Many environmentally conscious consumers are cognizant of every purchase they make and every item they toss. Unfortunately, our favorite brands may not be as intentional.
Case in point: an incident at a Walmart that's drawing eyes on Reddit.
What's happening?
A recent Reddit post has gone viral after a user shared a disturbing sight they witnessed in a Walmart parking lot. The user saw two Walmart employees throwing out "tons of flowers and plants" that appeared to still be in good condition.
When the Reddit user asked another customer about it, they were told that the store said they were required to toss the greenery in the trash rather than donating or giving it away.
"Such a shame!!" the original poster said. "I would have taken some and planted them."
Other Redditors commiserated in the comments section. "So wasteful!" one user wrote. "Walmart should donate unwanted plants and flowers to community gardens."
Why is business waste concerning?
When unsold plants, flowers, and other perishable items are trashed instead of being donated or composted, it contributes to the massive problem of retail waste.
Retail waste makes up a significant portion of the garbage clogging up U.S. landfills. As organic matter like plants break down in landfills, they release methane, a potent dirty gas that contributes to rising global temperatures and extreme weather events.
Unnecessarily sending plants to landfills also represents a huge waste of the water, land, and other resources that went into growing them in the first place. It's essentially pouring money down the drain, both for retailers and the environment.
Is Walmart doing anything about this?
To its credit, Walmart has undertaken some sustainability initiatives in recent years aimed at curbing its waste and environmental impact.
The retail giant has committed to achieving zero waste in its U.S. operations by 2025, including by increasing its use of reusable and recyclable packaging.
However, more work still needs to be done to address wasteful practices on the individual store level, like employees being required to throw out plants and flowers that could have been donated or composted.
It's unclear if this was a one-off incident or representative of Walmart's broader policy.
What's being done about retail waste more broadly?
France has taken the lead in cracking down on retail waste, enacting laws that ban supermarkets from trashing unsold food and require them to donate it instead, according to Zero Waste Europe. Other countries in Europe are following suit.
In the U.S., some states like California (according to the California Association of Food Banks) and New York (according to the state government website) have passed laws incentivizing food donation by providing tax breaks and liability protections for retailers.
As an individual, you can help by being a conscious consumer and supporting stores with responsible retail waste practices. Composting your own food scraps and plant waste at home is another great way to keep organic matter out of landfills.
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