5 Things that GET MY GOAT
Shopping plastic-free can be quite tiresome. My latest annoyance was that I couldn't buy plastic-free bread as Tesco wrap their individual bakery items in plastic in the evenings to keep them fresh. I'm now resorting to making my own bread, which is great, but only if you have time. This, along with seeing all the fresh loaves removed out of their plastic and put into new plastic bags stunned me, so I decided to write a blog about things that really GET MY GOAT. Sometimes you just need to rant.
1) Bagged fruit
Imagine if some fruit, let's say bananas or oranges, came in their own packaging that was biodegradable and made sure the fruit was kept nice and fresh until you decided to eat it. This would make putting them in plastic bags completely pointless, right? RIGHT?
I am also very intrigued to know why supermarkets think it's okay to charge less for bagged fruit and veg than buying them individually. Get your act together, there's no excuse for promoting unnecessary plastic use in 2018.
2) Ordering products that are plastic free and supposedly eco-friendly, but they come wrapped in plastic.
Imagine searching for hours and hours for reusable sanitary towels that are made by an eco-friendly company only to find that it arrives wrapped in the very thing you are trying to avoid. At least for sanitary towels this is still better than using disposables every time, but for products like loo roll, specifically bought to have a compostable wrap, WHY DO YOU COME DELIVERED IN AN ADDITIONAL PLASTIC WRAP???
3) Deceptive packaging
When shopping, I admit that I become someone to stare at. My favourite pastime includes walking up and down the cereal aisle, shaking boxes to try and hear whether there is a plastic bag inside. I've only come across one cereal that doesn't, which was Scott's Porage Oats, but unfortunately porridge is really not for me. What really annoys me is that so many products, not just cereal, do not have clear labels to tell you what can be recycled in the packaging (something I will write a whole post on). Do not be deceived, as I have, when all it says is "Cardboard - widely recycled", as they may just have not bothered to put whether there is a disposable plastic bag inside the cardboard.
4) Windows
Following on from my previous rant, why do so many manufacturers think we need to see what is in the box we are buying through a little plastic window? Cereals, pasta, rice, pretty much anything, will be offered to you with a window for prime viewing. I should hope that the picture on the box, or even just the name of the product "long-grain rice", would give me enough information about what I am choosing to buy. It's literally rice, why do I need to see it? So no, Uncle Ben, I will not "have a rice day". (As a side note, what is it about wholegrain rice that means it doesn't have a little window? As grateful as I am that I can buy some rice, it gets me slightly suspicious.)
5) Polystyrene
It protects your new TVs, radios, china-wear, even your cheesy chips, but it does not protect the environment. How polystyrene disposable cups and food boxes are still being used baffles me. It is non-biodegradable, and takes so long to break down that we actually don't know how long it takes (it is estimated thousands of years). Although polystyrene is technically recyclable, the fact that it is often bulky or contaminated with food means that it doesn't get recycled and instead thrown into landfill. If you ever go to the beach, you may well find many pieces of polystyrene washed up amongst the sand and rocks. Remember to pick up litter you find on the beach and dispose of it safely, you will be doing the marine ecosystems a good service (be careful as there are items that are potentially risky, e.g. needles and sanitary wear).
Do you really want your chips to have a footprint on our planet for over 1000 years? Your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchild could still find your debris. Not such a cool legacy.
Thanks for reading,
Liv
 |
| An angry goat, carefully constructed in Paint |
1) Bagged fruit
Imagine if some fruit, let's say bananas or oranges, came in their own packaging that was biodegradable and made sure the fruit was kept nice and fresh until you decided to eat it. This would make putting them in plastic bags completely pointless, right? RIGHT?
I am also very intrigued to know why supermarkets think it's okay to charge less for bagged fruit and veg than buying them individually. Get your act together, there's no excuse for promoting unnecessary plastic use in 2018.
2) Ordering products that are plastic free and supposedly eco-friendly, but they come wrapped in plastic.
Imagine searching for hours and hours for reusable sanitary towels that are made by an eco-friendly company only to find that it arrives wrapped in the very thing you are trying to avoid. At least for sanitary towels this is still better than using disposables every time, but for products like loo roll, specifically bought to have a compostable wrap, WHY DO YOU COME DELIVERED IN AN ADDITIONAL PLASTIC WRAP???
3) Deceptive packaging
When shopping, I admit that I become someone to stare at. My favourite pastime includes walking up and down the cereal aisle, shaking boxes to try and hear whether there is a plastic bag inside. I've only come across one cereal that doesn't, which was Scott's Porage Oats, but unfortunately porridge is really not for me. What really annoys me is that so many products, not just cereal, do not have clear labels to tell you what can be recycled in the packaging (something I will write a whole post on). Do not be deceived, as I have, when all it says is "Cardboard - widely recycled", as they may just have not bothered to put whether there is a disposable plastic bag inside the cardboard.
 |
| A product that also contained plastic wrap |
4) Windows
Following on from my previous rant, why do so many manufacturers think we need to see what is in the box we are buying through a little plastic window? Cereals, pasta, rice, pretty much anything, will be offered to you with a window for prime viewing. I should hope that the picture on the box, or even just the name of the product "long-grain rice", would give me enough information about what I am choosing to buy. It's literally rice, why do I need to see it? So no, Uncle Ben, I will not "have a rice day". (As a side note, what is it about wholegrain rice that means it doesn't have a little window? As grateful as I am that I can buy some rice, it gets me slightly suspicious.)
5) Polystyrene
It protects your new TVs, radios, china-wear, even your cheesy chips, but it does not protect the environment. How polystyrene disposable cups and food boxes are still being used baffles me. It is non-biodegradable, and takes so long to break down that we actually don't know how long it takes (it is estimated thousands of years). Although polystyrene is technically recyclable, the fact that it is often bulky or contaminated with food means that it doesn't get recycled and instead thrown into landfill. If you ever go to the beach, you may well find many pieces of polystyrene washed up amongst the sand and rocks. Remember to pick up litter you find on the beach and dispose of it safely, you will be doing the marine ecosystems a good service (be careful as there are items that are potentially risky, e.g. needles and sanitary wear).
Do you really want your chips to have a footprint on our planet for over 1000 years? Your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchild could still find your debris. Not such a cool legacy.
Thanks for reading,
Liv
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