Woolworths’ Ooshies collectibles range has been an overwhelming hit with shoppers over winter, but environmentalists are hoping the supermarket giant will shift from plastic toys to another popular giveaway in time for spring.
More than 2,000 Yahoo News readers responded to a poll about which supermarket promotion was their favourite.
Surprisingly, 50 per cent said they wanted a complete ban on all collectible ranges. And unsurprisingly, at 22 per cent, Oosies were the most popular toy.
But a solid 18 per cent favoured Discovery Garden, a promotion featuring seedling kits that let families grow herbs, veggies, and flowers.
When Yahoo asked whether the Discovery Garden would return, Woolworths declined to comment.
Woolworths is being urged to switch away from plastic toy promotions.
(Yahoo News Australia/Woolworths)Woolworths urged to switch to new type of promotion
Anti-waste campaigners at the Total Environment Centre argue it’s these environmentally friendly promotions that Woolworths and Coles should be offering to shoppers.
“The basic principle should be, if they are going to do any give-aways that encourage sales, anything they’re providing to parents for their children should have strong educational value,” spokesperson Toby Hutcheon told Yahoo News.
Woolworths has occasionally struggled with educational toys. In January, shoppers noticed a $6 packet featuring Australian animals contained a Virginia opossum instead of a brushtail or ringtail possum.
That promotion left a leading expert in forest ecology momentarily speechless.
“Oh, for God’s sake, Woolworths,” the Australian National University’s Professor David Lindenmayer said at the time.
He said Woolworths should be supporting “proper education in this country”.
Ooshies a ‘huge success’ for Woolworths
Ooshies are 97 per cent recycled plastic, and their paper packaging is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certified, but many environmentalists don’t think the production of excess plastic should be encouraged.
Previously, Woolworths had highlighted that the promotion had been a “huge success” with customers.
Hutcheon argues it’s important for major brands to help teach children about nature and sustainability.
“Both of these supermarkets have a very strong focus on their sustainability reputation,” he said.
Do you have a sustainability story? Contact newsroomau@yahoonews.com
Woolworths has been urged to switch to more educational promotions.
(Woolworths)
“They’ve got sustainability strategies and principles, but what they should be doing is ensuring what they provide to children fits that agenda.
“How is what they’re providing making this a better world, and helping our children to be part of that?”
Why conservationists want change in plastic use
The world produces around 460 million tonnes of plastic every year, and production is predicted to more than double by 2050 to over 1,000 million tonnes.
A Yahoo News poll revealed the Woolworths Discovery Garden as the second most popular collectibles range. Source: Woolworths
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Earlier this month, Reverse Garbage, a Sydney-based not-for-profit group that promotes reuse over recycling, argued plastic should only be used for necessary items, not “gimmicks, the promotions”.
“One [toy] might not seem significant, but when you think about millions of items we generate in Australia, then the world, they do have an impact,” its chief executive, Kirsten Junor, said at the time.
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