In many cases, "nothing" is the better alternative. I was somewhat surprised when I was in the UK (IIRC) and saw apples where sold in packs of six, on a tray o

In many cases, "nothing" is the better alternative. I was somewhat surprised when I was in the UK (IIRC) and saw apples where sold in packs of six, on a tray of Styrofoam with plastic foil all around. While in my country it's common to pack fresh vegetables and fruits into plastic bags, those are a fraction of the weight and many people choose not to use them. Same applies to packaging across the board: bags containing smaller bags containing individually-wrapped sweets are insane. Frozen pizzas packed in two layers of foil plus a cardboard box? The US is actually better in that regard, largely dispensing with the cardboard.