I received a flyer from an organic food company. One of their selling points is that they keep packaging to a minimum. Sounds sensible. Less waste in the environment.
When you look into it though it isn’t quite that easy. According to the Advisory Committee on Packaging:
– 1.5 grams of plastic extends the shelf life of a cucumber by 11 days
– Selling grapes in trays or bags reduces in store waste by 20%
– Packing new potatoes reduces shop waste from 3% to 1%
So packaging is good, it reduces food waste in the environment.
If that confuses try googling “Plastic Packaging is Good for the Environment”. You will find a hornets’ nest of very strongly held and conflicting views. Accusations are flung, nobody is listening. Really quite nasty.
I have absolutely no idea what the answer is.
What I do know is that to optimise something, anything you need to:
1. Be clear what you are trying to optimise.
2. Look at the data.
3. Look at the whole system.
And most of all kill the emotion.
Photo by Jasmin Sessler on Unsplash
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