Plastic in Australia Part 2: Activism

After my last post about plastic, I said I would be back with some information about writing letters, so if you are interested, here are some links and tips to get you started :-)

* The Department of Environment website has an online booklet Shop Smart Buy Green, which includes a section on how to contact industry:

"Don't be afraid to ask companies for information about their products or to tell them what you'd like to see changed or improved, about their products. After all, they need to make products we want, or they won't stay in business.

The things we buy and the comments we make to companies play a major role in their decisions about what products to make and sell.

If we can't find products with low environmental impacts, we can start requesting them from manufacturers. Directly contacting companies can be a powerful way of moving towards a better quality of life for us and reducing our impacts on the environment.

We can phone, email or write to companies with questions, praise or complaints. Some companies consider that one phone call represents the views of several hundred customers, while a letter represents the views of significantly more!

If we are making a specific complaint about a product or service and we expect a particular action from the retailer or manufacturer, we can contact either the Australian Consumers' Association or the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for help."

* There is an excellent site at Environment Victoria, which has a section on their Zero Waste campaign. Have a look at this generic Take It Back letter, asking manufacturers to take back their products at the end of their life. I like this campaign as it links back into the "Cradle to Cradle" philosophy I discussed the other day.

* Go to the "Take Action" tab at the Greenpeace Australia Pacific website.

* If you want to write an email letter to the editor of a large number of Australian newspapers, there is a generic "tick-the-box" form at the Australian Greens website, which is really useful. You just need to tick the box of the newspaper/s you want to email, write a message and press the Send button. Couldn't be easier!

* Go to the Act Now website, and check out the How to write a letter to a politician section. I lke these tips for the letter taken from their website:

Language

Use formal language but remember you are expressing your point of view, so phrases like ‘I feel’ and ‘I want to see’ are good to include.

Be polite

Being abusive or offensive won’t do you any favours—you can be firm and state your case without being rude.

Layout

Contact details:

Include your name and contact details in the top right-hand corner of the page
Include their name and contact details underneath on the left-hand side of the page

Form of address:

Dear Prime Minister
Dear Premier
Dear Minister
Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms/Dr (surname)

Introduction:

State what the issue is
State what you want done about it

Body:

Focus on two or three main points which support your view. Use examples from your research as evidence.

Conclusion:

Reiterate your view expressed in the introduction
Pick one strong example from your letter to back up your point
Ask for the politician to respond to your letter
Conclude with a salutation, e.g. regards, yours sincerely.

I am going to modify these tips slightly to email the manufacturers of some of the items I commonly buy to let them know what I think of their plastic packaging. I'm going to start with Coles supermarket (customer.relations@coles.com.au), because that is where I get most of my groceries :-) They have been expanding their own in-house range of organic products over the last year or so, which is great, but I'd like to see them cut down on their plastic use - for example the organic bananas presented on a foam tray and wrapped in plastic! I understand why they do it, but it's quite irritating to say the least. The email will go along the lines of:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to you for two reasons. One, to tell you how impressed I am with the ever-increasing range of organic products now available in your supermarkets, many of which are produced locally. As a mother of three, I am committed to both the health and wellbeing of my children and the continuing improvement of the environment they will inherit, and one of the ways in which I hope to achieve an impact is through the purchase of organic groceries.

Which brings me to the second reason for my email. While I understand that their are economic and practical reasons for the types of packaging you chose for your products, I would like to request that you review the use of plastics in your packaging, particularly for fresh produce. For example, I recently went to purchase organic bananas, however the fact that they were individually presented on foam trays and wrapped in plastic wrap disappointed me. The same goes for the organic broccoli and sweetcorn, and probably many other fresh produce items. I, and many other people like me in our community, would like to see these either eliminated altogether (as for other fresh produce), or be replaced with biodegradable, compostable packaging, that we can place in our compost bins or worm farms.

In the same vein, I would also like to see the regular plastic bags distributed in the store for fresh produce, be replaced with either compostable bags, or (perhaps for a small initial cost) reusable lightweight bags such as the tulle bags I bring from home, or a combination of both compostable and reusable bags.

I look forward to hearing from you on these matters.

Kind regards,

I'll let you know if I get a response that isn't a generic "thanks for your letter"!