The Waitrose supermarket group in the UK is removing kids magazines that come with small plastic toys following a campaign by a 10 year old.
The story is getting good coverage in the UK, leading me to wonder if it will gain traction here. This, from Country Living:
Waitrose bans magazines with plastic toys, thanks to 10-year-old girl
The “pointless plastic” has finally been called outBY LISA WALDEN
MAR 23, 2021Waitrose will no longer sell children’s magazines containing disposable plastic toys, after a 10-year-old girl from Gwynedd launched her own campaign to persuade publishers to ban them.
Over the next eight weeks, the British supermarket will begin removing magazines containing toys from its shelves, explaining that they are “pointless plastic” with a short lifespan. The ban will only remove those containing small plastic toys, but will not include educational or reusable craft items, such as colouring pens and pencils.
Skye, who has been encouraging the magazine industry to include eco-friendly alternatives, told the BBC: “I’m really pleased so many people have agreed with me and supported my petition – I want to thank everyone who has signed and shared my campaign to ban plastics from comics and magazines. Thank you to Waitrose for agreeing with us and no longer selling the unwanted plastic tat.”
Here is the Waitrose tweet about their decision.
We’re stepping up our efforts to reduce single use plastic and are leading the way in no longer selling children’s magazines containing disposable plastic toys. Magazines offering multiple-use educational, collectables or reusable craft items will still be available. pic.twitter.com/lq9JhHZmDD
— Waitrose & Partners (@waitrose) March 23, 2021
Here are other news tweets about this story:
Waitrose ditches magazines with disposable plastic toys https://t.co/1a2hudNpYo
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) March 23, 2021
Great news! @Waitrose has said it will no longer sell children’s magazines with #plastic toys to help tackle pollution – thanks to the hard work of Skye, a 10 year old girl. Just shows how we all have the power to demand change! #TurnOffThePlasticTap https://t.co/w07PuJGch4
— A Plastic Planet (@aplastic_planet) March 23, 2021
It will be interesting to see whether this campaign gains traction in Australia, whether supermarkets act and whether publishers respond and address the disposable small plastic toy issue.