I can not understand why supermarkets go and on about recycling when huge differences can be made by them straight away. its in our faces whenever we watch tv. im sure you have seen the advert for fabric softener. if we buy the concentrated version in a smaller bottle then less lorries are required to transport the goods to warehouses and shops. i okay thats simple! so why the hell are they still sellin the non concentrated in huge bottles. don't give us the choice then you save petrol because you dont have to transport so much weight! simple
I think more of the responsibilty for waste should be given to companies who sell products that contribute to it. It's unethical for shops to sell products that harm the environment for less money than ecologically responsible ones. I agree with emacacky, why are supermarkets still selling the non concentrated detergents? It's nonsense, and it's immoral. We all have a responsibility to do what we can for the environment, but the consumer should not always be blamed for the problems. Large companies should take responsibilty too, and take back their excess packaging. Only last week i found broccolli being sold in a plastic tray, wrapped with plastic cellophane, and then surrounded by a large piece of laminated card. Surely this isn't helping anyone?
Think the government go on about recycling even more, but maybe they should be forcing supermarkets to do more about cutting back on the amount of packaging they use and make them source more products locally. Consumers aren't solely to blame for causing so much waste as it's supermarkets who decide on packaging etc. They are only interested in stocking environmentally friendly products because they know a percentage of consumers care about those issues and they will use any means to lure them into shopping with them rather than their rivals, but don't think the larger ones see anyone as a rival any more except the other large supermarkets, eg Tesco v Sainsbury. As you say, if supermarkets genuinely cared about environmental issues they could have changed so much already, but they only care about their profit margin.
Interestingly I was impressed when M&S did away with their plastic bags and brough in their recyclable heavy duty ones. Now that 5th of May has rolled around you can no longer get a free plastic bag. Went into the M&S express service station down the road from home for some bread and the guy told me that I would have to pay 5p for a plastic bag, I politely told him I would rather pay 10p and get the recyclable one that I could reuse, he then seemed to not understand as I had to keep saying no to the 5p bag till he got someone else to come over and then I got my 10p bag with no further explanations. So sadly, it appears that they are trying to sell the 5p bags so that people have to keep buying more rather than supporting the purpose and sell people the 10p bag and get them to bring it back next time. The idea is great but if their staff are going to evade it to try and revenue raise it defeats the purpose.
It seems to be the amount of packaging used in everything! I sometimes think that i am keeping my entire towns recycling collection service in work! (And I hardly buy things at the supermarket!). I also thought that the supermarkets were supposed to be placing more and more 'local' items on their shelves - but I have yet to see much Dorset produce in my supermarkets! We have a large farming and fishing community here, (Lamb, pork, beef and dairy, all sorts of fruit and veg. including peppers, and especially apples!) but I have yet to see this on the shelves. The 'hottest' chilli pepper in the world (according to the record books) is grown just outside Bridport, but I cannot buy that in the supermarket!
If thr supermarkets were really bothered about recycling they wouldnt pack things in copious amounts of polythene. The fruit and veg that comes in plastic cartons and then covered in plastic wrap really infuriates me and I refuse to buying any fruit and veg that is not "loose".
Because in the eyes of many people it appears that they are leading the way. It appears positive and it therefore creates a good image of the supermarket. They will therefore increase their public profile and make more sales and more profit. Just because there is much more to this argument (or, if you prefer, they aren't telling the whole truth) is not relevant because it's all smoke and mirrors.
Environment