It’s the end of an era! Albert Heijn decided to scotch the age-old system, where Nederlanders had to stow a coin into shopping carts at the grocery store.
The largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands has made it apparent that you’ll no longer need to dig deep into your wallets for that one, tiny shopping cart token. 😲
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It’ll take some time before they completely abolish the system, considering that there are just about a thousand stores across the lowlands, but they do have a plan underway.
“Initially, the coin locks at Albert Heijn are taped, so that they can no longer be used. The intention is that those locks will be removed completely later”, a spokesperson for AH tells NU.nl.
The pandemic made it a reality
Who can remember a time when the grocery-store world wasn’t controlled by the order of the coin? 🤔
Back in the day, many people would think it wise to steal the carts and bring them home — oftentimes even leaving them astray in parking lots.
When the system was introduced in the late 1900s, it was the only, true motivation for bringing those carts back to where they belonged.
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Well, the pandemic changed all that. It showed that nowadays, people simply don’t have the urge to steal shopping carts anymore, and would rather do without the coin system.
“During the corona pandemic, we saw that it actually went well without coins. No more or fewer carts disappeared”, a spokesperson for AH tells NU.nl.
Fewer tokens, less plastic
When the system was first introduced, folks had to deposit actual guilders into the shopping trolleys, which later on switched to real metal-made coins. 💸
Now, these coins are almost entirely made of plastic and have become a huge part of one of the most pressing environmental issues on the planet.
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Oddly enough, Albert Heijn has stepped up to the plate in an effort to reduce the mountain of plastic being used.
We’re still waiting on those plastic-wrapped peppers to come to a halt, though. 🚩
What do you think about AH scrapping the coin system? Tell us in the comments below!