Plastic Packaging - letting companies know how you feel 07-17-11

One of the key components to making voting with your wallet an effective means of social change is informing your target(s) of the actions you are taking. As an individual you have limited impact – one user disappearing is not a concern (and indeed probably not even noticed), however as a vocal consumer with the ability to bring multiple users along with you, your influence grows. So when you vote with your wallet be sure to say so.

I recently received a note from one of my readers asking for ideas on how to go after companies that are contributing to global environmental ills by using excess plastic packaging on their products.  She suggested mailing the excess packaging back to the company - an idea I absolutely love. However if that seems like more time/energy/money than you can devote, here’s a  classic opportunity to vote with your wallet.

In this case that means not purchasing products that you feel are packaged in an environmentally unfriendly manner, and taking the time to contact the companies who over-package to let them know that their actions are having a negative impact on their bottom line.  My method is to go to the company’s website and look for a name, preferably CEO or Marketing/Sales VP, and send and email directly to those individuals. However if you can’t find a name, generally there’s a “contact us” or “consumer relations” link on the website that you can use. And don’t forget that snail-mail is also still an option.

Below is a sample communication that I use…with appropriate variations…to announce my intentions regarding my various vote with your wallet actions. It is easily changed to meet the specific need (i.e. instead of “because you are contributing to ruining the environment” your rationale could be “because you are supporting right-wing lunatics” – change the words to suit the occasion).  By including the fact that I will be broadcasting the boycott request to my social media contacts I increase the impact of my words and actions which (hopefully) creates a greater sense of urgency. Please feel free to use my verbiage exactly or change it to suit your own style. The key is that communicating your actions is as critical as the action itself.

So vote with your wallet…and say so!

SAMPLE LETTER: 

Dear _______

I have in the past been a satisfied consumer of your product ________. However today when I looked at ___ in the store I found that you are using excessive plastic packaging in your presentation.  I will not support a company that does not care about their environmental impact, and based on the way you are packaging your products you do not. Therefore I will no longer purchase _____  and I will ask my friends and social media contacts to do the same using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and email.

It is my hope that once you realize the negative impact your packaging is having on the environment that you will find more environmentally friendly ways of presenting your products, and at that time I will gladly return to using them.