Have you ever heard of a plastic attack? Also known as a shop and drop, it is a demonstration where people protest against excessive supermarket plastic packaging by buying their products and leaving all the packaging behind. They are taking the world by storm, from Ireland to the Netherlands.
There are many excuses for the packaging – from protecting produce to making stocking shelves easier – all based on the supermarket’s bottom line. However, this places the burden on us, the consumer, to remove and dispose of all the excess, which is often not recyclable.
The purpose of a plastic attack is to give the burden back to the supermarkets. Of course this is most effective in countries where the supermarket pays a premium for waste removal services.
The Facebook page, 1 Million Women, is encouraging shoppers to #leaveitontheshelf. While we are not as spoilt for choice as larger countries are, we can still call out our supermarkets. Some other common hashtags are #plasticfreeproduce and #endplasticpollution.
If you commit to one thing this earth day – let it be reducing your waste!
Here are some examples of excess packaging from the Guardian.
