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John,
We have a growing plastic waste crisis -- we're producing a trillion pounds of it every year, and almost none of it gets reused or recycled.1
The last thing we should be doing is adding plastic to even more products.
But grocery stores like Walmart keep moving in the wrong direction. They're even wrapping individual fruits and vegetables in plastic.
Tell Walmart: Ditch the single-use plastic packaging.
Thank you for taking action,
Faye Park
President
1. Matt Simon, "The Plastic Crisis Finally Gets Emergency Status," Wired, May 16, 2023
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: U.S. PIRG <[email protected]>
Date: June 20, 2023
Subject: Tell this grocery store giant: It's time to move beyond plastic
To: John xxxxxx <[email protected]>
John,
Walmart is the nation's largest grocer by revenue -- but its continued use of wasteful plastic packaging is making a similarly large impact on our communities, our environment and even our health.1
But what if we convinced the superstore to ditch the unnecessary plastic and help lead the way toward a cleaner, more sustainable future? It could start a domino effect in the industry.
John, we know our collective voices can make a difference. Will you join PIRG and thousands of citizens like you in urging Walmart to move beyond single-use plastic packaging?
In total, there are about 4,700 Walmart stores nationwide. That averages out to almost 100 per state.2
Walmart is, first and foremost, a superstore -- popular in large part because of its affordability and its massive range of products. Over time, the company has gained a particularly strong foothold in the grocery industry. Tens of millions of Americans rely on Walmart for their weekly food shop.
Unfortunately, the corporate giant isn't doing enough to curb the mountain of plastic waste that it's responsible for producing.
From unnecessarily wrapping produce in plastic, to replacing cardboard pasta boxes with plastic ones, Walmart is sending its customers home with far too much plastic.3
And all of that plastic packaging adds up to a lot of extra waste: More than a quarter of all of America's garbage is packaging.4
It's also important to remember that Walmart is a worldwide brand. With 11,000 properties across the globe, its influence in the industry is by no means limited to the U.S. -- meaning its leadership in reducing plastic waste could have a global impact.
The more of us speak up, the more likely it is that Walmart will listen. The company has already said it will eliminate unnecessary plastic packaging -- but hasn't given a timeline or provided details about how it plans to phase out single-use plastic packaging and from which products.5
So we're rallying thousands of people like you to send a clear message telling Walmart to take concrete action to reduce its plastic waste. Will you take a moment right now to sign our petition?
Thank you,
Faye Park
President
1. Alex Fitzpatrick and Erin Davis, "The most popular grocery stores in the U.S." Axios, April 20, 2023.
2. T. Ozburn, "Number of Walmart U.S. stores in the United States from fiscal year 2012 to 2023, by type," Statista, March 20, 2023.
3. Jill Ettinger, "Grocery shopper slams Walmart over concerning new product change: "We are heading in the wrong direction," The Cool Down, May 6, 2023.
4. "Trash in America," U.S. PIRG Education Fund, September 30, 2021.
5. "Sustainable Packaging Goals," Walmart Sustainability Hub, last accessed May 26, 2023.
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