Santa-clad Greenpeace protesters at Minneapolis Target ask store to ditch single-use plastics
A team of activist Santas and elves descended upon Target’s headquarters and flagship store. The Greenpeace activists delivered two six-foot-tall stockings filled with hundreds of pieces of single-use plastic sold at Targets nationwide and a holiday (Greenpeace USA)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Activists dressed as Santa Claus from the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace USA protested Target’s use of single-use plastics Tuesday at the company’s flagship store on Nicollet Mall downtown Minneapolis.
The Santas emptied two large stockings of single-use plastics and unfurled a banner that read, “Dear Target, All We Want for Christmas Is: No. More. Single-Use. Plastic. Love, Greenpeace.”
The group also played a revised rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” with lyrics encouraging the company to provide “more specifics” on how it will improve its environmental practices.
Target says it has "many initiatives" in place to help reduce the company's use of plastic in its stores, including bags that are 40 percent recycled content, recycling plastic garment hangers and signing on to the New Plastics Economy effort.
Last month, Greenpeace says it delivered a petition to Target headquarters with 220,000 signatures calling for action on single-use plastics, too. A Change.org petition with similar demands has around 450,000 signatures.
Target released the following statement about the protests Thursday:
At Target, we’re committed to putting solutions in place that leave the planet better for future families to enjoy. We have many initiatives in place to help reduce our use of plastic, including sustainable packaging goals, the recent introduction of plastic bags that are now made with 40 percent recycled content, a 25-year commitment to recycling plastic garment hangers and Target’s work as a global signatory of the New Plastics Economy. In addition to established efforts, Target teams across the business are working to eliminate, reduce and find alternatives for plastics in our products, packaging and operations.
To learn more about the solutions we’re putting into place to reduce our use of plastics, read here: https://corporate.target.com/article/2019/06/plastics