Living Plastic-free: Chocolate

I'm torn on how much of a difference can really be made by selecting the one non-plastic wrapped option from a chocolate provider that otherwise uses chocolate extensively. They have no way of knowing what motivated that choice, and are unlikely to chalk it up to packaging. What if you wrote to their customer service to let them know what you're choosing and why?

I actually had a friend who used to write letters to the companies that made things she disapproved of, but then continued to purchase them afterwards. Her theory was that her letter of disgust to Coca Cola was actually worth a lot more than her decision not to purchase their product on the occasions when she wanted it. I suspect she's actually right (though the logic might fall apart when taken to its logical conclusion, I guess).

Anyway, just food for thought.

Make sure you grab some Green and Blacks! I'm pretty sure that's just paper/foil wrapped, and quality to boot.

Letter Writing    

Thanks Sarah, part of this resolution involves a letter writing campaign. See my Living Plastic free: Deodorant posting.

And thanks for the Green and Blacks recommendation. It made my list of SAINTs, but quite honestly yesterday was the first time I'd ever noticed the product. I must have been too zombie-focused on grabbing for the Cadbury Orange and  Mint Chocolate bars in their shiny foily packages before.  

EnviroWoman

Plastic free. Cruelty Free. Vegetarian. Chocoholic

Letter to Purdy's   

Hello my name is EnviroWoman and I’m a chocoholic. For years, Purdy’s and Cadbury have been my junkies. I thank you for that. My daily dose of chocolate is the secret to my much-envied, perpetual state of happy euphoria.  

Anyhoo. Here’s why I am writing. My New Year’s Resolution this year is to live plastic-free in 2007. I want to reduce my environmental footprint even more (it’s just a measly 3.9, but I can do better). 

Can you guess what’s coming? My first trip to a temple of chocolate worship in 2007 came as quite a shock. Within seconds, I could feel my cocoa-dependent-endorphins spiraling down a deep, dark well of despair. You see, I discovered chocolate and plastic appear to have an unholy union.   

Purdy’s, you are in bed with the devil! All your boxed chocolates and packaged sugary, tasty morsels are wrapped in plastic.  

Quite honestly, had I known this I would have never thrown my gauntlet into this plastic challenge. But it’s too late now. I’m committed. And I have amazing resolve.  

I realize that packaging is all about protection and presentation. And customers, for the most part, drive demand. But let’s admit it – plastic is not planet-friendly at all. Surely there are alternatives available you could use. Wouldn’t you gain a significant competitive advantage if you were able to say ‘we are the only chocolatier to use entirely recyclable/biodegradable earth-friendly packaging’.

In my quest for plastic-free chocolate I noticed a very obvious trend in Candy-land to use plastic and foily/plastic hybrids instead of the former more earth-friendly packaging of foil/paper wrapper in a paper sleeve.   

The one saving grace (and it’s a big one) — your retail locations will sell me a whole wonderful assortment of endorphin-spikers individually (let’s be real here, by the half-pound) — without any packaging. This includes my absolute favs — hard cherry caramels. All hope is not lost.

And it’s because of this Purdy’s will be getting all my formerly Cadbury business this year.  

Now you might think, “This woman is crazy. And she’s just one customer, big deal”. But I eat A LOT of chocolate. (New Year’s Resolution 2004: eat chocolate every day. It was a very happy year). I’d guess at least 100 bars a year (just for myself). And EnviroWoman is a generous person who regularly gives friends and coworkers gifts of chocolate.

You and I both know, today the cause du jour is global warming (as it should be) but it’s just one symptom of mankind’s disregard for the planet and of our irresponsible consumption and packaging. We have no right to pollute our planet with garbage that does not biodegrade.

Consumer demand is a powerful force. This consumer demands earth-friendly products with minimal, planet-friendly packaging.  

Please let me know if Purdy’s is intending on replacing the plastic it uses with a more environmentally friendly option. (I saw an article in the Vancouver Sun about a company called Earthcycle which has a palm-fibre packaging product which biodegrades. I am not affiliated with the company in any way, but since I am anti-plastic this year, I’m researching more promising options.)   

I’m looking forward to your response.

EnviroWoman

Response from Purdy’s

Dear EnviroWoman, 

No, I would never say you're crazy!  I'd say you are a person who tries their hardest to walk the walk, which is indeed very admirable.  You are also a person who takes a practical approach, while realizing the obvious difficulties faced by companies who are trying to leave a small footprint on the earth while meeting customer demands.  It's a tough walk!  I love your sense of humour, which is something we need a lot more of in this world. 

Thank you for your comments about our packaging.  We are always cognizant of how we are perceived, and we want our customers to know that we never make decisions about packaging lightly.  You're right, our packaging is designed to protect the quality of our chocolates.  It's unfortunate that sealing our bars in plastic is the best way to ensure they are fresh when customers buy them. We have looked at biodegradable products, but as yet, have not found a supplier that can give us the cost effective way to wrap.  Customers would not be willing to pay extra for specialty wrapping. 

We do a lot of recycling behind the scenes, to minimize landfill as much as possible.  Stock boxes where chocolates are shipped to the stores are used over and over again, and the cartons they are shipped in are also used time and time again.  Even store imaging is saved from season to season, to keep costs down as well as saving items from being tossed away so often.  In our offices, we do our best to reduce, reuse, recycle everything from fax paper (using the backs of unneeded faxes for new print jobs), using real cups instead of plastic or Styrofoam, to keeping lights off if we're not in our offices.  Small things, but they do all add up. 

I will pass your email along to our retail & purchasing departments.  Perhaps it will inspire them to come up with even more creative ways to reduce our impact on the planet. 

Thanks very much for writing, and for choosing Purdy's.  We appreciate it. 

Customer Assistance
Purdy's Chocolates

EnviroWoman's Comments on Purdy's Response.

Okay, so they aren't willing to give up plastic. I didn't expect them to. But it was a lovely letter from their customer service department. Perhaps it helped that I had pledged to give them all my chocolate business in 2007. Kudos to Purdy's. Compare their response to the one from Cadbury's below.

EnviroWoman

Plastic free. Cruelty Free. Vegetarian. Chocoholic

Letter to Cadbury    

Hello my name is EnviroWoman and I’m a chocoholic. For years, you, Cadbury, have been my junkie. And I thank you for that. My daily dose of chocolate is the secret to my much-envied, perpetual state of happy euphoria.  

I used to be a big Fruit and Nut/Eatmore/Big Turk gal, but then I discovered your Orange, Mint and Raspberry bars. I immediately changed my ‘drug’ of choice.  

Anyhoo. Here’s why I am writing. My New Year’s Resolution this year is to live plastic-free in 2007. I want to reduce my environmental footprint even more (it’s just a measly 3.9, but I can do better). 

Can you guess what’s coming? My first trip to a temple of chocolate worship in 2007 came as quite a shock. Within seconds, I could feel my cocoa-dependent-endorphins spiraling down a deep, dark well of despair. You see, I discovered chocolate and plastic appear to have an unholy union.   

Cadbury, you are in bed with the devil! All those shiny foily packages your entire (well, almost) product line is wrapped in, (including my beloved Orange and Mint bars), appear to be an evil hybrid of plastic and foil. I mean, it looks like foil, but it feels like plastic. Kinda like plastic-in-sheep’s-clothing.  

Quite honestly, had I known this I would have never thrown my gauntlet into this plastic challenge. But it’s too late now. I’m committed. And I have amazing resolve.  

Rotten luck – wasn’t it just mid-2006 that you changed the packaging from a paper-foil-plus-paper-sleeve wrapper (which was, I believe, entirely recyclable) to the evil plastic-foil hybrid. (which I’m assuming is entirely non-recyclable and non-biodegradable).  

I realize the new packaging is probably more tamper-proof, and keeps the chocolate fresher, longer (a moot point for this chocoholic. Once bought – immediately eaten). But it’s not planet-friendly at all. 

Please repent your sins. Redeem your self. Please, oh please, tell me I am wrong and that your shiny foily packaging contains no plastic.  

Now you might think, “This woman is crazy. And she’s just one customer, big deal”. But I eat A LOT of chocolate. (New Year’s Resolution 2004: eat chocolate every day. It was a very happy year). I’d guess at least 100 bars a year (just for myself). And EnviroWoman is a generous person who regularly gives friends and coworkers gifts of chocolate.

You and I both know, today the cause du jour is global warming (as it should be) but it’s just one symptom of mankind’s disregard for the planet and of our irresponsible consumption and packaging. We have no right to pollute our planet with garbage that does not biodegrade.

Consumer demand is a powerful force. This consumer demands earth-friendly products with minimal, planet-friendly packaging.  

Please let me know if your shiny foily packaging contains plastic. In the meantime, I’ll be giving Purdy’s my chocolate dollar. (I hope this doesn’t result in staff lay-offs at Cadbury) Purdy’s sells individual chocolates with no packaging.  

One final point of contention: How come you took your super-divine Raspberry bars off the market? They were my absolute Fav-Fav-Favorites.  

I’m looking forward to your response.

EnviroWoman

Response from Cadbury

Dear Valued Consumer,

Thank you for contacting us regarding Cadbury Thins. We value your comments and inquiries because they give us valuable input regarding our brands and manufacturing partners.

Cadbury Schweppes has been making great brands that people love for more than 200 years. Along with our bottling partners, we take great pride in producing high-quality products.

We share your concern for the environment and are interested in recyclable and biodegradable products.

In many places around the country, local governments have made recycling part of their sanitary programs. If this is not available in your area, you may want to inquire about starting such a program.

We appreciate your feedback and thank you for taking the time to contact us on this matter.

Sincerely,

Consumer Relations

EnviroWoman's comments on Cadbury's Response

Their email came from consumer.relations@brandspeoplelove. So I got all optimistic. I mean 'brands people love'. How cool is that. And then I read the above. Don't you just hate these automatic CRM systems that kick back a computer generated response after searching for key words in your email? How impersonal. I didn't even mention anything about Cadbury Thins in my email. I gave Cadbury a couple of extra days to send a follow-up email from a real human being. But none came. Tsk, tsk. Hey Cadbury...I ain't feeling the 'love'.

Perhaps it's because I didn't pledge to give them all my chocolate business in 2007 like I did with Purdy's.

Hey, they still make awesome chocolate and I can forgive all their sins because of that one truth alone. See 'ya in 2008 Cadbury. Power to the Purple.

EnviroWoman

Plastic free. Cruelty Free. Vegetarian. Chocoholic

Hello Envirowoman!

My name is Patty and I'm from Los Angeles. I've recently become a certified chocolatier and am getting ready to launch my company. I will be selling organic truffles and hand-dipped chocolates.

I am currently sourcing packaging for my chocolates and noticed your blog online. My goal is to find packaging that is recyclable and compostable but am having a hard time locating companies that offer that. I was wondering if you've come across anything in your search for chocolates w/environmentally friendly packaging.

If so, please feel free to contact me at my email address, I would be very appreciative!

Hopefully, someday friendly packaging will become part of the norm and we won't have to go scouring the internet for something that seems so simple.

Cheers,

Patty