Plastic Packaging Peaques Ponderous Pontification
Last week, we got into a discussion with Anita Horan on Instagram regarding a picture she posted of herself, looking pretty ticked off, holding a package of shrink-wrapped celery.
Comments ranged from what might be considered unrealistic "first world" responses (plastic is poison, we never use plastic, etc) all the way over to "don't tell me how to live my life", but in more-or-less flattering and kind words, but one thing was clear- this is a hot-button topic that people who are passionate about are REALLY passionate about. While we may not be so ardent in our efforts to avoid plastic as to refuse food that may have come in contact with plastic, we are certainly sympathetic to the cause and ideals.
When we started on our journey, we were too busy trying to make a 2-year-vacant house livable for a family with a new baby to pay much attention to our environmental footprint. We didn't even recycle! Times have changed and we have grown, and these days, we try our best to live mindfully and purposefully, which means we reuse or recycle everything we can, and always think twice about purchases with excess packaging, especially packaging that cannot be used for anything else. I even feel guilty about packaging associated with my tea bags! This is why we struggled when it came time to purchase packaging material for our market stand: our customers expect to be able to see the food they purchase before they take it home, but we need an expedient way to display a measured amount of, for example, loose salad mix, keeping it fresh, sanitary, and crisp, and facilitating a rapid transaction for one or two people manning the stand on a busy Saturday morning. That's a tall order, and the most expedient and cost-effective way to do it was plastic produce bags on a roll. We justified this purchase with food miles- our gardens are less than 2 miles from the market- and we only used bags when we absolutely had to. Most of our produce is bunched (rubber bands) or displayed in balsa-wood berry baskets, which we dump into paper bags for our customers to take home (mushrooms store best in the fridge in paper bags). Produce that needs protection (like salad greens) stay in plastic bags, and we always try to subtly steer our customers toward keeping their unbagged produce loose while still letting them know we can bag it up for them.
At our little market, some customers started noticing and commenting positively on our conservative use of plastic. We spoke frankly with them about why we do what we do and how we struggle with the single-use plastic we are currently using.
Here's where we think we've landed:
1. We already have these rolled bags, so we are going to use them up, as slowly as possible.
2. We will replace the produce bags with compost-able produce bags, if we can find an allergy-friendly option that meets our market criteria.
3. We are considering offering our customers a discount at the market stand if they post a picture of themselves and their compost heap and tag our social media in the photo.
That third point is the key. Sending our produce out in compost-able bags does little good if those bags wind up in a tied-up trash bag headed for the dump. The marketing incentive should help to create a conversation around both single-use plastics and composting, and we look forward to whatever part we can play in that conversation.
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| https://www.instagram.com/p/BRFktGuh3Hy/ |
When we started on our journey, we were too busy trying to make a 2-year-vacant house livable for a family with a new baby to pay much attention to our environmental footprint. We didn't even recycle! Times have changed and we have grown, and these days, we try our best to live mindfully and purposefully, which means we reuse or recycle everything we can, and always think twice about purchases with excess packaging, especially packaging that cannot be used for anything else. I even feel guilty about packaging associated with my tea bags! This is why we struggled when it came time to purchase packaging material for our market stand: our customers expect to be able to see the food they purchase before they take it home, but we need an expedient way to display a measured amount of, for example, loose salad mix, keeping it fresh, sanitary, and crisp, and facilitating a rapid transaction for one or two people manning the stand on a busy Saturday morning. That's a tall order, and the most expedient and cost-effective way to do it was plastic produce bags on a roll. We justified this purchase with food miles- our gardens are less than 2 miles from the market- and we only used bags when we absolutely had to. Most of our produce is bunched (rubber bands) or displayed in balsa-wood berry baskets, which we dump into paper bags for our customers to take home (mushrooms store best in the fridge in paper bags). Produce that needs protection (like salad greens) stay in plastic bags, and we always try to subtly steer our customers toward keeping their unbagged produce loose while still letting them know we can bag it up for them.
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| Bunched and Bagged Produce |
At our little market, some customers started noticing and commenting positively on our conservative use of plastic. We spoke frankly with them about why we do what we do and how we struggle with the single-use plastic we are currently using.
Here's where we think we've landed:
1. We already have these rolled bags, so we are going to use them up, as slowly as possible.
2. We will replace the produce bags with compost-able produce bags, if we can find an allergy-friendly option that meets our market criteria.
3. We are considering offering our customers a discount at the market stand if they post a picture of themselves and their compost heap and tag our social media in the photo.
That third point is the key. Sending our produce out in compost-able bags does little good if those bags wind up in a tied-up trash bag headed for the dump. The marketing incentive should help to create a conversation around both single-use plastics and composting, and we look forward to whatever part we can play in that conversation.
Oh I am so thrilled to be part of your new blog post. Thank you! I will share this on my facebook page @anita.the.writer . My thoughts about your dilemma are, can you store your green leafed produced you normally bag, into a clear sealed container, and then have some in a clear glass container/jar for the customers to see the quality. Then when they order it, grab how much you think is a serving size from the large container and put it either in your paper bag, or your customer’s own container. Another idea to reduce the amount of plastic is by having a few of the prepacked bags you have already, but when the customer purchases it, empty the leafy vegies into paper bag and refill the plastic bag for display. You may only use a few plastic bags in one day, instead of many times that amount, (of course for hygiene, you would use fresh bags for each new market day.) And you could encourage customers to bring their own container and carry bag. Perhaps a little reward for them. You could display a sign saying "Bring your own re-usable containers and carry bag for an extra big smile from us" or "bring your own re-usable container/bag and you will receive a bonus item from our 'save the environment basket’" in which you have a selection of small in season produce that would be inexpensive for you. Just a couple of thoughts. Love so much that you are putting so much effort into this. Kind Regards. Anita Horan
ReplyDeleteHi Anita. Thanks for giving your voice to the ocean and to so many folks who are concerned about this issue, and for addressing the realities and compromises we all face as we move through modern life with grace and honesty.
DeleteWe see our market stand as outreach. We want to have as much opportunity to answer questions and help our customers as possible. In order to do so, we measure as much of our produce as possible before we go to market, and salads are a big "time killer." When we are getting ready, we spend a couple hours on salad mix alone (that's washing and bagging, but still...)
Ultimately, we are not about moving product, but it is what puts us in front of these curious customers, and even with prepacking salad mixes, we are still sometimes pulled away from conversations by the sheer pace of a busy Saturday morning. I need a solution that does not interfere with that primary focus.
The corn based compost-able bags are compelling, but food allergies are what got us involved in the real food movement in the first place, and although corn allergies are not as prevalent as nut or dairy allergies, they are still serious and moving on that feels something like a betrayal.
To your point with carry bags, here is where the Downtown Woodstock market excels: EVERYONE brings their own carry bags! We don't even offer t-shirt bags, so a customer doesn't have a carry bag to put their groceries in, we literally do not have a solution for them. Last year was our first year at this market, but we never had a problem. Since we always ask if that bunch of turnips could go straight in their carry bag, most of our bunched goods went home that way- unbagged.
I know we are doing better than most, but I want us to do better than that. Maybe I can't have it all, and maybe that's just part of being a modern human.
So helpfull for my project work n thsnks a lot for the effort..
ReplyDelete