An open letter to M&S – I am writing to congratulate you on a piece of outstanding customer service, which came to my attention.

A friend and I had been discussing the issues raised by the film A Plastic Ocean which was shown at the Flavel in Dartmouth on Thursday September 28.

Such was the interest in this highly emotive subject, that I am told that there was a full house of 180 people with many people being turned away.

This ‘no holds barred’ documentary explained and demonstrated exactly how toxic is the vast amount of plastic now polluting our oceans, caused by the rise in the last 60-70 years of a veritable avalanche of plastic packaging which, once disposed of in the sea, will never go away and therefore has far-reaching effects.

I didn’t see the film myself, but the day after, my friend Sally – so affected by what she had learned – discussed with me and a group of friends details of the horrors and damage done by discarded plastic and the huge danger it is causing globally to our own health as well as the fish and animals who live in the sea. Some effects, indeed all effects, are too horrific to go into here.

Anyway, my point is that during the film, people were urged to remove unwanted plastic packing when buying supermarket goods and leave them at the till for the store to dispose of.

We all agreed that if everyone did this, it could start to make a real difference – however, none of us were really sure that we felt quite able to summon up the courage to do this. Except for Sally…

Sally and I visited your Dartmouth store together then separated to do our shopping, where she left me guiltily pondering over whether I should buy the thrice-wrapped William pears and the cellophane encased uncut loaf of bread after all.

Then Sally apparently went to the checkout with her shopping where she – politely – asked the cashier if M&S had a recycling bin in which she could leave her unwanted plastic packaging. The cashier – also politely – explained that regrettably this facility wasn’t at present provided but he would be happy to dispose of her packaging. This he cheerfully did, gaining the respect of not only Sally, but the man behind her in the queue and also of all the friends she has subsequently told.

Wouldn’t it be simply marvelous if you were the first local supermarket to provide a plastics recycling bin in-store for people to dispose of their unwanted packaging of goods bought from your store? Kingsbridge and Modbury already have plastics-aware schemes in place, so why not Dartmouth?

It would be such an easy step to take to enable us all to make a real difference and would, I am sure, be embraced by many – there is a growing number of people who are appalled at the huge amount of packaging on supermarket shelves, and public awareness is increasing rapidly.

I understand that my lovely William pears – I?did buy them – were delicate and needed protective packaging to reach your store in perfect condition for me to enjoy. However, with the black plastic tray underneath them and the clear plastic tray on top, all encased in cellophane for good measure, I did feel uncomfortable about the amount of plastic I was going to have to throw away - given that South Hams District Council only recycles a limited amount of plastics, sadly. Or should that be ‘criminally’..?

I?did not buy the uncut loaf, however, as it was cellophane-wrapped and I couldn’t see any paper bags to put the unwrapped ones in. Incident­ally, the Co-Op, Lidl and Sainsbury’s all provide paper bags for use on their uncut bread shelves.

This wasn’t meant to sound like a criticism of M&S, by the way – I am just trying to illustrate my point – but I will just mention that fruit used to be protected in transit, and then displayed in, sturdy cardboard trays with tissue paper on top and sold in a brown paper bag, with no apparent damage. I know I am not the only person who would welcome the return of this system.

Anyway, I digress. It’s an emotive subject so it’s difficult not to, so please bear with me… A Finnish friend who was involved in the film discussion told us that in Finland there is a deposit system in place in all supermarkets, with recycling bins for tins and plastics being provided in-store and a deposit receipt for use at the till – a system which works really well.

Such a scheme would I am sure be welcomed and widely used, especially as due to this vital campaign – and all the ensuing media reports – the public’s awareness of this problem is now becoming more heightened day by day.

Would M&S, which is known to pride itself on its high standards and customer service – consider instigating/ pioneering a similar pilot scheme to this, with a recycling bin and/or deposit system? Or even at the very least a recycling bin for plastic bags and unwanted plastic packaging outside the store?

I, for one, would readily use it all the time as I know would many others, and feel it would certainly influence people to choose M&S over the Co-op, Lidl and Sainsbury’s if you were the first supermarket in the Dartmouth area to take up the challenge and really help to make a difference.

And wouldn’t it be great if you were able say with pride that one of your new straplines was ‘This isn’t just Recycling – this is M&S Recycling’…??

Surely food for thought - rather than more tons of toxic fodder for the oceans, maybe? I thank you for ‘listening’ and for your time in reading this letter, and I look forward to hearing your response in due course.

Val Depledge

South Ford Road, Dartmouth