Can we go back to plastic free packaging?

[speakout]

No sure if this is the right place to post, but I picked up some Andrex toilet rolls the other day a 4 pack, cheaper than normal and wrapped in paper.
Does anyone remember when there was rarely any plastic packaging?
As a child I remember Dairy milk chocolate wrapped in foil and paper. Meat and fish wrapped in greaseproof and brown paper. Milk came in glass bottles. Cardboard cartons, soap wrapped in paper ( shower gel wasn't a thing). Blocks of ice cream came in cardboard boxes- frozen, glass bottles for sauce, vinegar, fruit and veg was sold loose- you took a shopping bag and put things like carrots, turnip directly into your bag. Smaller produce was packed in brown paper bags. . Strawberries and soft fruit were sold in cardboard cartons. Fizzy drinks came in glass returnable bottles. Bread was sold in waxed paper packing.
I rarely remember plastic packaging as a child.

I honestly don't know why chocolate is now all in plastic rather than paper and foil. I really don't like it!

I really wish we could go back to that way. If I use any local companies for anything I always mention that it would be nice if they could change from plastic to paper or card in the future. I'm in a fortunate position that I could, and would be happy to, pay a bit more if it meant they'd change. It can sometimes cost businesses more to use the alternatives to plastic.

merryhellbrokeloose

I agree.
All the individual chocolates like Quality Street and Roses are now wrapped in plastic
I was also sad when Barratts Sherbett Fountain switched from their cardboard packaging with a stick of licorice poking out of the top!

Its the layers of wrappings on things that annoys me. A box of individually wrapped chocolates wrapped in plastic for example...

Why can't we? I would love it if we did! Old enough to remember strawberries coming in cardboard punnets and paper bags for the unwrapped fruit and veg in supermarkets. But how would the millenials who blame all the boomers for the environment woes manage without their single use coffee cups, water bottles and M&S pots of salad?

Aroundtheworldin80moves

Yes- and why do cucumbers need a condom?

Not necessarily for all the things you mention, but sometimes it’s a trade off between sustainability of the packaging and food wastage. So plastic packaging might result in a longer shelf/fridge life with less food wastage. It’s good to see things like cardboard instead of plastic around multipacks of cans though.

Although I do agree. It’s one of the reasons I switched to a milk man.

I think the issue is transport a lot of the time! Products no longer come from just down the road - plastic packaging lasts longer and is better protection for a lot of items (over paper) especially if they're being brought on planes / boats / HGVs. Our local greengrocer gets veg in boxes from the farms, we buy it in paper bags - same for the butcher. But it's only travelled 10 miles max! Bought some peppers from Waitrose today and they'd come from the Netherlands

Ok I really, really hate to rain on your thoughts but this is my DH's area of expertise (he's worked in environmental areas for nearly 60 years and is a double physics graduate) and it's important to understand that replacing plastic with paper is NOT some kind of environmental wonderland. You have to factor in a number of things including the pollution and environmental costs of manufacturing and transporting the equivalent protective paper is usually much heavier than its plastic counterpart leading to bigger transportation costs and more lorries on the road etc. These issues, some of which have been developing for nearly a century, do not have simple swapping out solutions.
Sorry but there it is.

I would love this too! I do wonder how cucumbers stayed fresh though. My in laws are very anti plastic and struggle to keep their homegrown ones fresh if not wrapped in clingfilm so they insist a whole one needs to be eaten the same day it's picked!

On principle yes (although I don't remember the things you mention in your post) 🙈

I switched to a milkman so we could have glass bottles after watching Seaspiracy earlier this year but have sadly just switched back this week because it's been a nightmare.

40% of the time the milk goes off before the twice weekly delivery.
50% of the time it's spilled because animals have gotten into it.
80% of the time the seal is broken because birds have pecked it all to hell.
30% of the time I forget to put the empty glass bottles out the night before (I know, my fault).

I would love to go plastic free and we researched it loads after that (shocking!!!) documentary... but our nearest "refillery" is a four mile walk away. I sold my car at the beginning of lockdown as no commute and trying to do my bit for the planet by walking everywhere and just staying local.

We live in a major city so it's frustrating we don't have a plastic free shop nearer. The first supermarket to go plastic free will get all of my business.

(Side note, was in Sainsbury's the other day and they have an entire wall saying they'll be Carbon Neutral by 2040. I think they have it on the wall as some sort of selling point? But I was honestly shocked!! I'll be 50 before Sainsbury's goes carbon neutral. Kinda depressing to be honest).

It should be moving to reusable packaging... taking your tupperware to get your meat, fish etc, mesh bags for fruit, containers for your cereal...

heldinadream glad to hear there is a man around to help explain things.

Plastic uses fossil reserves, contributes to plastic in the oceans. Paper does not. Transport is a red herring.

Sorry but there it is.

I have a manufacturing business which is entirely single-use plastic-free. It is in an industry which traditionally used a lot of plastic. It has been difficult and expensive to find alternatives, but worth it.

Co op and tesco that I know of offer Recycling bins for soft plastic. I've taken loads since I started doing it. Obviously that's not the best solution to the whole issue but still worthwhile.

One issue is plastic is more difficult for people to tamper with. The old paper and foil on chocolate would be very easy for people to tamper with and be unnoticeable.

Rather than getting excited about packaging I think it's nylon, polyester, and those typed of man made fabrics we should be worrying about. Stuff that's made and will lie in landfill for years and no way of recycling it that we should worry about.

Surely the onus should be on manufacturers nothing should be made or sold that cannot be returned for recycling or decompose within 100 years.

Our local tesco has removed the deli counter so even more packaging

SugarHouse1 I am impressed.
I run a small online business and have been making efforts too recently to eliminate plastic packacking. I use recycled cardboard products, paper gummed tape and paper to pack , it is a little more expensive but the way forward.

Lockdownbear

I agree about clothing.
As a family we all have sensitive skin, so pretty much all our clothing is cotton, and mostly from second hand shops. Synthetic fabric is sweaty making and quite uncomfortable.

Delighted to see smarties in a paper bag and kitchen roll in paper packaging
Nice to see but I agree with a PP that ditching plastic is not the answer to our problems.
Sourcing stuff on a super local level is a good start.

But when it comes to food the stuff in plastic almost always has a longer shelf life.

My mum used to keep the butter paper in the fridge when we’d finished the butter, to grease cake tins.

I'd love it if we did, but as pp says, even better if more packaging was reusable/refillable.

I’d like to see us going back to local shopping.
Stuff from the butchers in paper, greengrocer using paper bags.
The greengrocer used to save cabbage leaves for our rabbit, and the butcher gave bones away for the dog.

The massive difference is cost, plastic bottles vs glass bottles for milk, the difference is massive to the producer, and most consumers simply won't pay the inflated costs from non-plastic packaging

Co Ops are now accepting shrink wrap and all sorts of plastic that can't be recycled at home (also things like crisp packets, its on the website). We've started collecting and taking it to our local store, our main bin is now pretty much empty as a result but it has really highlighted how much plastic waste can be generated.