Comment made to Cherub Tomatoes via Their Contact Form,
10/6/2018
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Hello, I like your tomatoes. I’m roasting some right now.
I’m writing to register my concern about your plastic packages. Single use plastics are one of the worst things for this beautiful planet we live on. Single use plastics don’t biodegrade, last for hundreds of years, pollute our waterways and lands.
RECYCLING is not an effective solution. The problem is single use plastic pollution is easy to solve. For millennia, up until just the last few debates food was distributed without plastic.
Your tomatoes are terrific. Your packaging, though real cute, is vile.
Does the earth really have to suffer this decades long piece of pollution for the convenience of a few weeks container when a biodegradable/compostable option would have worked just as well?
I understand companies want quick convenience. But at some point, we are going to have to seriously reckon with convenience in conjunction with being responsible.
Thank you,
Emily Gleichenhaus
Project PUT: Pick Up Trash
Every little PUT counts
ProjectPUT.org
@ProjectPUT (Facebook & Twitter)
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My children and I very much enjoy your yogurt products. I feel good about the quality of the yogurt you make.
I am also, however, very concerned about your plastic packaging. I feel just awful about it. My kids love your yogurt smoothies and yogurt cups, but they consume one and then the plastic bottle or cup it came it could last for hundreds of years polluting a landfill or end up in our water for us to consume or to choke or poison wildlife.
Milk comes on paper cartons. Chinese food, too. Can’t a company like yours, that professes a mission to provide healthy nutrition to your customers then find a way to package products so that the packaging does not poison and pollute our beautiful planet? When it comes to your yogurt, cannot your customers have the cake and eat it, too?
I really like your yogurt, but for me, buying and consuming it with my family also comes with a huge dose of guilt for enabling/supporting Chonani to package products in such an environmentally irresponsible fashion.
Can you please find a better way to package your products than in plastic? You could become heros in this story and real leaders. Please do. And please do it quickly. There is no time to waste.
Thank you,
Emily Gleichenhaus
Arlington, VA
Project PUT: Pick Up Trash
Project PUT: Pick Up Trash
Every little PUT counts
ProjectPUT.org
@ProjectPUT (Facebook & Twitter)
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Response I received from Chobani 9/18/2018:
Hello Emily,
Thanks so much for reaching out to us. We’ve been on a mission since day one to provide better food for more people. Sustainability is not just a word to us; it’s a core value. From cow, to cup, to consumer, we’re bringing Chobani’s universal wellness mission to life through a holistic sustainability program. We’re always exploring new ideas and approaches that support the economic, environmental, and social impacts of our business.
When it comes to our packaging, we’re constantly seeking new ways to minimize our impact on the environment, using less plastic per cup, less paperboard for our packaging overwraps, and less corrugate cardboard for our case shippers. Our sustainable packaging efforts have real impacts on the yogurt category and the planet. Since August 2015, we’ve reduced our packaging weight by 7.4% by redesigning our cups, saving over 2.1 million lbs. of plastic resin – the weight of eight adult blue whales.
We know that many of our fans are having important conversations about sustainability, recycling, and protecting the planet we all share. Here at Chobani, we’re having these conversations, too. Your passionate comments will be shared with our Packaging Innovation Team for review.
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Why not heavily support high rise farms? I’ve seen many videos about the use of indoor hydroponic farms in Europe. Why not do this vertically instead of horizontally?
There is some controversy about hydroponic farms and the whether the products can be labeled organic.
Besides that, however, if the nutritional value is the same, and pesticides are not used, the fruits and vegetables being grown this way can be a way to give people who can’t afford quality pesticide free foods access to healthy nutrition. And, while we are at it, why not grow these products in high rise buildings that are built to have a low (or zero) carbon footprint so that large scale farms to feed growing populations don’t spread out. If some significant percentage of farms grow UP, then more land is available for trees to clean the air and water and provide habitat for animals. In addition, the buildings themselves could be outfitted as habitat for plant life on the OUTSIDE as well, like vertical forests and meadows to enhance their beauty, provide more habitat for creatures, and clean the air. Another significant advantage is distribution. These fans can also be retrofitted to old warehouse and factory districts, revitalizing depressed areas and putting high quality food closer to people. It is much more efficient for a family in Nebraska to get its vegetables from a local farm (grown without pesticides, in solar powered, vertical, air cleaning , buildings with a small or no carbon foot print) than to get produce at the store that was frown horizontally and then trucked in from South America!!
