4 ms·

This seems unsustainable. Cranberry fields forever? Seriously, we need legally imposed limits on the use of single-use plastic wrapping, a correction of the ec

This seems unsustainable. Cranberry fields forever? Seriously, we need legally imposed limits on the use of single-use plastic wrapping, a correction of the economics and a change in habits. Our family consumes two kinds of crispbread. One manufacturer (Wasa) uses paper for its wrapping. The other (FinnCrisp) use a plastic wrapping inside a carton box. That's just absurd. Other products may not have a single-use alternative, like meat. Consigned containers is a solution here, already widely in use for beverages in many countries. As long as manufacturers can get away with wrapping stuff in plastic, they will. We need to pressure them into finding alternatives. As someone else pointed out here, we are paying a high price already for the damage we're doing to the environment (waste collection infrastructure, rising insurance prices, tax-funded repairs after natural disasters). If we folded those costs into the prices of the products most responsible for them, and added some legislation on top, we could change quite a few habits in relatively little time. It just needs someone with guts to make those decisions, which is something in rather short supply, at least here in Germany... End of rant.

kupfer 4y ago
The paper packaging of Wasa has a thin plastic liner, which you can see stretching by slowly tearing the paper. It is probably better that the thicker FinnCrisp plastic, but Wasa paper does not belong in the paper bin for recycling.
- cseleborg 4y ago
  That was news to me, although I guess I'm not surprised. It's frustratingly difficult to buy groceries at the supermarket without plastic.
  - rwmj 4y ago
    We compost many things at home, but cardboard boxes around food are a minefield. Most look like cardboard, but after you compost them you'll be picking out the plastic sheet that was bonded into them. One that particularly annoys me are cat food boxes. The cat food is separately wrapped (in unrecyclable foil-bonded-plastic, of course), and then the cardboard box containing those packets has a hidden plastic layer - for what possible reason!?!
    - efields 4y ago
      We shred all cardboard that's not shiny. Generally you can feel if there's a coating. I will also be picking out plastic from our soil for years, but you use the resources you have. It's a worthwhile tradeoff IMHO.
    - f1refly 4y ago
      I've been packaging cat food when I was in high school and they do that because, when a single of those cat food packets rips open for whatever reason, the smell is pervasive and intensive. It spreads through the whole warehouse, from a single open bag, getting ever worse as it spoils. The plastic lining in the displays is to protect the shipment - think of an the oilsump the cellar which contains a houses oil tank is lined with. It's a way to contain the spread of a hazardous substance in case the probably containment unit fails.
dr_dshiv 4y ago
Why is wrapping in thin plastic a problem if it prevents food waste? I think of the cucumbers covered in plastic. It’s a very small amount of plastic—and I imagine that it ends up saving energy if it means fewer cucumbers are wasted. Perhaps there is a way to model when plastic is “good” or “bad?”
- cseleborg 4y ago
  I haven't bought a cucumber wrapped in plastic in years (I actively avoid them) and have thrown away maybe two cucumbers in the same time. At this point, I think any plastic is a problem, and it needs very serious consideration whether plastic should be used. I'm fine with wrapping sterilized medical equipment in plastic. Crispbread, not so much.
  - dr_dshiv 4y ago
    But surely there is some point to it all. They point of the plastic is not for the consumer but the grocer and transporter. There should be some cost-benefit analysis — not just “all plastic must be avoided.” That’s a bit much.
    - cseleborg 4y ago
      Is it a bit much, though? Unlike me, my children will never experience their home planet without microplastics everywhere, from the highest peak down to the deepest trench in the ocean. They will have to pay a hefty price for what we and those before us have done to the environment. I think that's a bit much. Where's the cost-benefit for them of wrapped cucumbers? Like I said, there are applications where plastic is justified, medical devices for example. Cucumbers, bread, smartphones, cutlery, plants, cereal, rice, potatoes, toys: I think there are plastic-free solutions that we should now absolutely and urgently go for.
      - dr_dshiv 4y ago
        Here is a rundown of the cost-benefit. I think it helps explain why plastic is used! https://www.forkranger.com/plastic-wrapping-of-cucumbers-clever-or-careless/ https://www.forkranger.com/plastic-wrapping-of-cucumbers-cle...

kupfer 4y ago

The paper packaging of Wasa has a thin plastic liner, which you can see stretching by slowly tearing the paper. It is probably better that the thicker FinnCrisp plastic, but Wasa paper does not belong in the paper bin for recycling.

cseleborg 4y ago
That was news to me, although I guess I'm not surprised. It's frustratingly difficult to buy groceries at the supermarket without plastic.
- rwmj 4y ago
  We compost many things at home, but cardboard boxes around food are a minefield. Most look like cardboard, but after you compost them you'll be picking out the plastic sheet that was bonded into them. One that particularly annoys me are cat food boxes. The cat food is separately wrapped (in unrecyclable foil-bonded-plastic, of course), and then the cardboard box containing those packets has a hidden plastic layer - for what possible reason!?!
  - efields 4y ago
    We shred all cardboard that's not shiny. Generally you can feel if there's a coating. I will also be picking out plastic from our soil for years, but you use the resources you have. It's a worthwhile tradeoff IMHO.
  - f1refly 4y ago
    I've been packaging cat food when I was in high school and they do that because, when a single of those cat food packets rips open for whatever reason, the smell is pervasive and intensive. It spreads through the whole warehouse, from a single open bag, getting ever worse as it spoils. The plastic lining in the displays is to protect the shipment - think of an the oilsump the cellar which contains a houses oil tank is lined with. It's a way to contain the spread of a hazardous substance in case the probably containment unit fails.

dr_dshiv 4y ago

Why is wrapping in thin plastic a problem if it prevents food waste? I think of the cucumbers covered in plastic. It’s a very small amount of plastic—and I imagine that it ends up saving energy if it means fewer cucumbers are wasted. Perhaps there is a way to model when plastic is “good” or “bad?”

cseleborg 4y ago
I haven't bought a cucumber wrapped in plastic in years (I actively avoid them) and have thrown away maybe two cucumbers in the same time. At this point, I think any plastic is a problem, and it needs very serious consideration whether plastic should be used. I'm fine with wrapping sterilized medical equipment in plastic. Crispbread, not so much.
- dr_dshiv 4y ago
  But surely there is some point to it all. They point of the plastic is not for the consumer but the grocer and transporter. There should be some cost-benefit analysis — not just “all plastic must be avoided.” That’s a bit much.
  - cseleborg 4y ago
    Is it a bit much, though? Unlike me, my children will never experience their home planet without microplastics everywhere, from the highest peak down to the deepest trench in the ocean. They will have to pay a hefty price for what we and those before us have done to the environment. I think that's a bit much. Where's the cost-benefit for them of wrapped cucumbers? Like I said, there are applications where plastic is justified, medical devices for example. Cucumbers, bread, smartphones, cutlery, plants, cereal, rice, potatoes, toys: I think there are plastic-free solutions that we should now absolutely and urgently go for.
    - dr_dshiv 4y ago
      Here is a rundown of the cost-benefit. I think it helps explain why plastic is used! https://www.forkranger.com/plastic-wrapping-of-cucumbers-clever-or-careless/ https://www.forkranger.com/plastic-wrapping-of-cucumbers-cle...