Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda etc

[UnlikelyMary]

Listen up you big supermarkets!
People want less plastic.
There are threads on Mumsnet all the time about how to cut down, where to find alternatives and currently about how things used to be packaged.
Why should we the consumers, the customers be the ones struggling to find alternatives, often at high cost to ourselves when you lot just blithely continue with your usual routine?
Handing out polythene bags for fruit, veg and bakery goods.
Wrapping EVERYTHING in plastic, often twice.
Promising change in the future but doing nothing now.

Why not change immediately to paper bags for fruit, veg and bakery for example?

[Sparklingbrook]

Let's hope they read AIBU threads on MN.

[fc301]

^ 🤣

[UnlikelyMary]

That is indeed what I hope!

[Sparklingbrook]

You might want to contact them directly as well just to make sure.

Some of them are already making changes.

[PickAChew]

It's not just the obvious things like bags. Sausage rolls. I often buy the two packs of bog standard ones for the kids, if we're out for the day. Fair enough to wrap them in polythene so that they keep. Only some supermarkets, including Coop, who you would hope to be more on the ball, then put those two sausage rolls in a plastic tray inside the plastic bag. For two little sausage rolls!

[UnlikelyMary]

Have you seen changes?
I haven't.
I've heard that Iceland will phase out all plastic but in years.
Which other supermarkets have promise change and what are the changes?

[PattiStanger]

At Morrisons you can take your own containers for the fish and meat counters and I think it was there that I noticed they aren't shrink wrapping the cucumbers anymore.

Tbh though I don't think the majority of the shopping public care as much as posters on here, I dont think the MN demographic is representative of the population as a whole in the slightest.

[Twotailed]

Preach 🙌🏻

[BaitandSwitch]

How about supermarkets ditch all plastic carrier bags - the only option will be for people to buy paper bags or long life canvas ones?

At the moment, 5p is not a sufficient deterrent to pick up a carrier bag at the check-out. However £1 for a canvas bag certainly would remind me to bring my own bags!

So come on, what's stopping all these big enterprises that promise to do so much yet somehow don't manage to quite deliver ... or are doing it so slowly that they are really dragging their heels.

[UnlikelyMary]

Patti that's good about Morrisons. Sadly there isn't one near me. I don't think I've ever seen a cucumber in a supermarket in the buff, as it were.

[Sparklingbrook]

You can take your own plastic container to both Waitrose and Morrisons Deli Counters.

Morrisons have said they will be switching to brown paper bags for fruit and veg.

[Thatstheendofmytether]

Yes i domt have enough bloody toom in my olastic bin for it all plus half of the plastic they wrap things in cant be recycled where i love so i presume its similar in most places so just cut back on the bloody plastic!

[Thatstheendofmytether]

I got so carried away there I didnt even check for mistakes!

[UnlikelyMary]

BaitandSwitch thing is I reckon it would be great public relations if one went all out on banning plastic. Imagine the kudos of being the first major retailer to say that.
The advertising potential of being able to claim you're saving whales and turtles.
The Christmas ad they could do.....
etc

[Sparklingbrook]

waitrosecare.secure.force.com/waitroseCARE/articles/FAQs/Packaging-and-recycling-Policy-The-Waitrose-Way/?q=packaging&l=en_US&fs=Search&pn=1

[UnlikelyMary]

Yay for Morrisons!
where's mine?

Ditto Waitrose.

[UnlikelyMary]

The arguments for and against recycling will go on and on.
All I bear in mind is that every piece of plastic created, unless burned, is around forever....apparently?

[Giggorata]

I'm going to repeat what I said on another thread.....

Does anyone remember the short lived campaign to leave unnecessary or excessive packaging behind in the shop?

We could start doing the same with plastic packaging, bringing our own containers, paper bags, etc, until the supermarkets get the message about plastic...

Unfortunately, only about 20% of recyclable plastic actually gets recycled. The rest ends up in the sea, or landfill.
I am now actually burning mine, even though it releases noxious chemicals, it's still preferable to that...

[Singlebutmarried]

I saw a post on FB saying that Waitrose were phasing out their own plastic packaging by April 2019.

Not sure if it’s all plastic packaging or just some though.

[UnlikelyMary]

WooWoo100 I agree that many people just don't care or feel useless to change anything or can't be bothered or are forgetful.
However there is a change in public feeling generally I think. Particularly following the Blue Planet programmes with David Attenborough. A lot of people's eyes were opened.

[bakingdemon]

Paper bags have a higher carbon footprint, partly because they're a lot heavier to transport. They're also less likely to be reused because when they get wet they break.

Plastic food wrapping helps it stay fresh for longer and so cuts down on food waste.

The supermarkets are trying, but they're balancing reducing plastic with cutting food waste and reducing carbon emissions (along with solving obesity, upskilling the workforce and creating jobs, saving the high street and sustaining our farming industry, to name but a few of the things we apparently demand that supermarkets do).

[Redpriestandmozart]

This is just the plastic for meal prepping 2 dinners and 3 lunches and it happens every week. We have our shopping delivered weekly and even if we select loose fruit and veg they double bag it in plastic anyway.

On the few occasions, that I've bought from the greengrocers and used my eco-friendly net bags the produce doesn't keep so well, wobbly carrots etc. So while I feel guilty about all the plastic I can't complain that the food stores better.

[Celticrose]

I remember buying mince meat in Canada at an instore butchery in a large supermarket chain. They wrapped it in brown paper and tied it with string. Felt like i had gone back in time.

[UnlikelyMary]

Give me a break. Supermarkets do what makes them money.
The way they treated milk producers got them criticism.
If they do anything its is to look good.
Both Tesco and Sainsbury's have had major staff reshuffles recently as a result of which jobs were lost.
Saving the high street?