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Consumption of what? For example: Virtually every food item is packaged in plastic. And it’s not consumers who decided it was more cost effective to use dispos

Consumption of what? For example: Virtually every food item is packaged in plastic. And it’s not consumers who decided it was more cost effective to use disposable plastic than wash a reusable container.

riffraff 7y ago
> Virtually every food item is packaged in plastic Is it? Most of what I buy (vegetables, fruits, bread, eggs, milk, pasta, flour, sugar, salt, oil) is not. Meat, fish, rice, and cheese are the things that require some plastic, afaict, but do not constitute the majority of food.
- savoytruffle 7y ago
  In my kitchen cupboards right now, I have all of these things packaged in plastic and I've never seen an alternative except sometimes milk in returnable glass jugs that nobody in the store knows how to ring up to get the deposit back.
  - riffraff 7y ago
    interesting, where do you live? I have seen pasta packaged in plastic, but I've literally never seen flour packaged in plastic.
- GordonS 7y ago
  Yes, a lot of fruit and veg is usually loose, unless you're buying it pre-chopped. There is still a lot of fruit and veg that is wrapped in plastic though. I don't think I've ever seen pasta not in a plastic wrapper? For milk, it's usually in a plastic bottle, but often in tetra-pak type containers (don't honestly know what they're made of!). With oil, it's usually in a plastic bottle, occasionally a glass one for more expensive EV olive oils, and rarely in Europe I've seen shops with oil dispensers that allow you to fill your own container. For eggs, they are usually in a cardboard box, but occasionally in a plastic one. For salt, I think I've only ever seen it in plastic bottles or bags.
  - icebraining 7y ago
    > tetra-pak type containers (don't honestly know what they're made of!). It's layers of plastic, aluminum and paper glued together. The first two can't be separated, but they claim it's reused somewhere in construction.
tonyedgecombe 7y ago
There are some seeds of change in this, one of my local supermarkets is running an experiment with more loose produce. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48498346 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48498346

riffraff 7y ago

> Virtually every food item is packaged in plastic Is it? Most of what I buy (vegetables, fruits, bread, eggs, milk, pasta, flour, sugar, salt, oil) is not. Meat, fish, rice, and cheese are the things that require some plastic, afaict, but do not constitute the majority of food.

savoytruffle 7y ago
In my kitchen cupboards right now, I have all of these things packaged in plastic and I've never seen an alternative except sometimes milk in returnable glass jugs that nobody in the store knows how to ring up to get the deposit back.
- riffraff 7y ago
  interesting, where do you live? I have seen pasta packaged in plastic, but I've literally never seen flour packaged in plastic.
GordonS 7y ago
Yes, a lot of fruit and veg is usually loose, unless you're buying it pre-chopped. There is still a lot of fruit and veg that is wrapped in plastic though. I don't think I've ever seen pasta not in a plastic wrapper? For milk, it's usually in a plastic bottle, but often in tetra-pak type containers (don't honestly know what they're made of!). With oil, it's usually in a plastic bottle, occasionally a glass one for more expensive EV olive oils, and rarely in Europe I've seen shops with oil dispensers that allow you to fill your own container. For eggs, they are usually in a cardboard box, but occasionally in a plastic one. For salt, I think I've only ever seen it in plastic bottles or bags.
- icebraining 7y ago
  > tetra-pak type containers (don't honestly know what they're made of!). It's layers of plastic, aluminum and paper glued together. The first two can't be separated, but they claim it's reused somewhere in construction.

tonyedgecombe 7y ago

There are some seeds of change in this, one of my local supermarkets is running an experiment with more loose produce. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48498346 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48498346