A Walmart employee shared photos of the fate of thousands of unused Christmas gift cards on Reddit, and they left both the Reddit poster and hundreds of other users feeling far from merry.
What's happening?
"Over 1000+ unused Christmas gift cards we threw away today at work," the OP, who identified themselves as a Walmart employee, wrote above the photos shared to the r/Anticonsumption subreddit on Dec. 28 last year.
In the photos, six cardboard boxes labeled "return for reuse" sit full nearly to the top — so at least the boxes are getting reused, but as the poster said, the cards went straight to the trash, highlighting a problem worth attention each holiday season.
"Like, literally the only thing they have to do to prevent this is not have the gift cards be holiday themed," wrote one user.
"Thanks for bringing attention to the ridiculous waste," commented another. "I used to work in a shop that frequently threw boxes away like this, plus food, and all kinds of perfectly good stuff. I always use it as my example to folks because if you don't work it, you don't see it."
"Whether they're used or not it's plastic waste," pointed out a third. "Why can't it be printed on a hard cardboard or matte board card rather than plastic?"
Why is this incident important?
Waste, specifically plastic waste, is a growing environmental problem, and as many commenters pointed out, this example of waste seems entirely avoidable. Further, one commenter pointed out that whether the gift cards are sold or not, they're trash either way.
As GiftRocket details, 1.6 billion plastic gift cards are printed annually in the United States. These gift cards require 9,000 tons of plastic, the environmental impact of which leads to over 33,000 tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide pollution being released into the atmosphere. Further, plastic is made from dirty energy sources, and when it's thrown away, these resources also go to waste.
Once tossed, plastic waste — whether it sits in landfills or makes its way to oceans and other ecosystems — takes hundreds of years to break down, creating dangerous microplastics and contributing to rising global temperatures as it does.
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So, items that don't need to be made of plastic in the first place being boxed up and headed for the trash understandably cause upset. It's also not the only example of the company being called out for plastic waste, making it that much more frustrating.
Is Walmart doing anything about this?
While The Cool Down could not get information specific to this incident, the company claims to be working to reduce plastic waste while admitting that it is a complex issue.
Toward this goal, the company is replacing plastic mailing envelopes with recyclable paper and has removed single-use plastic bags from hundreds of its stores.
That said, while it's unclear what led to all of the gift cards being thrown away, the incident signals the company still has a fair amount of work to do where eliminating plastic waste is concerned.
What's being done about plastic waste more broadly?
Many big companies, including Ikea, Coca-Cola, and Nestlé, are working to reduce plastic waste alongside Walmart.
Individually, you can opt for digital gift cards and find plastic-free alternatives for everyday items. You can also talk to your friends and family about climate issues they may not have thought about, like the effect of seemingly harmless gift cards on the environment.
You can also avoid gift cards altogether and shop at secondhand stores for one-of-a-kind preloved gifts the recipient will love for years to come. TCD also has a holiday gift guide with sustainable choices in mind.
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