| The Truth About Whole Foods "new" 100% Recycled Bag Initiative |
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| by Melissa Goldberg | |
| Saturday, 16 February 2008 | |
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Whole Foods, let's be honest. Yes you are a great company, and sell great products, but this claim is deceptive to your consumer who think of you as the authority on everything good for you and the environment. As child of a printing family, the 100% recycled paper bags now offered at Whole Foods got me thinking. Growing up, I used to go to my dad's printing plant and see paper scraps left over from the printing process being sent back to be recycled. This was standard practice.
So when I went food shopping recently at Whole Foods and saw the paper bags, I had to question it. 100% recycled, really? What percentage is really from waste from the consumer? Or curbside recycling?
Well, according a Whole Foods public relations representative, the recycled fiber content is 40% post consumer and 60% post industrial (waste). She stated, "we (Whole Foods) are excited to be moving away from any virgin fiber materials in our paper bags."
Post consumer? Post industrial? What does that mean? Well, listen-up.
 Post-consumer waste is paper that has been purchased and used by the consumer (you and me) and recycled by the municipal and private sector recycling system -- curbside recycling. What we the public accept has the definition of recycled.
Post-industrial waste is otherwise known as pre-consumer waste. It is the reintroduction of manufacturing scrap (trimmings from paper production) back into the manufacturing process. Basically it is the paper made out of paper trimmings and scraps left over from the manufacturing process. Just like I saw in my dad's printing plant more than 20 years ago. Pre-consumer, or as Whole Foods calls it post-industrial, is used in the manufacturing industry and in the traditional sense, is not considered recycled. For decades, pre-consumer paper waste has been recycled. The paper was never marked recycled because manufacturers never got credit for it. But in the 1980's when the demand for recycled paper began to rise, producers began to claim pre-consumer waste as recycled fiber. However, there had been no change in their manufacturing practices.
Paper grocery bags are customarily made of pre-consumer (post-industrial) recycled paper -- from 40-90% of the material. So in reality, Whole Foods is not doing anything new. It is basically a "green" public relations stunt to make them look better in the marketplace. This is a practice known as "greenwashing" and as a committed environmentalist, I find it a bit offensive.
Forty percent post-consumer waste, that is it? A company like Whole Foods who has based their entire brand and position in the marketplace as being better for you, better for the environment, can do better or a least be honest about their claims. Nowhere on the bag does it reveal any of this information.
Come on Whole Foods, give us the Whole Truth.
To learn more about federal guidelines for the use of environmental marketing claims go to the Federal Trade Commission site. Bookmark:            Trackback(0)
Comments (7)
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written by Jen, March 19, 2008
Also - read the label on the reusable bags - most come from CHINA!!!!
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written by Greeniac, February 23, 2008
ConfusedConsumer -- The short answer is, they are making a misleading claim. Technically their bags are made of recycled materials but the way Whole Foods play this up in their stores and on the bags makes it appear like it was a new development. Historically supermarket bags have been made of recycled materials. In addition, to the everyday consumer, it appears that the bags are made of 100% recycled paper that they have put on the curbside to be recycled. That is not the case. Only 40% of the paper comes from that. The other 60% comes from paper that was never part consumer waste stream. No where on the bags does it state the percent of pre- or post-consumer content. Search on the web for recycled bags or paper and you will see that the split is always stated giving the consumer the power to make an educated decision. Hope this gives you clarity. Thanks for reading.
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written by ConfusedConsumer, February 23, 2008
Just a regular consumer here. I read this post twice and I still don't understand the problem. Are the Whole Foods bags made of recycle material or not. I don't get the X% this, or X5 that argument. Are they making a fraudulent claim?
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written by Greeniac, February 19, 2008
Teresa - I agree with you and I do applaud Whole Foods for phasing out plastic bags and encouraging reusable bags. I to use reusable bags when I go to the market. However Whole Food, as the industry leader, should be forthright in their statements. There are 4 Whole Foods within 15 miles of my house and at all 4 are big signs outside stating that they now have 100% recycled paper shopping bags with no fine print. Thanks for reading. Be Green!
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written by Teresa Hrubala, February 19, 2008
If you guys are as green as you claim to be, why are you using any type of disposable bag, paper or plastic? Whole foods encourages the use of reusable bags. They sell them for $.99 and you receive a $.05 credit everytime you use one. Imagine the impact if all consumers would do this in all retail businesses. I applaud Whole Foods for being an industry leader in this endeavor.
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written by Greeniac, February 19, 2008
Frank, not everyone is as "recycling" savvy as you. Most people I have talked to do not event understand what "post consumer" means. And yes you are correct that it is not a Whole Foods innovation. However Marcel at least states the amount on their package. Nowhere on these bags does it say where the recycled paper content comes from. I feel that Whole Foods, as a company who the consumer looks to for "green" products, should at least state on the bags the recycling content and not lead the consumer to make a uneducated decision. Thanks for reading!
... written by Frank in Philly, February 19, 2008
I understand your point, but this is hardly a Whole Foods innovation. I've been seeing similar statements on "100% recycled" products for years. Marcal Paper has long sold "100% recycled" tissue products that state ">30% post-consumer" on the package. I always thought that the meanings were obvious and never felt that anyone was trying to pull a fast one.
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