Waitrose customers blast supermarket for selling ‘tacky’ £5 Easter artificial grass table mat while vowing to cut down on plastics
- Environmentally-conscious consumers blasted Easter Grass Table Runner
- In Britain, five million tonnes of plastic are used and disposed of every year
- Waitrose recently introduced refillable boxes as part of drive against plastic
Eco-conscious consumers blasted the Easter Grass Table Runner, saying it was an unnecessary and wasteful use of plastic
Waitrose customers have attacked the supermarket for selling a ‘tacky’ £5 fake grass table mat for Easter despite claiming to be trying to cut down on plastic use.
Eco-conscious consumers blasted the Easter Grass Table Runner, saying it was an unnecessary and wasteful use of plastic.
In Britain, five million tonnes of plastic is used and thrown out each year, yet only a quarter of it is recycled.
Designer James Lacewing spotted the item on sale at Waitrose and tweeted: ‘Artificial/plastic grass available for inside the home too, this Easter.’
This quickly drew the wrath of shoppers, with Conchita Navarro writing: ‘Waitrose, hi there, a regular customer. Will shop elsewhere if you continue to sell plastic grass. Will you stop selling this, and if so, when?’
Cath Robson tweeted: ‘Nothing celebrates the return of spring and new life like plastic on the table! I suspect that people will buy it though.
‘It’s given me the idea of sowing a tray of grass seed a few weeks before Easter and using real grass as a table decoration.’
Clare Phillips raged: ‘Waitrose – just because you can make it and sell it, doesn’t mean you have to or should do. Apply some principles, responsibility and ethics – just a thought.’
Waitrose shoppers branded the runner ‘ridiculous’ and ‘tacky’, while one even vowed to stop going to the store until it was removed
Diane Thornton said: ‘Come on Waitrose, what are you thinking? We are trying to get rid of plastic not make it worse.’
And Brian Jones added: ‘How ridiculous, tacky and bad for the environment can you get. Shouldn’t you, Waitrose, think about cutting down on the sale of plastics? Especially the making of plastic products that are used for just one-off events.’
Waitrose responded with a statement on Twitter: ‘Sorry for your disappointment. I will ensure that your comments are passed on to our buying team.
‘I’d like to assure you we’re working on reducing the amount of plastic we use.’
The supermarket has introduced refill stations at a number of its stores, where eco-warrior shoppers can bring in their containers and fill up rice, pasta and even booze.
The store has said it intends to eliminate non-recyclable plastic by 2023.
‘Making sure our packaging works and is fit for purpose is just part of my job,’ said Karen Graley, Waitrose packaging manager.
‘The other part is ensuring we meet our targets for making it as environmentally friendly as we can.
‘We’ve pledged that by 2023, all own-label packaging will be widely recycled, reusable or home compostable, so we’re working with our suppliers and manufacturers to look at packaging alternatives.’
Plastic pollution hit the nation’s consciousness after being highlighted by David Attenborough in nature programmes Blue Planet and Planet Earth.
In Britain, the RSPCA is called to 5,000 incidents every year regarding animals and litter, with hundreds of creatures trapped in plastic detritus.
Waitrose said: ‘The table runner is designed to be reused over and over again. We always listen to customer feedback and are working to reduce plastic and use alternative materials wherever we can.’
The store, which has said it intends to eliminate non-recyclable plastic by 2023, attracted criticism over the plastic product