Totally Unnecessary Plastic Packaging

Many of us will have seen the episode of Blue Planet 2 which showed the disastrous effect plastic is having on our oceans.  It brought home to many people that the plastic we all handle every day is a HUGE problem and we really need to do something about it.  But for consumers it can be so hard when manufacturers seem to be INCREASING not decreasing the plastic packaging.  Take these examples I have found this week:

A Plastic Wrapped Sink Plunger

Why on earth does this rubber part of the plunger need to have a plastic sleeve around it? It is not a product that needs to be kept extra clean or protected from damage.  The packaging doesn't hold any product details or prices (the price was a small label stuck on the handle) nor enable the plunger to be hung from a rack.  But the worst thing about it all was I bought a plunger just a couple of months ago from the same supermarket and then, IT WAS NOT WRAPPED IN PLASTIC.  Sorry, I had to shout that.  This is NEW packaging. Why Why Why????

Apples or Tennis Balls?

When I was young tennis balls came loose from a big basket in the shop and so did apples.  Now you buy tennis balls in tubes - AND APPLES???  For goodness sake. Four apples in a semi-hard plastic tube.  REALLY???  Another terrible example of NEW and UNNECESSARY plastic packaging.

I have always been pleased to see that France uses much less plastic packaging than the UK but these are 2 examples of totally ridiculous and unnecessary plastic that have recently arrived on the shelves.  Come on France - you can do better than this.  I have posted the plunger on Instagram and tagged the shop where I saw them (Intermarché) but to date they have not responded.  I will now send an email.

It is also worth noting though that it is quite possible to greatly reduce plastic.  Easter eggs are traditionally one of the worst products for excessive packaging but look what I found in Lidl - 6 chocolate eggs, wrapped in foil in a cardboard box and seal.  And the sweets inside the eggs were loose.  ZERO plastic!

Have you any examples of excessive or "new" plastic packaging?   Do let me know in a comment.  You may also want to follow this Instagram account:  Pointless Packaging highlights the worst examples of totally unnecessary plastic packaging and works on shaming supermarkets into eliminating it.  Be prepared to be shocked.

You can do the same - take pictures of unnecessary plastic packaging and post it in social media, tagging the shop where you saw it.  Also email them.  There is only so much we as consumers can avoid if manufactures keep creating more plastic packaging and we need to show supermarkets that enough is enough.