Plastic Attacks first started in the small town of Keynsham...
Plastic attack first started in the small English town of Keynsham near Bristol in the UK when a group of environmentally concerned shoppers decided they had had enough of the excess packaging that came with their food.
Their idea was simple…. JUST LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND!
Around 30 members of the group ‘Keynsham Plastic Re-Action’ decided to carry out one of the first ever plastic attacks at their local Tesco store.
The group of activists went in and did their shopping as normal, but when they reached the checkout and paid for their food, they then did something very out of the ordinary.
Removing all the plastic packaging that came with the items they had purchased they then placed only the actual food into re-usable containers and bags to take home with them.
The organisers then informed staff that they would be leaving all this unnecessary plastic waste behind for the supermarket to deal with and recycle responsibly.
The event was filmed and shared via social media and also the local news got involved to report this very direct act of protest against single use plastics.
This was, we believe, the first ever recorded incident of what has quickly become known around the world as a ‘Plastic Attack’.
How is a Plastic Attack done?
The incredibly high amounts of disposable plastic packaging causing such damaging pollution on our planet has led to the formation of small activist groups who want to bring this most urgent issue to the attention of the world.
Members of such groups usually consist of a broad spectrum of everyday people, who simply feel that the amount of plastic packaging which is now part and parcel of the food we buy everyday, has become completely out of hand.
These small groups or organisers often from just 2 people upwards, united by this belief and inspired by the event that happened in the UK, then decide to organise a similar peaceful protest of their own under the now recognised term of a ‘Plastic Attack’.
Advertising locally and on various social media sites the organisers in most cases openly inform the supermarket they wish to target of their intentions to stage such an event.
Local media and news channels are then informed in the hope they will cover the event so that the problems associated with single-use plastics can be brought to the attention of the world.
Once the event is staged, the protest usually takes place as outlined below:
- The group meet outside the supermarket holding banners, hand out informative flyers and talk to other shoppers in order to raise awareness of the cause. They then encourage the other everyday people coming to the supermarket to do their shopping to join in the event on the day.
- The shoppers then enter the shop, fill their trolleys with the general items they require for their weeks food shopping and head to the checkouts.
- Their goods are then paid for as normal.
- After checkout the shoppers then start to strip all the plastic packaging from the food they have purchased and it is collected into trolleys by the organisers.
- Food is then repackaged into reusable containers and bags often made from alternative plastic free materials. The organisers try to provide any shoppers who don’t have their own bags and containers with bags and boxes which they have saved from going to landfill to be reused at the event.
- The management at the store are then informed that the plastic packaging will be left behind as a direct protest about the overuse of this unnecessary waste, and that the supermarket now take responsibility for ensuring it is recycled correctly.
- They are then asked pass the message on (in the form of a letter or information, and any petitions as signed by shoppers and concerned local people) to senior levels of management in the hope that they will listen to their customers, and both change the way they package their products and put pressure on their suppliers to do the same.
- Food is then either taken home by the shoppers or sometimes people donate this to local food banks or other local charities through the organisers if they wish
How to organise a plastic attack at supermarkets by Keynsham Plastic Re-Action
The information below was published by Keynsham Plastic Re-Action one of the original groups involved in the first ever plastic attacks on their Facebook page. Well worth reading these guidelines and following them if considering organising a peaceful plastic attack event at a supermarket or shop or taking part in World Plastic Attack Day on the 15th of September.
Conclusion and outcomes.
The Plastic Attack protest is simple, direct and to the point. These groups of environmentally conscious consumers just simply don’t want to have all this potentially polluting single use plastic forced on them by the mere act of buying food to eat.
By bringing this act of protest to the attention of the retailers themselves and also to various media channels, the hope is that supermarkets, food producers and governments will start to hear the voice of the people, finally see the sense and urgency of this highly important environmental matter, and begin to change the way our food is packaged, now and in the future to come.
So far the signs are that governments, retailers and food producers just may have begun to hear the distant faint voice of reason…..
Personal Plastic Attacks
A new phenomenon seems to be gaining ground, people are acting by themselves or in very small groups to stage their very own Personal Plastic Attacks.
These people are often just normal everyday members of society who have simply had enough of the constant stream of crazy amounts of single use plastics which seem to be forced onto them as a result of just carrying out their everyday shopping.
Frustrated and feeling they want to avoid consuming all this plastic packaging, people are beginning to find that one real way they can act to change the way things are is to make a direct statement to the supermarkets by carrying out their own peaceful ‘Personal Plastic Attack’
Keynsham- the first ever Plastic Attack.
Shared from SWNS TV via Youtube
The plastic pollution problem in our seas
Shared from United Nations Channel via YouTube
