The leader of the Green Party in Canada was "shocked" to discover that an image of her holding a disposable cup was photoshopped.

The photograph on the party's website showed Elizabeth May holding a reusable cup displaying the Greens' logo with a metal straw.

However, in the original picture, taken over a year ago at a street market event, Ms May is holding a compostable disposable cup without the straw.

Here’s the original, undoctored photo of Elizabeth May that the Green Party photoshopped to switch a paper cup with an imaginary reusable cup and metal straw, for some reason.

The photo is now on the front of the Green’s website.

Original archived here:https://t.co/jmDZ7Voihu pic.twitter.com/i9kqVm7F8y

— Luke LeBrun (@_llebrun) September 24, 2019

In a statement, she said: "My personal daily practice is to avoid single use plastic items 100% of the time."

She said she "never drinks from plastic water bottles and "always" carries her own reusable coffee cup.

"I walk the talk every day.

She said: "I hope that despite this misstep by well-meaning party staff (who hoped to brand the image with our logo), people can believe that in the original photo there is nothing I would have hidden."

Earlier this week, the party launched its platform for the upcoming elections in Canada next month.

It places emphasis on "sustainability" and a "green economy built on durability" directed by an "ethical leadership".

In June, the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his government intends to ban single-use plastics as early as 2021.

He said the move was motivated by a European Parliament decision in March to impose the same ban.

Main image: The original photo of Elizabeth May holding a compostable disposable cup. Image credit: Green Party of Canada.