SHOPPERS in Wilmslow are being encouraged to hand back plastic packaging at the supermarket tills on Saturday in a bid to highlight how much of what we buy is unnecessarily wrapped.

Plastic Free Wilmslow is joining communities across the UK hoping to instigate a nationwide ‘Mass Unwrap’ on Saturday, February 29 with an event at Waitrose on Church Street.

Organised as part of the Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Communities campaign, the aim of a Mass Unwrap is to show the high levels of plastic packaging being used and put pressure on supermarkets to help make changes.

A Plastic Free Wilmslow spokesman said: “It’s one of a number of actions the local group in Wilmslow is taking as they try to reduce the impact of single use plastic in Wilmslow, such as working with local businesses, community groups and schools.

Knutsford Guardian:

“Mass Unwraps are a great way to visually show the scale of plastic packaging.

“59 billion pieces of plastic packaging are distributed every year; that’s 112 thousand pieces every minute.

“Supermarkets, being one of the focal points of a community, are in a unique position to be able to raise awareness of this in a positive way, through these non-confrontational and family-friendly awareness events.

“The event is being held between 10am and 12pm, and in that time shoppers shop and pay as normal.

“When they move from the till they can then visit one of Plastic Free Wilmslow’s Mass Unwrap volunteers, who will help them take any unnecessary plastic packaging from their purchases and put it in a trolley for recycling or disposal.

“Counting up the items as they go, volunteers will be gathering evidence to show the scale of wrapping used. The event is being held with the kind agreement of the management at Waitrose in Wilmslow.”

To get involved as a volunteer contact transitionwilmslow@gmail.com