Give the packaging back!

ashfan83

Paying a deposit on the bottles and cans mean people are anxious to return them, rather than chucking them in a bin. Many bottled items are also glass, rather than plastic, and are simply cleaned and reused again, rather than being melted down again, which I think is much more efficient.

The 'cheap' supermarkets you find here, Lidl, Aldi and Netto are all German and many people on here have commented on their minimal packaging.

Things are just a lot greener there in general probably because of the big influence of the Green party coalition for many years. But people also seem to be less wasteful in general there.

It is also illegal to wash your car at home, so everyone goes to a car wash where they use recycled water and people aren't using hoses and detergents willy nilly.

davetrousers

If you shop at Tesco couldn't you remove the packaging then go over to their nice new recycling machines and put the packaging in there and collect Green Clubcard Points?

Badger_Lady

The last company I worked for prides itself on being ethical and green... when we ordered 200 spangly pens from Rymans for a conference, we asked for them to be supplied without packaging (normally come wrapped individually in clear plastic with a cardboard box!).

They were happy to oblige, and instead gave us the actual pens in a big old bag.

Debt_Free_Chick

Badger_Lady wrote: »

The last company I worked for prides itself on being ethical and green... when we ordered 200 spangly pens from Rymans for a conference, we asked for them to be supplied without packaging (normally come wrapped individually in clear plastic with a cardboard box!).

They were happy to oblige, and instead gave us the actual pens in a big old bag.

But they probably dumped all the original packaging in the bin!!!

nzmegs

I have been thinking further about this subject and it think that the packaging problem is connected with the food miles issue. For example if a box of apples is coming from ...say - New Zealand then they need to be care fully cushioned and possibly wrapped, ditto packets of biscuits etc. In fact the further things travel and in bigger lorries etc the more packaging is required to keep the product safe.

Also all too often we buy individual portions of food because it is more convienient or it is the only way to buy it. For example 12 bags of crisps (in yet another bag)rather than one 1 or 2 large bags. I have started to buy large bags and put them in bowls for the children or containers with lids for school. Wash and use again!

Or one large container of icecream rather than 6 ice lollys in a box, or one large cake cut into slices at home rather than 6 individually wrapped slices in a plastic tray in a box! The list is endless.

Try buying "large" for one week and see how much packaging you save! Not to mention it is cheaper.

On this topic I think our cultural obsession with diets and food has led to a portion control culture and we have been asking for manufacturers to tell us how much of everything we are allowed to eat and we all want to know how much fat or calories is in everything and the packaging problem has arisen from this.

Have I extrapolated too far?

gromituk

ashfan83 wrote: »

The 'cheap' supermarkets you find here, Lidl, Aldi and Netto are all German

Actually Netto is Danish - another country aware of its green responsibilities (see the number of wind farms). I agree very much with all you have to say on deposits and packaging.

Badger_Lady

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

But they probably dumped all the original packaging in the bin!!!

Very likely, but that's up to them - the packaging certainly hasn't helped their sales in that situation, and instead they've been lumbered with the cost of disposing of it (possibly even a little man unwrapping it all!) :beer:

All helps the good fight...

MiniLaura

I lived in Denmark for a period and it was there got my first experience of lidl, aldi, netto etc - paying for carrier bags was a new experience, and recycling bottles was also really big! Used to like saving up my bottles for returns!

Would really like supermarkets here to start charging for bags - need to make the more uneducated think more about wasting plastic and other recyclables

geordie_joe

MiniLauraRocks wrote: »

I lived in Denmark for a period and it was there got my first experience of lidl, aldi, netto etc - paying for carrier bags was a new experience, and recycling bottles was also really big! Used to like saving up my bottles for returns!

Would really like supermarkets here to start charging for bags - need to make the more uneducated think more about wasting plastic and other recyclables

When I was a lad you paid a 10p deposit on pop bottles and got it back when you returnd the bottle.

Our local kwik Save used to charge for carrier bags, but it changed to Somerfield and give them away.

About a month ago if you took back 5 used carrier bags (any type) they would give you a "bag for life" but I don't know if they still do it.