SUPERMARKETS need to step up in the war against plastic, according to Labour’s South Swindon parliamentary candidate Sarah Church.

The Labour hopeful has joined a global campaign to go plastic-free in July to reduce plastic waste and highlight the damage caused to the environment and marine life.

After the first week, in which she made her own toothpaste and went back to glass bottle milk deliveries, Sarah has pledged to lobby supermarkets to be more responsible and make it easier for consumers to avoid unnecessary plastic.

“There are things consumers can be doing,” said Sarah, “but you cannot expect the people in their daily lives to spend an extra several hours a week shopping around.

“It should be made easier for anybody on any budget to pick up their refillable bottles or vegetables without them being covered in plastic.

“It needs to be convenient, and these big supermarkets could totally do it if they had the will to do it,” she said.

Sarah has been shopping at Swindon Pulse in Curtis Street which offer refills for cleaning products and other items. “If they can offer refills, why can’t Sainsbury’s, and Morrisons and Asda do that?” she asked.

“Ultimately the responsibility for this lies with the people who are providing the products.”

Sarah has been partly inspired by her sister-in-law, Eleanor Church, who is currently filming a documentary on plastic waste while sailing through the The Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the North Pacific Ocean.

Once the plastic-free month is finished Sarah intends to put more pressure on supermarkets that make it difficult for shoppers to avoid buying anything without creating plastic waste.

“I don’t think we’ve got to the point where enough pressure is being put on the supermarkets,” she said.

“Documenting what has been difficult and achievable will be the outcome of going plastic free. From there I think it is actually a case of lobbying the big supermarkets and saying, ‘how are you making it easier for me as one of your consumers.’”

“The impact of plastics on the environment has got to be highlighted, it’s the new kind of scourge. If you recall CFCs in the 80s and animal testing, where things have become taboo, I think we need to go through that with plastics.”