SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
"Globally, we're starting to see examples of retailers moving away from plastics and throwaway packaging, but not at the urgency and scale needed to address this crisis, especially in the U.S. market," Greenpeace's Kate Melges said in a statement. (Photo: Greenpeace)
Greenpeace Report Offers Vision of 'Smart Supermarkets' and a Future Free of Single-Use Plastics
"This report should serve as a model for retailers to follow, and shows that it is possible to end our throwaway culture for the sake of our oceans, waterways, and communities."
Nov 11, 2019
A Greenpeace report released Tuesday uses a hypothetical "Smart Supermarket" that has done away with environmentally damaging single-use plastics to outline a possible future in which the world's oceans and communities are free of bags, bottles, packaging, and other harmful plastic pollutants.
"It's time to build smarter supermarkets," Greenpeace plastics campaigner Kate Melges said in a statement. "Globally, we're starting to see examples of retailers moving away from plastics and throwaway packaging, but not at the urgency and scale needed to address this crisis, especially in the U.S. market."
"Without decisive action, plastic production is set to quadruple by 2050. It is crucial, therefore, that retailers and consumer goods companies work together to accelerate a systematic shift away from single-use plastics."
--Greenpeace
"This report should serve as a model for retailers to follow," added Melges, "and shows that it is possible to end our throwaway culture for the sake of our oceans, waterways, and communities."
In Greenpeace's Smart Supermarket (pdf), "single-use plastics are history."
Instead of wasteful plastic packaging, fresh produce in the Smart Supermarket is stored using local and environmentally friendly alternatives. Plastic bags previously used at checkout are replaced by reusable bags and a rental system for customers who forget to bring their own. Plastics used to package to-go meals are replaced by reusable alternatives such as those pioneered by Switzerland.
For online deliveries, the Smart Supermarket deploys "reuse schemes... with every order delivered using sustainable transport that ensures that reverse shipping requirements are carbon neutral."
"It is time to champion smart packaging solutions that can be returned, refilled, and reused, making The Smart Supermarket the new standard in modern retail," the report says.
Greenpeace notes that many of the solutions proposed in the report have already been implemented in major countries around the world, from Singapore to Sweden to Thailand.
"A world free from single-use plastics... is completely viable if retailers, companies, and individuals alike commit to making it a reality," the report states. "The world has woken up to the impact of single-use plastics and packaging on the environment and communities in highly affected countries."
"Yet without decisive action, plastic production is set to quadruple by 2050," says Greenpeace. "It is crucial, therefore, that retailers and consumer goods companies work together to accelerate a systematic shift away from single-use plastics and towards reuse systems."
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A Greenpeace report released Tuesday uses a hypothetical "Smart Supermarket" that has done away with environmentally damaging single-use plastics to outline a possible future in which the world's oceans and communities are free of bags, bottles, packaging, and other harmful plastic pollutants.
"It's time to build smarter supermarkets," Greenpeace plastics campaigner Kate Melges said in a statement. "Globally, we're starting to see examples of retailers moving away from plastics and throwaway packaging, but not at the urgency and scale needed to address this crisis, especially in the U.S. market."
"Without decisive action, plastic production is set to quadruple by 2050. It is crucial, therefore, that retailers and consumer goods companies work together to accelerate a systematic shift away from single-use plastics."
--Greenpeace
"This report should serve as a model for retailers to follow," added Melges, "and shows that it is possible to end our throwaway culture for the sake of our oceans, waterways, and communities."
In Greenpeace's Smart Supermarket (pdf), "single-use plastics are history."
Instead of wasteful plastic packaging, fresh produce in the Smart Supermarket is stored using local and environmentally friendly alternatives. Plastic bags previously used at checkout are replaced by reusable bags and a rental system for customers who forget to bring their own. Plastics used to package to-go meals are replaced by reusable alternatives such as those pioneered by Switzerland.
For online deliveries, the Smart Supermarket deploys "reuse schemes... with every order delivered using sustainable transport that ensures that reverse shipping requirements are carbon neutral."
"It is time to champion smart packaging solutions that can be returned, refilled, and reused, making The Smart Supermarket the new standard in modern retail," the report says.
Greenpeace notes that many of the solutions proposed in the report have already been implemented in major countries around the world, from Singapore to Sweden to Thailand.
"A world free from single-use plastics... is completely viable if retailers, companies, and individuals alike commit to making it a reality," the report states. "The world has woken up to the impact of single-use plastics and packaging on the environment and communities in highly affected countries."
"Yet without decisive action, plastic production is set to quadruple by 2050," says Greenpeace. "It is crucial, therefore, that retailers and consumer goods companies work together to accelerate a systematic shift away from single-use plastics and towards reuse systems."
A Greenpeace report released Tuesday uses a hypothetical "Smart Supermarket" that has done away with environmentally damaging single-use plastics to outline a possible future in which the world's oceans and communities are free of bags, bottles, packaging, and other harmful plastic pollutants.
"It's time to build smarter supermarkets," Greenpeace plastics campaigner Kate Melges said in a statement. "Globally, we're starting to see examples of retailers moving away from plastics and throwaway packaging, but not at the urgency and scale needed to address this crisis, especially in the U.S. market."
"Without decisive action, plastic production is set to quadruple by 2050. It is crucial, therefore, that retailers and consumer goods companies work together to accelerate a systematic shift away from single-use plastics."
--Greenpeace
"This report should serve as a model for retailers to follow," added Melges, "and shows that it is possible to end our throwaway culture for the sake of our oceans, waterways, and communities."
In Greenpeace's Smart Supermarket (pdf), "single-use plastics are history."
Instead of wasteful plastic packaging, fresh produce in the Smart Supermarket is stored using local and environmentally friendly alternatives. Plastic bags previously used at checkout are replaced by reusable bags and a rental system for customers who forget to bring their own. Plastics used to package to-go meals are replaced by reusable alternatives such as those pioneered by Switzerland.
For online deliveries, the Smart Supermarket deploys "reuse schemes... with every order delivered using sustainable transport that ensures that reverse shipping requirements are carbon neutral."
"It is time to champion smart packaging solutions that can be returned, refilled, and reused, making The Smart Supermarket the new standard in modern retail," the report says.
Greenpeace notes that many of the solutions proposed in the report have already been implemented in major countries around the world, from Singapore to Sweden to Thailand.
"A world free from single-use plastics... is completely viable if retailers, companies, and individuals alike commit to making it a reality," the report states. "The world has woken up to the impact of single-use plastics and packaging on the environment and communities in highly affected countries."
"Yet without decisive action, plastic production is set to quadruple by 2050," says Greenpeace. "It is crucial, therefore, that retailers and consumer goods companies work together to accelerate a systematic shift away from single-use plastics and towards reuse systems."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.