Monday, November 13, 2006

Vote early vote often- Consumer Action and the Environment

I heard that Environment Minister Ben Bradshaw has had a meeting with supermarkets about waste packaging. You can read a brief report from the BBC here.

The supermarkets have been making noises about this quite a lot. That however seems to about cover it. Noises.

Some environmental groups seem to think that only regulation will bring big business to heal. The problem with this is that you get cumbersome regulations that cost money and are frequently not up to date.

We as consumers vote every time we open our wallets. Big business is in this to make money, and if we alter our "voting" patterns they will notice.

Take this one example. Cauliflowers. I saw Sainsbury's selling small extra trimmed cauliflowers in clear plastic boxes. Bizarre. They seem to have removed natures packaging in favour of some plastic. The same is true of cabbages. They grow prepacked. No need for more.

Paper bags are easier to recycle and whats more are better for the veg.

So when we see dopey behaviour, lets act.

We can refuse to buy over packed products, we can call management over every time we see something that stupid and complain. Maybe even make a scene. Write letters. Bring back excess packaging next time you visit, and leave it in the foyer.

Concerted consumer action can make a difference and get things moving quicker. If business is hit in the pocket it will change, and fast.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This govt is hopeless when it comes to the environment, it never takes the matter seriously. Often environment ministers do try, but Cabinet have never prioritised it against hospitals and education, etc.
It's now catch up time.