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Where the streets have no shame

7:00pm Thursday 12th July 2007

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A TRIO of shop workers were warned they were risking arrest after they staged a cheeky stunt in Bournemouth town centre yesterday.

Manager of Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics, Verity Herrington, and assistants Dani Ferris and Beth Palumbo braved Old Christchurch Road shopping precinct wearing nothing but their aprons.

They were handing out leaflets urging shoppers to buy "bare" or unpackaged goods for the sake of the environment.

But within minutes, police stepped in after receiving complaints from five shocked passers-by. An officer told the girls they would have to put their knickers on if they wanted to go back out on the street.

"People don't understand. We're making a stand against excess packaging," said Verity. "We'd prefer not to be naked, but it's the only way of getting our point across and to encourage them to use naked products. We volunteered to do it because we feel strongly about the issue."

Similar events - some including male assistants - were taking place at the same time in 55 other towns and cities across the UK as part of the Lush campaign.

The Poole-based company claims to be leading the cosmetics industry in its efforts to cut out unnecessary packaging. It has pioneered solid shampoo and conditioner bars and sells a range of other products wrapped in just paper.

Lush founder Mark Constantine is presenting a programme about the subject on Channel 4 at 7pm today. "Packaging is rubbish and for too long we have had to suffer excessive amounts of it," he said.

"Now that the true financial and environmental costs are becoming obvious, customer are challenging manufacturers and retailers to cut the wrap."

The UK generates around 10 million tonnes of packaging waste each year, half of it ending up in landfill.

An average family will unwittingly spend £470 on packaging each year.

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Your Say YourThisisdorset

the owl, BH9 says...
11:55am Fri 13 Jul 07

Unpacked, Oh my life i dont beleive it mrsa ,salmonella, aids hepatitis, cant these people be taken away in straight jackets they are complete idiots also they look foul

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derek, dorset says...
12:09pm Fri 13 Jul 07

after the officer's arrived and the order knickers on was demanded else we give you a
ASBO "'Ave Sexy Backside On-show" .

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the owl, BH9 says...
12:17pm Fri 13 Jul 07

just had a text off my grandaughter she says they each had a bucketfull of cold water chucked over them by an old lady with a stolen shopping trolley

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PETE WOODLEY, says...
2:19pm Fri 13 Jul 07

If it had been 3 men they would have been arrested ,charged and fined, why did this lot get off ?

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Donna, Upton says...
3:56pm Fri 13 Jul 07

Good for you girls, for doing something you believe in, there are far worse people out there doing far worse things. You see more on the beach. What a miserable lot. Has the rain washed away your sense of humour.

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Bystander, Poole says...
11:32am Sun 15 Jul 07

Well done girls, you were making a valid protest in the most effective way available to you. The Human Being is the only species on earth capable of being offended or embarassed at the sight of the body of its own kind. Ignore the complainers, they are usually the ones who have not matured enough to be able to dissociate innocent nudity from sex.

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Coco, says...
5:20pm Sun 15 Jul 07

First of all, you cannot catch MRSA, salmonella or HIV/AIDS from a naked sales assistant wearing a pinny. Secondly, this was a nationwide promotion. There were men taking part too. However, most sensible people will realise that a naked male bottom is no more offensive than a naked female bottom, and more importantly, neither is dangerous. It is just another body part.
This was a promotion to raise awareness of the appauling ammounts of packaging that cosmetics come in these days. Well done to the Lush staff, nationwide, for showing us all that naked is just as lovely, if not more so, than over packaged.

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scopes, essex says...
6:00pm Sun 15 Jul 07

I'm not surprised at the complete ignorance on the subject and the usual daily wail reaction from some people on here.

I am, however, surprised that people showing such a lack of intelligence can operate a computer............
...!

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the owl, bere regis caravan9b says...
6:37pm Sun 15 Jul 07

scopes wrote:
I'm not surprised at the complete ignorance on the subject and the usual daily wail reaction from some people on here. I am, however, surprised that people showing such a lack of intelligence can operate a computer............ ...!
Computors ,nothing to em,are you a bare a***e expert then? We want every item we ever buy wrapped hygenicly even biro's, uwrapped unpacked =mrsa salmonella hepatitis and dont forget to wash your hands, bare bums are for zoo's not the flippin high st, how many times do you need telling

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LLB, says...
7:17pm Sun 15 Jul 07

As the women concerned work in a soap shop, I am assuming here that their bottoms are as sparklingly clean and disease-free as the rest of them....I can confirm that it is impossible to catch AIDS, salmonella, hepatitis or MRSA (incidentally, only present in hospitals) from seeing a bum.

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scopes, essex says...
10:50am Tue 17 Jul 07

shame your spelling is as poor as your knowledge of how diseases spread owl!!!

I always wash my hands, with lovely lush soap as it goes

do you disinfect yours? just in case you may catch the black death etc. *yawns at the hysterical woman*

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Parky, England says...
11:03am Tue 17 Jul 07

Owl - do you think that these diseases you speak of which are, in your world, so abundant on items in shops, could also be transmitted on the packaging too? Or is all packaging bacteria and virus resistant? I think, in your option, the only sensible precaution to take would be to wear about 4 pairs of rubber gloves and a gas mask when out shopping. Maybe blinkers and smelling salts would be handy in case you see a flash of ankle and it causes you to faint, due to your delicate condition?

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the owl, bereregis says...
12:33pm Tue 17 Jul 07

scopes wrote:
shame your spelling is as poor as your knowledge of how diseases spread owl!!! I always wash my hands, with lovely lush soap as it goes do you disinfect yours? just in case you may catch the black death etc. *yawns at the hysterical woman*
the owl fell off her perch when she read the scopes essecks reply, get your nikkers back on and do as your told , no more baked beans for you for a while

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Paul, Bournemouth says...
8:19pm Tue 17 Jul 07

Did the Director of Lush get his arse out then? or just press his low paid staff to demean themselves. Hey, what about a campaign to employ English people on a reasonable wage rather than underpaid immigrants as can be seen at the Lush factory, Nuffield Industrial Estate, Poole. The company should be fined & the Director charged for inciting his staff to break the law.

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Artemis, cyberspace says...
8:20pm Tue 17 Jul 07

Gosh, Owl, is your last name Pollard?

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Artemis, cyberspace says...
8:21pm Tue 17 Jul 07

Paul, if you're concerned, I suggest you contact the police.

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sazzle, Surrey says...
8:35pm Tue 17 Jul 07

the owl wrote:
Unpacked, Oh my life i dont beleive it mrsa ,salmonella, aids hepatitis, cant these people be taken away in straight jackets they are complete idiots also they look foul
No you are the complete idiot. Buying a bubble bar with no wrapping on it will not put you at risk of any of the bugs/illnesses you name above. By the way straitjackets (see I can spell) went out in the 60s.

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sazzle, Surrey says...
8:36pm Tue 17 Jul 07

PETE WOODLEY wrote:
If it had been 3 men they would have been arrested ,charged and fined, why did this lot get off ?
Why would they be arrested and fined. The aprons didnt show anything at the front. In fact many male shop assistants from Lush took part. There were very few towns where there were any complaints at all.

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sazzle, Surrey says...
8:40pm Tue 17 Jul 07

Paul wrote:
Did the Director of Lush get his arse out then? or just press his low paid staff to demean themselves. Hey, what about a campaign to employ English people on a reasonable wage rather than underpaid immigrants as can be seen at the Lush factory, Nuffield Industrial Estate, Poole. The company should be fined & the Director charged for inciting his staff to break the law.
Nobody at the company was forced to take part in the campaign. Those who did join in did it because they wanted to further the cause. From your "facts" it is clear you know nothing about the Lush factory at all. Lush do not employ "underpaid immigrants" in their factory. I think you have them confused with some other company as they are actually in the Fleets Industrial Estate in Poole. All the oompaloompas looked quite happy last time I checked.

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Pumpkin, uk says...
11:02pm Tue 17 Jul 07

good show :) i'd whip my kit off in a trice if it got people to take notice of an issue which is usually lacking in media coverage...oh, i'm unpaid and dont have a director to press me to demean myself if that makes any difference...

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Paul, Bournemouth says...
10:46pm Wed 18 Jul 07

The Fleets Industrial Estate to which you refer is traditionally known as the Nuffield Industrial Estate so don't try to make out I am confused, I am certainly not. I see you ignored the question, why did the Director not get his arse out? I do not believe it is responsible for a company to organise employees into breaking the law whether they agreed to or not. In regards to the above point showing off your bare arse is breaking the law whether male or female no matter if your front is covered by an apron - indecent exposure!

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the owl, bere regis 9a says...
8:46am Thu 19 Jul 07

Hi Paul perhaps they are too embarrassed at least they will be, iv'e been told its being posted on you-tube front and rear views lets see how long its there before they have it removed

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Comments are closed on this article.

PANTS TO PACKAGING: Verity Herrington, Dani Ferris and Beth Palumbo of Lush went naked apart from their aprons to promote the company's range of unpackaged products until a policeman told them to cover up! PANTS TO PACKAGING: Verity Herrington, Dani Ferris and Beth Palumbo of Lush went naked apart from their aprons to promote the company's range of unpackaged products until a policeman told them to cover up!

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