MOM's Organic Market, a homegrown organic grocery chain in the Washington/Baltimore metro area founded in 1987, is launching a new environmental company-wide initiative: Battle the Bottle. Battle the Bottle was inspired by the movie Addicted to Plastic, which contends that the oceans are being contaminated by plastic. The company expects to substantially reduce its plastic use by eliminating all bottled water.

"Societies are truly addicted to plastic, much in the way we are addicted to oil," Scott Nash, founder and CEO of MOM's, said in a statement. “There are five swirling masses of plastic in our oceans, each roughly the size of Texas. Plastic never goes away and the problem will only get worse-and the sooner we take action, the better! Not only does plastic damage our environment, but it increases our dependence on oil. The tragic part of our addiction is that by and large, petroleum-based plastics are not necessary for consumer products and packaging, as we have the technology and innovation to use plastic products that biodegrade.”

This is the latest in a series of moves by MOM’s on the environment; it already:
  • recycles bottles, bags, shrink-wrap, and plastic containers.
  • routes expanded polystyrene (EPS) packing “peanuts” to UPS and Mailbox stores.
  • factors in packaging when choosing which products to sell.
  • asks manufacturers to reduce the plastic they use and/or use biodegradable plastic.