This Peeler Did Not Need to Be Wrapped in So Much Plastic

[Demovictory9]

This Peeler Did Not Need to Be Wrapped in So Much Plastic
Amazon must become a leader in reducing single-use packaging.

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By Pamela L. Geller and Christopher Parmeter
Drs. Geller and Parmeter are associate professors at the University of Miami.


The year 2020 may have been heartbreaking for most humans, but it was a good one for Jeff Bezos and Amazon. His company’s worldwide sales grew 38 percent from 2019, and Amazon sold more than 1.5 billion products during the 2020 holiday season alone.


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And plastic. Lots and lots of plastic.

In 2019, Amazon used an estimated 465 million pounds of plastic packaging, according to the nonprofit environmental group Oceana. The group also estimated that up to 22 million pounds of Amazon’s plastic packaging waste ended up as trash in freshwater and marine ecosystems around the world. These numbers are likely to rise in 2021.


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The magnitude of plastic packaging that is used and casually discarded — air pillows, Bubble Wrap, shrink wrap, envelopes, bags — portends gloomy consequences.

These single-use items are primarily made from polyethylene, though vinyl is also used. In marine environments, this plastic waste can cause disease and death for coral, fish, seabirds and marine mammals. Plastic debris is often mistaken for food, and microplastics release chemical toxins as they degrade. Data suggests that plastics have infiltrated human food webs and placentas. These plastics have the potential to disrupt the endocrine system, which releases hormones into the bloodstream that help control growth and development during childhood, among many other important processes.

Certainly, some of the onus for plastic pollution should fall on consumers. Convenience is seductive. Amazon’s distribution network is vast and efficient. Its products are also numerous; the company sells its own goods and serves as a clearinghouse for many other businesses. According to a 2020 Amazon report, small- and medium-size businesses sold an average of 6,500 products per minute on the website in the 12 months through May 31.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/opinion/amazon-plastic-waste.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage

[gratuitous]

1. We ordered pick-up from Red Robin over the weekend

Wow, so much plastic! We won't be doing that again. Turkey burger sandwich and a avo-cobb-o salad. It was delicious as expected, but the packaging was way over the top.

[Demovictory9]

2. I order to go often.. I save the plastic dishes and reuse a few times

Asian restaurants have changed from the cardboard boxes to plastic containers with lids, I reuse.

But yes... SOOOO MUCH packaging.

[leftieNanner]

3. Agree about the take-out packaging

An additional problem we have in our community is that our recycler does not take clam shells - and those are found everywhere.

One local restaurant uses compostable material. Much better.

[Tree Lady]

4. After watching John Oliver's

Show on plastic I feel guilty buying anything sold in plastic but most foods come that way. I cut down as much as I can with canvas bags, glass containers to store. Fresh produce not in plastic.

[CrispyQ]

5. We used canvas shopping bags for decades.

We started back in the late 80s with a couple of heavy canvas bags for shopping. As they got worn we'd replace them. I bought real heavy ones so they'd last a long time. One year of pandemic curbside-pickup undid 30 years of carrying canvas. Often times there is only one item in a bag.

[murielm99]

6. Yes.

We are not allowed to use our canvas bags here at this time.

I ask for paper. I can reuse those bags.

I don't think the checkout people know how to pack groceries any more.

[Shrike47]

7. Neither do I, as I have been demonstrating for over a year now.

[CrispyQ]

9. "I don't think the checkout people know how to pack groceries any more."

Poor bagging is what drove me to self-checkout. The sackers would get really defensive when I complained about how they bagged my order. I watched them put canned goods on top of soft fruit or pack one bag so heavy you could hardly lift it, with your bread & cotton balls in the other bag.

I worked a part time grocery job during college back in the 70s & I spent half a day with a more experienced bagger showing me how to bag. (That was before plastic - lol) When I was promoted to checker we were sent to a day long class at company headquarters. By the time I left that job, checker training had been whittled down to 2 hours in the check stand with an experienced checker.

[murielm99]

10. What bugs me is the detergent and cleansers

placed in the same bag as the food. I just tell them to pack the cleaning products in plastic. It is not worth the hassle to argue with them. I ask them to put the eggs in plastic, too. I have had too many cracked eggs.

[Phentex]

11. This may sound stupid but...

do they train people how to bag anymore? I, too, have embraced self checkout for the same reason as you. Plus covid.

First the cashier would scan the bag of apples and then toss them down the counter to the bagger who would then drop them from 12 inches or more into whatever bag (mainly mine when they would accept them). The apples would bruise and my family would gripe and I'd use them for cooking.

Repeat with any produce. Also, add cans on top of produce. And make a bag so heavy I could barely lift it, while leaving me with 3 empty reusable bags.

I hated being THAT person but I finally had a cashier who laughed and would cradle the bag of apples like a baby and help get them safely into a bag. He was a nice guy. I'm not sure when he quit.

I do all self check out now.

[marble falls]

8. The illustration just shows one bag: rotated and shrunken and superimposed six times. Fake photo.