Plastic plastic everywhere
I have been trying to be more conscious about the decisions I make for the last few years. One of the things I am trying is to watch my plastic consumption at the moment and it's hard here.
In India, they have banned plastic grocery bags, were in the process of trying to ban other single use plastics. We had a local organic store where everything was sourced from within India from certified organic farmers.. and none I repeat none of the fruit or veg was wrapped in plastic. They had a small selection of salad leaves which were in big plastic tubs. But you were encouraged to take what you needed from the tub in a paper bag. Berries came in cardboard and that was it. The owner was an amazing guy, he told me his goal originally was to create a zero-waste store. But this is almost impossible and with more reason in India. Dried goods have to be stored in airtight containers otherwise they will be infiltrated by the evil weevil. I tried a few times buying products which had been imported from the UK. Familiar porridge oat brands, or pasta brands, packaged in heavy-duty paper or cardboard. But without fail whenever I opened them I found I was not the first living being to get into the packet.
However, this hasn't stopped Indian businesses and entrepreneurs from trying. There were a few brands whose flours, beans and grains came in bags that looked like plastic but were not. They still took years to break down, but they did eventually break down.
I can't tell you how frustrating going into a supermarket here in the UK is after being in a country where they had been striving so hard to curb their use of plastic. I don't live near a big city so although I believe there are stores which do plastic-free, that has not been an option for us. And to be honest driving 30/40 miles to only drive back seems counterproductive. Anyway I walked into a large store yesterday I won't name it, they are all the same anyway in this respect. I walked into the vegetable isles and was met by the sight of shiny plastic as far as the eye could see. For some reason this annoyed me so much yesterday, I decided I wasn't going to buy any fruit or veg that came in plastic. I had before I got to the supermarket also decided I wanted us to start trying to eat organic again. Well, those two things are mutually exclusive. You cannot buy organic anything unless it's wrapped in plastic. So what did I buy, some carrots, bananas, spring onions and a sweet potato? To be fair to the store I could have bought a red or yellow pepper but I didn't want one. That was it, that was all I could buy in the vegetable section of quite a large store, which wasn't wrapped in plastic. I have to ask why do potatoes have to be in a plastic bag, why does celery, why do organic bananas and courgettes?. Something that will damage a courgette will not be stopped buys a plastic bag. Why do organic things have to be in plastic? As far as I am aware pesticides don't jump off of one carrot and wander over to pollute the others.
As you can imagine it was a strange food day yesterday. I will have to relent and go to buy some food wrapped in plastic probably today or tomorrow but I will be cross while I do it.
Is it just me who gets pissed off about this?
If anyone knows of a good plastic-free store in Central Scotland please let me know.
Kate x