John,
With Earth Day approaching, you may be trying to reduce how much trash you throw away at home, to skip the plastic bag at the grocery store, or bring a reusable water bottle with you.
It's commendable to be a good steward of the environment -- and big polluters need to do their part, too.
But Costco, one of the nation's most popular places to shop, intentionally uses more packaging than its products actually need. That's needlessly adding to the mountains of waste that end up in landfills and incinerators every day.1
Thank you for taking action,
Faye Park
President
1. Matt Casale, "Why does Costco use so much packaging?," PIRG, March 22, 2023.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: U.S. PIRG <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Apr 15, 2024
Subject: Take action: Costco intentionally supersizes its wasteful packaging
To: John xxxxxx <[email protected]>
 |
John,
Whatever you're shopping for, you can probably find it at Costco. Unfortunately, you'll also find your items wrapped in wasteful, supersized packaging.
By the time you unpack your purchases, your trash can is full to the brim with bags, boxes, plastic containers and foam.
Here's the real kicker -- Costco intentionally supersizes its packaging because it looks more uniform and organized on store shelves. That's right -- according to a packaging consultant for some of Costco's suppliers, all that wasteful packaging is there by design.1
But are neater shelves worth the cost to our planet and our health, knowing that a dump truck's worth of plastic enters the ocean every single minute?2
Costco is one of America's most popular places to shop, with 130 million members.3 That's a lot of purchases and a lot of packaging.
Most of this waste goes straight into the garbage, where it will get dumped into a landfill, burned in an incinerator or end up leaked into the environment.
And it's not just the planet we're worried about -- it's our health, too.
Municipal waste like plastic that goes to the landfill or incinerator can generate air pollution filled with toxic heavy metals and cancer-causing pollutants and water pollution that can threaten drinking water supplies.4
Our health and our planet take precedence over unnecessary packaging. It's time for Costco to take all that unnecessary packaging off its shelves.
Send your message to Costco CEO Ron Vachris today.
When Earth Day comes around, it reminds us to pause and take stock of how our actions affect the planet, and whether we are being responsible stewards of the environment.
But that responsibility doesn't just fall on individuals -- corporations and other institutions need to step up as well. Costco has a chance right now to set an example for other retailers to follow.
The good news is, when we take action, we can make a difference.
Last year, PIRG supporters like you helped our national network deliver more than 82,000 petitions urging Costco to cut back on wasteful packaging -- and the company is starting to listen.
Costco has agreed to reveal the total plastic footprint of its in-house brand of products, Kirkland Signature. It will also disclose the amount of recycled content in its plastic packaging. That gives us more information about how much plastic Costco really uses, making it easier to track its progress.
But Costco can and should do so much more to reduce its waste.
Thank you,
Faye Park
President
1. Matt Casale, "Why does Costco use so much packaging?," PIRG, March 22, 2023.
2. Margaret Spring and Rashid Sumaila, "US needs a national action plan to stem the tide of plastic pollution," The Hill, July 27, 2022.
3. "Company Profile," Costco, last accessed March 26, 2024.
4. Benji Jones, "Finally, a solution to plastic pollution that's not just recycling," Vox, June 7, 2023.
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