Two weeks ago, I went to Costco to pick up a number of food items for a running race our family and friends were about to undertake. We needed massive quantities of nutritious and easily consumable items.
One product I planned to purchase was beef jerky. The store had four selections to choose from when it came to jerky in general. Two were eliminated quickly.
The third worked the best for us in terms of the quantity, but was packaged not only in an outer plastic, but each individual piece of jerky was also encased in plastic. I made an immediate decision and bought the other package.
Making a choice about a product based on packaging is not something I typically do. Yes, at times, I’ve weighed that as an option, and it influences me. In general, when I shop, I look to minimize any purchases of items packaged in plastic, and bring reusable canvas bags to put products in (not just at grocery stores, but also when shopping elsewhere).
It astounds and depresses me how much plastic is blowing around streets all over the world, congregating in waterways and trees. Given an option to do something to reduce plastic going into our collective wastestream worldwide, I choose not to add to the problem.
It also astounds and depresses me that more people don’t factor that consideration into their daily lives. It is not even remotely complicated to bring a reusable bag when you go into a store. You take it out of the back seat of your car, put it into your shopping cart, then use it to put any groceries or other items into it when you check out. You cannot use the excuse of, “It’s inconvenient,” or “It’s expensive.” It’s neither.
The only excuse you can use is, “I forgot.” That can happen. Until you make the reusable bag part of your regular routine, you’ll probably forget it multiple times. And, I can relate to being too lazy to go back to the car to get it. But, once you’ve worked it into your mental mindset, it’s unlikely you’ll forget to bring them (plural typically in terms of “bags” vs. “bag”), since you often need more than one reusable bag in the supermarket) into the store.
Choosing products in terms of reduced plastic packaging is a different story. You may have no options.
I remember reading an article a couple of years ago about a woman who NEVER bought a food item that had any packaging whatsoever. Quite frankly, I’m not sure how she did it. I could see if you solely existed on fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts and granola. You could bring all your own containers to fill up, and reuse them regularly. You have to assume she just didn’t buy yogurt, potato chips or frozen veggies.
When you have a choice to reduce or eliminate plastic packaging, exercise your choice. I did that at Costco. The decision was instantaneous. No hesitation. BAM, buy the jerky not encased in individual plastic bags.
What I found startling to myself was the rapidity of the decision. It was intuitive, cemented and the right thing to do to reduce plastic waste. And, there was an added bonus -- the lesser packaged jerky was cheaper.