Consuming for Nothing
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Here’s a receipt from a recent trip to the local super market I made with my family:
- Apples (1 kg) in a plastic bag
- Garnier total comfort (skin care product) in a plastic container
- Cottage Cheese in a plastic box
- Detergent for doing your laundry in a plastic bottle
- Small tomatoes in a plastic box
- Bread in a plastic bag
- An apple
- A banana
- Ham slices in a plastic box
- Yoghurt
- Some more yoghurt
- Cheese in a plastic wrap
- Ice cream
- Juice
- Milk
- Milk
- Eggs
- Some soft cheese in a plastic box
- A special kind of Finnish bread
- Grapes in a plastic box
- Fruit cocktail
- A set of three bell peppers in a plastic wrap
- Groud meat in a plastic box
- Salad in a plastic wrap
- Cheese in a plastic bag
- A cucumber in a plastic wrap
- A cucumber in a plastic wrap
- Two plastic bags
Notice anything interesting?
Now if you remind yourself of the fact that plastic doesn’t degrade that quickly (in fact every single piece of plastic ever made is somewhere on this planet — in the form of plastic), it becomes painfully obvious that we are putting a heavy load on the planet consuming something we in most case don’t need anyway – and throwing it away right after bringing the groceries home.
It’s time to try out our first group brain storming session here at Insanely Interested. Here’s how we will do it:
Come up with one or two ways to solve this problem of unnecessary plastic consumption. You can use ideas from other people’s comments and build on them, or create something completely unique. Write a comment to share your idea.
I will be collecting ideas throughout the weekend and the beginning of next week, and then we’ll do a roundup and see if some of the ideas could actually be implemented. But let’s not worry about that yet. First we’ll just have fun and create the ideas!
17 Responses
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I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit myself. What occurs to me from looking over your list is that 75% of the plastic could be replaced with paper or cardboard. In fact, old-fashioned grocery stores here in the U.S. still use thick paper to wrap their meat products.
It seems to me that the problem is industrial laziness. Once you get used to packing everything in plastic, switching to something more environmentally friendly is just a big hassle. Perhaps a tax on the volume of plastic used would be helpful in curbing that?
I’m not trying to knock the idea of a green enviroment – but food safety would be my first concern. Making sure the consumer is still alive is a priority, at least for me (I work in the food industry). Recycling plastics has come a long way – and continuing to improve that process as well as exploring environmentally friendly packaging would be plausible. And – to be candid – I imagine that research like this is already underway.
Not only, but finding ways to lower our waste factor is another big thing. A lot of rejected/bad meats and cheese gets tanked or thrown-out. Improving the manufacturing process can make all the difference in lowering our waste and the strain on the environment. It would also allow for money to be spent on further research for green packaging and things of the same ideology.
You should take a look at John Webster’s documentary film “Katastrofin Ainekset” (Receipes for Disaster). It was very intersting to watch how a family tried to survive a year without consuming anything that was made of oil. All the plastics were on the banned list :)
I trying to get rid of plastic bags myself. It’s very easy to grab a plastic bag and pack your groceries into one – instead I’m carrying a shopping bag made of fabric.
I suppose one key issue in making the world greener is to do little things. We tend to think that only big things matter, which is not true.
Personally I try to avoid buying plastic bags, I try to remember to take a back bag with me. I also often go to the store with my kid on the trolley, which carries most of the heavy load. The problem with not taking plastic bags is that I then need to buy garbage bags separately. It’s a real dilemma. I can’t figure out which is worse, recycling my shopping bags to trash bags or not having shopping bags but buying trash bags…
An other thing is coffee at the office. I try to use a mug instead of paper cups.
It isn’t much though. I should recycle more carefully and I am appalled by the amount of food we trow in the bio waste… My plan is to get greener over the years, learn a more sustainable lifestyle little by little.
@Joshua: Yep, plastic is easy to use for almost anything… And it’s cheap (at least so far).
The problem with alternatives, such as carrying your own bag for fruits, and maybe even a box for the meat products, is that they all require so much more thought from the customer than just picking a pre-boxed item and putting it in your plastic bag :)
@Matthew: I agree. Safety has to come first. But then again, there are a lot of places where using plastic wrapping is not adding any safety to the product. With meat products, I’m willing to admit that plastic helps. But then there are things like fruit, or even non-food products such as “green”, energy-saving light bulbs, packed in plastic.
I believe you’re right in saying that it’s important to put money in the research. I just think that while the research is still underway, there must be easier ways to change things. Ways that only require clever ideas, and not inventing new materials…
@Timo: Yeah, that’s on my list of DVD’s to rent… If I only had more time ;)
@Satu: I used to worry about running out of garbage bags too. But then I figured that if I can go all the way, the amount of garbage I produce should go down so much that I wouldn’t actually need garbage bags anymore. I’m not quite there yet, but I believe it’s doable.
One cool initiative to reduce packaging was from Amazon: http://ecolocalizer.com/2008/11/04/frustration-free-packaging-from-amazon-reduces-wrap-rage-and-waste/
This is a great post, I have noticed that a lot of “generics” tend to use less packaging, which I prefer, things like english muffins (do we really need a cardboard tray??). I also love that in Canada the milk in is bags instead of plastic bottles and everyone has reusable plastic containers.
I’m horrified that the city of Columbus does not recycle, its ridiculous, we pay extra to have them pick up recycling, but it feels so futile since most of the neighborhood doesn’t, what a shame!
Jarkko, you just reminded me about something!
My mother is a master recycler. They have 10 kids living in the household and she manages to only have 1 garbage bag per week going out from the kitchen.
@Wassan: Here in Finland, we have milk in recyclable cardboard containers. And they collect the boxes from almost all houses, which is cool!
@Satu: How does she do it?? That’s awesome!
Check out Fake Plastic Fish blog. The whole blog is dedicated to this.
Ideas:
Get small clothe bags, you can make your own or there are many places to buy them. Use for produce and shop bulk stores and use them there.
Take reusable container for deli meats and ask them to put them in. They will look at you funny, but once you do it a few times you won’t feel wierd.
Take your own cloth bags.
Laundry detergent. Make your own, buy it in a box, or get soap nuts (though as far as I can tell these only come in plastic containers).
Shop farmer’s markets/local if you can. Produce is less likely to packaged in plastic. Or grow your own (seasonal however). Buying food in season also reduces the plastic.
Buy local non-plastic foods and freeze them/can.
Don’t buy produce and other items in plastic wrap. Find alternatives, and just say NO.
I have no alternatives for cheese, bread (even if you make your own you have to store it in plastic, though you could get a larger reusable plastic box), grapes, meat, and potatoes.
@asrais: Awesome! This is just what I was looking for :)
I had never heard of the Fake Plastic Fish blog before, which is a shame because it seems like such a huge resource in living a more sustainable life!
Thanks for the tips and the link! I’ll make sure to promote the idea as much as I can, and follow the advice myself.
About bread… I’ve been baking most of my bread myself, then freezing it using old plastic bags that I collected from previously buying bread from the store. The downside there is that the plastic bags they use are not that good and after a few rounds, you’ll need a new one.
Maybe it would make sense to get some really good plastic container and then hold on to it. I mean, if you don’t throw it to waste and get a new one every year, or even more often than that, it’s not nearly as bad as bringing new bagged breads home every day…right? :)
No Impact Man is an interesting blog as well.
http://www.thecrunchychicken.com
The bread thing makes sense.
What amazes is me is that most people don’t actually think about these things. They don’t educate themselves. I know people are busy, but … I dunno.
I like the idea of insanely interested. As I can describe myself as such. I love writing. I love crocheting. I love sewing. I love … you get the point. I guess it can be summed up as “I love creating”.
I use refillable shampoos/conditioners (Ole Hyvä, from Ruohonjuuri) or shampoo bars from Lush, no plastic. I also reuse some of the plastic netting from around tangerines to keep small pieces of soap in, so that I can use them all.
I get an “ugh, plastic” season now and then, too.
Buying local is what I try to do as much as possible. I just can’t wrap my brain around the idea that hauling cucumbers – which are mostly water – from thousands of miles away is somehow acceptable, when they can be grown right here. Sure, we need heated greenhouses, but still. All those millions of tons of cucumbers – mainly water – driven around in those huge honkin’ trucks, burning diesel all day long… Brrr, I get shivers for just thinking of it.
Locally produced stuff (veggies and fruit for example) seem to be a bit less packages also, which is great.
@asrais: “I love creating” is exactly how I would summarize it as well! And thanks for the links again.
I have been busy creating, but soon, I’ll get back to this topic, running a summary of all the actions you guys have listed in the comments.
@Lynoure: Sounds good! I think I need to start visiting Ruohonjuuri more often as well.
BTW, it took me a long time to get up to speed but I ended up reading and loving Axiomatic. Would you like to get the book back? :)
@Antti: I’m not sure if buying local really is always the best thing to do…
It’s exactly the cucumber stuff that makes me wonder. Shipping goods from abroad makes sense if producing them locally creates more waste / pollution than producing them abroad + transportation.
I’ve read quite convincing articles telling that the biggest pollution in transportation doesn’t actually happen when transporting stuff from one country to another (by boat) but when transporting the stuff in trucks, inside the country – transporting strawberries or cucumbers from places like Suonenjoki all the way to Helsinki. (This pollution naturally happens for both local and non-local products)
I’m under the impression that a big part of the “buy local” talk is the local farmers trying to manipulate us into buying their products…
What do you think about this?
> @Antti: I’m not sure if buying local really is always the best thing to do…
> What do you think about this?
Hmmm… I think I have some more reading to do. You make a good point. I suppose bying local is a choice influenced heavily by emotion, and I agree that where we live, producing cucumbers during the winter may well be polluting and most definately is very energy-consuming.
Dang. If only these things were simpler. I find it frustrating how difficult it sometimes is to make the “right” choice…
All our choices are now political.
Is it better to buy local meat or vegetarian subsitutes from who knows where?
Local wrapped in plastic or non-plastic?
and what’s right and what works isn’t always the same. I would love to be a vegetarian, but the others in my family would not go for it. I could go vegetarian myself, but that would mean extra meal planning, shopping and cooking, not to mention extra dishes and so on. So I concede to eat meat and just try to eat more veggies than actual meat.