You can read the full Newsletter here to catch up on all the news and projects from VOICE, and what a year 2020 has been!
Coordinators Report
My, my, my, what a year for VOICE, as you can see from our newsletter!
I want to let you all know our plans for 2021. In one word, we are pushing ‘REUSE’: Reusable containers, drinks cups, bottles, packaging, menstrual products, nappies and more. We are advocating for reuse targets for each sector in government legislation, which will come out in mid-2021 and we are enlisting individuals to put pressure on their supermarkets, take-aways, restaurants and producers to make it easy for us to ‘choose reuse’.
We are proud members of the Break Free From Plastic movement, and they are launching their #IChooseReuse campaign at the end of November and we are joining with them to push governments and businesses to develop new reuse systems in the retail area. Shoppers want to reduce their unwanted packaging and businesses must make is easy and affordable for people to buy the product and not the packaging.
This means providing reusable containers in supermarkets so that we can buy dry goods, cleaning products, personal hygiene products in bulk and offering package-free fresh fruit and veg at the same price or cheaper than pre-packaged items. This also means that takeaways will use reusable cups and containers that can be returned by the consumer, to be washed and used again. Since COVID, we are now shopping more and more on-line with delivery service. We ask that this packaging be reusable and returned when new packages are delivered. We also ask that drinks producers, including soft drinks, water and alcohol, develop standardised bottles that can be returned under a deposit refund scheme to be washed, refilled and reused again and again.
We need a seismic shift in how we consume and now is the time to pivot to a new circular approach that makes better use of our natural resources and reduces our carbon footprint. It won’t happen all at once, but we all must pressure the decision-makers to change the way they do business.
Thanks so much for supporting VOICE over the years and please spread the word about the work we do. We rely on our members and their donations to finance all that we do and hope to accomplish in the future.
