Get a topic debated in the UK Parliament

UK Parliament building

Setting up an e-petition on the UK Government website can be an effective way to raise awareness of a topic. Petitions with over 100,000 signatures are considered for debate in the House of Commons.

In the UK it is estimated that five million tonnes of plastic is used every year, nearly half of which is packaging.

Source

Benefits

  • Easy to start the process
  • Can engage a community
  • If successful, could encourage politicians to back change

Challenges

  • Needs a lot of online promotion to be successful
  • Getting enough signatures does not mean that the politicians will turn up to debate it
  • A debate does not necessarily = action

Making a difference

A petition asking supermarkets to reduce the volume of throwaway plastic packaging they produce has been signed by nearly half a million people – and Britains key retailers have already made commitments to reduce their footprint.

There are hundreds of other ways to solve plastic pollution

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Photo Credit: Ugur Akdemir