Certainly, there are some pretty grim packages exposed, one where the eggs occupy exactly 6% of the package space!
He goes on the say that Easter is basically a “pass the parcel” kind of
Holiday, where you unwrap many colorful layers to reveal a fairly
insignificant gift—a piece of candy. Lots of waste for that.
True. Yes. But there is also a cultural tradition involved as well. Christmas and birthdays are not green either!
Just like the night Pat Reynolds and I stood on the roof of a hotel in
Vegas looking out over the strip after dinner. “How can you discuss
sustainability,” asked Pat, “in a town where they never turn out the
lights!” His comments were punctuated by an army of pumps shooting
water hundreds of feet in the air. For no other reason than the sheer
joy of experiencing it!
Take live music events. Massive amounts of electricity consumed by
lighting and sound, thousands of concert goers next to each other on
the expressway in cars traveling separately to the venue, band busses
belching across the country.
And trash. Mountains of it. But those parrot heads got to have their Buffet.
Fourth of July fireworks don’t make a whole lot of sense either,
really. “Let’s shoot our paper wrapped metal stick garbage high into
the air and blow it into a million tiny pieces!”
When it comes to entertainment, it seems, we all agree there are limits
to sustainable practices. Is a child opening an Easter egg
entertainment? Can toy packaging be vindicated because a birthday
party is a cultural entertainment experience?
Where’s the line? Who’s drawing it? I guess the final answer, like
everything else in life, is about a great compromise. In the article
below Sainsbury had the most efficiently packed eggs, and Nestle’s were
completely recyclable. (A pretty bold claim, hope it’s backed up by the
science.) Still wrapped, still fun, just sensible. An effort, for
gosh sakes!
So you can have your chocolate egg, and eat it too. I don’t think
anyone expects you to live in a colorless, practical world where all
fun has been designed out of our lives in the hopes we are green enough.
Bowles urged manufacturers to recyclce Easter egg wrapping.
April 2nd, 2010 by Zoe Taylor
Easter egg makers are urged to reduce unnecessary wrapping by Sharon Bowles, a Liberal Democrat MEP.
The call was made in response to research by the Liberal Democrats that
found boxes 10 times larger than necessary are still being manufactured
for Easter eggs. The study stated that there are many eggs this Easter
period still wrapped in plastic, foil and cardboard.
Bowles said that opening an Easter egg is like ‘pass the parcel’. It
involves tearing off layers of unnecessary packaging to find for a very
small prize.
The study named manufacturer Guylian as the worst offender, with its
eggs taking up only six per cent of its box. The research also
identified Sainsbury’s for having the most efficiently packed eggs.
Meanwhile, Nestle was found to be the only firm whose wrapping was 100
per cent recyclable, with many of its competitors using plastics which
cannot be recycled.
Bowles added that manufacturers are doing better in 2010 than the last
year, but some are still making extremely over-packaged Easter eggs.
Bowles said that excess packaging amounts to more waste so
manufacturers are advised to reduce their packaging.
Meanwhile, the extra waste from Easter period will put added strain on
Runnymede’s recycling bin collection, with the service currently
disrupted by holiday breaks. Today’s recycling collection will be
delayed until Saturday, while Easter Monday’s scheduled collection has
been moved to 6 April. Residents are advised to bring their waste to
recycling points before 6:00 as collection schedules vary during this
period.
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