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How green is your supermarket?

Sabuhi Mir
by Lovemoney Staff Sabuhi Mir on 13 August 2012  |  Comments 21 comments

Supermarkets are taking steps to appear more eco-friendly, from charging for plastic bags to promoting sustainable foods. But does it make any difference to you, the shopper? And what does it cost?

How green is your supermarket?

All the major UK supermarkets from Tesco through to Marks & Spencer pride themselves on giving the impression that they are “green” or “eco-friendly”. They highlight using recycled carrier bags, recycled plastic packaging or sustainable fishing and farming to help support their case.

And they each have some sort of elaborate “green plan for the future”. From Marks & Spencer’s Plan A, which it hopes will see it become the world’s most sustainable retailer by 2015, to Sainsbury’s 20 by 20 Sustainability Plan, which sets out 20 sustainability targets it hopes to achieve by 2020, they all talk a good game.

But do any of these green initiatives benefit the supermarket customer, the likes of you and me?

How going green saves you money

Analysts from market research company Mintel believe that these initiatives often cut costs.The example Mintel gives is that if your supermarket charges for plastic carrier bags, you are more likely to bring your own or use a reusable bag, saving you money in the long-run.

Many supermarkets have started charging for plastic bags. Discount chain Lidl charges its customers anything between 3p, 5p, 9p or 89p for a plastic carrier bag. Marks & Spencer (M&S) charges 5p per plastic carrier bag, with the profits going towards environmental charity Groundwork to fund greener living projects across the UK.

Waitrose has introduced different designs to its reusable bag range (jute, cotton and 'Bags for Life') in order to encourage customers to buy them and use them as an alternative to plastic carrier bags. It also gives out free 'Bags for Life' to customers in newly-opened branches instead of plastic carrier bags during the first two weeks of trade.

Both Sainsbury’s and Tesco offer points on their loyalty cards if customers reuse plastic carrier bags. So if you have a Sainsbury’s Nectar card you can accrue Nectar points over time and buy more during your weekly or daily shop.

Tesco rewards loyal customers with green Clubcard points. According to the corporate website, they give away over one billion green Clubcard points, worth over £10 million every year, to those who also recycle printer cartridges, aluminium cans, mobile phones or choose bagless home delivery.

Not all retailers have followed the green example of the supermarkets though, which is why four environmental organisations have joined forces to call for all retailers to charge for plastic bags.

Eco-friendly food

Waitrose also encourages its customers to buy British through its local and regional sourcing initiative. This initiative currently includes over 2,500 products from more than 600 producers. Buying local produce from the UK is often a cheaper way to shop, and better for the environment as you are not clocking up “food air miles.”

A lot of supermarkets also stock Fairtrade products. According to a spokesman from M&S, all tea and coffee stocked in the stores is Fairtrade, all eggs are free range and all the fish sold come from the most sustainable sources (either MSC certified or, where MSC certification is not available, M&S works with the WWF).

Waitrose also makes sure that the lives and conditions of farm workers who grow and pick South African Waitrose citrus fruit, mangoes, grapes, stone fruit and avocadoes are improved with its Foundation South Africa, set up in 2005. To-date the Foundation has raised £3.95m and has funded more than 239 projects (chosen by workers), benefitting over 25,000 workers and their families.

What else you can do to be green

There are additional measures you can take as a supermarket shopper to be green:

  1. Recycle unwanted clothing, batteries, plastic bottles, glass.
  2. Buy ethical foods from Fairtrade and sustainably-sourced foods.
  3. Avoid “multi-buy” offers. You may think buying three punnets of strawberries with a short-sell-by-date is saving money when you only wanted to buy one, but it is not. It will only have a knock-on effect for landfill.
  4. Donate your green Clubcard points and Clubcard vouchers to save the rainforests.
  5. Cut down on your “food air miles”. Do you really need to buy those tropical king prawns from South East Asia for your salad? Or put that Madagascan Vanilla pod in your sponge cake? Tesco, for example, has introduced “carbon labelling” on over 500 products in attempt to help customers reduce their carbon footprint by 50% by 2020.

Overall, UK supermarkets are helping their customers to be more of a “green shopper”, save money and help the environment. But there is a long way to go. Particularly, when economic times are tough, “being green” seems to fall by the way side. Sadly, according to research from Mintel, this year an estimated 17.8 million people are shunning being green as they are more worried about basic living conditions and making ends meet.

What do you think? Does it cost more to be green? Is it worth that extra money? Do you want supermarkets to do more to support environmental causes? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.

More on supermarkets:

Campaign calls for plastic bag charge in England

The best way to pay less at the supermarket

The four ways supermarkets con shoppers

Are food loyalty cards worth it?

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Comments (21)

  • Meanmachine2
    Love rating 37
    Meanmachine2 said

    With the supermarkets flying food in from all around the World just so that it can be in season all the year round , that really is green.

    I found a Cheddar cheese product in Tescos that had a label in very small print "Produced in France".

    I didn't know that Cheddar was in France, so apart from lying how many carbon miles had that got?

    If you read the labels on lots of supermarket prepared foods containing Chicken, you usually find that the chicken comes from Thailand or Chile. More carbon miles.

    I think its all about profits with each supermarket trying to out image the others to impress & grab the customers.

    Report on 13 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • oldhenry
    Love rating 274
    oldhenry said

    Most labels that say 'green ' are a con, and that sums it all up. Unless it is grown next door than it has travelled many miles to get to the shop. Look at the veg in Tesco, many items from Africa! Incredible, I grow my own as much as possible but many do not have large gardens, as I have.

    It is all hype to con the punter into feeling 'responsible' without having to do anything different from what they wanted to. Best to prick people's bubbles now rather than fool themselves for years.

    When I was young most food was locally sourced, we could not affird posh food from all other the world. It just shows how little people know about what really goes in th eUk in the name of capitalism and pure greed.

    Report on 13 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • Cosmax
    Love rating 9
    Cosmax said

    If we were to stop buying goods which had been imported, or processed with imported goods, most of the supermarket shelves would be empty. Almost all tomato-based foods are made from imports - that would clear out all the cans of beans, spaghetti, meatballs and so forth.

    All tinned fish would go, plus most fresh.

    Most goods with wheats, corm and grains have a large proportion of imports. So goodbye most breakfast cereals, many breads and cakes and biscuits.

    Farewell morning orange juice and all products with orange juice added - we don't grow any. Along with a whole range of other fruits and veggies.

    Goodbye to the world's most popular fruit, the delicious banana!

    And you'll never see tea or coffee, or have a sliver of chocolate ever again . .

    I think even considering limiting or banning imports in the cause of 'food miles' is a non-starter, assuming it's done honestly and fully. The industry is too international, I'm afraid.

    Report on 13 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  9 loves
  • nickthecrip2
    Love rating 17
    nickthecrip2 said

    I think the writer hit it on the head with the phrase "pride themselves on giving the impression that they are “green” or “eco-friendly” The operative word here is IMPRESSION, in this case.

    There has been an increasing amount of media interest in ecology, greenhouse gases, carbon footprint & so on in recent years. A whole industry has sprouted around 'carbon trading' which would appear to be very lucrative indeed! Personally, I think it a massive scam but the public have begun to pick up on this 'go green' mantra. The supermarkets will do ANYTHING to raise profits & have jumped on this wagon, too. By giving the impression that they are doing 'green' things, they hope to gain custom but in reality are doing little differently from before.

    Of course, this will be refuted, quite strenuously.

    One thing I am certainly in favour of is charging for carrier bags. It is just laziness & lack of habit not to bring your own & as nothing is really 'free' I would hope this saving is passed on to customers-but I wouldn’t' hold my breath!

    Report on 13 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • electricblue
    Love rating 653
    electricblue said

    Importing food which could easily be substituted with products from the UK is the most ridiculous aspect of supermarket sourcing. Farmed fish from Vietnam may be delicious but is totally unnecessary and we can happily do without those all year round strawberries. Flying items in is really a massive issue, but those which come in by boat are really quite efficiently transported and huge container ships are also switching to bio fuels so importation as such is not always the most important factor.

    Report on 14 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • logical_one
    Love rating 46
    logical_one said

    It seems to me that the supermarkets have their marketing all wrong with all this green nonsense. Most customers just want low price high quality and the vast majority neither care nor understand what eco friendly means. It's just another bandwagon attracting the same middle-class pretenders that own a potty Prius. Personally I avoid Lidl and Aldi like the plague.

    These dictatorial tutonic cheapskates charge for disposable plastic bags to be in on the "green" bandwagon and to appear to keep down the prices of their low quality, poor value, poor choice goods whilst ripping-off the customer at the till. My first visit to Aldi was my last - no free bags, no credit cards taken, I left the items on at the check-out and told them where to put their eco-rubbish.

    It rather reminds me of the fallacy of Germany itself. Whilst posing as a "green" nation, it is building 23 new coal-fired power stations (some brown coal). It claims to produce 19% of its electricity from renewable sources but fails to mention that this si made up of 16% hydro power (as it has the topography for hydro, most of it quite old) and 3% from wind, solar and biomas.

    Our local (empty car park) Aldi recently applied for planning permission to put up solar panels and hence rip-off the electricity customer with the grossly subsidised FiT, some undoubtedly being its own customers. Hypocrisy is alive and well and living with pathetic "green" ideology.

    M&S is another store to avoid: pretentious, poor value and grossly overpriced. I'll stick with Asda, Tesco, Morrisons etc that just pay lip service to the eco-fascism bandwagon.

    Report on 14 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  10 loves
  • cleogen_blue2
    Love rating 73
    cleogen_blue2 said

    In answer to the question, another question, who cares how green the supermarket is as long as we get good value (= high quality/low cost) goods? Plenty of free parking is good news and the last thing I want is all this "save the planet" hogwash thrown up in my face when shopping or anytime really. Why does this site keep throwing dying "green" agenda at us? It really is "yesterday" stuff. Our climate is just fine and even global temperature is the same now as it was back in 1997 accoring to the Met Office CRU.

    I don't care how many air miles the food product or commodity has done as long as they are best value.I think it makes some do-gooders feel good to say they have local produce but of course all produce was local to somewhere so best value is the logical criteria. This may involve using a few different supermarkets to achieve. Free disposable plastic bags are must as they are best value bin liners abd have may other uses.

    I tend to avoid Sainsbury's with their "fair trade" claptrap too. Get politics out of shopping!

    Report on 14 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  9 loves
  • majortruth
    Love rating 178
    majortruth said

    Taking up on the point made by logical_one: Yes I agree the evil green bandwagon rolls on with just one wheel left. The whole objective of the Green eco-loons is to destroy our standards of living.

    Be glad that the whole "green" agenda is just a shifty sham for the prissy feelgoodery set who have nothig better to do than pretend they are saving the planet from some fake monster, often just a 390 ppmv trace gas or the non-problem of landfill (only became a problem because of the EU taxes).

    Buy what you like where you like and pressures from green politics be damned! Sadly green politics have become money making interests (through wind follies) for both the Cameron and Clegg families.

    Report on 14 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  10 loves
  • rocketflies
    Love rating 34
    rocketflies said

    It makes a refreshing change to see the silent majority, who we all know (justifiably) don't care much about the crazy green agenda, as it is largely erroneous and corrupt anyway, posting here.

    It is so often just the brainwashed eco-posers posting, who think they are making themselves look good pretending they really care about air miles and a bit of plastic used to make free high convenience bags for normal shoppers. Why does this site still jump on the green bandwagon when it's bankrupt?

    Report on 14 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  8 loves
  • Mike10613
    Love rating 600
    Mike10613 said

    Caring for the environment presents scientific problems. Science is about understanding how to use natural resources and those resources are now becoming valuable. Oil is in short supply forcing up the price. The Chinese are restricting the export of 'rare earth' minerals and so we can't waste precious resources. The politically correct ones, the ones with 'issues' rather than problems who sit around all day making up silly acronyms are the problem. They get their jobs because of 'positive' discrimination. They insist on women on the board of major companies regardless of ability. They tell the world how nice they are to their gay friends. They follow the crowd and have an 'experience of a life time' just watching the Olympic flame pass by; even before the waste of money games have even started.

    Scientists know that plastic bags are made from thermoplastics and are easily recycled. Some environmental problems aren't so easily fixed and they do need us all to cut down on travel and be aware of the problems. The live for today and bugger tomorrow mentality of many of the commenters; is typical of a selfish society bent on self destruction. People want luxury gas guzzlers to show their neighbours they are better than them. They want exotic holidays at the expense of the environment so they can brag to their colleagues when they return to their politically correct offices.

    The silent majority are the unborn children, the grandchildren and great grandchildren of the future who will suffer as a result of today's greed. The tax dodgers, the rich, the royals, the flag wavers, the jet setters, the politicians and the bankers; they all betray their own children.

    Report on 14 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  1 love
  • realitywins
    Love rating 64
    realitywins said

    Facts Micky Green

    1) Oil is not in short supply. The world is now gaining oil (reserves up significantly) – OPEC Report

    http://www.opec.org/opec_web/static_files_project/media/downloads/publications/ASB2010_2011.pdf

    2) Shale gas has brought a significant and welcome reduction in energy prices in the USA and with at least 70 years supply in the UK and ample coal reserves...no problem only from green subsidies creating fuel poverty.

    3) The real threat to our children and grandchildren is the "green" agenda and its proponents costing us £ billions and returning NOTHING. If temperatures are higher or lower in the future, we need low cost fossil and nuclear energy (not the hideous expense of failing renewables) for air conditionng and heating to keep our future generations comfortable.

    4) The environment is not in any danger in the UK. If it is in other countries from their own mis-management that is not our responsibility.

    5) If we did not eat plenty of food carried for lots of air or sea miles, the poorer countries exporting their (often good value) food stuffs would suffer badly economically.

    Mike's guilt trip is typical pseudo-green propaganda and reaction to the thriving consumer society that the greens hate. My suggestion to Mike is go play with your Prius and rip us all off with your solar sillies until reality catches up with you...which it will, always does.

    Report on 14 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  9 loves
  • cleogen_blue2
    Love rating 73
    cleogen_blue2 said

    Mike rants on about betrayal. It is the so called eco-friendly agenda of the liblabcon politicians that is betraying us all and our way of life to deprive our children, born and unborn of the wonderful life styles we have achieved for ourselves with relatively cheap hydrocarbon and nuclear energy and the consumer rules philosophy of course.

    Supermarkets are the epitome of consumer choice and long may they remain so. If they get their way, when the eco-fascists have fiinished with us, we will have less choice, more energy deficit and less freedom. My advice...."Don't let it happen!"

    Don't feel guilty, feel proud of our great achievements. We do care for the environment sensibly but we do not need to bankrupt ourselves with eco-ideology to do so.

    Report on 14 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  9 loves
  • JOHN MAXWELL
    Love rating 56
    JOHN MAXWELL said

    my local supermarket is in business to make a profit. if they can help improve the environment at the same time they will, and use it as publicity, but it is not their prime motivation.

    Report on 14 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  3 loves
  • Clive_Windsor
    Love rating 37
    Clive_Windsor said

    I read one posting here that tells me we should cut down on travel. What a cheek and I see no reason given. It seems to me that too many peple nowadays are telling others what they must or must not do. Why does electricblue seem to think that flying food is a big issue? I am sure most don't give it a second thought and why should they? It ensures the all important extension of consumer choice.

    Apart from a few annoying notices about saving the planet by using a reusable bag and recycling something or other (yeah right), most supermarkets just give the choice of organic or ordinary food etc. Just because it's organic doesn't mean it is better and it may be more expensive so it's up to the customer.

    To be honest, the less any supermarket tries to herd us to do the politically or environmentally "correct thing", the more we like going there. I think my wife and I are very ordinary average shoppers so perhaps there's a message in there somewhere for the supermarkets.

    Report on 14 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  9 loves
  • publicspirit
    Love rating 57
    publicspirit said

    I quote the rather biased article thus:

    "Sadly, according to research from Mintel, this year an estimated 17.8 million people are shunning being green as they are more worried about basic living conditions and making ends meet."

    I take no issue with the survey statement which is quite obvious and believable except that the "sadly" assumes there is some overriding quasi-religious need to be "green" when the real need is to provide the best we possibly can for our families, despite the religious pseudo-environmental propaganda doled out by this blog and a few other eco-cult followers. It was a factual survey and there is no need for bias to be added by the author.

    Report on 14 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  9 loves
  • shortchanged
    Love rating 17
    shortchanged said

    Being green is vital for the planet and everyone's social responsibility and this article is useful and informative. We travel very little and I think the fewer people fly for holidays the better. Planes cause so much pollution! I get angry when people sneer and say why should they change their lifestyle or that they cannot be bothered. It was that attitude that lead to climate change, extinction of many animals and plants and I feel that being green should be made compulsory. That goes for manufacturers too. What is the point of being eithical and buying a non-pollutant washing powder for example, if several toxic but cheaper brands are on the same shelf and often made by the same company? If all the options were green, they might be competitive with each other to give customers a choice of quality and price but without being able to opt for something which harms our precious planet, and the only home we have.

    Report on 15 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  1 love
  • Mike10613
    Love rating 600
    Mike10613 said

    For the benefit of my critics, I'm not a fan of solar energy in this country. Some panels are useful for heating water in warmer countries. I'm not against the responsible use of nuclear either. I am in favour of research into tidal and wave energy they have potential. We also need more research into energy storage. We can cut down on energy usage and monitor climate change more effectively. Little things like banning carrier bags aren't much use if selfish people take several long haul flights several times a year for the frivolous purpose of getting a sun tan. If you really want to look ridiculous get a spray on! Incidentally, my qualifications are in science and technology.

    Report on 15 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  1 love
  • majortruth
    Love rating 178
    majortruth said

    I think some greenies may be straying a little from the topic but that's quite usual so no problem. I would make the point for the majority of people that flying off wherever is a personal choice and NOT selfish as it harms no one and is merely the allocation of their own money.

    As for the delusional and somewhat dated notion that CO2 emissions are in some way responsible for sigificant warmig of the climate, I would quote from HadCRUt3 data that the mean global temperature for 2011 was 14.34 deg Celsius, identical to the mean global temperature for 1997. Yes 15 years on we are right back where we started. In stark contrast that 15 year period saw the largest rise in atmospheric CO2 since the start of the industrial revolution (8% over the 15 yrs).

    Interestingly the past 120 years has only seen a global mean temperature rise of 0.7 deg Celsius, hardly a scorching prelude to thermageddon is it? If anyone still believes the erroneous notion that the present 14.34 deg Celsius is alarming or even close to the hot end of the Earth's range, please look at this graph to see that the Earth's mean temperature has varied between 10 deg C and 25+ deg C over the geological timeframe:

    http://www.scotese.com/images/globaltemp.jpg

    In terms of energy, we have no shortage of either hydrocarbon or fissionable fuels so the only problems are those we create by slavishly following the eco-ideology of contrived carbon doom. For the UK we need to get fracking for shale gas and remember we have 300 yrs reserves of coal under our feet. "Green" Germany has 23 new coal fired power stations on order.

    Report on 15 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  8 loves
  • albatross5
    Love rating 50
    albatross5 said

    major truth

    You forgot to mention the dire costs of unnecessary renewable energy for power generation. Wind and solar are so heavily subsidised but they dwarf the costs of coal, gas and nuclear power. Most days intermittent wind meets no more than 2 or 3% of national UK demand despite the £billions "invested" in around 3,500 wind follies. Solar FiTs have made solar energy 6 times more expensive than gas fired generation.

    Looking at the figures for the, thankfully shelved, Severn Barrage, this would have produced energy at a cost of 4 or 5 times gas, coal or nuclear power plant.

    Anyway for those on the Green Supermarket bandwagon, you are no more than delusional feelgooders:

    Professor Bob Carter:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOLkze-9GcI

    Report on 15 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  9 loves
  • rocketflies
    Love rating 34
    rocketflies said

    Many thanks to majortruth and albatross for revealing the reality of the climate and renewable energy propaganda machines. I take the view that cimate change has been going on for the five billion year life of Planet Earth and always will. Prof Bob Carters video should be an eye-opener for the bandwagon-following warmista doomsayers!

    Here's another educational vidoe clip from Professors Richard Lindzen, John Christy and Pat Michaels:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uarxRaa0h4w

    However, the topic only gets really offensive when contributors like mike and shortchanged start telling us what we should and should not do with words like "vital" and "selfish." There is nothing vital about the green agenda, it simply follows a dubious hypothesis (not even a theory) that we are to blame for "dangerous" warming of the planet.. What dangerous warming and what proof we are to blame anyways? King Canute is alive and well and living in the delusions of eco-feelgooders.

    Whilst most people are not deliberately wasteful as it costs them money to be, we all have to make a choice on how we allocate our money. I don't find that making sacrifices just to comply with some "Green" agenda or government tokenism is logical or even justifiable.

    If some of us would fly round the world for money and political doctrines (e.g Al Gore and delegates attending Copenhagen etc at taxpayers' expense) and others fly for pleasure and a sun tan holiday, they are just different sets of choices. The scaredycats and sheeple do have a right to feel guilty for their lifestyles based on misinformation and exaggerations from the likes of Al Gore (sock-puppet for James Hansen), that is their choice.

    All I am saying to the eco-loons is live as you wish but stop preaching to others as you appear more and more like a dogmatic religion.

    Report on 16 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  8 loves
  • logical_one
    Love rating 46
    logical_one said

    This simple cartoon should explain that shortchanged is posting here based on belief akin to religion, just hiding behind cherry picked science. I mention shortchanged as he/she is showing the true 'control freak,' mindset of the Green movement.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdxaxJNs15s

    Report on 16 August 2012  |  Love thisLove  7 loves

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