AXA XL & Grocers Ocean Protection Campaign
AXA XL, the P&C and specialty risk division of AXA SA, announced that as part of its commitment to stem the tide of ocean risk, they are launching “an ocean protection education campaign that will involve major local supermarkets.”
“This week, Harrington Hundreds in Smiths, Lindo’s Market in Devonshire and Lindo’s Family Foods in Warwick, The Supermart in Hamilton and Somer’s Supermart in St. George’s as well as The MarketPlace stores 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,” the company said.
“There will be a limit 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.
Patrick Tannock, CEO of Bermuda Insurance at AXA XL; Jonathan Gale, CEO of Bermuda Reinsurance at AXA XL; Kevin Smith, Communications Manager of The MarketPlace group of stores; Sanae Russell, Assistant Underwriter, Bermuda Professional Lines Insurance at AXA XL; Tredick Gorham, President of The Supermart Ltd; Giorgio Zanol, President of Lindo’s Group of Companies; Anthony Aguiar, Owner of Harrington Hundreds; Lucy Monkman, Communications & Marketing Associate at AXA XL; Carol Parker Trott, Communications & Marketing Director Reinsurance & Bermuda at AXA XL; Paul Simons, Head of Property and Casualty Treaty, Bermuda Reinsurance at AXA XL
The campaign will also include television and radio commercials, social media posts and presentations in schools – all designed to reach every sector of the island.
Commenting on the initiative, Patrick Tannock, CEO of AXA XL’s Bermuda Insurance Operations and President of AXA XL’s Bermuda-based philanthropic unit, the XL Foundation, said: “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. As an island, we in Bermuda rely heavily on the ocean.
“Last year our company, with scientific and Bermuda-based partners, sponsored Bermuda’s first Ocean Risk Summit. The summit brought together representatives of governments, the finance sector, the [re]insurance industry and other sectors to consider specific risks posed by changes in the world’s oceans caused by climate change and other man-made impacts.
“It focused on how governments and the business sector need to work together to address these risks. 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.”
Harrington Hundreds Owner Anthony Aguiar said: “Each day every one of us must do at least one thing that makes our planet a better place to live.”
Lindo’s Group of Companies Manager Zach Moniz said: “Lindo’s is proud to be working with AXA XL, Supermart, Harrington Hundreds, and Marketplace on this exciting new initiative to reduce our shared consumption of plastic.
“We admire and are inspired by the talented people at AXA XL who developed this idea and we look forward to a future ahead with less plastic. Lindo’s has consistently sought out and applied procedures and practices to reduce our waste and our carbon foot print and we are thrilled to be a part of this initiative!”
The Supermart Ltd President Tredick Gorham said: “As a company we are committed to reducing single-use packaging materials. 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.”
Seth Stutzman, President of The MarketPlace group of stores, said: “We are in full support of this initiative. As part of our ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability we are working aggressively to eliminate single-use plastics, continue to offer environmentally safe products for our customers and have introduced biodegradable take-out containers for our food court. The bags will be provided to customers for our online ordering service in addition to in-store availability.”
AXA XL has played a leading role in pushing for greater understanding of our oceans, supporting the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences as well as sponsoring independent scientific research into key indicators of change including extensive work on coral reefs and Arctic sea ice loss*. It has most recently, in partnership with the public and private sectors, led the formation of the innovative Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance [ORRAA]**, launched at the UN Climate Action Summit in New York.
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