Can a
supermarket be green ?
A few
people
would say that all
supermarkets are evil. More people would say that supermarkets are a
necessary evil. But is it possible for a supermarket to be green ?
Although many
supermarket chains have enormous power over the
production, supply and transport of products, this power is generally
used to maximise profit rather than to achieve environmental and social
benefits. It's hard to imagine a truly green supermarket.
The Co-Op
is a special
case, of course. Although it must operate as a commercial concern, it
has ethical and political obligations to its customers and its
owner/members. Unfortunately there are many areas without a local Co-Op.
But what about
the others ? Here we are walking into territory
controlled by some of the most powerful companies in the world.
We are
customers, we can choose which supermarkets to use and we have a
certain amount of power - but only if we use it and tell the
supermarkets that we are using it. The ultimate power of consumers is,
of course, to boycott suppliers for any reason which seems important to
us.
Let's try
looking at the question in a different way; let's ask
ourselves if there are any supermarkets which allow us to escape from
the power of the brand name, the power of the advertisers, the power of
the image-makers.
Most
supermarkets sell products from world-class companies. The price
of these products contains a large mark-up to pay the astronomical
costs of advertising on TV, the Internet and in newspapers. Advertisers
in the U.K. now spend around £20,000,000,000 a year. If we can
by-pass some of these costs, we can show our independence and also pay
less - a lot less.
Are there any
supermarkets which don't sell heavily-advertised goods ?
Yes. There are
two or three which sell only unknown brands which spend
nothing on advertising.
Imagine going
into a supermarket where there are no products from
Kelloggs®, Heinz®, Coca Cola®, Walkers®,
Nestlé® or Flora®. If you're looking for yoghurt, you
will find only one unknown (high quality) make. After all, who needs 53
varieties of yoghurt ?
Companies target
lots of TV advertising at children. But in this
supermarket, kids will find no heavily-promoted chocolate, trainers or
MP3 players. So they will be protected from some of the addictive
imagery which changes them from children into consumers.
Which
supermarkets are we talking about ? Aldi and Lidl.
And at least one
of these also sells vegetables produced mainly in
Lancashire. That's a real bonus.