Armchair activism
The launch of this activity was covered in the Swindon Advertiser.
For Plastic Free July 2020, we encouraged the people of Swindon to get involved in some armchair activism. We are extending that indefinitely as it's proving to be very useful for our work in many ways. All contributions very much appreciated. They add up and contribute to a larger body of work.
Two parts to this action, take either or both.
Ask for better from businesses!
Eliminating plastics from our lives can be difficult. For instance, I play the guitar and can't find a set of guitar strings that don't come wrapped in plastic. So, I have emailed the company I buy guitar strings from and asked if they will make changes. We encourage you to do the same; state the problem, provide alternatives, encourage, and please be polite! Please send us the correspondence to publish on the website.
Ask for legislation from MPs
We desperately need strong legislation to stem the production of plastic. The Environment Bill, as it stands, does not provide that. We have formulated a simple action to write to or otherwise contact MPs, with a template letter for you to use if you wish.
If you prefer you can speak with or write letters to business and MPs. However you decide to communicate, please send us the correspondence at **javascript protected email address**, which we will publish on the website. Let's see what we can do when we work together...
Some examples to get the ball rolling...
We thought it would be a good idea to start you off with a few examples. Please have a read, get inspired and then get writing! Or talking!
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Dear Carbon Theory
Can you please start using recyclable packaging?
From Michelle.
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Hi Compassion in World Farming,
Can you please change from using plastic to wrap your Christmas cards?
From Ben.
Hello,
I have recently discovered your products and am very pleased with them. Is there any way you can start to use recycleable packaging please to send out your products? It seems such a shame to miss this part of your overall business strategy. I love that they are cruelty free, but if the plastic can't be recycled then this in itself isn't very ethical.
Thank you,
Michelle
Hey Michelle,
Thanks so much for your interest. Completely understand your concerns here, and we are developing some 100% recyclable packaging.
The main reason we use a plastic pouch at the minute is hygiene, so customers can store and travel with their soap in complete confidence :) We also use 75% more recyclable material than an average plastic liquid cleaner bottle, but we're definitely working on alternatives so watch this space :) Everyone's ethics are different but I think if you reuse the pouch it's affect on the planet is minimised, in the end the decision is up to you.
Carbon Theory
Hello,
Thank you for your quick response. I'm pleased you are taking steps to reduce packaging and make it fully recyclable, however, I think it is misleading to say it is up to the consumer whether we re-use it or not; packaging never will be up to the consumer - this is purely manufacturer led. Personally, I use a travel soap dish, which I imagine other consumers do it if they want to transport it. So the fact I have to have one each time I buy the product, doesn't really make sense to me. I would much rather be able to bulk buy a product and help the environment than have a new plastic bag each time. The other brand of soap I buy, Oliva, comes in a simple cardboard box - perfect.
Also, I was referring to the packaging it was mailed in. Again, pink and grey plastic bag which is unrecyclable far as I can tell because of the inks and colours used.
Like I said, your products are good, it's just a shame these things are thought of when a company starts up, as opposed to sometime further along the line when alternatives are looked at but ultimately eat into profit margins I assume.
Thank you,
Michelle
The product that Michelle wrote to Carbon Theory about is now packaged in cardboard!
Ben called Compassion in World Farming about the plastic wrapping used for their christmas cards. Why are so many cards wrapped in plastic? Alternatives such as string or ribbon can be used to hold cards together.
Dear Ben,
Thank you for getting in touch recently about our Christmas cards, and the plastic wrapper used. We really appreciate you getting in touch and raising your concern about this. It is an area that we have been looking into as we have been making great efforts to ensure as much of our materials are made from recycled and environmentally friendly products, as possible.
All of Compassion's postal mailings, such as our appeals and magazines, are made from recycled paper/card with vegetable dye ink. The Christmas cards and envelope are also made from recycled material (FSC approved) and the ink also made from vegetable dye. However, we have been struggling with the wrapper for the Christmas cards.
We have been discussing the wrap used for the Christmas cards, with our supplier who is hoping to have a compostable replacement available next year. We are waiting to review costs and samples, with great interest. We have already looked at a potato starch option but it is cost prohibitive at present.
We are extremely keen indeed to have a better solution in place in time for our next year card print (due to print in the summer of 2020) and so we are working quite hard on this already. We very much regret that we were not able to solve it in time for the cards this year.
Thank you again for your question and I do hope that this reassures you that we are doing our best to move away from this wrap, as fast as possible. Thank you also for all your support towards a better life for farm animals.
If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to contact us again on supporters@ciwf.org or 01483 521 953 (lines open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm.
Kind regards,
Compassion in World Farming
