Dame Vivienne Westwood has called upon supermarkets to take urgent action in a bid to reduce the UK's plastic pollution problem. The fashion designer is leading a campaign to urge supermarkets to launch a Plastic Free Aisle, to give shoppers an alternative to the thousands of products that are covered in single-use plastic.
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Speaking about the issue, Dame Vivienne commented: "We've all realised quite recently how harmful plastic is. It's killing us. Plastic is very difficult to avoid, but I'm doing my very best to say no to it. I think a Plastic Free Aisle is a monumental idea. It would be an amazing start."
There are calls to launch a plastic free aisle in supermarkets
Other famous faces supporting the A Plastic Planet campaign include Ben Fogle, Dominic Cooper and Bonnie Wright. The co-founder of the initiative, Sian Sutherland, said: "Dame Vivienne is right to highlight the damage plastic packaging is doing to our planet and our bodies. We want to work with supermarkets to deliver the positive changes that we badly need. You can buy gluten-free, dairy-free, fat-free; but today you cannot easily buy plastic-free."
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Dame Vivienne is not the first high-profile name to speak out about the importance of cutting plastic usage. Brita has recently teamed up with House of Holland, Lily Cole and the Marine Conservation Society to push a sustainable fashion campaign to prevent needless waste ending up in our oceans and landfill sites. Reports show that there are currently 7.7 billion plastic bottles used in the UK alone every year, and at the rate we are going there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050.
Dame Vivienne Westwood said the campaign was a "monumental idea"
Lily said: "We have a responsibility to be more conscious about our choices; by choosing a reusable water bottle we can reduce the amount of needless waste plastic that ends up in our oceans and landfills".
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If you're looking to reduce your own plastic usage some of the easiest ways to start are by swapping plastic bags for fabric totes, to stop using straws and carry your own refillable water bottle than relying on purchasing single-use bottles.