Change in law banning pre-packed fruit and vegetables at supermarkets - WTAF
- Thread starter gentlegreen
- Start date
UnderOpenSky
baseline neural therapy
Of course we can do something, but we don't have one person in the household shopping most days and cooking everything from scratch anymore either.
Silas Loom
Man with glasses
Packaging’s role in minimising the advantages of in-store over online shoppers is new.
I am happy for plastic to be eliminated as long as all fruit is kept behind toughened glass and dispensed to customers by an assistant, which can be a human or a robot. Or perhaps the tills should be equipped with smart sensors which price fruit and vegetables dynamically, depending on blemishes and ripeness. Or all in-store shoppers should be handicapped with ribbed gloves and fogged eyewear, so that the playing field is levelled.
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Because there are several billion of us and most of us neither grow our own food or live near a farm
And it used to be a major problem hence why famine and bread riots play such a significant role in shaping history.
8ball
1,200 lights
newme
Giant in Pastyland now
Does require you use fuel to get to one tho, we do ours all online since it saves driving there (works out cheaper on petrol alone) and all the time associated when I can duplicate another order and just change a few things to fit. Would be useful if soft plastic recycling was included as the usual recycling run as a separate one since it would have so many more people adding to it so they are not stuffing it into the landfill bin which helps it not overflow and cause issues.
Cornwall is just switching over to the limited landfill bins, that would certainly help a lot with the transition just putting these things in the right recycling bin rather than relying on people taking it to another location. Especially since the nearest supermarket just closed their recycling bit where you could drop off glass/paper/cardboard/cans/etc and its a tiny Sainsburys that seems to have fuck all in whilst being surprisingly expensive so you can't do a full shop anyway.
polly
Well-Known Member
Yeah as I said, not the be all and end all by any means, but lots of people don't drive to the supermarket. I don't, so I just take it when I'm going there anyway, and if I did, I would still only take the plastics when I'm going there anyway! I know a couple of councils are trialling a soft plastics collection and the gov may compel everyone to at some point. The main stumbling block (other than the gov's total reluctance to do anything that helps the planet) seems to be that the processors of other recyclables don't accept soft plastics because their machines can't tell the difference between soft plastics and paper. Just a little boring industry knowledge for you.
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Chilli.s
mingling jets and statuettes
The woeful state of recycling is partly to blame. I phoned Northumberland council to find out what they wanted my ancient parents to do with all the easily recycled glass that they could no longer drive to drop off, their answer was just put it in the landfill bin as it would get sorted at the dump. They were not going to start kirbside glass collections any time soon. Just how difficult would some consistency be across the country.
polly
Well-Known Member
I bet they're lying about that too :/ I used to work in recycling so I can tell you that local authorities have been waiting for the gov to release new regs on consistency in recycling, that everyone is expecting will make all English councils collect glass at the kerbside. However the gov has been sitting on it for literally years, so councils are reluctant to make any big changes in the meantime. Last I heard it had been watered down too. So. Don't hold your breath but you are absolutely correct and it is shit.
Chilli.s
mingling jets and statuettes
i always value your input on this subject, thanks
Artaxerxes
Look out, he's got a gnu!
Unless you’ve got a car your shit out of luck if you want to recycle large items or small electricals with some of them.
emanymton
A cat politely sat on the flaming gardener.
They'll be singing the praises of indoor plumbing next.You're one of those "vaccines and electricity" types, I can tell.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
Sadly not enough at this stage - except as power station fuel ... and even if we dispose of it properly here, somewhere else, raw pellets are spilling into the ocean from shipping mishaps..
The craziest thing I learned about is the "sachet economy" :-
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story
Changing the facts
The sachet market gives me the rage. It’s so fucking exploitative. It’s like a microcosm of everything that’s wrong and fucked up.
And every time I am obliged to use them myself (had an excellent meal in a Greek bistro in Sheffield the other day, but there were literal bucketloads* of sachets on the tables) I’m additionally aware of the waste left inside the sachets, however careful I am to squeeze out as much as possible . And I know most aren’t as conscientious as I am about such things.
*The buckets weren’t full size, but they were buckets. I enjoy using “literally” when it’s, like, literally applicable. I enjoy being on the cusp of both the old and the evolving use of the word
And every time I am obliged to use them myself (had an excellent meal in a Greek bistro in Sheffield the other day, but there were literal bucketloads* of sachets on the tables) I’m additionally aware of the waste left inside the sachets, however careful I am to squeeze out as much as possible . And I know most aren’t as conscientious as I am about such things.
*The buckets weren’t full size, but they were buckets. I enjoy using “literally” when it’s, like, literally applicable. I enjoy being on the cusp of both the old and the evolving use of the word
story
Changing the facts
polly
Do you know how clean the soft plastics need to be? I always make sure mine are clean but I’m using water and often soap to clean them, so further resources.
Also
As often as possible, I clean and reuse “one use” plastic bags. Especially the ones with ziplocks, and as often as possible bags that contain kale or whatever. They’re so ubiquitous that I’ve not bought any since I moved in here 4 years ago. Living alone, it’s no issue to squidge some dish soap around inside, rinse and hang up to dry. I’m aware that homes more busy than mine would find this onerous and best, and probabl impossible In practice.
I also save paper napkins that are given out in huge quantities by eating places (why is there a paper napkin beneath my croissant? and under my icecream dish?) and use them instead of kitchen paper for mopping out oily pans etc. I do have kitchen paper but it takes me a year or more to get through a roll cos I hardly use it, and if I use it for draining water (like the blueberries I washed this morning) then I’ll let the paper dry out and use it again.
So people like me aren’t the problem . The efforts I make are a piss in the ocean, but similarly so are the impacts (no kids, rare use of the car etc).
As long as it’s still permitted to allow office blocks to keep their lights blazing overnight or during holidays, so long as it’s permitted to blow hot air onto the pavement to entice shoppers inside, we will continue to fall over the lip of the deadly waterfall to certain destruction.
Do you know how clean the soft plastics need to be? I always make sure mine are clean but I’m using water and often soap to clean them, so further resources.
Also
As often as possible, I clean and reuse “one use” plastic bags. Especially the ones with ziplocks, and as often as possible bags that contain kale or whatever. They’re so ubiquitous that I’ve not bought any since I moved in here 4 years ago. Living alone, it’s no issue to squidge some dish soap around inside, rinse and hang up to dry. I’m aware that homes more busy than mine would find this onerous and best, and probabl impossible In practice.
I also save paper napkins that are given out in huge quantities by eating places (why is there a paper napkin beneath my croissant? and under my icecream dish?) and use them instead of kitchen paper for mopping out oily pans etc. I do have kitchen paper but it takes me a year or more to get through a roll cos I hardly use it, and if I use it for draining water (like the blueberries I washed this morning) then I’ll let the paper dry out and use it again.
So people like me aren’t the problem . The efforts I make are a piss in the ocean, but similarly so are the impacts (no kids, rare use of the car etc).
As long as it’s still permitted to allow office blocks to keep their lights blazing overnight or during holidays, so long as it’s permitted to blow hot air onto the pavement to entice shoppers inside, we will continue to fall over the lip of the deadly waterfall to certain destruction.
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polly
Well-Known Member
Not really I'm afraid, as I've never been involved in recycling them. But the rule for everything else (at least in Suffolk) is rinsed clean and no visible pieces of food. I don't think it needs to be spotless. Cat food pouches are the worst!
I didn't know about the sachet economy
We're fucked, aren't we.
story
Changing the facts
Not really I'm afraid, as I've never been involved in recycling them. But the rule for everything else (at least in Suffolk) is rinsed clean and no visible pieces of food. I don't think it needs to be spotless. Cat food pouches are the worst!
I didn't know about the sachet economy
We are. And we’ve done it to ourselves. We’re so dumb. Which is so stupid, cos when we get it right, we’re really fucking cool.
story
Changing the facts
We have a couple of refill shops near me but they work out more expensive than buying packets.
Why?? Is it because it’s middle class or something?
Why am I paying a premium to make the extra effort to go the extra mile (literally…) to the Extra-shop that charges me extra for being able to package up my own nuts and honey ? And why is there no tommy K or white sugar? Why is it all hippy food?
The whole thing is gimmicky when it ought to be standard practice, or at the very least a realistic alternative to more normal shopping.
Why?? Is it because it’s middle class or something?
Why am I paying a premium to make the extra effort to go the extra mile (literally…) to the Extra-shop that charges me extra for being able to package up my own nuts and honey ? And why is there no tommy K or white sugar? Why is it all hippy food?
The whole thing is gimmicky when it ought to be standard practice, or at the very least a realistic alternative to more normal shopping.
Monkeygrinder's Organ
Dodgy geezer swilling vapid lager
I guess it's mostly an economies of scale thing. A small shop buying small quantities isn't going to be able to compete with Tesco getting in a hundred thousand units or whatever.
gentlegreen
I hummus, therefore I am ...
I only used the refills in the Deli once when they ran out of bagged bread flour and I decided to blacklist Allinsons.
I'm actually paying over the odds now for fancy seeded malted flour - but I use much less than I used to now...
I'm actually paying over the odds now for fancy seeded malted flour - but I use much less than I used to now...
Chilli.s
mingling jets and statuettes
Unilever plc, a pioneer in selling sachets, has privately fought to derail bans on the problematic packaging despite saying publicly it wants to "get rid of" them.
Not nearly as much as it wanted to get rich in the selling of them in the first place. Yes, we are fucked
Not nearly as much as it wanted to get rich in the selling of them in the first place. Yes, we are fucked
lazythursday
Averagely-Known Member
I am pretty sure that the whole plan for national consistency in recycling was scrapped by Sunak. This was the whole 'we've stopped you having to have seven bins' nonsense last year.
I really don't think refill shops / loose goods you weigh yourself is really the answer. It's just too inconvenient and it's a complete nightmare for those of us with allergies. I think what's needed are consistent interchangeable ranges of packaging that can be taken back and used again and again. Obvious place to start is with drinks.
Chilli.s
mingling jets and statuettes
This is it. it could be forced on supermarkets by law. But it wont
polly
Well-Known Member
Yeah - not quite scrapped but watered down. edit - I see Sunak and the press did use the word 'scrapped' but the gov has replaced the idea with some shittier version of it.
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
Another reason to boycott the fuckers.
Nothing to do with sachets, but a Unilever boycott is, for me, one of those rare things where I am actually making a sacrifice - Hellmann's and Marmite
