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ABQ Growers’ Market To Phase Out Plastic

Ageless North Shore via Flickr
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The Downtown Growers’ Market in Albuquerque is known as a place to find all things local, fresh, and homemade.

The people behind the market are looking to make it greener by phasing out plastic waste starting next month.

There are at least 100 vendors at the Growers’ Market on most weekends, ready to sell food and offer samples. That often involves plastic bags, plastic silverware, and plastic cups.

 

Liz Skinner manages the market. She said a committee of vendors came up with the idea for the campaign, but it’ll require help from everybody.

 

“We’re really trying to push for customers to start bringing more of their own bags and silverware and cups and things like that, because the more that they bring, the less our vendors have to use,” Skinner said.

 

She also said the market plans to help vendors transition from plastic to compostable products by offering them in bulk.

 

The plastic products that the market is targeting are usually used once before they sit in a landfill for hundreds of years.

 

So if you plan to visit the market, grab a tote bag and your favorite fork before you leave home.

 

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KUNM’s Public Health New Mexico project is funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the McCune Charitable Foundation, and the Con Alma Health Foundation.

May joined KUNM's Public Health New Mexico team in early 2018. That same year, she established the New Mexico chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and received a fellowship from the Association of Health Care Journalists. She join Colorado Public Radio in late 2019.
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