Book That Red Carpet Because it’s Time for the Boo-Hiss Awards

by Katy on September 11, 2009 · 17 comments

Hershey Bar

With fall comes cool crisp evening, the excitement of back-to-school and now — The first annual Non-Consumer Advocate Boo-Hiss Awards!

The first Boo-Hiss award goes out to Snapple, whose iconic glass bottles make a perfect reusable water bottle devoid of BPA dilemmas.

However, I was whooping it up at the library volunteer appreciation party a few weeks past when I was handed a Snapple in a plastic container.

What the &$#*?

Plastics are derived from petrochemicals, but have a very low recycle rate and pollute for many thousands of years. I’m not sure whether all Snapples are now bottled in plastic, but it is definitely a step in the wrong direction. Not the best stuff on earth.

Boo-Hiss to you Snapple! What were you thinking?

My second Boo-Hiss award goes to Hershey chocolates.

No trip to the beach is complete in my family without the ritual assembling of S’mores. Gooey melted marshmallows, crisp crumbly graham crackers and a couple squares of Hershey’s brand chocolates.

This last trip to the coast was no exception. What I did take exception to was the complete plastic packaging that surrounded my Hershey bar. No longer was the bar wrapped in silver aluminum foil with an additional paper layer. Nope. All plastic, now 100% non-recyclable.

I am aware that this change occurred a few years back, but it’s never too late for a Boo-Hiss award.

Boo-Hiss to you Hershey’s chocolates! You can do better.

Are there any companies that seem to be taking a step in the wrong direction? Please put your nominations in the comments section below.

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }

Carla September 12, 2009 at 6:43 am

It is impossible to eat without buying plastic packaging. Fresh berries drive me crazy. So you want to have some yummy, health strawberries, say, but just TRY to find them not encased in a plastic tomb! You sigh, buy them anyway, eat them and then… you’ve got the stupid plastic carton to do something with. Grrrrrrrrr… and as you know it goes on and on.

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Jupe Blue September 12, 2009 at 10:41 am

Here’s a blog entry of someone who tried to home compost a 100% corn based drinking cup. Boo-Hiss to those who market this stuff as “eco-friendly”. Perhaps an aluminum can would have been better for his drink.

http://michael5000.blogspot.com/2009/09/you-know-what-they-say-about-hard.html

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michael5000 September 12, 2009 at 2:54 pm

I’m honored to be included in the Boo-Hiss awards! I think!

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WilliamB September 12, 2009 at 5:27 pm

Boo Hiss to companies that sell 1/2 oz bags of snacks. It takes me about 3 minutes to stuff a dozen snack-size ziplocs with chips/crackers/cookies/pretzels/goldfish from a large bag. Saves money, saves packaging, doesn’t cost extra time.

Caveat: the little bags are great if you can’t stop yourself from eating a whole bag. If you’re one of those (and I’m guilty as well, when it comes to certain snacks), then bagging your own doesn’t stop you from going back to the big bag. Don’t sacrifice your health, eh?

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Sierra September 12, 2009 at 5:57 pm

@Jupe Blue: I have a friend who is constantly putting those “compostable” plastics in my compost, and I have to keep telling him that they do not, in fact, break down.

Apparently they do compost in industrial composting facilities or landfills, and break down into corn stuff instead of nasty petrochemical stuff. But they need tons of heat to do it. It’s not a DIY, backyard compost item.

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Julia September 12, 2009 at 6:15 pm

Hershey’s is also among the mainstream, major chocolate makers associated with the slave labor of children in the Ivory Coast:
http://ihscslnews.org/view_article.php?id=173

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Tara Morrison September 12, 2009 at 6:24 pm

oral b made by braun electric tooth brushes. I love how the get my teeth “nice an shiny” ( to quote my children) and there is less waste when you just have a small head to dispose of but the packaging! It is out of control.

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Karen September 12, 2009 at 8:14 pm

Oh, how maddening to hear about the so-called compostable packaging. I keep getting upset with the superfluous packaging from Trader Joe’s, and was pleased that some of their plastic trays say they are compostable…yet they may not be. Rats!

The over-wrapping of food in general is so maddening. It’s not enough to wrap plastic around a box of tea bags; they also have to be individually wrapped too, usually in plastic/paper hybrid material that is not recyclable. What are we so afraid of?

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Teresa September 12, 2009 at 9:30 pm

Kudos to you Katy for calling out Snapple. For years I’ve used glass Snapple bottles for chilled filtered water. I’ve saved innumerable plastic water bottles as a result. And now, no more! Plastic sucks. Same goes for the Fuze drinks, who went from glass to plastic.

Keep up the great work! You are an inspiration : )

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Geri Gowers September 13, 2009 at 6:11 am

Hellman’s mayo is another that went to plastic bottles a couple of years ago (also known as Best Foods). It was a nice size with a large mouth and I used to save the bottles to use for storage of other food items, now I’m left to depend on pickle jars (I don’t buy pickles as often as mayo). We know it’s all about the money that I’m sure it’s saving these companies.

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Kris-ND September 13, 2009 at 8:12 am

Bet Snapple changed because glass breaks and people sue for silly reasons….sad.

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Aleta September 13, 2009 at 8:16 am

Boo-Hiss to all of the items that have been hit by the Shrink-Ray. It just makes more plastic end up in landfills. Have you noticed that your graham crackers are narrower and no longer square when you divide them? Have you picked up a box of cereal and it slips out of your hand and you don’t know why? It’s because your brain remembers that box being thicker! Boo-Hiss to Malt-o-Meal, Kelloggs, and General Mills.

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Jacquelyn September 13, 2009 at 8:51 am

Not only did Hershey leave behind the eco-friendly wrappers, they left behind the real chocolate: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26788143/ Not worth the effort it takes to unwrap it, in my opinion.

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Brooke September 13, 2009 at 4:16 pm

have you ever tried the caramilk bars for s’mores? up here in Canada they still come packaged the old way…and nothing beats them in smores. The hot marshmellow melts the chocolate which warms the caramal and it is like heaven….

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Jessie September 14, 2009 at 5:17 am

I have also noticed the plastic is slowly but surely taking over the pickle jar section at the grocery store. It’s a shame, because pickle jars make good roach traps: http://www.kvbc.com/global/story.asp?s=3630244

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Carla September 18, 2009 at 11:56 am

One more Boo, Hiss from me. Grocery shopping today I noticed… individually wrapped prunes. How much fun it must be to unwrap your own, personal prune!

Good grief.

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