More Packaging Costs LESS?

Hopefully one of the upsides of a blog is that it legitimizes, or at least allows, the occasional rant. You’ve been warned.

One of my (many) sustainability pet peeves is packaging. Specifically, food packaging. It is so ubiquitous in our shopping experience that most of us don’t even notice it. But it has gotten totally out of control, and for proof, read on ….

Without question, there is a role for food packaging. It can make food last longer – which is a good thing because rotting food releases methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. And wasted food is also a major problem – research by the Australia Institute shows that Australians throw away over $5.2 billion worth of food every year. (Check out www.foodwise.com.au for more on food wastage.)

But imagine my horror when I looked closely today at the grocery store and realised that packaged fruit and veg actually cost LESS than the exact same loose fruit and veg. I couldn’t believe my eyes so I took photos!

On this day in April in Woolworths in Floreat I found the following:

  • Carrots (1kg), packaged in a non-recyclable plastic bag cost $1.84. The same carrots, loose, cost $1.94 a kilo. That’s 10 cents MORE for the unpackaged carrots.
  • Red onions (1kg), packaged in a non-recyclable plastic mesh bag cost $3.58. Same onions loose = $3.68. Again, 10 cents more for the loose ones.
  • Bananas (1kg) packaged in a non-recyclable plastic bag cost $3.78. Same bananas loose = $3.88. At least they’re consistent with the 10 cent premium for no packaging.
  • The real winner was Nadine potatoes. By the kilo loose, they were $2.98. However, a 2kg bag (again, plastic, non-recyclable) cost $4.78, or $2.30 a kilo – meaning a whopping 23% savings if you buy them in plastic!

Packaged 'nanas

Unpackaged 'nanas

This is just a sample. And don’t even start me on the lemons and mandarins packaged in non-recyclable polystyrene trays and then wrapped in non-recyclable cellophane. Call me crazy, but I think lemons and oranges are capable of looking after themselves.

This is just not acceptable. Each Australian generates approximately 200kg of packaging waste every year. About 1.9 million tonnes of this ends up in our landfills. And the things we put in landfill stay there for a very, very long time. After 30 years, 22% of organic waste is still there. Plastics can last 200 – 500 years before degrading. And we’re running out of landfill space.

C’mon Woolies, Do Better

The grocery stores must do better than this. Perth grocery prices are already the highest in the nation, so it’s hard to blame shoppers for choosing the least expensive option. But to make that option the worst for the environment with completely unnecessary packaging is illogical and wrong. If they must offer packaged options, then they need to work harder to make the packaging recyclable.

If anyone out there can explain why the packaged products are cheaper, I’d love to hear from you. In the meantime, please pay the extra 10 cents a kilo if you can.