Getting behind the anti-packaging campaign

Dear Editor:

LUSH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics would like to say a big thank-you to everyone in Aspen who got behind our cheeky, anti-packaging campaign to urge customers to buy “naked” goods.

Our brave staff, who took to the streets wearing nothing but aprons reading “ASK ME WHY I’M NAKED,” reported overwhelming support from customers and passersby, who were being urged to do their bit for the environment by purchasing products that are free of packaging.

Unnecessary packaging can be found in almost every retailer: loose fruit individually shrink-wrapped in supermarkets, the prolific use of plastic bags and the mountains of plastic bottles used for cosmetic products are all contributing to the growing environmental crisis. The statistics make for sobering reading: Packaging contributes to 2 percent of overall greenhouse gases, and plastic uses 8 percent of the world’s oil resources. With the United States consuming 79.6 million tons of packaging each year, more than half of which still ends up in landfills, the time to tackle our packaging addiction is now.

The only way this will change is if you, the consumer, tell retailers and manufacturers that you are fed up with overpackaging. Small steps can lead to big change and help save our planet.

Jennifer Graybeal

regional media manager

LUSH Cosmetics

New York, N.Y.