Lowe's faces backlash after customer posts photo of store's dumpster: 'It's so sad'

If you have a yard, one of the best things you can do for the planet is plant a garden. 

The addition of flowers and native plant species will support wildlife and pollinators, while any food that you grow will help reduce plastic waste and pollution from commercial food production. 

You can get plants and seeds from local stores, but some of those sellers have less-than-eco-friendly practices.

What's happening?

One Redditor shared a photo from the garden section of their local Lowe's store. 

"What's the rules here?" they asked.

The photo shows a garbage bin at the retail establishment — one that is unfortunately full of live plants still in their pots. There are multiple varieties pictured, and while they show some minor signs of damage, most look healthy enough to survive if planted.

Unfortunately, it is common practice at large stores like these to throw away living plants that do not sell quickly, or that start to wither or look unattractive. The losses are already figured into the prices of the other plants. 

Why are a few discarded plants important?

When businesses throw away products like these, it raises costs for buyers, who are subsidizing the lost stock. 

At the same time, the plants and all the resources used to raise them go to waste, along with all the potential they had to provide food or beautify a garden.

There are some cases where plants need to be discarded, such as when they are affected by disease or pests that can spread to other plants. It is unclear whether that was the case this time. 

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However, in general, stores frequently throw away plants just for being old or slightly wilted, and they often fail to care for plants on the shelves, allowing them to get into an unsellable state much more quickly.

Is Lowe's doing anything about this?

In its Corporate Responsibility Report for 2024, Lowe's reported that it was monitoring and reducing its waste, and in particular, it was implementing recycling programs at its stores. 

It specifically mentioned that it would recycle its plastic plant pots. However, in the photo provided by the original poster of the Reddit thread, the plants and pots appear to have been thrown away together rather than separated for recycling.

What can I do about discarded plants?

As commenters in the Reddit thread pointed out, if you're able to rescue discounted or discarded plants from a garden center, they can often be revived.

"They do this every year and it's so sad," said one user. "I will put plants down on the ground for people to take. All the plant loving employees dig through and take bag fulls home because it really is such a pitiful waste."

"That hurts my soul," another added. "Plants are living things! You can't just dump them."

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