Madam,

Plastic is a very useful substance, which has contributed to improvements in the quality of life for many of us, and which has the potential to continue to do so, provided this ridiculous over-use in the name of convenience comes to an end.

It is sad to see organisations such as the Co-op being seduced by ideas of what makes shopping easier for their customers, consequently opting for ‘upgrading’ their stores by increased use of single-use plastic packaging, and doing this just as public awareness is being raised regarding the dreadful consequences to the environment of plastic rubbish.

So much of this plastic packaging is unnecessary and much of it is also inconvenient to the customer. How many of us have struggled to open purchases, both of food and hardware, that are wrapped in plastic, sometimes even causing injury like cuts to the hands and a mess on the floor? How many of us have bought fresh fruit in plastic packs, in quantities decided by the packager, only to discover at least one is rotting? Why wrap such items anyway as it manifestly does not prevent damage in transit?

Such unnecessary packaging does not benefit the consumer. It benefits the vendor, who thinks that the shop displays look smart and can make their customers buy more than they want to in set quantities, the distributor, whose staff do not need to take so much care in preventing transit damage, and the plastics manufacturers.

I suggest, as a sign of how much the Co-op cares about the environment that they provide on their shop premises a receptacle for any plastic packaging a shopper wishes to dispose of from the items they have purchased, thus making the vendor responsible for the disposal of the plastic packaging in which they have sold the product. Then, as soon as the contract with suppliers can be renegotiated, sell produce with no packaging, or revert to use of more eco-friendly substances, such as paper and cardboard. Any supermarket that does this would certainly be the one I would support and I am sure that I would not be alone.

Yours etc,

Deborah MacIntyre, Barmouth.

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