2018-11-01_The_Simple_Things

PHOTOGRAPHY: EWOUT HUIBERS (THIS PAGE); MICHAEL GORMAN. INFOGRAPHICS: ADAPTED FROM

MORE TOGETHER THAN ALONE

BY MARK NEPO (RIDER BOOKS)

A plastic-free first

W

hen we can buy

gluten-free, fat-free and

dairy-free, why is it so

difficult to buy plastic-

free? This question helped spark

Europe’s first plastic-free

supermarket aisle, which opened

earlier this year at an Amsterdam

branch of organic supermarket

chain Ekoplaza.

Oneofthosebehindtheproject

wasSianSutherlandfromUK

environmental campaign group

APlasticPlanet.Shebelievesthat

shoppers are increasingly seeing

through the ‘lie’ that we cannot do

without plastic packaging. “Scalable,

Good at

counting and

being plastic-

free, Ekoplaza

supermarket in

Amsterdam

viable and totally convenient... this is

a showcase to the world,” she says.

The testbed aisle – which includes

meat, rice, dairy, cereals, yogurt,

snacks, fruit and vegetables – will be

rolled out in all of Ekoplaza’s 74

branches in the Netherlands by the

end of 2018. Products are instead

contained in compostable biomaterials

made from plants and trees.

When the project was conceived

two years ago, “no one talked about

the plastics problem”, notes

Sutherland. But the topic is fast

becoming a priority. The number one

issue for British shoppers in the next

decade will be to reduce packaging

A SUPERMARKET IN AMSTERDAM HAS A DEDICATED

AISLE OF ALMOST 700 PLASTIC-FREE, ORGANIC

PRODUCTS. WILL UK SHOPS FOLLOW SUIT?

By LUCY PURDY

GOOD THINGS

POSITIVE NEWS* FROM AROUND THE WORLD

and use more recyclable materials,

according to research by

ThoughtWorks.

Sutherland is now pushing for UK

supermarkets to create similar aisles.

“People are ready for change. So, our

campaign is simple – just give us a

plastic-free aisle. We just don’t want

to be part of the problem any more.

We want choice,” says Sutherland.

THE POWER OF COMMUNITY

During the Second World War, a group

led by the Bielski brothers created

a Jewish community in the forest of

Belarus, with a bakery, laundry, clinic,

synagogue, school and courthouse.

After 3 years, more than 1,200 people

had survived the war in this way.

Resistance in the forest

Acts of togetherness that show there’s strength in numbers

Alcoholics

Anonymous

In December 1935, nine

months after the end of

Prohibition in the US,

Alcoholics Anonymous

was formed. In 2016,

AA was estimated to

have 2m members

across 150 countries.

“Personal recovery

depends upon AA

unity,” reads its

first principle.

RITUAL

GREETINGS

The Maori people of New Zealand

have a custom of sharing their

breath. Every time they meet

or leave each other, they touch

noses and take in each other’s

breathing, affirming that their

lives are connected.

LIVING (^) | GAZETTE