Milk pouches and free toilet paper as Supermarkets score green points
Another week, another bundle of green initiatives from Britain's supermarkets. For the time being, it seems the food giants are moving away from plastic bag wars, and concentrating on their own individual green innovations. Earlier today, we reported that Asda is to sell compostable CD packaging in its stores, and now Waitrose has a solution to the mounds of plastic used to make milk bottles.
The well-heeled chain, which recently brought in plastic bag free tills has announced that from today it will be encouraging customers to buy milk in special 'pouches' that they claim will reduce the amount of plastic sent to landfill. Currently, only one in four plastic bottles is recycled, and these account for 90% of the milk sold in supermarkets. The 'eco-pak' refills will be sold alongside a jug, into which buyers of the 'Calon Wen' organic milk (at 91p a litre) will pour their purchases.
The obvious question that springs to my mind here is that this will leave customers in some doubt as to the age of their milk, particularly if it is topped up with more than one pouch, so I'll be interested to see how Waitrose will get round this. The next, perhaps more pertinent question is why can't the shops simply revert to good old-fashioned milk bottles which were always recycled?
In a concurrent move, Sainsburys (which was recently awarded an Observer Ethical Award for its compostable packaging) will be giving away "Five million green loo rolls" on Wednesday. The promotion aims to raise awareness of the Forest Stewardship Council-approved paper, which comes from trees that are either replaced or allowed to regenerate naturally. Personally, I hate spending money on stuff that ends up down the pan, so will be there with my extra large jute bag to stock up for weeks to come. Hurrah!
