Forget what Aqua said in 1997 with their hit song “Barbie Girl” — life in plastic is NOT fantastic. Clearly nobody knows this better than Coles, which has introduced a removal of plastic bags for fruit and veg across a heap of stores in a push to become plastic-free.
Long gone are the days of putting your cute little asparagus bundle in a bag and sitting it next to a bag grapes, a bag of zucchini, a bag of cucumber and a bag of broccoli in your cart. You may have stepped out of the house to pick up some groceries but you ultimately wind up with a heap of plastic as well.
All plastic bags used for fruit and veg will be removed from 12 stores in the ACT from September 14.
Makes sense that the store would test this out in the ACT first, there are only like 8 people who live there. There are fewer people to offend if things go awry.
If you desperately need a little baggie for your imperial mandarins then you’ll have to either bring a little bag into the store with you or purchase a reusable mesh bag from Coles.
To help all the ACTors coming to Coles, the company is offering a free three-pack of reusable bags for shoppers who spend $5 on fruit and vegetables. So chuck a single lettuce in your cart and you should be all set.
The offer will last from August 31 to September 13. It conveniently ends when the plastic bags are removed from the fruit and veg sections, so if you want your free little bags you better act quick.
Hell, I may even cop the three-hour drive just to get my own reusable bags. That and I’d like to visit the Macca’s that’s halfway between Sydney and Canberra. It truly is the most perfect Macca’s in the country with the most perfect carpark.
“This will be the first time a major Australian supermarket will trial a completely reusable method of helping customers purchase their fresh fruit and veggies,” said Coles Chief Operations and Sustainability Officer Matt Swindells in a press release.
“We will be looking closely at how our ACT customers respond. These insights will inform our consideration for potentially rolling this out to our customers nationally.”
Single-use plastics will still be used in the deli section and for some online orders.
Here’s to hoping this rolls out all over the country soon. Less plastic is always a good thing.
