PAY FOR THE PRODUCT, NOT FOR THE PACKAGING
Over packaging of consumer goods can primarily be seen in single serving food products. Single-serve and miniaturized packaging is hot and getting hotter, for food and beverage as well as health and beauty products. Consumer lifestyles are driving the trend toward smaller packs, with numerous factors playing a role. For food and drinks, issues like convenience, dietary awareness, freshness and reducing food waste are core drivers.
On the other hand, single serving consumer goods that come under toiletries could be tagged as the culprits. Not to forget many accessories for computers and phones (for example- pen drives, memory cards, etc) where the packaging is almost 5 times the size of the actual product.
Many supermarkets sell fresh fruits and vegetables that are singularly wrapped in a thin film of plastic. Sometimes along with a Styrofoam plate. This plastic is usually not recycled because of its light weight. When asked, the suppliers say that the extra layer of plastic increases the life of the organic product from about a week to 10 days. This in turn controls the quality of the product and delivers it fresh to the consumer. Also, it helps in controlling food waste. Since, this extra packaging has it’s own benefits, we need to find a way around it. This can be done by cutting out the single packaging. For transportation and stocking, the suppliers can vacuum wrap a huge quantity in better plastic. After the produce reaches the supermarket, the consumers can pick fresh produce without the outer packaging.
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Companies and private sellers that deliver product through the mail often over-package, putting a pre-boxed item in a second box, and sometimes even a third one. This practice, also called as the “Russian doll” approach, is exceedingly wasteful. The suppliers do this to ensure safe transportation of the product. The way out of this is to use sustainable packing materials, rather than the traditional Styrofoam. There are numerous sustainable options, including packing materials made from corn starch or sorghum, which can be composted.
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