Have you ever stopped buying something because of its packaging?
Following on from the discussion we had the other week about whether people would prefer less packaging or more packaging that was easier to reuse/recycle, I’ve been wondering: have you ever stopped buying something because of its packaging?
One of the purposes of packaging is to attract us to buy the product over all the other options on the shelf – but has a company’s packaging decision actually turned you away from the item?
Perhaps they use shrink wrap plastic unnecessarily, or perhaps they swapped from something easily recyclable to something almost impossible to recycle (eg Kitkat moving from foil & paper to shiny plastic), or perhaps it was like the joint of beef which is potentially going to cost Sainsburys a lot of money next month – just too much of everything.
What’s put you off?
I have both stopped buying and refused buying in the first place (even stuff we needed) because of packaging.
Milk is one example – I have changed brand two or three times lately, because they’d begun adding plastic caps to the (already easily openable) cartons.
Crisps is another example – when the favourite brand suddenly began putting ten little bags of crisps inside their big bags instead of only the crisps, I stopped buying them.
I refuse to buy anything that’s portion packed. I also refuse to buy frozen pizza that’s wrapped in both plastic AND cardboard, and same with cereals. I never buy soft drinks in cans or small bottles, only 1,5 or 2 litres.
I saw an advert on TV last night for Kenko coffee. They claim to have reduced packaging by 95% but, from what they showed in the ad, they have simply reduced production of (recyclable) glass jars and started selling the coffee in (presumably unrecyclable) plastic pouches. So landfill continues to grow….
Supermarkets seem only to be interested in car drivers. When I walked to the supermarket I was restricted in the volume of stuff I could buy on each trip by the size and weight of the rucksack I could carry.
Now that I cycle weight isn’t much of a problem, but everything has to fit in the panniers so I often choose not to buy things which have too much bulky packaging – they just won’t fit!
I’ve stopped (or greatly reduced) buying many things because of all their packaging — plastic-wrapped sweets, coffee and tea mixes that come in sachets, potato chips and even liquid soap — because it’s more sustainable and less wasteful to buy phosphate-free soap bars that come in paper packaging. Perhaps instead of just taking individual action, we should also lobby manufacturers to find sustainable alternatives to the packaging they are currently using for their products.
I have stopped buying yoghurt because of the plastic cups, instead I started eating fruit when I’m hungry at work.