Why buying plastic-free groceries is so hard (Marketplace)

Why in the world would you wrap a coconut?

All packaging should be bio-degradable, or illegal.

AhAh, who else cringed at the sight of the individually-wrapped produce?!

Why are companies allowed to make a product no one knows how to deal with later?

FRUITS AND VEG ALREADY COME WITH PACKAGING, THE SKIN! THATS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE SKIN OR SHELL

What exactly was the point of making the zero-waste family switch back to using plastic? They live in downtown Toronto and are obviously very committed to not buying anything in plastic and generating plastic waste, and they're well aware of the challenges. It would have been more effective if you got a few different families (with children/ without children/ young professionals/ students/ older generations) to compare, if you needed the comparison.

The plastic prepackaged stuff being cheaper than the unpackaged bulk items is a significant part of the problem. If the unpackaged items would be cheaper, more people would buy them.

I contacted my local grocery store and asked them to reduce plastic packaging even on just produce, and they say it's for health and sanitary reasons. You know what also isn't healthy? Eating a coat hanger's worth of plastic every month because of all this waste penetrating our ecosystems and bodies.

14:30 r u telling me we have a plastic look alike that is biodegradable and we still use regular plastic??!!!?!!!

I will say the single cucumber wrapped in plastic always confused the hell out of me. When next to it the other cucumbers have no wrapping.

I REMEMBER THE 1960's brown paper was used for tons of things. Meat and fish were wrapped in paper. At the movies, a sheet of paper was made into a funnel and filled with peanuts or popcorn. Candy was in brown paper bags. Even today brown paper bags are used a lot, but people today have been conditioned to use plastic. Paper gets wet it begins the biodegradable process, becoming fertilizer, feeding other organisms. When they changed from paper to plastic it was all about the money as usual. But AS USUAL, the few profited while the planet itself payed the price.

This amount of plastic is giving me anxiety

I think part of the problem is, us north Americans have been led to believe that plastic = food safety. Plastic = freshness. We buy huge quantities of food, and this also contributes to food waste. I've made my own cloth and mesh bags for shopping and try not to buy packaged stuff. We moved from a 1600sq ft home to an 88sq ft camper. We don't have space for heavy packaging and garbage. We buy what we know we can eat in a few days because our fridge is small. We try to find places we can bring our own containers for pasta, spices, cereal etc. We already no means wealthy. It's just a conscious effort.

Sis looked mad gleeful when she said she delisted products, CANCELED!! We need more ppl like this lady

When I was a young kid in the 60s, there was a produce clerk who'd weigh your purchase in a paper bag and mark the price in red grease pencil. This predated cashiers weighing produce in plastic. Now stores have gone plastic crazy. I enjoy health food stores that encourage bringing your own container--it's reminiscent of a saner time.

"You're going to be delisted" LOVE IT. It's so simple. Start demanding no plastic from these companies.

Coconut in a plastic wrap is a complete joke.

A real comparison would be two families with the same income doing this. Because I can guarantee you, the zero waste family is wealthier. You can't expect people to change the way they live if its going to cost 2-3 times more. Its NOT feasible for many families, so until the eco friendly stuff comes down in price, there won't be any change.

"I avoid single use plastics at all costs." That's the thing. The huge majority of people can't afford those costs.

Simple: everyone can't do everything but everyone can do something. I can't avoid everything in plastic due to were I live but I can avoid some off it