>Try this: for one week, don't have any food that requires any packaging. Don't just think about it. Do it. Then look back at how much packaging you needlessly

>Try this: for one week, don't have any food that requires any packaging. Don't just think about it. Do it. Then look back at how much packaging you needlessly go through. Coincidentally, I did try this a few years ago when I was testing how easily I could go "zero waste". I found I could buy very few foods without packaging. I could buy produce with minimal packaging - just rubber bands, twist ties, and stickers - but produce is increasingly sold in plastic bubbles and bags, so the selection was limited. There was some room for choice here: many types of produce, like carrots, were available both loose and in plastic bags. I could buy the loose ones. Also, most people use the plastic produce bags, but I could just bring my produce up to the checkout counter without them . I have done that since. I thought I could buy meat and fish at the counter, and bring my own containers instead of using the plastic and paper wrapping they use, but I was informed that it would be against health codes for them to use anything I provided. Also, some stores do not have a meat counter- they sell all meat shrink-wrapped on plastic trays. At the very least, I thought I could use my own containers in the self-serve bulk dry goods section of some local stores, where you can get beans, oatmeal, rice, cereal, dried fruit, etc. Nope - also against the health codes. You can only use the flimsy plastic containers they provide. It occurred to me that I could bring back one of their containers, and they would never know it was used. However, the containers are not at all durable, so they would break during washing, and it was difficult to clean the channel of the lids. I heard that at one far-away health food store they allow you to use your own containers despite the health codes, but I have yet to go there. Worryingly, these sections of the store seem much less popular, and people tend to buy the pre-packaged versions because it's easier to just grab something off of the shelf. I would not be surprised if these sections are phased out in the near future. Basically, the way we sell food here makes it hard to avoid packaging. Although I live in an area with many people who (claim to) care about the environment, it seems like there is no way to stem the tide of our general preference for lots of packaging around food. In other areas people seem better about this. When I was in California I went to Berkeley Bowl, and, true to stereotype, I saw lots of packaging-free food, people bringing their own containers, and more locally-sourced food.