How appealing are oranges without their peels? Whole Foods decided to make oranges easier for everyone to eat by placing them in separate plastic containers after removing their organic natural biodegradable multi-useful casing that Mother Nature has blessed them with.
Wouldn’t it be nice if fruit already came packaged… oh wait.
Whole Foods is an infamous supplier of organic goods, but managed to miss the memo on being environmentally friendly. Most environmental junkies have taken action by responding on how outrageous this idea was, especially those who have decided to live zero-waste lifestyles. The approximate 17,000 retweets also displayed how much attention this simple packing concept really effected a mass population.
Whole Foods has responded via twitter an apology about the packaging.
This packaging might seem small and unimportant to some, but the effects that plastic waste has on the earth are detrimental. Plastic is a synthetic product, the estimated break down of a water bottle is 450 years alone. How long would it take for one of the plastic containers? Even after the product has broken down we are still left with the pollution that the synthetic material has left behind.
The argument also can go and say that you can just go recycle the packaging, but this continues to add to the problem and doesn’t help reduce production. Recycling plants also produce their own waste by the amount of energy that they need to use in order to stay running. The packaging still exists after you toss it into the recycling bin.
The effects of wasteful living are detrimental to the Earth. We all need to take a stand to move towards a more sustainable eco-friendly lifestyle, rather than promoting or creating counterproductive products.