Comments on: Store Report: The Thing About Costco…

By: Beth in the Fake Plastic Fish Tank

Beth in the Fake Plastic Fish Tank — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 01:34:00 +0000

Michelle and Herself, I know you guys are certainly right about the plastic wrapped around the pallets. All the warehouses probably do it that way and we don't see it.

But Costco is absolutely different from other grocery stores in how it packages everything in blister packs and clamshells and creates bulk items by shrinkwrapping two or three together. I haven't shopped at Sam's Club, so I don't know if it's the same plastic deal as Costco. I am certain that Costco is using way more plastic packaging than a lot of other stores.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 20:49:00 +0000

I agree with what ‘herself’ said. I wouldn’t be surprised if other stores get their merchandise in the same plastic wrapped pallets. The difference is that the stores open up the containers, seperate the packages and throw the plastic away before the customer sees it.

By: Johanna in NZ

Johanna in NZ — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 07:16:00 +0000

That is an obscene amount of plastic! Especially the clam shell enveloping the apples. Why?!
I have found a good place to buy some bulk foods near where I live – a shop that serves mainly the Indian ethnic community. It has spices and loads of types of lentils and other delicious ingredients in bulk bins, and sells raw almonds cheaper than anyone else. A Chinese shop nearby is another good place for buying other things in bulk, though theirs aren’t in bins unfortunately.

By: melanie

melanie — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:35:00 +0000

I find Costco too overwhelming so I try not to go but occassionally I will get my parents to pick something up for me – like a giant bag of skim milk powder (for baking, yogurt and milk bath mix). However, I have always been disgusted by the individually wrapped toilet paper. My parents used to bring it home and it drove me nuts. What is the point of wrapping each roll in plastic and then wrapping it all together? Even in businesses you rarely see extra rolls lying around so it can’t be for hygiene reasons.

Great post!

*melanie from http://www.meli-mello.com

By: ciboulette

ciboulette — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 01:31:00 +0000

Those bloody ipod packs! Those have always bugged me.

By: Herself

Herself — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 22:49:00 +0000

The difference between Costco and other stores is that you see all of the plastic wrapped around the pallets of goods. Other stores get the goods after all of that plastic has been removed.

As for apples in plastic, well, you can avoid it by getting your veggies at the farmers' markets.

By: terrible person

terrible person — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:23:00 +0000

Back before Beth was doing her blog and we knew better, we bought a whole big plastic package of CFLs, the kind with the very strong edge through which you have to cut with pruning shears or a lightsaber. We thought we were getting a good deal by buying in bulk. The packaging is so unmanageable that in the course of getting a CFL out, we broke it, permanently poisoning ourselves with the mercury inside. Beth wrote about this a few weeks ago, and how she had found cardboard packaged CFLs. But I didn’t realize they had them at Costco.

By: Sunny

Sunny — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:36:00 +0000

Okay, so I’m guilty of the chapstick con. I use a lot and was really ticked when I got home to find out that it was individual packages in a bigger package. I guess it depends on what you buy. I don’t shop too much at Costco but things like the toilet paper (Kirkland brand) really aren’t too bad. One large bag but the rolls are wrapped in paper inside. The dog food doesn’t make my dog gassy. I agree about the empty blister packs and who buys apples in a plastic “clamshell.” I hope I’m picky enough that it works well for my pocket book and fairly well for the environment. How fun to spy though, ey?

By: Green Bean

Green Bean — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:16:00 +0000

Yikes! That’s a whole mess o plastic. I try to avoid places like Costco, Target, even Safeway. I don’t have the most will power in the world and those places will just suck you right in. Thanks for all the pics – and saving me from making a trip myself. :)

By: Deb G

Deb G — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:07:00 +0000

Wow! That’s a whole lot of plastic. Thanks for being so brave to go take pictures somewhere like Costco…I’m so chicken about taking pictures in places like that.