Illustrative stock photo (source: AP/TASR)
Abandon the use of straws and balloons, carry your own water bottle and shopping bags, recycle and use less. At a time when many organisations are trying to stress sustainability and awareness on how much waste we produce and how to deal with trash better, package-free shops are springing up everywhere around Slovakia. Supermarkets are also introducing measures that allow their customers to behave more ecologically.
The Slovak retail chain COOP Jednota Slovakia presented new steps regarding its brand of several products.
“We are eliminating straws and plastic dishes step by step and replacing them with products made of sugar cane, plastic cotton buds replaced by bamboo ones,” said Branislav Lellák, CEO of COOP Jednota Slovakia, as quoted by the press release.
Environmental responsibility
The retail chain is saving 40 tonnes of plastics per year. Ecological trash bags that rot in nature thanks to special oxo-degradable material are another novelty for customers, along with bags for the packaging of bakery products, fruit and vegetables, from material that rots in nature to water, CO2 and biomass.
“We live in an era of consumption, so we saw our duty as developing activities toward the decrease of burdening nature,” noted Lellák.
Customers have started to behave more ecologically. According to Lellák, however, they are still more sensitive to product prices and it is not that easy to change their shopping behaviour. COOP Jednota Slovakia is attempting to educate its customers also through banners, stickers and text.
