So I visited the new Pick n Pay that has opened up on Karkloof road and noticed that at the checkout they have these massive adverts that are designed to create awareness of plastic pollution in our oceans.
The kicker, they offer no other alternative to plastic throughout their store. At the checkout, they only have disposable plastic bags (no paper or reusable bags were available – I asked), they haven't switched their produce bags and all of their in house products are packaged in plastic.
This kind of armchair activism should be highlighted as shops like the Pick n Pay are the biggest reason we are all still using plastic. Very few have made any move towards alternatives to plastic (well done Merrivale SuperSpar for your paper bags), and, if they got creative, they really could give us options to cut our plastic footprints. Things like milk dispensing machines that allow you to fill your own jar (at a discounted rate to encourage this kind of behavior), or removing the pre-pack meat and using butchers wrap from a kiosk (people could then also buy the amount they want, rather than the standard amounts meat is always packed in).
I find it offensive when companies show concern for the environment as a tool for their own promotion and are not even making gestures towards actually caring. Step up Pick n Pay!
News supplied by Roxanne Thomas.