A disgruntled Coles shopper has lambasted the supermarket over excessive packaging on her latest online order, branding it a “blatant disregard” for the planet. The customer, from Canberra, took to the supermarket giant’s Facebook page to express her discontent over the amount of fruit and vegetable bags used to package her fresh produce, despite requesting to have no bags.
“Having one onion or one lemon in a plastic bag is really not necessary and makes me quite furious about the waste and blatant disregard for the climate,” she said.
However a Coles spokesperson responded to the customer’s post online, saying it wasn’t possible to omit plastic fruit and vegetable bags for “health and safety reasons”.
“We can advise that plastic bags are essential to keep your items together during the shopping process, and are necessary for health and safety reasons with some products,” the spokesperson said.
#northernbeachescleanupcrew #plasticfree

​How many venues do you know that use plastic straws?
#northernbeachescleanupcrew #plasticfree

Pros and Cons of shirts made from different material.
Recycled Plastic & Polyester:
-Uses less water and can be considered as more environmentally friendly to produce.
-Whenever it’s washed, it releases micro plastics into the environment.
-Cheap to make.
-Lasts for centuries (doesn’t decompose).
-Burns/melts/is more flammable, releases toxic fumes.
Cotton:
-Takes a ton of water to produce and production can be harmful for the environment (worsens soil quality, labor intensive, uses insane amounts of water).
-Degrades over time (decomposes).
-More expensive to produce.
-Less flammable than petroleum/plastic based items.
Maybe we should all just go naked. 🙈
#northernbeachescleanupcrew #plastic #plasticfree

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We welcome the NSW Environment Minister’s recent announcement that he will develop a wide-ranging plastic waste reduction strategy, but the government must move quickly because we are now the only state in the country yet to #banthebag.
A 2016 EPA review estimated that NSW still consumes 2 billion plastic bags each year, only 14% of which are recycled.
The major supermarkets’ self-imposed ban has seen this number reduced, but every bag produced adds to the 580,000 pieces of plastic found in every square kilometre of ocean.
Turtles, dolphins and whales die of intestinal blockage when they mistake plastic bags for jellyfish. What we will lose in trivial convenience will pale in comparison to the price our planet and oceans have had to pay.
Now that Victoria have joined the likes of Bangladesh, the UK and 127 countries worldwide who have banned the bag, New South Wales must be the next.
#northernbeachescleanupcrew #banthebag #plastic

Woolworths shoppers will be able to reduce waste by bringing their own containers to take home seafood, meat, and deli items. The company has revealed it is planning to trial an option for customers to provide their own packaging to cut back on disposable plastic.
The food retailer now plans to ask its staff to clean supplied containers before customers are given their orders, the Herald Sun reports.
Swab tests are being conducted to check the efficiency of the cleaning procedures.
Woolworths said they hope to get the trial 'up and running soon' and that they are working with local councils to ensure the 'proposed processes meet or exceed their regulations'.
Woolworths government relations manager Paul Crossley said the 'biggest challenge' would be preventing customers from overcharging because of the container's additional weight. He also said the company wanted to guarantee the system would comply with health and safety laws before it is rolled out.
A Woolworths spokesman said they are 'always looking for ways to run our stores more sustainably'. 'We understand the growing concerns from many of our customers about reducing plastics in our stores and we’re working hard to do just that,' a statement on their website reads. 'Our plan to tackle the plastic problem is focused on eliminating plastic where possible and to work towards ‘closing the loop’ by encouraging recycling through design, technology and clear communication to our customers'.
They have also partnered global zero-waste shopping provider Loop which sells products such as juice, ice cream and shampoo in reusable containers.
From 2021, shoppers will be able to purchase items in environmentally-friendly packaging which is delivered to their door, then picked up once it is empty to be cleaned and reused.
Woolworths has reduced plastic packaging of fruit and vegetables by 500 tonnes over two years. The change follows the supermarket giant's ban on single-use plastic bags in June 2018. Six months later they stopped selling plastic straws in their stores.
#northernbeachescleanupcrew #plasticfree

Remember that suggestion we made a few months ago about placing strong images on single-use plastic items like this was done years ago on cigarette packets?
Well, it could be reality sooner than we expected! We are still convinced that this would help, and you? 😉
Photo credit: unknown
#northernbeachescleanupcrew #keepcup