Church Campaign on Single-use plastic
Single-use plastic is a major issue in polluting the environment and harming wildlife.  As part of our work, Christian Action for the Environment in BANES (CAFE BANES) is asking Christians in the period up to 30 September to look out for the unnecessary use of single-use plastic and to write to the companies who use or sell them.  There are templates for different circumstances. 
Template letter/email
These template letters are provided for you to send by email (or by post) to the Chief Executives of companies that are selling products in single use plastic or are selling items made of single use plastic.  Please feel free to amend the letters as you feel fit.  Do not feel bound to use the templates at all.   Please however ensure that your email/letter is polite but firm.
The email address for the Chief Executive of most companies can be found at www.ceoemail.com.  The postal addresses for major supermarkets are listed below if you wish to write a letter (but this campaign is not aimed just at these 8 companies).  Please do follow-up if you don’t get a satisfactory reply or they don’t reply at all.
What to do afterwards
1)  When you have emailed/written please let us know by signing up on the list provided in your church or email souterfam@aol.com.  We want to be able to publicise how many letters/emails have gone from Christians in BANES between July and September.     
2)  Also could you forward any email responses that you receive to Rev Ian Souter on souterfam@aol.com, so that we can collate the responses.  
The postal addresses for the CEOs of the major supermarkets are.
Aldi  UK   				
Mr Giles Hurley,  
Managing Director  
Holly Lane, 
Atherstone, 
Warwickshire, CV9 2SQ
ASDA  
Mr Roger Burnley, 
Asda Stores Limited
Asda House
South Bank
Great Wilson Street
Leeds
LS11 5AD
Co-op  
Steve Murrells, 
CEO, 
The Cooperative Group 
The Co-operative Group, 
1 Angel Square, 
Manchester, M60 0AG

Morrisons
Mr David Potts,  
Morrisons
Hilmore House, 
Gain Lane, 
Bradford, 
West Yorkshire, BD3 7DL

Tesco  
Mr Dave Lewis
Tesco PLC
Tesco House, 
Shire Park, 
Kestrel Way, 
Welwyn Garden City, AL7 1GA

Lidl UK
Mr Christian Hartnagel
Managing Director
Lidl UK
19 Worple Road 
Wimbledon
LONDON SW19 4JS

Sainsbury
Mr Mike Coupe 
CEO, 
Sainsburys 
33 Holborn
London
EC1N 2HT

Waitrose
Mr Rob Collins, Managing Director, Waitrose Limited
Doncastle Road
Southern Industrial Area
Bracknell
Berkshire
RG12 8YA

Plastic packaging of solid items

Template letter for plastic packaging of solid items – like cans or cartons - or items sold in plastic that could be sold in other wrapping
Dear  [Chief Executive]
I was shopping in your company’s store in [place name] and [purchased / noticed that] [exact name of item] was packaged in single use plastic [describe if necessary e.g. plastic wrapping; plastic rings on drinks etc].   The world is facing a major environmental crisis with a climate emergency caused by excessive use of hydrocarbons and serious damage being caused the environment by the production and poor disposal of plastics.  As a Christian I am concerned that we are destroying the earth that we have been given to care for.
 I would be grateful if you could let me know why it is necessary to package this item in plastic and what plans your company has to change this packaging in the very near future?  It is not sufficient to make provision for recycling when this will still leave substantial amounts of plastic in the environment and will not avoid the environmental costs of production.  
I look forward to hearing from you. 
Yours sincerely
[Name]

Fruit and veg wrapped in plastic

Template letter for fruit and vegetables where only option is plastic packaging
Dear  [Chief Executive]
[I was shopping in your company’s store in [place name] and noticed that [name of fruit/vegetables] was packaged in single use plastic.]  OR  [I was shopping in your company’s store in [place name] and noticed that [name of fruit/ vegetables] were sold loose but the only option for bagging them was in plastic bags]   The world is facing a major environmental crisis with a climate emergency caused by excessive use of hydrocarbons and serious damage being caused the environment by the production and poor disposal of plastics.  As a Christian I am concerned that we are destroying the earth that we have been given to care for.
 I would be grateful if you could let me know why it is necessary to package this item in plastic and what plans your company has to replace this packaging with a biodegradable alternative.  
I look forward to hearing from you. 
Yours sincerely
[Name]

Single-use plastic items 

Template letter for single use plastic items
Dear  [Chief Executive]
[I was shopping in your company’s store in [place name] and noticed that you were selling [name of product] made of single-use plastic.]  OR [I was visiting your restaurant/cafe/bar and noticed that the [item] were made of single-use plastic].   The world is facing a major environmental crisis with a climate emergency caused by excessive use of hydrocarbons and serious damage being caused the environment by the production and poor disposal of plastics.  As a Christian I am concerned that we are destroying the earth that we have been given to care for.
 I would be grateful if you could let me know what plans you have for phasing out the sale of these items and their replacement by items that are either reusable on multiple occasions or are biodegradable.
I look forward to hearing from you. 
Yours sincerely
[Name]

Magazines and mailed items in plastic

Template letter for plastic packaging of magazines
Dear  [Chief Executive]
I was received a copy of [name of magazine/catalogue/other] through the post and noticed that it was wrapped in single use plastic.  [As applicable:  Whilst I note that it says that this plastic can be recycled, this is not always possible and so the packaging may well end up in landfill.  Also the production of plastics of this sort involves excessive use of hydrocarbons in a time of climate emergency.]  OR   Even when recycled, and this is not always possible, the production of plastics of this sort involves excessive use of hydrocarbons in a time of climate emergency.  When not recycled this single-use plastic causes serious damage to the environment and to other living creatures.]   As a Christian I am concerned that we are destroying the earth that we have been given to care for.
 I would be grateful if you could let me know why it is necessary to package this item in plastic and what plans your company has to replace this packaging with a biodegradable alternative.   It is not sufficient to make provision for recycling when this will still leave substantial amounts of plastic in the environment and will not avoid the environmental costs of production.  
I look forward to hearing from you. 
Yours sincerely
[Name]