Letter to Giant

I sent this in via the Giant (a local grocery store) website today. I'm trying to be more aware of food packaging (and more vocal about it) and this really made me mad. Nature's Promise Organics - what were you thinking?!

*Update: Below my letter is the response I got from Giant. At least they are working on it! :)

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To whom it may concern,

I recently purchased a box of Nature's Promise Organic Earl Grey Black Tea at my local Giant. From the logo on the box, I'm assuming this is a "Giant" store brand. If not, please let me know so I can forward my concern appropriately.

In an effort to be "greener" and healthier, I am moving toward buying all organic products. Last week, that included buying organic tea, instead of my usual "Lipton." I was pleased to find the Nature's Promise Organic Tea. That is, until I opened the box and discovered that each tea bag was individually wrapped in PLASTIC. Yikes.

First, the individual wrapping is uneccessary, but even for people who cart their tea bags around and HAVE to have them wrapped - what's wrong with a paper wrapper?? At least that can be recyled, and is biodegradable. Now on my 20 little organic tea bags, I have 20 non-recyclable pieces of useless plastic film.

Please consider the environmental impacts of the packaging you are using on the Nature's Choice (and all other) products. Many of us, who spend the extra money for Organic products are doing it precisely for environmental reasons. I feel all the "good" I did by purchasing the box of organic tea was cancelled out by the 20 plastic bags I've now introduced into the environment. I will not be buying this brand again (even though the tea itself is quite good) until the packaging is changed.

Sincerely,

Melanie Lashus

~~~~ Response from Giant~~~~~~~~
Hello Melanie,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your concern about the packaging of the Nature's Promise Organic Earl Grey Tea.

It is part of our goal as a company to protect the environment and improve the quality of life for those our business touches, now and for future generations. We are committed to promoting health and well-being, providing safe and responsible products, operating efficiently with regard for the environment and practicing business ethically and responsibly.

To these ends, we have formed a committee within our company with associates from all areas of our business including construction, store maintenance, purchasing, and merchandising to promote an environmentally friendly approach in all that we do.

Regarding the packaging for some of our products, technology is changing every day and we are looking at all of our packaging. We are moving toward more cardboard packaging for our bakery products and biodegradable/compostable packaging from some of our produce items. I have forwarded your specific feedback to those who are involved with these changes.

I have listed below some of our other environmental programs:

Reusable Bags - All our stores sell reusable bags for 99 cents and insulated bags for $1.99. In addition, deduct five cents from each customer's total shopping bill for every shopping bag a customer brings from home to use for packaging the customer's groceries-whether it's a paper, plastic or a reusable bag.

Plastic Bag Recycling Program - The program accepts any #02 and #04 plastic shopping bags, as well as dry cleaning bags and news paper bags. The plastic bags that we take back from our customers, and all of our shrink wrap from stores, are sent to our plastics recycling company AERT (Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies Inc.). The plastics are then used to manufacture composite decking (ChoiceDek at Lowe's). We have collected millions of pounds of bags for recycling.

Green Products - We offer a variety of "green" household and cleaning products in our stores as well as Scott, Marcal and Seventh Generation paper towels and toilet tissue.

Our Climate Action Team develops inspiring solutions to help the environment. Here are some of them:

Star Power! Giant was named an ENERGY STAR LEADER in 2007 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a result of our success in improving energy performance across our buildings.

Energy Efficient Attributes We were recognized for energy-efficient day lighting, T5 florescent lighting systems, automatic occupancy sensors, and refrigeration systems with high-efficiency fan motors.

Greenhouse Gas Energy use in refrigeration and food storage is necessary to provide safe, fresh quality food, so we've been working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our stores, distribution centers and transport.

Energy Saving Innovations Newer stores are designed with reflective roofs, which reduce heat absorption and use less air conditioning in the summer, and special dimming systems that dim lights based on the amount of daylight harvested.

Partners in Power We partnered with energy solutions developer EnerNOC, Inc., to help reduce stress on the electric power grid during high peak demand to help reduce power consumption and prevent blackouts.

Eco-Friendly Driving
Our drivers, trained in methods that reduce fuel usage and CO2 output, have successfully increased fuel economy. We're also working with the EPA and freight industry to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution through the EPA Smart Way Transport Partnership.

Piloting Change In 2007, we were the only supermarket chain to be selected to participate in a pilot program for retailers integrating "green" technology into existing buildings by the U.S. Green Building Council, which develops and administers the nationally accepted LEED-EB standard for green buildings.

Thanks, again, for contacting us. We appreciate this opportunity to respond to your concern.

Sincerely,


Roxanne G. Edwards
Foodhold Consumer Affairs Specialist


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