Woolworths will ditch ‘Ooshies’ in favour of a more environmentally friendly collectibles promotion that encourages children to cultivate their gardens.

The move, which comes amid public pressure over the environmental impact of its Lion King-themed collectibles scheme, will go live next month in time to ramp up for the December quarter.

“Woolworths is excited to confirm that we will be launching Woolworths Discovery Garden in September, a new collectable designed to give Australians of all ages the opportunity to grow their very own fresh food,” the company said in a statement circulated Wednesday.

The promotion will be based on New Zealand supermarket New World’s successful ‘Little Garden’ promotion, although Woolworths has not shared many details yet on what exact form its version will take.

Both Woolworths and rival Coles have come under fire in recent weeks over the environmental impact of their promotions, which have been released in various forms over the past 12 months, following the breakaway success of Coles’ initial Little Shop scheme last year.

Coles has faced backlash over its Little Shop 2 campaign. Photo: Coles

A change.org petition calling on Coles to “stop giving out plastic junk” has received more than 70,000 signatures, while plastic items from Coles’ previous promotions have allegedly been found on beaches in Perth and Indonesia.

Woolworths’ decision to pivot towards a more environmentally responsible promotion signals a change in its attitude towards collectibles following the success of its Disney-themed venture.

It also comes amid reports from corporate analysts that supermarket shoppers could be suffering from so-called “promotional fatigue” heading into the all-important December quarter, as revealed by The Age.

Both Coles and Woolworths will front shareholders over the next few weeks to explain their performance over the past quarter.

This article was first published by Smart Company.