Bad packaging - let’s protest

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We are in a hard water area and I stopped using pods or liquid in plastic bottles a few years ago. Apart from anything else, e.g. the plastic boxes being an absolute bugger to,open! - pods gum up the machine with gunk, as I found when doing a 90 deg empty wash with just soda crystals. The amount of dirty grey foam that appeared was astonishing, and still more during a 2nd such wash.

I now use soda crystals with powder from a cardboard carton - no fabric conditioner, which apparently also caused gunk - and a lot less powder than I’d once have used. Laundry is fine.

We have never used shower gel, just bar soap.

I use a greyhound , otherwise known as “puppy prewash”

One that annoys me is the packs of yogurt in square containers. It is almost impossible to get the yogurt out of the corners with a spoon.I use a knife for the last bits.

This is an old thread. There are (now) many “refill” shops where you can take empty jars (Kilner are good) Tupperware type containers or bottles and refill them , paying only for the product. Great for dry goods, but also peanut butter, fruit juice, honey as well as cleaning products.

Reported old post too.

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Hetty58 I always put a few drops of vinegar in condiment bottles, then give a good shake to get the last out.
Har water area here too.

I did notice a huge reduction, in washing up liquid use, when I bought a glass bottle with pump dispenser. It looks nicer too.

I mostly use a laundry egg, though, (due to allergies) and that's really economical. The refills are cheap.

My pet hate is the ketchup/sauce/salad cream plastic bottle with cross-cut opening. You always squeeze too much out - then struggle to get the last drops!

You are right Quizzer - Herby teas come in boxes that would generally fit nearly twice as many in, Cereals in boxes with way more space than is required to "settle", tubs of creams with "false bottoms"... and the thing I hate most, deliveries from online retailers that use a box the size of a small car to deliver a corkscrew.

I’m sure they do Quizzer I always use much less shampoo than suggested. Never really thought about laundry tabs though. I like to cut down on packaging waste where I can, but have very sensitive skin due to an autoimmune condition. I’ve never found a shampoo bar that suits me. I buy a tea tree body wash that comes in a glass bottle and lasts ages as you only need a few drops on a sponge for an all over wash.

Thanks everyone for your comments.
I am not an idiot so I am obviously aware of the problems and I do buy and use the most economic products. I just think that the manufacturers deliberately package their products so that some buyers will use more than necessary.

Use solid shampoo and conditioner bars and laundry powder or liquid and your problems will be solved.

It is very easy to adjust how far you press the plunger on handcream etc. I have never used a "whole plunge" at one time. The same goes for shower gel and shampoo - usually half of what is suggested is enough. But why not change to bar soaps and shampoo which is much better for the environment, and handcream in a tube is much easier to control.

Of course manufacturers are going to try and make us use as much as they can - but most of us are clever enough to resist their sneaky ploys.

There is nothing new under the sun, is there?

My grandmothers and my mother turned various containers upside down to get the last of a product out of it, and opened salt boxes and sugar and coffee packets to get the last out of them. I do the same.

I have no idea if the story is true or not, so I shan't name the firm. but it is said that a famous supplier of mustard said in the 1930s that they made their profit from what people left on the plates and from what was left in the "empty" jars.

Probably not worth complaining about. Just checking the so-called empty containers is much easier and quicker.

Same here B9exchange.

We are in a desperately hard water area, so have to use two pods to get things clean. My beef is about the 'childproof' containers, they are dreadful to open, definitely pensioner proof as well!

If you live in a soft water area you need to buy your products in accordance. I buy powder for washing machine and dishwasher so I can put less in. No salt needed in dishwasher - on setting it up there was an option to put your water hardness in (you get it off the water board site). I use much less floor cleaner than instructed.

To be honest I think you are buying the wrong products!