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The little shop that could
With our love of plastic bags at an end, it's time to tackle the shrink-wrapped coconut and mushrooms sold in plastic punnetts. Sarah Madison visits one shop that's done away with packaging all together.
One of the reasons I don't shop in supermarkets anymore is because of the ridiculous amount of packaging they insist on wrapping everything in. Ready meals, pizzas and confectionary come swathed in layers of cardboard and plastic, while pre-washed and ready-chopped fruit and veg are usually enveloped in cellophane or placed in shrink-wrapped containers.
It's complete madness, of course, and the effect on the environment of all the waste it generates isn't too clever either. Whoever came up with the idea of shrink-wrapping a coconut or placing a bunch of bananas in a see-through plastic bag must be stark-raving bonkers, if you ask me.
Even worse, it's not the supermarkets that end up paying for all that extra packaging – it's you and me. Shoppers unwittingly spend a sixth or more of their food budget on unwanted or
unnecessary packaging and it's time we put a stop to it once and for all.
Fortunately, the tide is turning. Having been weaned off plastic bags, consumers are beginning to question the excessive amounts of packaging our food comes in and putting pressure on supermarkets to adopt a more sustainable approach. In fact, one shop has gone further than most, having done away with almost all its packaging and insisting customers provide their own bottles, jars and containers to fill up with everything from fresh organic fruits and vegetables to olive oil, dried fruits and eco friendly detergent.
Unpackaged is a new organic wholefood store, located in north London, and it's been doing a roaring trade since it opened for business a year ago. It sells dried goods such as cereals, grains and rice in big open bins in the centre of the store, beside a fresh fruit and veg display, loose toilet rolls (recycled ones, of course), freshly-baked bread, handmade chocolates in big glass jars and special counters where you can pour out your own detergents and fruit juices.
Catherine Conway, the owner of Unpackaged, set up shop because, in her own words, she "got fed up with throwing away so much packaging" and decided to do something about it. As Catherine explains: "Everything we sell is in reusable containers or if people bring their own we give them a discount on the price.
Unnecessary packaging is an appalling waste of money and resources and only ends up in landfill anyway. You end up paying for the packaging twice over – once when you buy the product and then a second time to dispose of it through your Council Tax."
She's not wrong. In fact, for every 50 we spend on food in the UK, 8 goes towards paying for the extravagant packaging it comes in.
Unfortunately, not everyone lives near a shop like Unpackaged or a traditional green grocer, farmer's shop or market. Still, we can all do our bit by buying our fruit and veg loose and using refillable containers whenever possible. Even better, make a point of complaining to supermarket managers about the packaging they use and write to manufacturers letting them know how you feel. If enough people complain, a change for the better is inevitable.
Here's to a package-free 2009.
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Weather for Bakewell
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light sleet showers
Temperature: -0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
