Consumers have power in plastic war

Woe betide the company which is not promoting its green credentials in a bid to convince customers that they are part of the solution, not the problem.

As Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Anita Rani learned, however, it is not enough for corporations to make the right noises – consumers want effective action.

That means hundreds of stores in each chain removing unnecessary plastic packaging, not a token one or two.

And it means offering a genuine range of unpackaged products in each of those stores, not a symbolic offering to show willing.

Retail stores, fast food chains and drinks distributors across the UK have a long way to go, as do shops in this Bailiwick.

And, as in the case with Boots and its move to paper carrier bags, small markets such as ours are often likely to be among the last to see the benefits.

This will frustrate many island shoppers, who share the passion and energy of people across the planet who have watched David Attenborough and marine scientists explain how plastic is rapidly wrecking oceans, killing sea life and getting into food chains.

They want action now, not tomorrow.

The answer, as campaigns such as #OurPlasticFeedback show, is for consumers to be impatient, to press retailers for effective action and, where they perceive greenwash, to call it out.

Only by pushing for more than token gestures will islanders get products and processes that meet their standards.

Here at least, social media, so often portrayed as a malign influence on society, can be a force for good as shoppers link digital arms, share local and national information and expose hypocrisy or praise good practice.

This island may be small but, with organisation and good intent, consumers can exert pressure on companies of all sizes to abandon tired excuses about cost pressures and supply chains and change their ways in more significant ways than just cutting out plastic straws.