Switzerland is a leading country with regards to ecology. But in comparison with other European countries, there is only one other country producing more waste than Switzerland. The average European citizen produces 435kg of waste yearly; a Swiss citizen produces 729kg waste per year. People who want to act responsibly and promote a sustainable lifestyle often try to buy organically grown products. But when you stand in the fruit and vegetable aisles in Swiss supermarkets, you’re confronted with a dilemma: either to buy organic products that are wrapped in plastic (and therefore produce non-recyclable waste) or to buy non-organic products (and therefore support a farming industry that uses pesticides). Most Swiss people buy their groceries at Migros or Coop. Neither company has done anything so far to solve this problem. They argue: “Without plastic packaging a cucumber would go bad in a few days. When wrapped in a 2 micro millimetre thin plastic film, it stays fresh for 14 days.” (Tristan Cerf, responsible for communication at Migros). For Coop there are 3 good reasons to wrap a product in plastic: more clarity, less waste, no deceptive packaging. Less waste? Are they talking about food waste? It is not our responsibility as consumers to sort out the stock problems of big, industrial corporate groups. Coop and Migros have a responsibility to manage their stores in such a way as to produce less food waste, but also less plastic waste. If local producers and suppliers are favoured, it is possible for a cucumber to get from the field to the plate in 3 days. If the corporate groups reconsider their logistic processes, there’s certainly a way to avoid plastic packaging, even more so if the consumer is asking for it. Manor sets a good example and shows that it is possible to sell organic products without plastic packaging. Let’s hope that its competitors will soon follow this good example.