Woolies pay lip service to the environment

An article in Monday’s Sydney Morning Herald reports Woolworths (Safeway) supermarkets have suddenly developed an environmental conscience.

The report, by Ben Cubby, details Woolworths’ plan to “conform to stringent environmental standards” by upgrading most of their old supermarket fridges.

The fridges currently in use by Woolworths and Safeway are described as chronically leaking potent greenhouse gas as well as having “high energy consumption”.

So the fact that Woolworths Ltd. has now decided to upgrade some of their environmentally damaging greenhouse gas-emitting fridges, is great. HOWEVER, the faact still remains that Woolworths (including Safeway), continue to permit the destruction of the environment through the suppliers of their OWN HOMEBRAND SELECT tissue products.

Back in November 2007, for the company AGM, Woolworths promised to investigate their suppliers, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) – a company the WWF wont even certify because of all of the environmental damage they do.

Yet Michael Luscombe has done nothing!! The company has not announced their findings, or even that the investigation is underway. If they can not confirm that their toilet paper, tissue and paper towel is from sustainable sources, the product should be REMOVED FROM THE SHELVES. Once again, I think this is just a stalling tactic from Woolworths, hoping shoppers will forget.

Woolworths continue to be an environmental vandal every day they sell the Select toilet paper, tissues and paper towel.

Labor pledges a crackdown on illegal timber imports – what on earth will Woolworths and Safeway do?

Today The Australian newspaper has a story on page 5 about the Labor party pledging to crackdown on illegal timber imports into Australia if they win the election.

Forestry and Conservation Minister for the Liberal Government, Eric Abetz, admits that “10 per cent of Australia’s timber imports were sourced illegally”.

HOWEVER, he goes on to say that “to ban illegal imports would actually mean banning most timber imports” – meaning most of the stuff that comes into Australia now is actually illegally logged! Of course this must include the illegally logged products that Woolworths imports from APP.

What I want to know if the Labor party is elected, will proposed crackdown apply to timber-derived products that come into the country too, like paper and paper pulp. If it does, then maybe this is what will finally force Woolworths to stop using illegally logged pulp products imported from Asia in their own Select brand toilet paper, tissues and paper towel.

What Woolworths (Safeway) is doing is ethically wrong! We need to keep telling them that they can’t do this in Australia! Go here to tell them what you think, or email me (sustainable55 at hotmail . com) and tell me what you think about it. Let me know what you think of the blog too.

Here is the article from today’s paper.