Shop and Drop is driving the agenda!

Shop And Drop Supermarket Spree has officially been launched!

This community-led wave of on-going supermarket action kicked off on Saturday April 13th. Instead of having a single centrally-organised day of action - we’re asking communities, groups and individuals to continue the action until supermarkets implement further changes to eliminate unnecessary plastic packaging. And it's starting to have an impact already!

Oisín, Friends of the Earth Director, was invited to join the Claire Byrne Live panel on Monday night along with Repak, to discuss plastic packaging.

You can catch up here at this link.

On the show, Seamus Clancy of Repak commented (at 8mins 45secs in the clip): “We welcome Shop and Drop, it creates awareness. Shop and Drop is driving the agenda - we wouldn’t be here, if it weren’t for Shop and Drop.” A poll asking Claire Byrne Live viewers if they would use a deposit return scheme for collecting plastic bottles resulted in 89% in favour, with only 6% saying no. Thanks to all of your support and actions, producers and industry are slowly coming on board to tackle plastic waste. But we must keep the pressure up!

Results from our supermarket plastic survey so far show that supermarkets have made small steps to reduce plastic, but still there is much to be done. The survey found that loose produce is more expensive per item compared to the same product packaged in plastic. For example, one loose pepper costs 69c but a packet of three costs €1.49 from the same shop.

Why should we be out of pocket for making better choices? Supermarkets need to provide plastic free for everyone, not just those who can afford it.

Sick of Plastic are bringing people together in their local areas to organise their own actions with a new online plaform, almost 400 people across 58 locations have signed up. Check out the map at this link to join your local action, or get one started!