A 10-year-old girl successfully campaigned for Waitrose to ban kids' magazines with disposable plastic toys

Virgin Radio

23 Mar 2021, 13:42

The future is in good hands!

A ten-year-old girl from Wales has successfully campaigned for the removal of some magazines from shelves.

Supermarket chain Waitrose confirmed it will no longer sell children's magazines that come with disposable plastic toys.

The campaigner is called Skye, and she comes from Gwynedd. She's also targeting publishers in an attempt to persuade them to do away with the plastic items.

Waitrose agreed that many of the free gifts aren't played with for long, and can't be recycled easily. 

They revealed they will remove the magazines with free toys from shelves over the coming eight weeks.

They have joined Skye in encouraging publishers to replace "pointless plastic" with sustainable alternatives.

Educational or reusable craft items aren't included in the ban, such as colouring pens and pencils, and collectable models.

Marija Rompani, partner and director of sustainability and ethics at Waitrose, said: "While we know these magazines are popular with children, some of the unnecessary plastic attached to them has become really excessive.

"Many in the younger generation really care about the planet and are the ones inheriting the problem of plastic pollution.

"We urge publishers to find alternatives, and other retailers to follow our lead in ending the pointless plastic that comes with children's magazines."

Waitrose has sent magazine distributors eight weeks' notice of the policy.

They have requested alternatives to plastic toys, as well as issuing a warning that they will not sell copies with plastic toys.

Waitrose previously ended the sale of Christmas crackers with plastic toys or glitter. 

Do you think it's a good idea?