Crackers about sustainability: how grocers are cutting Christmas plastic

Grocery has declared war on Christmas! Well, on the season’s addiction to single-use plastic at least.

The latest skirmish sees Waitrose and its sister business John Lewis gunning for Christmas crackers filled with plastic toys. From 2020, the retailers’ crackers will contain only playthings made from recyclable materials.

It follows Waitrose’s pledge last year to phase out glitter by Christmas 2020 as part of its efforts to be more eco-friendly. A raft of the supermarket’s festive own-label lines will be either glitter-free or use a sustainable alternative by next year – from greetings cards, wrapping paper and gift tags to crackers, flowers and plants.

It’s a sensible move given glitter is a form of microplastic. Those tiny pieces of plastic have the potential to damage the environment and our health – and they are pervasive. As The Guardian wrote this month, ‘Microplastics have turned up pretty much everywhere that scientists have looked for them – from the bottom of the deepest parts of our oceans to the stomachs of whales, seabirds and in our own poo.’

Waitrose’s decision to give up glitter shows it’s sweating the small stuff

Admittedly, teeny toys in Christmas crackers are much too big to be classed as microplastics. But they’re still a problem because, unless they’re disposed of responsibly (once their fleeting novelty wears off), they’re still very likely to find their way into waterways and the bellies of animals.

And if Waitrose’s latest move seems relatively small, it could nevertheless add up to a big difference for the environment. Although one has to wonder why the grocer didn’t announce the toy cull at the same time as its glitter ban. Its claim that “these things take time” isn’t entirely convincing in this instance.

But – hey – better late than never. And it joins a growing list of festive eco-changes by big-name grocers. Aldi, Tesco and M&S have all committed to ditching plastic glitter; Sainsbury’s has removed packaging from its Christmas crackers; Asda last year axed plastic windows and film from more than 1.6 million mince pies.

There’s still more to do, mind. Plastic is prevalent in the likes of wrapping paper, Advent calendars and tree decorations. Like Greenpeace’s Louise Edge says: “Single-use plastic should never be a Christmas tradition.”

And as supermarkets are already showing, they are more than capable of celebrating Christmas sustainably without losing the season’s sparkle.