In a culture that takes a minimum of twenty-nine ‘pleases’ and ‘thank yous’ for the most basic of transactions, refusing anything, let alone plastic, can be unexpectedly hard. It took me a little while to master the art of the casual, breezy rejection. I used to purse my lips and give too much information, as if I was going to deliver a sermon, adding, ‘You know that paper is actually coated in BPA, a form of plastic additive that has been highlighted as a possible endocrine disruptor?’ Activism Tourette’s. Beware. Do I want a till receipt? ‘No thanks, I’m fine.’ By the way, it’s completely true: a 2014 study found that almost all receipts are coated in our old friend the plastic additive BPA.65
When it comes to refusing plastics, we have grown in confidence and stature thanks to the five-pence levy on plastic bags that was introduced in England in October 2015 (Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales introduced it long before). Immediately before its introduction, people fretted about how they would say ‘no’ to the habitual free plastic bag, as if it was an epoch-ending scenario. In actual fact it was fine, dare I say it; relatively painless even. Happily we now get the concept of refusing plastic.
DESIGNED FOR LANDFILL
Some plastic products are just so badly designed that I’ve taken a stand and simply refuse to have them in my life. Indeed, as well as refusing the plastic bags, wrapping, receipts or single-use cutlery that we’re given as a matter of course, I want us to say no to bad design. Given that we are such experienced and demanding consumers, it is a bit weird that we are so accepting of products that are essentially designed for landfill. We are forever inviting ghastly articles into our homes, where they take up precious space and do not earn their keep.
Bad products made from plastic are particularly pernicious, wasting our money, our space, our time, our resources and – to add insult to injury – winding up as a piece of junk destined only for landfill. Let’s not forget that these things were actually designed, and that that discipline has rules and protocols and centuries of human ingenuity. According to Dutch academics in design theory, ‘Design is the activity to convert a Mission Need Statement or a set of User Requirements into a product, which meets the stated needs or requirements.’66 The Dutch know a thing or two about design and engineering, so I trust this definition. However, I would love to see the mission statement for the stuff that makes it on to my list of shame, and yes, I actually have one. Not only did I find writing it strangely cathartic, but it also made me decide to put a bit more energy into getting a global ban on the items on my list. Let’s be clear: my goal is to eradicate them. Here is my top three:
The airplane coffee cup
There’s the good, the bad, the ugly and the downright ridiculous. ‘Have you had a coffee with us before?’ asks the stewardess on the BA017 short-hop service to Zurich. I assume this is a loyalty card scheme. But no, she actually needs to give me an induction into how to drink from the airline’s single-use coffee cup. This appears to be a large hunk of Polymer #6, resembling a toddler’s sippy-cup with a large sculpted lid. The invention is ‘patent pending’ – according to the many instructions and flaps on the lid, and I can see why they might want to think about it.
The stewardess shows me where to drink from, and from where not to drink. If I remove the lid I will be in extraordinary trouble, scalding myself with molten-hot liquid: I am also warned that all the coffee bits will fill my mouth and it will be unpleasant. Ditto if I drink from the wrong flap. The designated drinking hole is covered in a mesh, but the whole operation is completely counter-intuitive. I tentatively swig from the mesh-covered portion. My mouth is instantly filled with grainy bits of coffee in any case. Is this the worst use of plastic ever? I think I’ve found a new plastic nemesis. Spork, you’re off the hook.
The pouch
The stand-up pouch with valve is considered a breakthrough plastic innovation in the industry, and it’s one of the worst things I’ve ever come across. Containing such delights as pet food (I don’t see why this can’t come in a tin), the pouch is over-engineered. It boasts a ‘bottom gusset’ affording ‘self-standing strength, degassing valve and excellent visibility through a custom-cut window’.67 Wow. I still think a tin did the job pretty well, and my dog isn’t much impressed. As any material is theoretically recyclable, I can’t say that these pouches are impossible to recycle. What I can say is that they are challenging to recycle in most local authority schemes. In the US market they are sometimes promoted as ‘landfill friendly’ because they flatten down and take up little room.68 This does not sit well with my more ambitious vision of us as plastic reducers.
Disposable plastic toothbrush with battery
Dental lore says that we must replace our toothbrushes every three months to avoid gum disease (by the look of those scary adverts this is very much worth avoiding), so I see the imperative to chop and change toothbrushes. But these? They’re an outrage. The battery, moulded into the handle of the toothbrush, is non-replaceable. This means the product calls time on its usage, not you! (I’m sorry: I think that’s rude.) According to several design experts I consulted, the position of the battery and the moulded plastic design of the whole brush means that the vibration doesn’t aid teeth-cleaning: it just makes the handle vibrate.
When it has run out of battery, this toothbrush must be thrown away, and because the encased battery cannot be dealt with at normal household recycling centres for safety reasons (ditto energy recovery facilities), the best-case scenario for this toothbrush is landfill. But a lot of people will assume it can be recycled. Confusion around the bin leads to fugitive plastic and, alas, I see a lot of these on beach cleans. If you were designing something that was relatively light, durable and could travel long distances as ocean pollution, I’m afraid these battery-operated plastic toothbrushes would fit the bill perfectly.
HOW TO BECOME A PLASTIC REFUSENIK
THE GREAT BRITISH UNWRAP
Sometimes you may still feel that nobody is listening, and want to make a fuss. This is where more dramatic action is required. My grandad was on the money here, with his small-scale one-man protests against packaging, unwrapping anything he thought excessive at the cash till. Actually, he was following a hearty tradition started in the 1980s by a group of Austrian housewives who started a wave of protests by unwrapping all their shopping in stores in a coordinated action. It rattled Austrian retailers so much that they began to get rid of plastic nearly forty years ago (with limited success; there too it has crept back in). This form of protest, though, the staged coordinated unwrap, has made a comeback. This year has seen spirited protests in Bath, Frome and Chard in Somerset, and in Bideford in North Devon (what is it about the South West?).
Thanks to social media, these public acts of protest have had a lot of traction. There are some rules: organised, coordinated plastic protests are best (check out local action groups on Facebook); all goods must be paid for and packaging should be gathered up. The so-called ‘plastic attack’ in Bath netted three entire trolleys-full of plastic, reinforcing the point that there is an alarming excess. Today’s unwrappers tend to go one step further than the original Austrian Hausfrau activists. Protesters tend to bring their own reusable containers and transfer products into them. Milk is poured into glass bottles, cheese liberated from plastic and put into greaseproof paper. I like the way this moves the conversation on, as it then becomes about alternatives and a different way of shopping, and is not purely supermarket-bashing. Watch out, though. A group of unwrappers in Ireland was recently threatened by Retail Ireland, the organisation representing major retailers that posited they were in danger of flouting litter laws and could be liable to prosecution. We can only hope that they choose to spend their time figuring out ways to use less plastic, rather than prosecuting those who take a stand.
I urge you to write your own plastic list of shame. These are the products you wish to excise from your life. Pin it to the fridge or cupboard, and use it as a statement of intent. No more will these get past your threshold!
WRITE A LETTER
I don’t live in Tunbridge Wells, but I am so disgusted by the constant examples of over-packaging I see every day that I’ve taken to writing letters to brands. Whenever you see packaging that is totally over the top, take up the pen and write to the company responsible. It needn’t be a formal letter – a tweet will often be just as if not more effective. Add the hashtag, #reducepackaging to your tweet, and make sure you copy in your local council and trading standards office (if they are on social media). I explain why this is important below.
Of course, you have no guarantee that your carefully worded tweet won’t be ignored by the brand or organisation in question, or your letter shelved in the famous File Thirteen (aka the bin). But persistence is key, and many brands are acutely alert to criticism of the amount of plastic they use in their packaging.
If you have time, research the company’s position on plastic. Increasingly, many corporates have a plastic reduction policy. In your letter, email or tweet, point out how the offending plastic goes against their policy and/or ethos. I was recently prevented from entering the flagship Apple store in central London until I had put my umbrella in a single-use plastic ‘umbrella bag’. Nor was I allowed to leave my umbrella by the door. The umbrella cover was mandatory if I wanted to come inside. I later emailed the store manager pointing out that, given the work they had done to remove plastic from the packaging used for Apple products, this was ludicrous. He agreed, and is now asking for a policy change on leaving umbrellas by the door.
REFUSE UNSOLICITED DIRECT MAIL
Neither am I above returning annoying, egregious packaging to the sender. Much of it arrives uninvited by direct marketing anyway. Register with the Mail Preference Service (mpsonline.org.uk). The direct marketing industry is obligated to pay for this service and ensure your home does not receive unsolicited mail. As, increasingly, that mail is either wrapped in plastic or printed on plasticised paper that cannot easily be recycled, this is an important way of stemming the flow of plastic through your letterbox.
Here’s a sample letter that I wrote to BMW (I am still waiting for a response):
Dear Paul
You recently sent a copy of the latest edition of your magazine to me. I’m not in the market for a new car, so it was slightly optimistic, but nevertheless thank you.
However, the packaging caused me huge concern. The use of plastics is completely unsustainable. Lightweight plastic films and wraps remain one of the most pressing parts of the issue.
There are two problems here: the wrap is printed and displays a lot of info. It has an extra picture of a car which is already on the magazine cover, so is needless. It also shows information directing me to a change in the data protection laws reminding me to ‘opt in’. But there is no room on this pack for information about recycling the plastic you’ve dumped on me.
As the wrap is printed, this causes extra problems. Plastics containing metal, oily food residue or inks, that add up to five per cent of the weight, are not suitable for recycling. So you’ve produced an avoidable and very annoying piece of plastic, which I am returning to you, enclosed.
It also goes against your brand values, which rest on clean, green, intelligent design.
I’d be really keen to hear your targets for plastics in marketing communications, and if you don’t have any, I would be delighted to suggest some.
Very best,
Lucy
THE LETTER OF THE LAW
Don’t be afraid to be much tougher. The law is on your side, with legislation originally implemented over twenty years ago to combat a surge in packaging, particularly in plastic. The Packaging (Essential Requirements) Regulations (PERR) might not be very widely known about, but they are supposed to prevent over-packaged products.
The relevant clause states: ‘Packaging volume and weight must be the minimum amount to maintain the necessary levels of safety, hygiene and acceptance for the packed product and consumer.’ From shrink-wrapped coconuts on a plastic stand, to tiny purchases in huge boxes padded with air cushions, between us I’m certain we have plenty of examples of packaging that risks flouting this law.
The offenders ought to be reported to your local Trading Standards Officer, who is responsible for taking action. From time to time, local councils even call for examples of bad packaging. I last saw this a couple of years ago when Birmingham Council asked people in the region to send in pictures and details of over-packaged products via social media. But why wait? Jo Swinson, MP introduced the Packaging Reduction Bill to the House of Commons in 2007 (unfortunately the government didn’t back it), but she has continued to campaign against over-packaging. You can download a template letter to Trading Standards from Jo’s website http://www.joswinson.org.uk/excess_packaging.
Given the heat and energy around avoidable nuisance plastics, now is the time to take this on again. In April 2018, Defra doubled the maximum fine69 for those who chuck plastic waste from their cars to £150. Isn’t it time the law was beefed up to take on those who produce unnecessary waste in the first place?