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Carrie Symonds 'dismayed' by amount of Amazon plastic packaging after ordering supplies for Wilfred

Carrie Symonds campaigns against plastic pollution  - Instagram
Carrie Symonds campaigns against plastic pollution - Instagram

Carrie Symonds says she has been "dismayed" at the amount of packaging used by Amazon while ordering items for her baby Wilfred, as her NGO launches a new campaign asking for plastic-free options.

The Prime Minister's fiancee works at marine NGO Oceana, where she campaigns against plastic pollution.

Their latest campaign is urging online retailer Amazon to offer consumers a plastic-free option at check-out, so their items do not come in boxes with plastic pouches, polystyrene or wrapping.

Ms Symonds was working on the initiative before she took maternity leave, and said it has become even more prescient since the pandemic, when she has had to rely on online orders.

She urged her followers to sign a petition calling on the tech giant to reduce packaging and added: "Since having Wilf and not being able to get to the shops during lockdown, I’ve relied on Amazon for lots of baby essentials but I’ve been dismayed at the amount of plastic packaging."

The campaigner is expected to return to work to lobby against plastic pollution in coming weeks.

Baby Wilfred was born in May, during the lockdown, and Ms Symonds had been isolating for much of it due to being pregnant. She was also briefly bedridden with covid-19 symptoms, but made a full recovery.

Polling by YouGov, commissioned by Oceana, found that UK customers are by far the most in favour of a plastic-free check-out option (81 per cent), with half of them willing to shop elsewhere to be given a plastic-free option (52 per cent).

“Jeff Bezos and Amazon say they are obsessed with meeting the needs of their customers. It’s clear from the results of our survey that what Amazon customers want is for the company to do the right thing and offer plastic-free options at checkout” said Matt Littlejohn, Senior Vice President of Oceana.

He added: “Amazon can make a difference for its customers and the oceans by doing this: this is a company that, according to recent news reports, shipped several billion packages in 2019, many packed with plastic.”

An Amazon spokesperson declined to say whether the company would be offering a plastic-free option and added: "Amazon continues to innovate and find new ways to protect the environment by developing fully recyclable packaging that also helps minimise carbon emissions. Amazon is also moving to packaging material options that are fully compatible with paper or plastic recycling streams. In North America, Amazon is currently working to double the number of fully recyclable cushioned packages that are recyclable in paper recycling streams in place of plastics and other packaging, and in Europe we are expanding our use of paper mailing bags and paperboard envelopes."