Two weeks ago it was Del Monte bananas, last week it was QFC microwave ready potatoes, today it’s Trader Joes bell peppers!
Clearly, the plastic-wrapped peppers on the bottom are superior to the naked ones above. They’re also cheaper by about a quarter, encouraging people to go for the product that includes plastic wrap.
In other bad news, have you seen the fear-mongering web ads that the pro-plastic bag lobby has been running all over the place (including here)? The ads ask, “Is your bag safe?” and reference studies that show canvas bags collect bacteria if people never wash them (screenshot here). It’s completely hypocritical, setting up plastic bags as the “clean” option for shoppers, but maybe there’s some segment of the population that would rather keep the ocean polluted with plastic than launder their damn tote bags once in a while.
In actually good news, Pepsi is planning to switch to no-plastic bottles! According to their vice president, “The bottle is made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other materials. Ultimately, Pepsi plans to also use orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers from its food business.” That sounds like something a hippie living in an eco-friendly cob hut would suggest, so it’s cool to see a major corporation switch to non-petroleum based packaging on such a big scale.
$2.50 for 2 green peppers. if people only knew that you could Hot House peppers in LA 3 for $.99 at the .99cents store.
Wait, you mean if you never wash something bacteria can grow in it?! Shiiiiiitttt! If only there was some kind of machines that washed things…
(note to Mirk: web ad, not wed ad. Damn you, auto correct! Amirite?
Yea, TJ’S are notoriously wrap-happy. Check the chilled greens/veggie section. Shrink-wrapped cucumbers?
Trader Joe’s is awful about wrapping their produce. There was a time not long ago when you couldn’t buy unpackaged produce at TJ’s, but they’ve been ever so slowly changing. It’s still pretty ridiculous how much produce is encased in plastic there, like individual cucumbers or a few tomatoes on the vine. I shop at the one off Holgate, which is conveniently right next door to Limbo, so I hardly ever buy fruits and vegetables there anymore. The more I shop at TJ’s, the less it feels like the funky hip liberal grocery store and the more it just feels like Wal-Mart.
I’ve only ever bought produce at TJs out of desperation. It never looks good and there’s all that wasteful packaging.
And as to the other item: gee, it makes you wish there was some other material one could make a bottle out of…Something…washable and reusable…There’s just gotta be something like that somewhere…
@RB: If you’re talking about glass, it’s fucking HEAVY! The transportation costs for glass are through the roof. The perfect world situation is for people to stop drinking disgusting brown sugar water.
Graham: yeah, I’d go with that.
Well, do you mean beer too?
Wait, please be accurate, Pepsi is STILL making PLASTIC bottles! They are made from plant materials but the end product is still essentially the same. They’re not biodegradable, and if not recycled they’ll be sitting undecomposed in a landfill for hundreds of years. Yes, it’s great if they are not using petroleum as a source– well, IF they are using WASTE plant materials. If they are using corn then it’s an eco-losing proposition just like ethanol fuels. Pepsi is being a bit cagey about their actual source composition: they say “in the future” they “expect” to use wastes. Until they do I’m not gonna get all gushy about PepsiCo.