Editorial: Convenience Stores

It is time for us to see the relationship between the high prices at the gas pump and what’s on the shelves of the convenience store inside. Convenience stores represent the kind of thoughtless consumption that has been made possible by cheap fuel. Their supply chains transport large amounts of soda and weak beer—both of which are mostly water—by truck. They assemble sandwiches and snacks for sale in single-serving packages whose weight and cost seems equal to the small portions of food they contain. Not only must these supplies be trucked to the store, at some point they will also end up in the garbage stream to again be hauled by truck. In the coming years, environmentally aware citizens will look to convenience store operators such as Open Pantry to provide reusable containers, options for recycling (at least for the packaging materials of their products), minimized packaging, and the opportunity to have a quick snack or cup of coffee on-site using reusable tableware. If, as some predict, gas prices hit $5 a gallon, even those who are indifferent to the environment will likely begin to wonder how much gas is being squandered on trucking packaging materials and garbage. Americans have the choice of either gradually raising our consciousness and acting more wisely, or facing major disruption—if not hardship—in the future.