In its commitment to go plastic-free, local retailer Woolworths has introduced paper-stemmed earbuds. According to NPO The Beach Co-op, plastic earbud stems are a major polluter of the country's beaches.
Plastic earbud stems - which are not recycled in South Africa - are small and lightweight, thus they easily travel through waterways into the oceans.
Woolworths has, to date, stopped selling plastic straws in all its stores and stopped offering complimentary plastic straws and cutlery at all Woolworths WCafés and Now Nows. The retailer has also launched a plastic bag free trial at Woolworths Steenberg store in Cape Town to test customers' willingness to switch to reusable carrier bags.
