♪ ♪ Common:<i> Plastic.</i> We just can't seem to escape it. That's
a complete waste. Complete waste.
Shame on that company. This is the kind of thing that
ends up in the ocean and birds end up choking on. Totally not necessary. Common:<i> Just 11
per cent of it</i> <i> ever gets recycled in Canada.</i> Not recyclable. Not recyclable. Not recyclable. End of story. Common:<i> Environmental
journalist Adria Vasil</i> <i> is helping us rate some
of the worst examples.</i> This one
drives me crazy. It's as though we could not eat
if plastic didn't exist and that is not the truth. ♪ ♪ I really think the large
corporations should at least try to consider the environment
before packaging things like this. Common:<i> We asked you to send
us your examples</i> <i> of pointless plastic.</i> <i> We take some of the
worst and in a poll,</i> <i> ask 1500 Canadians
to rate them.</i> These are all individually
packaged in a product that most municipalities and
cities do not take. Common:<i> 90 per cent
of you say you're</i> <i> concerned or very concerned</i> <i> about plastic pollution,
so we're counting down,</i> <i> calling out some of
your worst offenders.</i> And we're in Ottawa to ask what
a government that talks about reducing plastic is
actually willing to do about it. We, as part of this story,
wanted to take a look at some of the examples that
were out there. Do you mind if I just show
you some of the things that we found?
-Sure. Common:<i> We'll challenge
Federal Environment Minister</i> <i> Catherine McKenna about these
bad examples you sent in.</i> ♪ ♪ I'm Elizabeth Jackson
from Cochrane, Alberta, and I am nominating
Kinder Bueno. Common:<i> Coming in at
number 5 on our poll,</i> <i> this super-wrapped
Kinder chocolate.</i> ♪ ♪ I brought it home and it's
layered three times in plastic, so not going to buy this again. Perfect example
of a company that loves its over-packaging, that is killing the plastic
thing and not in a good way. Common: So why would
a company do this? Clearly they are off their game
if they think that consumers need this much packaging. Common:<i> 48 per cent
of Canadians agree</i> <i> with Elizabeth
that Kinder Bueno</i> <i> is one of the worst examples.</i> So, our viewers sent this in. It's a chocolate bar,
but it is wrapped in plastic. Yeah. With more plastic. With more plastic,
and then inside-- No, tell me it's not.
Tell me no! Yeah, more plastic. Okay. Well, you know, I think we
need to do a lot better. We need producers to take on
more responsibly and there are companies that
are really acting. Common:<i> But is Ferrero,
maker of Kinder Bueno, acting?</i> <i> They tell us
they wrap each bar</i> <i> individually to divide them</i> <i> into suitable portion sizes.</i> <i> Elizabeth isn't sold.</i> My message to the company
is, you need to rethink your packaging for your product, and
I will not be buying this again. This is so unnecessary. ♪ ♪ Common:<i> Up next,
and tied at number 5,</i> <i> you sent us a lot of photos
finding no relief</i> <i> with legal weed.</i> <i> So we log on, order
some of the same brands.</i> All right, Adria, this is,
I think, our legal weed. Now legal. We can open this
without being arrested. -That's a good thing.
-Yup. Okay, let's
check it out. Ready, set, open. Here we go.
Geez. Why so much
clamshell packaging? That, for so little. -It seems like a--
-That's a lot of plastic. Just for a few buds,
we are seeing this much plastic. My God. Common: That's a lot of plastic. That's kind of
shameful, actually. Uh-oh, no, this--
I do not like. These pouches are
100 per cent not recyclable. I'm pretty
disappointed overall. Common:<i> The Ontario cannabis
store tells us packages have</i> <i> to be tamperproof and
child resistant,</i> <i> but does that explain why
there's so much packaging,</i> <i> for so little product?</i> They could have designed this
from the ground up to be green, to be compatible with the
province's recycling systems, and instead they just completely
fell asleep at the switch. I mean, obviously they were
smoking maybe a little bit too much of this stuff. I'm just saying,
I'm just saying. My name is Daniela Recchia
from Orangeville, and this is my nomination for
the most over-packaged product. Common:<i> Up next at number 4,</i> <i> these double-wrapped</i> <i>
paper towels.</i> This drives me
crazy about Bounty. Why is there so much
plastic inside the plastic bag? Common: Paper towel, wrapped
in plastic, wrapped in more plastic, then wrapped in even
more plastic to ship it. My brain is just
melting down right now. Yeah, that's
completely unnecessary. Common:<i> 49 per cent of
you felt the same,</i> <i> helping Bounty pick
up a thumbs down.</i> <i> Procter & Gamble,
maker of Bounty,</i> <i> say they want to reduce plastic
but not on this product,</i> <i> as small businesses may want to
resell the rolls individually.</i> <i> What does Daniela
think of that?</i> I think this is absolutely
crazy that they are using this much plastic. And something
needs to change. ♪ ♪ 8 million tons of plastic
go into the oceans every year! Common:<i> While others
are slow to act,</i> <i> these kids are
pushing for change.</i> When we watched the
CBC Marketplace episode about plastic and what it is
doing to the environment, we decided to take action.
[Applause] Common:<i> We're
at R.L. Graham Public School</i> <i> in Keswick, Ontario.</i> <i> The students have got a
message for wasteful companies.</i> What can companies
do differently? All: Stop using plastic! Common:<i> Time to see
what they think</i> <i> of item number 3
on our list.</i> <i> A Marketplace viewer sent us
these photos of plastic-wrapped</i> <i> plastic straws and
forks from Subway.</i> All: Hi, David! How are you? All: Good. I am going
to take these out. All: No! Do you think it's bad? Why do you think it's bad? Nature can't digest it. It's single-use plastic
wrapped in single-use plastic. Does that seem
weird to you? -Yeah. -Yeah. Common:<i> 56 per cent
of Canadians</i> <i> think these Subway straws and
forks are one of the worst.</i> I would tell them to stop using
plastic because it's not good for the environment. Common:<i> Subway tells us
plastic overwrap protects their</i> <i> products, and by
the end of this year</i> <i> will transition
to paper straws,</i> <i> but no mention of changing
those plastic-wrapped forks.</i> <i> So we asked the
minister what she thinks.</i> There is a plastic fork wrapped
in plastic and a plastic straw wrapped in plastic. This comes from Subway, but you
do see this at other fast food restaurants all
over the place, right? But you
know what? There are-- I think that
because of consumers changing, you know, what they want,
they want to see less plastics. But I think that we need to
create the right incentives and right now it can be quite
easy to just make everything disposable, treat
our oceans, our land, like garbage cans. Why not just come out and say,
we're done with these? We are looking at that and
this is part of our strategy. Common:<i> Speaking of strategy,
we've got another mission</i> <i> for these students.</i> So we are looking for the
worst packaging in this school. We need your help to go
and test this one out. So we need you to go to the blue
bins in all the rooms in this entire school. -Are you ready?
-Yes! On your marks, get set, go! <i> We'll check back later.</i> <i> Meantime, it's on to
number 2 on our list.</i> ♪ ♪ Many of you sent us pictures of
plastic-wrapped produce and one that came from Walmart,
nominated by Barb Tessier of Cornwall, Ontario, is a
single plastic-wrapped pepper. What bothers me is
what's on the label. This product packaged to
increase freshness and help reduce food waste. The few days and the short
time of freshness we get, worth the time that this is
going to spend in our landfills? Common:<i> 62 per cent of you think
this is one of the worst.</i> To have multiple
peppers grouped together, that's one thing I don't like,
but to have one single piece of produce wrapped in plastic? Completely unnecessary. Common:<i> Walmart agrees
plastic is a big problem,</i> <i> but disagrees
there's a problem here.</i> <i> They say the plastic
keeps the peppers</i> <i> fresher and reduces
food waste.</i> ♪ ♪ <i> But in our poll,</i> <i> 75 per cent of you tell us
you'd accept less shelf-life</i> <i> for less packaging.</i> This is exactly...awesome. Thank you for shopping. Common:<i> And less packaging is
exactly why people are shopping</i> <i> at this store in Toronto.</i> Most of the customers who are
coming here are coming because they really believe that
they can make a difference. Common:<i> Unboxed has
produce, a butcher,</i> <i> household products,
bulk goods,</i> <i> even a hot table without
plastic packaging.</i> <i> Although our polling shows most
Canadians care about reducing</i> <i> plastic, only
39 per cent of you say</i> <i> you have plastic-free options
in your neighbourhood.</i> It's a really
big concern. There are a lot of locations
in the country that don't have environmentally conscious
stores, zero waste, low waste, whatever you
want to call them. For those people I would say,
look to your farmers' markets. Go to your stores. Ask the questions. ♪ ♪ Common:<i> Before we get to
number 1 on our countdown,</i> <i> these kids picked through the
trash to find their school's</i> <i> worst offender.</i> What is the worst
one for you here? I feel like it's the lunch
kits because they are a number 7 plastic, and number 7 plastics
only sometimes get recycled. So, most of them just end up
going into landfills anyway. Common:<i> Lunch Mates are
produced by Maple Leaf Foods,</i> <i> and these kids have
got a message for them.</i> I don't like this. I won't buy these anymore
because this is plastic. I don't like plastic. I would say,
stop making these. They are not good
for the environment. I think that they should
stop making this plastic stuff. Common:<i> Maple Leaf says they
care about the environment,</i> <i> so they are going to remove</i> <i> the recyclable
cardboard on Lunch Mates.</i> <i> But here's the thing.</i> <i> They are keeping the
difficult-to-recycle plastic.</i> You can just tell
your mom and dad to, like, stop buying these. And they can just make it
themselves and put it into a reusable container
and take it to school. ♪ ♪ Common:<i> Time to
wrap up our list.</i> <i> Here's number 1.</i> I'm Jennifer Lambert in Ottawa,
Ontario and I am nominating this example of over-packaging
because apples are one thing you usually can purchase
without any plastic at all, and in this case, there seems
to be almost as much plastic as there is apple. We couldn't find that
exact product in Canadian stores right now, but we found
something really similar, Adria. Our colleagues in
Vancouver sent us this. Are you ready?
I think you're going to find it pretty egregious. I am not looking
forward to it. Here we go. It's the clamshell apples. Oh, no. Oh,
my goodness. That's
just awful. Why is this in any way
necessary whatsoever? Common:<i> A huge
78 per cent</i> <i> of you thought
packaging like this</i> <i> was the worst, meaning
it's our winner.</i> [buzzer] <i> Or should that be a loser?</i> Give us an alternative
please, if you want us to purchase the product. Common:<i> We reached out to
Grapple and asked them about</i> <i> their packaging but they
do not want to comment.</i> <i> So with many companies
slow to reduce on their own,</i> <i> most of you think the
government should step in.</i> We ran a poll
and 82 per cent of Canadian respondents
said to us they'd like to see the
government take more action to reduce the use of
single-use products. Does that surprise you? That does
not surprise me. I think there has been a real
change in views about this. So, what can those
people expect? Well, I think
wait till June. That's when we're coming out
with our strategy with the provinces
and territories. So single-use pepper? Single-use pepper, ah,
just throw it in the water. And look at this, like how,
what do you even do with this? This is legal pot. All right. So it's wrapped in plastic but
it's a tiny little bit, a tiny bud in
a bigger container. People wrote in to us and they
find this to be a bigger issue. I look at what
the EU has just done. They've banned, you know, ten
types of single-use plastic. You've talked about
trying to reduce out plastic. Why not action? We're taking a
whole range of actions. So we-- bans are good in
certain cases for sure. But it's not
just about banning. Because I think there is a
lot of focus on banning. There are cases where
you need to use plastic. And so, I think we need to focus
more on the circular economy. And are you serious
about seeing an end to all of this? I am absolutely. I will tell you, this is
something that is a top priority for us.
Absolutely. Common:<i> The government
says they'll announce</i> <i> their strategy in June.</i> <i> And we'll keep watching.</i>
Costco is SUPER bad about plastic. They also don’t really carry any vegetarian alternatives. They have food with no meat obviously but there’s no meat substitutes other than boca burgers. Get with the times Costco.
Good Job CBC.