I know this is considered heresy by many but the first thing to go should be plastic coffee pods.
Sent from my iPhone > On Jun 27, 2022, at 11:42 AM, Belinda Gingrich <belinda.gingr...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > At ‘my’ deli the butcher must also change gloves between each order. That’s > a lot of plastic too! > Belinda > >> On Jun 26, 2022, at 12:04 PM, Christopher Eliot <c...@chriseliot.com> wrote: >> >> I just read a BBC article on plastic waste, >> https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61551500 >> >> Much of this is due to food packaging, and I have long wondered about the >> way a typical deli counter works. We have been conditioned to ask for deli >> cheese and sliced meat expecting it to be cut at the moment and individually >> packaged in the amount and style we want. Typically a custom order at the >> deli counter is for one pound of product cut to a medium thickness and the >> individual choice is mostly just to feel good. >> >> I’ve watched the process and each stock item is individually wrapped in a >> large piece of plastic wrap. This is discarded each time. A sheet of plastic >> is placed on the scale for each order, which is then inserted into a plastic >> bag with the product. So three pieces of disposable plastic are required for >> each deli counter purchase. The process is done carefully and I am sure >> there are important sanitation and public health rules mandating a >> particular process. >> >> An alternative is to buy pre-sliced deli items. Often there is a display >> where pre-sliced packages can be picked up and taken. I have been >> conditioned to avoid this because it isn’t as “fresh” but honestly, it was >> probably sliced earlier in the day so there is no significant difference. >> If the store is organized it should be possible to prepare a number of >> packages of pre-sliced deli items using only one large piece of plastic wrap >> for the stock item, greatly reducing that waste. There is another sheet of >> plastic used to weigh your individual purchase, but I don’t need it. A >> single sheet could be used to weigh an entire batch of product, reducing >> that waste. >> >> There would be one plastic bag for each purchase, but only one weighing >> sheet and one stock wrapper for each batch of items. I calculate there would >> be a 50% reduction in waste if 4 packages are prepared at once, which might >> be optimal. Even if two packages are prepared together without re-wrapping >> the stock and using only a single sheet to weigh the product there would be >> a reduction of 33% in wasted plastic (4 total pieces of plastic vs 6.) >> >> If 10 packages are prepared at once, I see a 60% reduction in waste and an >> 63.33% reduction if 20 package are prepared at once. While processing more >> packages at once produces greater waste reductions, it might be hard for a >> deli to sell all of those packages in a reasonable amount of time. Achieving >> a 50% reduction in waste by preparing four packages at a time seems >> reasonable and beneficial. The comparison is 3 * N for individual orders vs >> N + 2 items of plastic when N packages are prepared at once. >> >> I don’t know if sanitation rules allow it to be done this way, but I see a >> potential to reduce the plastic waste in the deli department significantly, >> assuming people would buy pre-sliced orders and assuming the store was >> careful to reduce waste in the preparation of pre-sliced packages. Am I >> missing something or is this an opportunity to improve our use of resources? >> >> Christopher Eliot >> Lincoln >> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. >> Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. >> Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >> Change your subscription settings at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >> > > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >
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