Ennis witnessed it’s first plastic-free flash mob this week as operation de-plastification hit the aisles of the town’s shopping centre on Tuesday morning.
Dressed in white, the quartet armed with wicker baskets, jute bags, tupperware, glass jars, glass bottles and cookie tins aimed to encourage plastic-free shopping in an effort to help the environment. They are calling on members of the public to keep plastic in store and transfer their purchase into storeable items at the till.
Cornelia Wahli explained to The Clare Echo, “The idea behind plastic free shopping is that if an item needs a container then you bring that container with you. If you do not have the container, then that is bad luck and the item cannot be taken out of the shop. In other words, no bottle for the milk means no milk is being bought because the shop-supplied milk container more than likely contains plastic unless the milk is sold in a glass bottle”.
“It is correct that the packaging in the shops, the packaging in transit, the packaging at the food suppliers and the packaging in the packaging factories are all already in existence. For the food in the shops, the food in transit and the food already packaged at the farms and factories, for all that food it is already too late. However, we, that is you and I, we are aiming to keep the food that is currently not yet packaged out of plastic. While it is too late for the batches in the shops, in transit, and awaiting transportation, we want the batch that is next in line to be packaged to be saved from packaging. We, that is you and I, want to send a message to the shop owners, the suppliers, the growers and the factories, that enough is enough. We, that is you and I, no longer want to be part of the conversation of what to do with packaging,” she added.
Operation de-plastification plan to hold two more flash mobs this month, both of which will take place at the Metal Bike on Francis St in Ennis on August 17th and 21st.
