Sharks Swim Shop Takes Steps to Tackle Ocean Plastic

Having read recently, that one of our suppliers, MARU Swimwear, is partnering with the SEA LIFE Trust in a bid to tackle ocean plastic, we will be taking our own measures to address this issue by making changes to our retail operation. We are all now aware that plastic pollution is a global issue. Every piece of plastic that has ever been made still exists in some form, with 8 million tonnes of plastic ending up in the ocean every year. If that wasn't enough, much of the ocean plastic that breaks down into smaller, microplastics, ends up in our food chain.  Read more about Maru’s commitment to making changes here.

Sharks Swim Shop Initiatives

In support of this initiative and inspired by MARU’s commitment to the Sea Life charity, we will be making the following changes in our own business:

• Minimising excessive packaging when our customers make a purchase by asking if they want a bag instead of assuming that they do.
• Encouraging the use of reusable shopping bags by offering to put 5p in a Sea Life charity box if our customers reuse a shopping bag instead of plastic or paper.
• Contacting our suppliers in a bid to reduce bulky packaging on the products they deliver to us and encourage them to use packaging that is reusable or made with recyclable materials.
• Donating any merchandise that is slightly damaged or outdated to an organisation or charity
• Placing recycling bins inside and outside the shop to give customers and passers by the opportunity to throw their waste into a recycling bin instead of a general rubbish bin.
• Continuing to online communication platforms to reduce paper waste for advertising, marketing and communicating with our clients.

Next Level Commitment by Sharks Swim Shop

In addition to the above measures, the Sharks Swim Shop team will take their commitment to reducing plastic to the next level by listing out all the plastic items of packaging we us in the business, including sellotape, bubble wrap, plastic envelopes, jiffy bags, polystyrene, etc.   We will then will then estimate the weight of plastic we currently use monthly to package our online orders and work actively to put in measures to reduce it.

We will also be looking at the feasibility of using the cardboard boxes coming into our business via deliveries to send orders out, stamped to show that this re-used packaging is part of our drive to be sustainable.  In a similar way, we will look to replace bubble wrap with recycled paper or shredded cardboard to fill any voids in the packaging process.

Sharks Swim Shop Comment

Commenting on these initiatives, Sharks Swim Shop owner, Leah Morgan says: “In addition to our shop, we also run a Swim School, Development Club and Triathlon Club for children, so the future we create for future generations is very important to us.

“From recent, high profile TV coverage, more and more people are aware of the issues of plastics in our oceans and so if, as an organisation, can take some small measures to reduce the use of plastic in our business then we feel we are least doing our part for the environment. And we’ll be contacting our suppliers too to find out what measures they are taking, and encouraging them to do something if they don’t have current plans to do so.”