Packaging – #litterless

One of the objectives of the Outreach Committee within EkoSkola is to work to raise awareness beyond the school gate and right into the community. The school is situated in a thriving business community and usually the streets around the schools are teaming with shoppers. Before school ended unexpectedly on the 12th March, the committee contacted leading jewelry business in Malta by email to encourage owners and employees to reflect on the use of packaging as offered to their customers. The committee members noted, through their own personal experience of buying and receiving jewelry as gifts, that quite often the packaging was excessive both in terms of size and in terms of the quantity of wrapping used. They also noted that advertising leaflets were often included in addition to a carrier bag. Such packaging and leaflets, unless recycled or reused,  would end up as litter once discarded.  It was also noted from their own experience as shoppers, that customers were never given the option to consider to have their jewelry wrapped in other forms of packaging which would be less bulky.  The committee members suggested to the companies that at point of sale customers could be offered the option to choose from various forms of packaging such as gift packaging or eco-friendly packaging. Eco-friendly packaging could be in the form of a reusable draw string bag or a box which is commensurate to the size of the item purchased while keeping open the option of full packaging should customers wish to do so.

Through this Facebook post, the Outreach Committee would also like to raise awareness with all the followers of this page to consider asking for reduced packaging when buying jewelry or other small items or to carry their own re-usable cloth bags every time they go out to shop.