Plastic waste is wreaking havoc worldwide, and as one recent Reddit post indicates, megacorporation Walmart is not helping matters.
On the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit, a poster shared their experience with the chain store, writing, "Picked up an order from Walmart that had 50 items. Every single item came in its own plastic bag no matter its size."
Placing a package of ground beef or fish in its own plastic bag is one thing — stores do this frequently to prevent leakage — but placing every single item, no matter how it is packaged, in its own plastic bag is undeniably wasteful.
About 441 million tons of plastic waste is generated around the world every year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and only 10% of it is recycled. When plastic is not recycled, it clogs up landfills and leaches microplastics into the soil and surrounding groundwater.
Even when plastic is recycled, the overwhelming majority of it (98% according to UNEP) is still made using dirty energy sources such as petroleum, which contributes to the overheating of our planet.
Walmart claims on its corporate website to be committed to helping our planet, with a "focus on achieving our science-based targets for emissions reduction in our global operations and supply chain." Whether or not that focus has resulted in actual environmentally sustainable store policies is certainly up for debate, considering the amount of plastic waste generated by a single order.
The other members of the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit couldn't believe what they were seeing.
"It's to prevent cross contamination. Imagine how sick you would get if the box of tuna helper were in the same bag as the can of soup," one commenter joked.
"People can't think anymore," wrote another.
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