Help highlight #PointlessPlastics and clean up our oceans!
Leading UK sustainability organisations launch campaign to reform pointless plastics
Groups to answer Chancellor Philip Hammond’s ‘call for evidence’ on how to tackle single-use plastics
The Global Good Awards in association with Green Gumption have launched a campaign to raise awareness and to help educate about the use of #PointlessPlastics.
#PointlessPlastics calls on everyone in the supply-chain, from consumers to retailers, to showcase either a poor use of plastic, excellent examples of positive change, or a solution to a plastics problem. Consumers are encouraged to highlight instances where plastics are completely pointless or could have easily been replaced with a more sustainable alternative, and to praise where change has been made to reduce or improve plastic use. It aims to put pressure on the whole supply chain, from manufacturer to consumer, to reduce instances of #PointlessPlastics.
To support the initiative Global Good Awards will be presenting solutions to plastic problems, through interviews with their community of sustainability partners. Something Chancellor Philip Hammond will be pleased to hear, given the announced consultation on a tax on single use plastics in yesterday’s budget.
To take part and support the campaign, simply tweet your pictures to @GlobalGoodAward using #PointlessPlastics. These will be showcased on a ‘hall of fame’ on the website, with a winner announced each week. An overall winner will be chosen by our award judges (Tweets before 19th March 2018), and they will be invited to the Global Good Awards Ceremony on 16 May 2018 and presented with a prize on stage.
Paula Owen, CEO of sustainability consultancy Green Gumption, who appeared on BBC News 24 to talk about the campaign launch, said: “People need to become more aware when it comes to their indiscriminate use of single-use, pointless plastics. We all need to THINK before reaching for those plastic straws for our drinks, accepting a plastic bag in our local corner shop or choosing a shrink-wrapped cucumber or banana. Over 50% of all plastic produced is ‘single-use’ and is only used for a few minutes, before being discarded. If we’re lucky, into a recycling bin, but for over 90% of it, it will go to landfill or end up in our oceans, causing untold damage and distress to sea-life.”
You can watch her interview here.
Help highlight #PointlessPlastics and clean up our oceans! Karen Sutton, CEO of Global Good Awards and co-founder of the campaign added: “Initially the idea was to get people to tweet with their photos of badly packaged items, over-use of plastics or where they weren’t needed at all. However, there’s no point stopping there… otherwise we won’t discover all the different solutions that are out there to the problem, and also we won’t know where our manufacturers and retailers are in their journey towards a significantly reduced plastic supply chain.”
“This isn’t a name and shame exercise. We want to share best practice and create a learning platform for all. From retailers influencing their suppliers to small seed-funded organisations that have the solution already, we can all learn from each other!”
Headline sponsor of the Global Good Awards, Danny Doogan of Denmaur, who distribute award winning sustainable packaging, Delipac said: “As the distributors of Revive, and other sustainable paper grades, we are obviously interested in innovation and products that take us a step closer towards the circular economy. We are currently working with our partners, Delipac, to introduce a purely paper based packaging grade that will fulfil the requirements of the current ‘disposable coffee cup’ and food packaging container. The fact that it doesn’t contain a polymer coating means that this product is recyclable– and it has compostable and biodegradable properties should it fall outside the conventional waste streams. We’re hoping this might be a very practical step in eradicating pointless plastics.”
The campaign launch comes just a week before the Global Good Awards open entries for their 2018 awards programme. They have several categories focusing on environmental impact, including for eco-products, behaviour change and sustainable supply chain. Entries close on 2nd Feb.
For more information about the campaign, visit www.globalgoodawards.co.uk/pointlessplastics
