To ask for tips reducing food plastic?

[AstroKate]

Firstly, I know there's a thread already going for a few weeks on plastics as a whole. I am trying to cut down our single use plastics but it's like peeling back layers of an onion-every time I think I've reduced it in some way, I uncover another area I hadn't considered

So I'm trying to focus on one area at a time. I've been conscious recently of the amount of plastic in the fridge. If there are leftover veg, I'll often cling film over the bowl, if we open some ham etc, it'll go in a zip lock plastic bag.

As these are food contaminated, I tend to throw them away after use (but I do reuse where I can if not raw food etc).

This is something I'd like to reduce or ideally stop altogether but have limited space for Tupperware both in the cupboards and fridge. My friend suggested beeswax paper but I found it wasn't airtight and the food often spoiled

Can I ask for tips to reduce this or some environmental quality packaging I can reuse and am not aware of?

I don't mind spending a bit more than I am or spending something up front to save in the long term

Any tips gratefully received

(if you're single, of even not, you generally don't need to buy 3 or more leeks at one time, yet that's what I was being forced to do in order to make a recipe with leek).

It's so difficult to get loose produce now in any of the big supermarkets. I thought the government was supposed to be leading an initiative on reducing s u plastics; why are the supermarkets doing so little?

Potatoes at my local supermarket Nate my bugbear! I don't use them often so want to buy the exact number I need but my local only sells jacket potatoes loose. So I have to drive 20min to get loose potatoes... other than that I actually find the supermarkets are round me ok for looser larger veg it's fruit and smaller veg (tomatoes, beans, peas etc) that are the problem. And I use self service or scan as you shop so noone to complain if I don't use a plastic bag for the loose veg!

Aside from the plastic issue I much prefer the loose veg because it reduces food waste - I often want one courgette not three etc.

I would definitely recommend the soda stream. If you can afford it, get the one with the glass bottles as the plastic bottles actually have a use by date on them as they can't take the pressure indefinitely and need replacing about every 2 years.

My issue with fruit and veg is that the organic stuff where I live is often the plastic wrapped stuff.

I use cloths in the kitchen which go in the wash at the end of the day. They are big terry nappies cut up so they last forever and don't have the slimy feeling a lot of cloths get. Metal scourers instead of plastic.

Bars of castille soap can be used for virtually anything from dishes to laundry.

But the best way is to go old school with your shopping. Grocers, butchers, bakers etc. They are much more likely to let you use your own containers. But most people don't have the time for that.

I grow my own salad leaves as they are hard to buy without plastic

spring onions regrow if you put them in a glass with water,. just cut off a bit and it grows back! i couldnt believe it.
😲 Going to try this......

Could you use beeswax wraps with an elastic band around the top to make sure it's fully airtight?

I dont buy prepackaged fruit an veg, tho the loose stuff still need to get put in a plastic bag ( they get annoyed at supermarket if you dont put it in one)

You can buy reusable mesh bags on Amazon instead of using the plastic bags.

bottles.

according to Coca Cola, galls is no greener than plastic.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/27/glass-bottles-could-worse-environment-plastic-coca-cola-warns/

^glass, not galls

Another vote for Soda Stream. DP started buying 6 packs of small bottles of sparling water. I hated the waste, so bought him a Soda Stream for his birthday. No idea if it's as good as normal sparkling but he does use it every day, so it can't be too bad.

Does anyone know if compost bags would degrade in the freezer? Sometimes it's easier to fit something in the freezer if it's in a bag (not a box) but I hate the waste. And we use the compost bags anyway, so it would get a double use out of them.

OP well done for the thread. I hope this and others like it go into classics.
I am trying my best, too. But it also needs pressure on suppliers/the government. EG a lot of supermarket stuff in plastic says "check if your council recycles this". So basically councils (who are understaffed/hard enough to get through to anyway) have to face millions of calls saying ... do you recycle the packaging round Waitrose pears/Tesco avocados/Lidl fish ... and neither they nor you will know what particular composite it is.

It's up to whatever manky government we get in to bang heads together.

I've also got a particular beef about seaside resorts/fast food outlets with their polystyrene containers. Brighton, which has the only green MP, is littered with it.

I guess the answer to Coca Cola is to cut down on usage of it and have it as a treat only? If the general population drank more water than carbonated soft drinks then it would probably help with everyone's waistlines too (and a knock on benefit to the planet too)!

We looked at getting a new cylinder for my mum's soda stream last Christmas but the buggers had changed the shape of the fittings since we last used it (it may not be new but it was last used late 90s/early 00s which I don't feel was actually that long ago!!). Anyway I'm not buying a new one for them to do the same again so we decided if we wanted fizzy water we'd get a soda syphon like they have on bars - you can get the cartridges for those fairly cheaply and they're recyclable. Don't know if it would be more expensive if you're doing fizz every day or not though but may be worth looking into.

Morrisons is a great supermarket, they have gotten rid of plastic bags for loose fruit and veg, cardboard only egg boxes and our one has a new stand where you can pick how many eggs you want and put them in the egg box to reduce waste.

A family member works there and says there is a lot going on behind the scenes too in terms of the way food is packaged to come to store and recycling of that packaging.

We got a soda stream and whilst I don't like it plain as it's just not as nice as bottled, I just add some squash to it. Can't find the syrups in supermarkets and they are really expensive on amazon.

I can't get past the squash bottles though.

We were using probably 20 plastic bottles a month, now it's just 2 for squash. Next time I'll get bigger bottles and double concentrate, now we've worked out which ones we like.

We've switched to cans for Diet Coke. I figure aluminium is better than plastic and they don't lose fizz as quickly as large bottles

Thanks - I’m going to do some hunting about online for a soda stream - kids will love it also which is a bonus

On a recent episode of Greg Wallace’s In the Factory programme I was shocked to discover that the ‘bag’ element of each ordinary tea bag is 25% plastic! Worryingly I’ve been composting these for 15 years. Loose tea with an infuser is a no brainer.

Ha! Just emailed JLP ref Waitrose virtue signalling about stopping single use plastic bags and coffee cups (so you might possibly buy their pricey keep cups). While at the same time they are still double packaging produce and - per previous post - can't tell us if it's recyclable and to check with local authority. Grrrr. Will let you know if they respond.

@crosstalk good stuff 👍 however Waitrose keepcups really aren't expensive - they're the cheapest I've seen anywhere (£3). I don't use one as we use (actually expensive) Camelbak flasks for takeaway coffee as they seal fully!

The trouble is that without plastic packaging for food, I think the prices will rise, and maybe the quality will drop. Food won't last so long, will be harder to distribute, and harder to pay for at the checkout. That's why there's no scales in Aldi, I imagine.

Our houses are full of stuff we don't need, often made of plastic, or something else that's travelled an unnecessarily long way.

Cutting down on plastic bags is nether here nor there.

The trouble is that without plastic packaging for food, I think the prices will rise, and maybe the quality will drop. Food won't last so long, will be harder to distribute, and harder to pay for at the checkout.

This is true and it is very difficult to find the 'truth'... like in the Coke article linked above, what is the true impact of a glass bottle versus a plastic bottle and what is the true impact of wrapping food in plastic as this innovation had a huge impact on the reduction of food waste.

If the glass bottles were delivered locally like milk used to be, dairy in main town, delivered locally by the milkman, empty bottles returned to the dairy for cleaning and refilling... but we moved away from this for a reason..

That said, I don't live in the UK and feel privileged to have a regional organic shop near me where I buy most of my food shopping unpackaged and this chain seems to be successful.

. Food won't last so long, will be harder to distribute, and harder to pay for at the checkout.

The business model of the big supermarkets depends on plastic packaging. It’s all about profits.
However traditional greengrocers use far less plastic packaging, and they are a viable economic unit.

People in my local Waitrose seem to just go in with a normal coffee cup and then wonder round drinking it!

I do wonder if there were as many victorians as there are people today, if we would be saying the same about glass or pottery items. They don’t seem to break down either.

The one thing I have realised is having an allotment, i don’t have a bin/recycling area. So any plastic has to be taken to the tip in the car. If everyone had to do that we would really think about our consumption.

We are just made up of “out of sight out of kind” attitudes

I watched Greg Wallace "in the factory". I think it was Tuesday before the MP debate. It was unbelievable. Watch it on the iplayer if you haven't seen it.

A Ribena factory using the whole blackcurrant output of the UK. (I think they said something of that ilk). Recycling plastic bottles, (only a certain sort of plastic, so not every bottle). Filling millions of bottles of ready to drink Ribena, shrink wrapping them in plastic labels.

It was unbelievable to watch. Amazing in some ways that a handful of people can produce millions of bottles of stuff so cheaply - but appalling in other ways that there is a demand for such a product. Lorries going everywhere, factories hard at work producing this stuff. Other factories producing the machines that produce the stuff. Factories producing the film wrap that goes over the bottles, and bands them together. Amazing you can produce a bottle of Ribena for under £1, but equally amazing that so many people buy all this stuff.

That's the plastic problem in a microcosm, and it's why personal green-ness is an absolute 100% waste of time.

These are all great tips and it’s good to see people being so aware.

One really important thing to remember, through, is that the plastics you are describing account for much less of ocean plastic than you think. Almost half of all plastic in the ocean is made up of discarded fishing nets.

Giving up eating fish, reducing fish consumption, and buying only sustainable fish from reputable sources are all hugely important ways of reducing the worst offenders for ocean plastic.

That's the plastic problem in a microcosm, and it's why personal green-ness is an absolute 100% waste of time.

😭

Recommend this Facebook group for tips - Journey to Zero Waste in the UK: www.facebook.com/groups/JZWUK/?ref=share

Here’s some things I’ve done:

• Milk delivered in glass bottles (from Milk and More)
• Cornflakes, sugar, pasta, rice, cocoa powder and other baking ingredients I buy loose from a local refill store which I put in my own containers or paper bags. Of course not everyone has a handy refill shop nearby though.
• Instead of using cling film I use foil, tupperware or a plate over containers in the fridge.
• Bought cheeky wipes to try to kick my habit of using baby wipes.