How I’m Working to Change Whole Food’s Packaging
If you’ve been reading my blog for long enough, I think you would have noticed that most of my posts are about plastic. The reason for this is because to me, it’s the most solvable issue for normal people like us. We can’t just declare that drillings are ending, and all cars are becoming electric. Even if you are somebody who is in a position of power, you can’t just change something overnight, especially without the support of others. Along with many other people, I feel that there is still a lot about our society that harms the environment and needs to be changed. But as a high schooler, I know I need to be realistic. So, to me working to change how we view and use plastic is my number one goal. Along with it being the most attainable goal, it is one of the most harmful substances to the environment because it pollutes the air and contaminates the land.
Right now, I am working on a project to ban the plastic packaging in Whole Foods, specifically eliminating the plastic containers and bags that encase precut fruits and vegetables. My idea is that the fruits and veggies should be displayed as the actual uncut fruit to save plastic, or to have them cut and packaged in the same way just in an eco-friendly material. I have emailed the CEO of Whole Foods, Jason Buechel, a couple of times. The first time I emailed him, I told him of my concerns, and he emailed me back saying that Whole Foods was already working on this. However, every time I walk back into Whole Foods, I see the fruits and vegetables covered in plastic packaging. When he told me he was working on changing the plastic packaging, I asked him multiple questions about what said suppliers he was talking to, what the packaging looks like, and what kind of eco-friendly material he plans on using. I did not receive a response.
I realized that I could not keep on emailing and emailing Mr. Buechel. So, I started interviewing people and posting it on my X account. The first person I interviewed was my volunteer instructor, Jon. He gave me his opinion on plastics and Whole Food’s current and future decisions. I will have to find more people to discuss with about this issue! I know that this will be a slow process, but I’m hoping it will be steady. I remember when plastic shopping bags became paper and reusable ones, and this was a huge and shocking turn. Banning these fruit and vegetable packaging items wouldn’t just prevent more plastic pollution, it would prevent huge amounts of contamination from entering the atmosphere. Just pulling fossil fuels out of the ground and delivering them to plastic facilities creates 1.5 to 12.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide.1 Imagine if all of that could be cut down on if we simply removed this unnecessary packaging from Whole Foods. Additionally, studies have proven that chemicals from packaging such as plastic, aluminum, and Styrofoam leach their chemicals into the foods they contain, which we then proceed to eat.2
My main focus as of now is Whole Foods, however this practice of packaging precut fruits and vegetables and then enveloping it in plastic is a universal issue in grocery stores across the globe. This is a project that can definitely be accomplished, and we can help make it possible by cutting down on buying plastic packaged fruits and vegetables in Whole Foods.
Image: DiSanto, Elizabeth. EnvironmentOhio, 3 January 2022, https://environmentamerica.org/ohio/center/articles/10-steps-whole-foods-can-immediately-take-to-reduce-single-use-plastic/
