A US retailer has stopped selling packaged peeled oranges, following a social media backlash which pointed out that the product created unnecessary waste.
A limited number of stores from the Whole Foods retail chain were selling the oranges for US$5.99 a pound. Their plastic packaging carried the message “Made right here."
An image of the packaged fruit appeared on Imgur, accompanied by the caption – “Are people really that lazy nowadays?”
From there Nathalie Gordon retweeted the image, along with the caption – “If only nature would find a way to cover these oranges so we didn't need to waste so much plastic on them.”
And the backlash mounted.
A spokeswoman from Whole Foods told The Huffington Post that "a lot of our customers love the convenience of our cut produce offerings, but this was a simple case where a handful of stores experimented with a seasonal product spotlight that wasn't fully thought through. We're glad some customers pointed it out so we could take a closer look."
As the ABC reports, the founder of Clean Up Australia Day Ian Kiernan joined the debate.
"This is absolutely stupid," he said.
"Mother Nature packages fruits perfect; it's just madness.
"Plastics are made mostly from oil, and while it's durable and has many benefits in the world, plastics are a terrible waste.
"This is convenience gone mad really.
"The more fruits that are pre-cut and packaged just adds to the burden."