Infuriated by colleague that has sushi, fruit and soft drink every lunchtime

[Sazzas]

They are all plastic wrapped, with plastic fork for fruit, plastic bottle for soft drink, plastic container for soy sauce. It's like a mountain of plastic every lunchtime. Really pisses me of.

Now they are bringing in that plastic bag law however plastic bags are so thin nowadays and all the main supermarket s decompose in 2-5 years. But all this plastic packaging will not decompose for a long time.

Yes I know some will say its none of my business, but rubbish, wastefulness and landfill are my business IMO.

Rant over!

• [Message from MNHQ: please check the date of the OP. This is an old thread...]

Have you reported House?

Reported what?

The get to fuck comment.

Why would I?

Yes, what an absolute bastard to use all these plastic products, how can he even sleep at night? Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world, women and little girls are being raped in Syria, men are being beheaded for being gay/listening to music/for fighting against Islam and so forth....better battles to pick in the "first wor;d" right now than who keeps eating sushi for lunch :/

I agree OP, I look in our recycling bins at work and they are full of empty Pret cups, bags and wrappers. It drives me mad! We are even having ceramic cups removed from our kitchens and replaced with paper ones! Each of those paper items has been created, printed, transported, wrapped around food and then goes straight in the bin. The stuff is then sorted, recycled etc and the whole process begins again. It all seems so wasteful, and it really needn't be. I don't think everyone has to live sustainably in an organic yurt to be allowed to care about stuff like this.

I hear you OP. I am very conscientious of the lunches I pack and the amount of absolute waste in the UK. The UK is an environmentalist's nightmare. We are insane and have become a culture addicted to snacking. Pre packaged fruit and veg is out of control, snacks, drinks, the works...we're not happy with simplicity. Our expectations are too high. We must have our sushi in its plastic bento box- itself made of shtty toxic materials- and shtty beverage marketed as 'healthy' or 'unusual'. It's up to consumers to change their ways and be vocal. But we don't care enough. I sweep my side of the street as best I can but I wish people cared more. But our little foodie habits are more important than environmental responsibility and that's sad.

Op, can I ask what you do to help challenge homelessness, to alleviate the HIV crisis in Africa, to tackle the refugee crisis? Maybe nothing, and guess what thats fine. You have a cause that is important to you, great, knock yourself out. But please don't shout at people because they don't share your passion. And I won't shout at you for not doing enough about the causes close to my heart.

Birds She hasn't shouted at anybody.

I know, horse, it was a turn of phrase. It would be really odd if I started moaning that one of my colleagues didn't volunteer at the local youth club. Lazy git!? Why does one cause trump another?

YANBU we are awash with plastic packaging which lasts for hundreds of years not just lunchtime. I litter pick on my dog walk, every day there is the remains of someone's lunch - plastic bottles, cans, polystyrene boxes. All dropped from cars at a particularly scenic spot! I do take it home and recycle it. It s every individuals actions that add up whether that is buying plastic, littering or recycling.

Incidentally since the plastic bag charge (Scotland) there has been a massive reduction in the number of plastic bags I see blown across the fields, caught in hedges and trees. These things do make a difference.

I would love to see a ban on plastic packaging!

It is possible to care about more than a few causes bird. I don't think the OP said that caring about the environment was the only thing that mattered?

Birds you cannot compare volunteering with making some effort to protect the environment.

I see using excessive unnecessary packaging, not bothering to recycle, wasting water, and just generally not considering what effect your actions have on the environment, as one step away from littering.

Lots of the plastic we put in the bin ends up in the ocean, endangering wildlife.

A senior member of staff at my workplace made a snippy remark to me when I came in from the supermarket carrying my lunch in one of the 5p carrier bags - I had forgotten to take a long-life bag.

She flies to Dubai several times a year for her holidays.

My feeling of guilt was overwhelming.

Avoiding needless plastic packaging isn't a passion. It's just not being a dick. ????

What depressing responses on this thread. No wonder the world is fucked. You are definitely not unreasonable to worry about unsustainable packaging. The world is full of idiots.

OP YANBU but would probably feel better if you do something about it instead of sitting there inwardly seething. Talk to colleagues, promote recycling at work, lobby companies etc.

Thinking about another thread that's running just now, why not show your colleague how much money he would save every year if he brought in his own suchi or at least buy a bigger box and decant every day. I bet he would save thousands!

Time sushi doesn't keep though...so you can't buy in bulk. Which is a shame. I expect he's getting it from M&S.

YANBU.

If I think about these things too often I find it very depressing that so few ppl care about the earth and where all the rubbish goes which they toss aside on a daily basis.

And to those who are suggesting recycling, well that's better than landfill I suppose, but nowhere near as good for the planet as not using all that plastic in the 1st place!

What would it take for him/her to re-use cutlery or use fingers then wash fingers? (Using as little soap/water as poss of course!) Assuming he/she cannot bring ther own lunch in using a re-usable box/flask.

We are so very wasteful these days, and mostly due to 'hygiene' rules. Then we are always ill from any stray bug, (as we are no longer used to them) and seem to prefer risking longer-term plastic poisoning & planet degradation!

So just stop wasting stuff ppl! (Nb This includes water/electricity/food!) Just use what you have to and think about reducing usage overall?

None of us are perfect. I'm sure there are things that you do/don't do that people would criticise you for.

Sushi has to be really fresh though and not many people have the time to make their own sushi before they go to work. I doubt very much it would be cheaper either

With you on this OP. THere is far too much packaging. Yes, there are issues of humanitarian crises going on, but we keep on littering the planet with no regard to the future.
There is a greater need for recycling/reducing packaging. We need to stop being so convenience-centred.

What I do find funny is that your colleague is probably congratulating himself on a healthy lunch. He probably looks at it and ticks off an imaginary list of 'good' food, fish - tick, fruit - tick wondering why you are glaring at him! Modern life is a bit of mine field. Gone are the days when we'd wrap bread cheese and an apple in a hanky and walk to work!