For Immediate Release	CONTACT:	Holly Anderson, ext. 114
11/10/98
		(202) 835-3323

How Choosing Products with Less Packaging Helps the Earth:

New Campaign Highlights Consumer Power in Reducing Waste

WASHINGTON, DC...Today the National Consumers League released a new brochure, "The Earth's Future is in Your Shopping Cart," as part of an educational campaign to help consumers understand the value of choosing products that use less packaging. According to a survey conducted for the League by Opinion Research, 41 percent of consumers rarely or never think about the amount of packaging on a product when they make purchasing decisions at the grocery store.
"Consumers need to remember all of the three R's-reducing, reusing, recycling. Often they don't think of the 'reducing R'," said NCL President Linda F. Golodner. "When consumers go to the grocery store, they should try to buy the most product in the least packaging possible."
The survey also found that while 59 percent of consumers know that less packaging is better for the environment, only 29 percent know how to choose products with least packaging. "That's why the brochure is so important," said Golodner. "Armed with information, consumers can make the best choices when going down the grocery aisle."
The brochure outlines earth-friendly shopping strategies:

• The most efficient packages tend to use single, not multiple, components
  
• Flexible packages often deliver more product with less packaging. Examples include bags, pouches and wraps.
  
• Buying products in large "economy sizes" generates less packaging waste than "single-serving" items.
  
• Concentrated products require less packaging.

With an eye toward reducing waste, the League worked with the School of Packaging at Michigan State University to look at more than 250 everyday products in 40 product categories. The MSU researchers compared packages based on weight and volume to the amount of product they delivered. According to Dr. Hugh Lockhart of MSU, "a consumer purchasing a 'market basket' containing one standard unit of each product and choosing the items with the MOST packaging would end up with more than five times the weight of packaging as a consumer choosing the 'market basket' of items with the least packaging."

The full report will be available online on Friday, November 20, 1998. Click here to request an email of the full report. Consumers can order the free brochure, "The Earth's Future is in Your Shopping Cart" by calling 800-639-8140 or by filling out the online form.

Editor's note: vnr information/ radio tour information/

For more information, write or call the National Consumers League at 1701 K Street, N.W., Suite 1200, Washington, D.C. 20006, (202) 835-3323.