Packing Requests - Paper vs Plastic

Spud is currently changing how some produce is bagged for customers. While our team looks for innovative, sustainable solutions, we have switched from paper to recyclable plastic for some of our produce.

Quality of Produce is a main driver for the switch. With brown paper bags, our quality assurance team cannot see the produce and in the cases of spoilt produce, prevent it from ending up in your bin. As the paper bag also holds in the ethylene gas that produce gives off, produce ripens faster which contributes to food waste, something we are passionate about tackling as food waste is a major contributor to climate change and increases the cost of food.

Spud is working very hard to get rid of plastic, and while we are working on the bigger picture plastic issue (and we aren’t’ just saying that, we have an entire team dedicated to solving this problem), we have chosen to move from paper to plastic for some of our produce that we will recycle for you through our takeback program and here is why:

Plastic has less of an impact on the environment. Though paper looks and feels like a better option than plastic, it simply is not according to our research. This is due to fossil fuels, chemicals and cutting down of trees that we desperately need to store carbon and fight climate change according to Greenpeace Canada  and this 2017 study by Recyc-Québec. Plastic bags have less of an environmental impact than paper and take 4 times as much energy to produce according to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Also, as Rethink points out (supported by multiple municipalities in California and the University of San Francisco), when carbon storing trees are cut down, we are losing in the fight against climate change and together with the excess fuel it takes to transport heavy paper bags, we need to rethink the image of the brown paper bag, no matter how good it feels when you can put it in your compost bin.

We will take back and recycle the clear plastic bag for you through our Takeback program where we took back over 10, 000 bags in 2021 and had 4000 lbs of plastic repurposed into playgrounds, park benches and patio furniture thanks to our partnership with Terracyle.

Our long-term goal is neither – no single use, no paper no plastic! In the meantime, we are working hard to with our city and businesses to compost compostable bags, and we have plans for reusable options. We are work in progress.