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Protesters litter stores with excess packaging

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Published Date: 28 October 2007
ACTIVISTS have confronted supermarket bosses with piles of rubbish in a nationwide protest aimed at shaming stores into going green.
Campaigners returned unwanted packaging to supermarkets across the country yesterday in a drive to cut waste.

Members and supporters of Friends of the Earth Scotland carted piles of unwanted plastic, cardboard and paper back to supermarkets and u
rged staff to lobby their head offices to stop overpackaging goods.

The co-ordinated stunt targeted stores in Edinburgh, Elgin, Kirkcaldy, Falkirk and Fort William.

Rosiaina Browning, of Friends of the Earth Scotland, claimed the protest had been a big success.

She said: "Our actions sent out a strong message to stores that as customers we find it totally unacceptable that our shopping comes so over-packaged. Most of it is unnecessary and is only adding to Scotland's growing waste mountain."

Jo Swinson, Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire, gave her support to the campaign.

She said: "The public's calls for Government action on excess packaging are getting louder and louder.

"I'm sure this weekend's activities will leave supermarkets in no doubt about what their customers think of excess packaging.

"The Government has been too timid and too slow in tackling the packaging problem."



The full article contains 207 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
Page 1 of 1

 
1

S'me,

28/10/2007 04:59:40

Simply don't buy overpackaged goods...

2

Bill MacDonald,

28/10/2007 09:23:42

Once again the rantings of Rosiaina Browning from Friends of the Earth have to be corrected. Only last week Ms Browning was bumping her gums with facts and figures relating to the so called success of the Irish bag tax which were totally inaccurate. She stated that plastic bags accounted for 5% of litter in the Irish Republic and that this was reduced by 90% to 0.22%, this figure being attributed to the supposed success of the Irish tax. Ms Browning appears to be oblivious to the fact that the figures
she quotes, which were presented in evidence by the Irish Government to the Scottish Parliament, were subsequently uncovered by the Australian
Government Productivity Commission as being totally untrue. The National Litter Pollution Monitoring System in Ireland produces annual reports, which are in the public domain, showing quite clearly that the actual percentage of plastic bags in litter fell from a mere 0.75% (not the 5% she states) to 0.32% in the first year of the tax (2001 to 2002) and in 2005 the percentage of plastic bags in litter was only marginally less at 0.22%, a reduction of one half of one percent NOT the ridiculous figure of 90% Ms Browning suggests. Ms Browning really needs to take a reality check and do her researching more carefully and not just copy popular myth, innuendo and inaccuracies if the organisation she purports to represent wishes to be
taken more seriously. With the percentage figures of plastic bags in litter in Scotland being roughly 0.3% WITHOUT a tax, why on earth are we wasting
public money even discussing this issue when there are far more serious matters that need attending.

3

TimW1234,

Ottawa, Canada 28/10/2007 11:05:55

"...far more serious matters that need attending."

Such as what, Billy Bo?

It takes small steps to clean up this planet and possibly save it from pollution and the mismanagement of natural resources which are not infinite.

Your negativity and arrogance are one of the causes of why the planet may be going to hell in a handcart.


 

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