The Red, White, and Green

I’ll admit, I’m human: Today I didn’t have time to make a homemade lunch before I had to rush out to do errands, so I swung by Baja Fresh for a veggie burrito. I like that Baja uses minimal packaging for its smaller orders — usually the burritos are just wrapped in foil and placed in a tiny paper bag with a few tortilla chips — so imagine my surprise when I saw this waiting for me at the pickup counter. Does anyone see the irony here?

I’m sorry, Baja Fresh, but using plastic bags made from 50 percent recycled materials does not an eco-friendly company make. It may be a step in the right direction, but those single-use plastic bags still end up clogging our landfills and polluting our waterways — and less than 5 percent of them are recycled every year.

Quite curious to see what sort of green initiatives are underway at the company — since the franchise uses even more plastic (plates, cups, and utensils) for its dine-in customers — I went to the company website, thinking that maybe there would be a full environmental report. Nothing there.

It would be great if Baja Fresh switched to 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper take-out bags, but at the very least, don’t plaster that you’re a green company all over a plastic bag! Ridiculous. This is greenwashing, plain and simple.

–Jennifer Grayson

Do this now: Minimize the amount of packaging you consume by avoiding takeout whenever possible; or, at the very least, refuse that extra plastic bag if you’re only going to be traveling a short distance.

Related posts:
Taco Bell’s new ‘green’ menu?
Los Angeles moves one step closer to plastic bag ban

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