Its interesting to see how some segments of the marketplace come under scrutiny from consumers regarding their greenness while others get a pass. This is certainly true for the diet plan Nutrisystem®.
Nutrisystem may serve an important role for those struggling with their weight however from a green sustainable perspective they are a disaster.
The popular diet plan provides customers a month worth of portion controlled meals and snacks all conveniently prepackaged for consumption. All of its breakfast, lunch and dinners are individually packaged in separate packaging - hardly sustainable. The whole system revolves around making things as easy as possible for the consumer with little concern for anything else.
Take a look at Nutrisystem's own advertising photos to get a sense of the amount of trash generated by just one customer over a one month period. Just imagine having a microwave meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner 5 or 7 days a week plus all your snacks are individually wrapped in packaging as well.
A typical Nutrisystem plan consists of 28 breakfasts, 28 lunches, 28 dinners, and 28 desserts.
Nutrisystem is an example of a brand and product line that may have benefits for people but has continued to develop without any real scrutiny in terms of its greenness.
It is unknown what their packaging is made from and to what degree if any it is recyclable. Regardless of these questions the amount of packaging is wasteful and not sustainable.
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It's also amazing how many "natural" and organic convenience foods come wrapped in plastic. All the granola/energy bars. Frozen vegetables, even the organic ones. Organic frozen meals tend to come in a cardboard tray, but even they have plastic on top. Yogurt, cottage cheese, hummus, you name it.
I think the key word here is convenience. It seems like these days convenience equals plastic. But it didn't always. Whose convenience are we really talking about here? Could it be that it's more convenient for the manufacturers to package things this way than to come up with alternative packaging for convenience foods?
Posted by: Beth Terry | July 10, 2007 at 05:18 AM
I'm on the plan right now. I recycle everything I can. The carbboard packaging and the plastic trays on the lunches/dinners. If it has the recycling symbol, I put it in the recycle bin.
Posted by: Victoria | July 10, 2007 at 08:57 PM
I'm on the plan right now. I recycle everything I can. The carbboard packaging and the plastic trays on the lunches/dinners. If it has the recycling symbol, I put it in the recycle bin.
Posted by: Victoria | July 10, 2007 at 08:57 PM
I'm on the plan right now. I recycle everything I can. The carbboard packaging and the plastic trays on the lunches/dinners. If it has the recycling symbol, I put it in the recycle bin.
Posted by: Victoria | July 10, 2007 at 08:58 PM
Nice post, thanks for sharing this wonderful and useful information
with us.
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Posted by: Mari Ann | March 08, 2010 at 08:58 PM
Never did I think about how ironic organic and natural foods are. Wrapped in plastic? Boxes that are simply sitting in the landfills now? That is astonishing. Something that I have learned recently is to look for a seal of certification. A seal that shows that this said business is certified "green". If you are a business that needs to be certified, I would suggest that you turn to www.gbb.org. The Green Business Bureau. This place is a reputable source that if seen, people know that this business is reliable and green.
Posted by: Lucy | November 14, 2010 at 06:03 PM