SPAR uses Women’s Challenge to promote war on plastic

SPAR Eastern Cape will use the annual Women’s Challenge in Port Elizabeth next month to create awareness of their plastic bag campaign launched last week.

Thousands of runners, from children to international-level athletes, will converge on Port Elizabeth’s beachfront to celebrate the biggest 10km road race in the region.

With the Little Ladies’ race taking place on May 1, followed by the main event on May 5, the title sponsors want to use the opportunity to further promote the Plastic Bag campaign.

The Eastern Cape retailer declared war on plastic last week when it decided to take the initiative in trying to reduce the amount of plastic which is damaging the planet.

Offering consumers the chance to swap 10 plastic shopping bags for a durable, long-lasting paper bag last Friday and Saturday, SPAR EC managing director Conrad Isaac said they wanted to change the public’s mindset about plastic bags.

With hundreds of millions of shopping bags in circulation, he said the company could no longer ignore its accountability in what was becoming an increasingly dangerous situation.

“We believe that safeguarding our environment and the future are often spoken about but not much is done,” Isaac said.

“As the biggest food retailer in the Eastern Cape, I believe we have to take care of the health and wellbeing of the communities in which we operate.”

Now SPAR is calling on all runners and supporters who are involved in the races next month to take on a challenge of another kind by supporting the Plastic Bag campaign and adopting alternative packaging options.

“We realise that hundreds of women who will be running next month are the same people who come through our stores on a daily basis,” SPAR EC sponsorship and events manager Alan Stapleton said.

“We want to encourage them to support us in this initiative.

“I think everyone realises what damage plastic is doing to our environment and this is a great opportunity to spread the word about what we are trying to do.”