Today I had an interview with Jennifer Timrott from the "Coast Against Plastic" association. She has the Replace Plastic App This has enabled consumers to tell product manufacturers that they would like a particular product to be plastic-free. The more consumers do this, the more likely it is that the manufacturer will give in. I spoke to Jennifer Timrott about the work of her association, the Replace Plastic App and the future of the oceans. Let's go!
Hello Jennifer. Why don't you introduce yourself and the "Coast against Plastic" association to our readers?
Coast Against Plastic is still a fairly small association. We were founded three years ago as coastal people who no longer want to accept plastic waste literally falling at their feet by the sea. When we founded the association, I was still living on Hallig Hooge. On such a Hallig in the Wadden Sea, you are connected to nature in a special way. And it's indescribable what washes up there after storms. Plastic in all shapes and colors. There is not only waste from shipping and fishing, but also all the leftover crap from supermarkets and drugstores: our daily lives in tubes, lids and soup tubs, Water bottlesdoll's legs, toilet brushes and flip-flops. The sea pukes (more on this in the article Garbage vortex in the sea). And it's no different on the mainland coast, where I live today. Such a sight is always a shock. It is an obvious and brutal violation of the dignity of a wonderful habitat.
I agree with you 100%! How do you want to reduce plastic waste in the environment?
We do information work at many levels. We are involved in the national Marine Litter Round Table in the working group for land-based inputs, we give lectures, do media work, information stands and Waste collection campaigns. But I believe that it is not enough just to collect this waste. We have to stop producing it. But how can we do that? The internet is full of sad videos about the consequences of plastic pollution - at the same time, the supermarket shelves are frighteningly empty if you think about all the products with plastic packaging for a moment. There are an incredible number of campaigns aimed at changing individual behavior. That's good and important. Everyone should make good choices within their means. But why are there hardly any campaigns that step on the toes of manufacturers? The ones who make sure that we can hardly find anything on the shelves without plastic? That's why we have developed the ReplacePlastic app for smartphones (see also the article The Best Zero Waste Apps) has come up with. Anyone can use it to quickly and easily tell product manufacturers that they want plastic-free packaging.
You are removing a major hurdle for consumers! Why should people still use the Replace Plastic app?
I am convinced that it is extremely important that we as customers communicate our wishes to manufacturers. Whenever we have written to manufacturers about their plastic packaging, the response has almost always been along the lines of: our company is also very committed to environmental protection and sustainability, but we can't help it because that's what the customer wants. Interestingly, however, we have a lot to do with customers who don't want it that way at all. These voices need to be heard by manufacturers so that they invest in research and development into environmentally friendly materials.
Here on the coast, we have a special responsibility to tackle this issue. After all, manufacturers naturally have a thousand reasons for their plastic packaging. It's all about product protection, energy-saving manufacturing processes, lower transport weight and a supposedly better environmental footprint of plastic packaging. I always find the environmental balance particularly annoying, because it doesn't take into account the blatant effects of a non-decomposable material that is released into the environment in large quantities and cannot be broken down there. We have to counter these supposedly sensible arguments from manufacturers with our everyday experience on our beaches. The coastal region can play a unique role in the plastic issue. The sea means something to many people. We hope that the love of the sea and the desire to preserve its living beauty will provide a strong impetus inland to initiate the urgently needed changes in plastic production and the handling of this non-degradable material.
You speak my heart. How can you get the Replace Plastic app and how do you use it?
The Replace Plastic app can be downloaded free of charge for iOS and Android from the Apple Store and Google Play Store. You can also find the links on our website at coast-against-plastic.com - With the app you can scan a barcode from a product and send a message to the manufacturer that you would like the product in packaging without plastic or with less plastic. If the barcode is not yet in our database, the message can still be sent. We then research the product using the barcode number sent. Everything that we can assign will still be sent.
The email to the supplier goes out when 20 votes for a product have been collected or when four weeks have passed since the first scan. So we collect a little bit first, because we don't want to bombard the manufacturers with e-mails, but offer them serious feedback on the wishes and values of their customers.
That's great! Are there any other ways to support your work?
We are always happy to receive financial support and new sponsoring members. Of course, the app involves costs and a huge amount of work. At the moment, I would also appreciate support with the vegetable research to improve our database. Many products are easy to research using their barcode number. Unfortunately, this is not the case for fruit and vegetables. That's a shame because this is an area where a lot of people are really annoyed by packaging. So I often go to the supermarkets and make a note of the barcodes on the vegetables, but of course I don't have all the suppliers on site. So if someone has time to take photos of the barcode number and packaging of fruit and vegetables that are not yet in our database so that I can add this information, we could improve it bit by bit together.
We can manage that. How do you personally see the future of the oceans and what drives you?
I believe that it is high time for very clear changes if the oceans are not to be covered in plastic waste (see also the article Plastic waste in the environment) should suffocate. The negative effects of our social use of plastic have long since become obvious. Despite this, plastic production is increasing and more and more products are being packaged in plastic. What drives me is my love for nature, whose vitality means a lot to me and which is visibly suffering. But also the desire to make a noticeable impact together with many others who don't like it. There are already a lot of people who are concerned about plastic. This must now be clearly heard by the manufacturers and perceived as a mandate. Then something will change, I am convinced of that. We have to achieve this together.
I agree with you! Thank you for the nice interview and see you soon!
Great, Jennifer speaks from my soul and she experiences first-hand every day how we are destroying our beautiful oceans in our plastic mania. We are taking away our nature if we don't immediately learn to be more environmentally conscious and live more plastic free. But that's not all. Around the world, many Beach CleanUps are organized every day to reduce the amount of plastic waste in the environment. Have you ever thought about organizing a Organize your own Beach CleanUp or take part in a CleanUp? It's really fun and a liberating, cool event. I would also like to invite you to join our Beach CleanUp worldwide group on Facebook on. Here, people from all over the world share their actions against plastic waste in the environment.
Let's make a difference. All projects together against plastic waste!
Stay clean,
PS.: In the Environmental Protection Blog we regularly report on environmental protection projects to combat plastic waste and other environmental problems of our time.
Since I'm of somewhat older vintage, don't use any apps and don't "handle" much with the smartphone, especially since the mountains of computer scrap also cause me great concern, I take the time to call or write e-mails to mail-order companies and other suppliers who rely on plastic packaging. For the most part, I get positive responses from those who take my concern against plastic on the other end of the line. And the interesting thing is that most of the time, the person/people express their personal concern about plastic waste, even if the company they work for isn't doing anything about it (yet). People are very much concerned and open to a change of direction! Yesterday I emailed the editor of a Catholic magazine, asking him to replace the plastic envelope with an environmentally friendly one, because it would fit better with the content of the magazine ... The answer came promptly: yes, it is also an urgent concern for us, we are working on it ...
So something is happening when you make your presence felt!
Therefore, dear friends of the earth: continue to make yourselves felt, stay tuned! And THANK YOU for every engagement!
Hi Karin, that's right! Thank you for your words! 🙂
Even though I can no longer hear the phrase "we're working on it...", it is important as a consumer to pass on your opinion to the manufacturer.
Best regards
Christoph
Thank you, Karin! Your commitment against plastic packaging by mail is super. And it's probably at least as effective as tackling the issue with an app! I can still learn a lot from this!
Love and freedom, Thomas Hochgesang from Heidelberg