Wow, I am really behind the curve on this one, but POM has decided to stop selling their tea in glass bottles. I’m not sure if my local supermarket just finally cycled through all the old stock or what, but I noticed in the store today that there were no glass containers of POM Tea. Initially I figured they had just run out, but when I got home I did a quick google search and sure enough, the glass bottles have been replaced by plastic.
The company cites the reduction in energy used to produce the plastic bottle vs. the glass and the fact that you will get more actual product in the plastic container. However, they neglect to mention that
- Glass is more likely to be recycled or reused than plastic
- Plastic alters the way products taste and chemicals can leech from the plastic into the product there-by slowly poising humanity and the rest of the animal world.
- Plastic never actually goes away, it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces which end up in our water supply and the animals which we consume. No one really knows what the long-term effects of this cycle will be.
POM is clearly going to alienate customers and hurt their brand image. Those containers are one of the things that made them unique. Now, you might as well buy the Tropicana or any other brand of those teas which also come in plastic containers. Smart companies are moving their products away from plastic…
I really liked the fact that after you were done with the Tea you could wash the glass and use it again. I guess what I have left are just collectors items now…