4 ms·
Out of curiosity, what's wrong with single use paper packaging or some other non-plastic alternative to the same effect?
by ddebernardy 8y ago
Out of curiosity, what's wrong with single use paper packaging or some other non-plastic alternative to the same effect?
- abainbridge 8y agoBroadly speaking, I expect the answer is that plastic better prolongs shelf life and leads to less food waste. And plastic is cheaper.
- abainbridge 8y agoFor example, in the UK a punnet of strawberries in the supermarket has a little rectangle of bubble wrap glued into the bottom of it. It is there to reduce the amount of physical damage to the fruit. It looks like it couldn't do anything. But the food companies would love not to have the extra cost of the rectangle of bubble wrap and the gluing process. They do it because it works.
- GordonS 8y agoI always thought it's more like a nappy than bubble wrap; it's always stained with the colour of the fruit, so assumed it was there to absorb moisture from bruised fruit.
- abainbridge 8y agoOh yeah, sometimes there's a nappy thing, but I'd say bubble wrap is more normal for strawberries. I think the nappy thing is impregnated with something that absorbs ethylene. See http://www.itsfresh.com/Absorbing_Ethylene.html http://www.itsfresh.com/Absorbing_Ethylene.html The bubble wrap can be seen in a photo in this BBC article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/monthwithoutplastic/2008/08/in_search_of_the_naked_strawbe.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/monthwithoutplastic/2008/08/in_se...
- rland 8y agoI wonder what's worse, food waste or plastic waste. Food waste: water pollution, pesticides, destruction of biodiversity Plastic waste: fossil fuel consumption, plastic pollution into ecosystems My first thought is that I'd prefer food waste, because the image of "albatross/sea turtle choking on plastic junk" comes to mind. But then again, farming is pretty destructive and invasive too.
- blattimwind 8y agoMaking food requires huge amounts of energy. Pretty sure food waste is way worse, especially since there actually isn't that much plastic in food packaging per unit of food. For example, some ready-cut cheese, say 100 g, might come in a resealable plastic packaging; but that packaging maybe weighs a couple grams at most.
- Consultant32452 8y agoPaper is not air tight and is also food for some critters, attracting more pests.
- tyoma 8y agoThe original poster specifically mentioned plastic bottles, which, I imagine, are hard to make from paper. Refillable glass allows for exactly the kind of cross contamination that makes otherwise safe products inedible.
- berbec 8y agoI've started to see boxes of water. They look like milk cartons.
- LaGrange 8y agoThose are not at all better. They're mixed materials. Much harder to "recycle," in practice even if collected, usually just burned.
- Dylan16807 8y agoNot-recycled paper is an improvement over not-recycled plastic. The coating I don't know.
- kmarc 8y agoProblem is, it's not paper. It's called [Tetra pack][1], and contains both paper, plastic and metal. Physical separation is virtually impossible (at scale), chemical separation is very environment-unfriendly. Unfortunately in Switzerland it is dumped to trash; in Easter-Europe it is collected for separation though. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetra_Pak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetra_Pak
- Spooky23 8y agoPlastic is very cheap.
- thaumasiotes 8y agoPlastic is airtight. Food packaged in paper will just rot. And if it's wet, it will destroy the paper.