Shopping at Whole Foods should mean less plastic waste

As you walk down the aisles of your local Whole Foods, you’ll likely pass meticulously stacked towers of fruits and vegetables in impressive arrays of colors and shapes. You’ll walk through thoughtfully curated specialty sections, too, like the international cheese counter and the in-house bakery that’s more akin to a French patisserie than a grocery store bakeshop.

Whole Foods dazzles shoppers with choices, certainly. But here’s one thing you won’t find much of at Whole Foods: Plastic-free packaging.

Whole Foods has built its reputation on a commitment to environmental sustainability, and the company pledges to nourish both people and the planet. Yet the grocery chain hasn’t come close to living up to its planet-conscious pledges. In 2021, the most recent year for which the Plastic Pollution Scorecard is available, Whole Foods received a failing grade.

The plastic waste problem

Despite claims from the recycling industry—and despite dutiful, daily efforts from millions of Americans—very little plastic is recycled in the U.S.

Plastic waste continues to pile up in our parks, streets, rivers and oceans. We’re on track to put more than 53 trillion metric tons of plastic into oceans and waterways each year.

Our world would be cleaner and healthier with less plastic. And because grocery stores tend to package much of their wares in plastic, they are the perfect place to focus plastic reduction efforts.

That’s where Whole Foods comes in.

Moving Whole Foods beyond plastic

When it comes to reducing unnecessary plastic, Whole Foods was once a leader. In 2008 the chain became the first U.S. grocer to ban disposable plastic checkout bags. In 2019, the company eliminated plastic straws from their cafés and coffee bars.

And yet a quick jaunt through your local Whole Foods makes plain the sad fact that progress has undoubtedly stalled. At Whole Foods, grocery staples like milk, spaghetti and yogurt are nearly impossible to buy without single-use plastic. PIRG researchers found that less than 50% of Whole Foods’ in-house “365” brand products are available in plastic-free packaging.

Many shoppers prefer reusable or non-plastic options, and Whole Foods has an opportunity to both give consumers what they want and live up to its eco-friendly reputation. The grocery chain could reestablish itself as a leader in environmental responsibility, too, if it were to recommit to its plastic reduction goals.

Whole Foods could:

• eliminate plastic film windows on store-brand chip bags and pasta boxes,
• encourage customers to use their own refill containers when buying from the bulk bins,
• utilize paper and cardboard instead of plastic whenever possible, and
• sell more fruit and vegetable options without unnecessary plastic packaging.

We can and must expect better from Whole Foods. That’s why we’re calling on CEO Jason Buechel to reduce the amount of single-use packaging in Whole Foods stores.

After all, the more single-use plastic we eliminate, the less of it we’ll have to pick up on our streets, parks and beaches.

Join us in urging Whole Foods to reduce plastic waste.

This article has been updated and was originally published on December 18, 2023.