31 May 2007


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Co-op is greenest supermarket, new poll claims

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Waitrose takes silver in consumers' green list 21 May 2007

The Co-op is the most eco-friendly supermarket, according to a new poll published today (31 May 2007).

The YouGov online survey asked 1,132 respondents to ignore their other opinions about brands, companies and their products and think only about their attitudes towards the environment.

More than two-thirds of consumers believed the "greenness" of a brand played a part in their decision whether or not to buy its products.

YouGov spokesman Stephan Shakespeare said: "Ethical marketing clearly works. The brands that have tried hardest to sell their green credentials are also the ones the public rates highest."

Simon Williams, director of corporate affairs at the Co-operative Group said: “We have implemented a range of initiatives across all aspects of our activities over many years.

"We led the switch to green electricity and these credentials were further underlined last year when we became the first major retailer in the UK to switch virtually all of our outlets to green electricity.

“Earlier this year we opened the largest in-house recycling centre in the North West and all Co-op household tissue including toilet rolls, kitchen towel & facial tissue is completely sourced from FSC-certified responsibly managed forests and recycling facilities.”

According to the research the following brands were seen as trying their best to be environmentally friendly:

1. The Body Shop
2. Ecover
3. Whole Earth
4. The Co-op
5. Tesco

But the results contradict those of a similar study released earlier this month, which ranked Waitrose as the "greenest" grocery retailer.

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