plastic bags

I always take off any plastic wrapping from say cucumbers or broccoli as soon as i get home. I'm sure some horrible stuff leaks from the plastic into the food chain. I am not of a scientific bent and I have limited, if any, knowledge of such things. I feel like my grannie, she'd have removed the plastic I feel sure.

gillybob, I'd meant paper bags to put your apples in, then the various items into your heavy woven bag for life, not those big paper sacks they use in the USA.
I always bought at our local green grocer (shop closed) or the market but found the market veg and fruit had a very short shelf line once I got it home.

I buy all fruit, salad and vegetables from our market, where nothing is wrapped in plastic and they still use paper bags.
Supermarket fresh foods are pre-packed in plastic to increase their shelf-life. Cucumbers last twice as long when plastic-coated, someone on the radio said.

Paper bags are all very well and good if you only have a couple of light items or are loading them straight into he boot of a car. I think we sometimes forget that many people have to use public transport (or walk) to and from shopping trips. Paper bags would be useless as they cannot take the weight that a plastic bag can. I use those heavy duty, woven "bags for life" but do occasionally forget to take one with me.

I totally agree about food packaging being too much, but I also think that clothing shops have just jumped on the band wagon to save money on bags. Even those shops who used to give fully recyclable paper carrier bags have stopped doing so in many cases.

If you've paid a lot for a new item of clothing then having it presented nicely to you to carry home is part of the pleasure of the purchase.

I bought a jumper in John Lewis and said no to the plastic bag, but none the less it was folded and wrapped in tissue. However, a satin nightdress in another department store was scrunched-up and thrust at me. That disinterested shop assistant soured my treat to myself and the nightdress went back a few days later.

One of the problems is the growth in packaging companies, money to be made and those places will be reluctant to stop production. I accept the reasons supermarkets cling wrap stuff in order to protect them from damage as they're thrown about in trucks and by staff.
But - I absolutely agree, we should not use plastic. It's killing animals and sea life, it isn't biodegradable and I begin to feel it will suffocate us all.
Revert to paper and cardboard would be a start.
I try no to buy fresh veg or fruit that is prepacked and from now, will return any packaging to the supermarket as suggested above. If we all did that, I bet the supermarkets would soon pressurise their suppliers

There is still a lot of plastic packaging labelled "cannot be recycled" - why can't manufacturers get their acts together to at least make all this packaging recyclable? Cost, I suppose.

We had a couple of Tesco deliveries when we were both struggling with The Cough. I ticked the box that said 'No Bags' but still had many items delivered in pinky coloured plastic bags - especially bottles of wine which were individually wrapped!!

When I pointed this out to the delivery man he said, 'Oh those aren't our real bags. We always use those for deliveries. You haven't been charged.'

'But I don't want any plastic bags,' said I.

'Just give them back to me then and we'll get rid of them for you'

It was awful to see how many plastic bags were recovered from the stomach of a dead beached whale recently. I always take my bags with me and have being doing this long before the imposed charge was implemented. We buy bags for life so when they become torn we exchange them at the supermarket. Yes I agree Kitty Lester, I don't bag my loose bananas or broccoli, or carrots, parsnips or leeks Tomatoes I do though, if they aren't pre packaged.

I live just across a track from the beach in a beautiful part of South West Scotland and walk my dog there. It is hard to believe the amount of plastic that comes in with the the tide,milk containers are the worst offenders. Most of us who use the beach regularly pick up the offending articles and put them in the bin. After a strong wind the bushes were 'decorated' with plastic bags. Where does it all come from? I can't believe there are so many people who would deliberately put their waste in the sea.

I like that idea, felice.

I was just thinking that something else one could do if one felt strongly enough about it would be to unwrap your overwrapped stuff and leave the plastic at the supermarket.

With all the different coloured bins, boxes and bags that Councils are giving out these days, rubbish should be recycled or incinerated responsibly, who on earth dumps plastic bags in the sea ?
Didn't read the article, but that's appalling!

I was just reading our local news and it appears that here supermarkets are obliged to take back used plastic packaging.
The Environment Minister has started a campaign to get people to return it to the shops where it was bought.
The Flemish are big on re-cycling so it will be interesting to see how it goes.

are

I think supermarket shopping is what has increased plastic wrapping and bagging. It increases speed of picking and checking out. Think about the old days of greengrocers where things were hand picked and put in paper bags (which aren't a problem because paper composts easily). It's great but it takes time.

Banana skins are edible. Just saying. I buy bananas loose.

Broccoli florets are break easily. I think that's why some distributors wrap (what my father called a "broccoli forest") in cling wrap. I'm not excusing, just offering an explanation.

Don't eat much cucumber but maybe plastic covering is for similar protection of the skin.

I haven't found it impossible to buy loose vegetables and fruit. Co-op and Waitrose have bagged and loose. Maybe those of you who have found it impossible need to try a different supermarket/shop?

Re women's blouses re men's shirts: blouses vary a great deal in style so people want to see them. Shirts are pretty standard in design so you still know what you're getting even when they're packeted. Again, just saying. All this stuff people are objecting to is not completely irrational behaviour even if we think it undesirable or unnecessary.

Yes so sad, we can do our bit by reusing bags and recycling responsibly but it's the manufacturers and supermarkets, fast food and coffee shops who should be doing more.

???

I always weigh my bananas and stick the price label straight on one of them. I do the same with any other loose fruit and veg I buy.

It baffles me why people put bananas in plastic bags in the supermarket. I feel tempted to ask them if they eat the skins but have never dared up to now!

Our waste disposal system in East Cheshire can recycle all plastic packaging and mine goes straight into the recycling bin.

Maybe if we ALL unwrapped things lke shirts in the store...would that make the store owners/manufacturers get the message? ?????

Regarding unnecessary packaging. Bought DH two shirts yesterday. If I buy a blouse it comes on a hanger, but these shirts were
a - in plastic bags
b - they were then folded round a large piece of card
c - there was a piece of hard plastic under the collars
d - there was then a plastic clip holding the cuffs in place. All in my opinion totally unnecessary, and all of that packaging had to be thrown away. Why do they still do it??

Cucumbers tightly wrapped in plastic....

?gettingonabit

I agree about the packaging, and don't really understand why the powers-that-be are slow in doing something about it.

Why can't packaging simply be made biodegradeable? Or of paper?

Individual stalks of brocolli wraped in cling film.
Why ??