AXA XL launches ocean protection education campaign in Bermuda
AXA XL has launched an ocean protection education campaign that will involve major local supermarkets.
Harrington Hundreds in Smiths, Lindo’s Market in Devonshire and Lindo’s Family Foods in Warwick, The Supermart in Hamilton, Somer’s Supermart in St. George’s and The MarketPlace stores are all taking part in the initiative.
Participating supermarkets will provide one reusable shopping bag to each customer who purchases groceries totalling $50 or more, and two bags to those who purchase more than $100 of groceries, with a maximum of two free bags per shopping visit.
The front and back panels of the bags feature artwork by local photographer Meredith Andrews, of a variety of plastic waste found on the island’s shoreline. The campaign will also include television and radio commercials, social media posts and presentations in schools, with the intention of reaching every sector of the island.
Patrick Tannock, CEO of AXA XL’s Bermuda insurance operations and president of AXA XL’s Bermuda-based philanthropic unit, the XL Foundation, said that as an island, Bermuda relies heavily on the ocean.
“Research has shown that 80 percent of all marine debris is plastic and that by the year 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean,” he said. “By collaborating with many of the island’s grocers in this new initiative we aim to increase greater awareness and understanding of how we all can and must do our part to protect the ocean for ourselves and future generations.”
AXA XL has been committed to pushing for greater understanding of the world’s oceans, supporting the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and sponsoring independent scientific research into key indicators of change. It has supported research into coral reefs and Arctic sea ice loss and led the formation of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance, launched at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York.
Last year AXA XL sponsored Bermuda’s first Ocean Risk Summit, alongside scientific and Bermuda-based partners, bringing together representatives of the re/insurance industry as well as governments, banks and other sectors. The event considered how governments and the business sector should work together to address risks to the ocean.
The Supermart president Tredick Gorham said: “This initiative highlights the importance of reusable bags and should reduce the need for single-use paper and plastic. We are continuing to examine waste across all departments and see this as an exciting opportunity to collaborate with our customers on reducing our impact on the environment.”
