leaving their unwanted
plastic packaging behind.
Claudia Tormey, one of the campaign
organisers, said that while their last year’s anti-plastic crusade grabbed
shops’ attention, action needs to persist to compel them to change policy.
“Last year’s action really grabbed supermarkets’ attention, but they haven’t made enough
lasting changes, and people are frustrated,” she said.
“We need to increase the volume and
keep up the pressure to make supermarkets break free from
plastic. It’s up to all of us to demand change – and that starts at the check-out
in our local supermarket.”
The campaign has set up an online platform to galvanise support from communities who want to Shop and Drop on April 13, with over 200 people virtually already signed-up to take part.
Six steps to plastic free
The campaign’s online petition has
also attracted significant citizen support with 17,000 signatories backing its plastic-tackling
objectives.
The initiative outlines six steps
for resolving supermarket’s plastic problem such as offering package-free fruit,
demanding recyclable bags, providing a plastic-free isle as well as allowing
shoppers to choose their own grocery containers.
Concerned citizens can also
participate in a plastic audit of
supermarkets and rate the shops’ commitment to the campaign’s demands, drawing in
600 citizen auditors to date.
Incremental change has taken place within
supermarkets with Lidl already offering more loose fruits while securing its
Fairtrade bananas with a paper band. Supervalu has also provided bins for its
customers to dispose of unwanted plastic packaging.
Oisín Coghlan, the director of Friends
of the Earth Ireland commended these eco-friendly efforts but warned that they
are not sufficient for eliminating the problem.
“Shoppers are trying to do their bit. People are avoiding plastic where they can
and recycling as much as they can. But often we don’t have a choice when most
food is unnecessarily wrapped in soft plastic,” he said.
Encouraging citizens to take part in the upcoming action,
Mr Coghlan said that the symbolic demonstration will help convey a strong
message of dissatisfaction to big retailers.
“Shop and Drop is a simple action for public to
demonstrate their frustration and show supermarkets that they need to do more
to reduce and phase our single-use plastic,” he said.
“[The campaign] is a demonstration, not the long-term solution. The solution is for supermarkets to give shoppers the choice to avoid plastic in the first place.”
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