Local grassroots organization 350 Silicon Valley is planning a protest in Mountain View on July 23, calling on Trader Joe's to reduce its single-use plastic packaging.
The action, which will kick off at 10:45 a.m. at Centennial Plaza, 600 W. Evelyn Ave., in Mountain View, is part of the global Plastic-Free July effort, the organization said.
"All grocery stores are culpable of excessive single-use packaging, however it is visible stepping into the produce section at Trader Joe's that there is a particularly egregious amount of single-use plastic packaging for produce," Luna Wei, a 350 Silicon Valley member, told the Voice. "We see tomatoes, cilantro, zucchinis, garlic, being packaged in plastics with Trader Joe's branding."
Wei said Trader Joe’s owns the entire vertical of its product and packaging, which means the company has the ability to offer plastic-free options. 350 Silicon Valley and five other 350-affiliated groups in Seattle, New York, Florida, Colorado and Boston are also hosting take-backs targeting Trader Joe's.
350 Silicon Valley's mission is to "mobilize residents of Santa Clara and San Mateo county to act on speedy and just transitions away from fossil fuels to renewable energy," Wei said.
The Saturday protest is being hosted by the plastics sub-group within 350 Silicon Valley that focuses on raising awareness of plastics and climate change, Wei said, and directing residents towards city and state initiatives to reduce plastic use.
Comments
Registered user
Whisman Station
on Jul 25, 2022 at 1:09 pm
Registered user
on Jul 25, 2022 at 1:09 pm
Plastic is a problem, and it is unimportant compared to the suffering and death that climate change will cause and will get worse the more we delay. This one topic is more important than *anything* else, including anything SCOTUS does or does not do or even the fragility of US democracy.
Plastic production is responsible for about 4.5% of annual CO2 production according to a 2015 study, but half of that is from the energy used to produce it.
Focusing on electrical generation and lowering personal energy consumption is more important than reducing plastic usage specifically. This is like worrying about maximizing savings account interest while carrying a large credit card debt.
I am surprised 350 lets their message be diluted this way.