How I would like to make Plastic Free July obsolete

At the beginning of this month I wrote about how my effort to participate in Plastic Free July turned into a defeated surrender. To be clear, I am not giving up on trying to eliminate single use plastics. Instead, I am challenging the notion that individuals should work their butts off to avoid plastics – especially when it comes to buying food. The far better solution is for grocery stores, food manufacturers, and regulators to do the heavy lifting in solving the plastics problem. So to follow up my earlier post, let’s look at some great innovations in plastic free packaging.

(want to go straight to the examples? You can download a summary with links to all these examples and jump straight to the meaty stuff)

Here’s what’s wrong with plastic-free grocery shopping:

Last week I shared my critiques of why individual action is an unrealistic solution, especially with all the hoops a person must jump through to pull off grocery shopping without purchasing any plastic. Here is a recap:

• It requires too much extra work (buy in bulk, cook from scratch, forget convenience)
  
  
• It is not mainstream-adoptable. (assumes you have extra time, flexible schedule, and requires dietary adaptation)
  
  
• It ignores where the responsibility should be. (burdens individuals instead of fixing the system)
  
  

I still think Plastic Free July is important, and helpful

Since I’m critiquing Plastic Free July a lot, I also want to pause and point out what this initiative is great at:

• Raising awareness that single use plastics are a problem
  
  
• Creating consumer demand for plastic free alternatives
  
  
• Getting a lot of people to make plastic-free swaps that are easy (there are plenty of them. I’ve done a lot and I’m planning to do more. My gripes really focus on plastic-free grocery shopping)
  
  

If the world had more plastic free packaging, Plastic Free July might just become a cinch to do and convert thousands more people every year. I say that is a vision worth fighting for.

So, what is plastic good for?

Plastics are great at:

• Keeping foods fresh longer and reducing food waste
  
  
• Providing lightweight packaging for less climate impact from shipping (less weight = less engine load = less carbon dioxide released)
  
  
• Decreasing the size of the packaging for more efficient shipping (less volume = fits in fewer trucks = less carbon dioxide released)
  
  
• Being inexpensive, keeping food costs lower
  
  

More things plastics are great at:

• Pollution the oceans. Unfortunately, plastics also take ages to biodegrade in a landfill and far too often wind up in waterways instead. That’s how we wound up with the Pacific Garbage Patch (technically a few different patches, which doesn’t make it better).
  
  
• Damaging our health. Plastics also leach dangerous chemicals into our food and wreak havoc on our health. Remember the BPA ban? Its replacements may not be any better.
  
  
• Populating landfills. Plastics are also trickier to recycle, often because they are combinations of multiple types of plastic and also plastic mixed with other materials. On top of that, many forms of recyclable plastics wind up in landfill or are incinerated even when we try to recycle them.
  
  
• Supporting oil companies. Plastics are made from fossil fuels, so using them supports fossil fuel companies. Not only that, but we have fossil fuel companies to thank for making plastics so prolific in the first place by convincing everybody to use them. These companies are also betting on plastics to keep them in business as the climate crisis drives reductions elsewhere.
  
  
• Contributing to climate change. That fossil fuel connection means making them also releases carbon dioxide. I had assumed their carbon footprint wasn’t that big, but apparently it’s not only significant but growing to an alarming level.
  
  

So let’s talk about what I would love to see instead.

In my previous post, I mentioned three criteria for better plastic free food packaging.

• Keep convenience. Long term solutions that let people continue to enjoy single-serve portion sizes and pre-cooked options.
  
  
• Lead with innovation. The right solutions integrate new innovations and clever service models to deliver convenient, delicious, healthy food.
  
  
• Make it affordable. Far too many sustainable options charge a premium that makes them inaccessible to most people. The right solutions are scalable and work for all income levels.

I would also like to add one new criteria for plastic free packaging:

• End of life convenience. We shouldn’t just prioritize convenience at the buying and consuming end, but also consider how simple and painless it is to properly part with your packaging when you are done using it. This means easy to clean, no mixed materials to separate (I am so sick of cutting paper labels off of plastic bags or peeling paper off of plastic caps so they can be recycled!) and an easily understood disposal process.

The world is already full of better solutions.

I am definitely not the first to become aware of the plastics packaging problem. There are a ton of great companies out there creating innovative new plastic free packaging solutions. So let’s look at 7 cool ways food packaging could be improved to kick plastics out of our grocery stores and reserve them for worthwhile durable goods that stay out of our oceans.

01 New and improved plastic

There are some really cool plant-based plastics out there, ranging from super-compostable and even edible options to some that are less ideal from an end-of-life perspective but great for versatility and scalability, which are key if we want to really kick single-use plastics to the curb.

(If you are loving one of these examples and want to learn more, you can download the pdf with links to all of my sources)

What’s great about these options:

• They can do almost all the same things plastics can (minus the killing sea life and poisoning humans part!)
• It makes for a very simple swap in suppliers for food manufacturers to switch
• Some of them have really cool innovations behind their technology

How they could be better:

• It’s hard to tell you’re not buying regular plastics. Some special labeling or universal coding system would be a huge help here.
• Plant sources for some materials may be from problematic agricultural setups
• Some of these solutions still incorporate fossil-fuel based plastics
• Many of these won’t end up being composted and still wind up in a landfill

02 Beyond plastics

Food-based packaging solutions can reduce food waste and provide innovative new packaging concepts. I discovered some really cool solutions, like the way Ikea grows their mushroom-based protective material for shipping bottles and other breakables. I also love how some of these are using the byproducts (potential food waste) of the product they are helping to package.

What’s great about these options:

• Utilize food waste rather than problematic agricultural products
• All of these are completely compostable
• They eliminate concerns about toxic products leeching into food
• They really stand out on shelves as visible improvements over known defaults

How they could be better:

• It’s unclear how scalable many of these solutions are
• Many of these may be applicable for only niche product types

03 Do more with less

Simply minimizing the volume of material required can improve packaging footprints. By paring down excessive or unnecessary packaging – in addition to switching away from plastics, we can make some tremendous improvements.

What’s great about these options:

• Reducing packaging volume is a simple place to start, which could make it approachable for manufacturers
• Reducing materials also reduces cost
• Because of lower cost, these are likely to remain affordable for everyone

How they could be better:

• Reducing material alone may not be enough – especially if there is still plastic involved.
• Done without care, the result may be a product that just seems cheap and isn’t well considered

04 The power of paper

New paper-based innovations allow paper to become a standalone packaging option, reducing or eliminating the need for adhered plastic film. Along with classic metal and glass containers, paper solutions deserve a major comeback.

What’s great about these options:

• Innovations with paper packaging eliminate the need for plastic laminate on paper
• Improves recyleability
• Visually distinct from plastic, so easy to recognize in the store
• Maintains convenience for prepared foods

How they could be better:

• Not all of these are addressing the sourcing of their paper material
• Sourcing these from recycled and sustainably harvested materials could make them even better
• Some of these solutions still rely on plastic lining

05 Purist packaging

Simplifying packaging to avoid mixed materials improves recyclability and promotes closed loop systems. By making an entire package out of the same material, recyclability increases and the ease of disposal is greatly improved. This can be applied to plastic products, but ultimately the best scenario is to pull this off with plastic replacements.

What’s great about these options:

• Improves recylability across the board
• simplifies the waste disposal process because less sorting is required
• Moves us closer to a closed loop process for packaging

How they could be better:

• One of these options is still plastic, if it could be plant based and still closed loop recyclable that would be a huge win
• Some types of food are harder to package in a single non-plastic material, that may be the next nut to crack

06 Packaging with a purpose

Instead of packaging going straight into the waste stream, it can have a second life as a useful object. I’ve picked out some particularly creative examples below of packaging that does more than just hold your stuff, but this could really be as simple as a reusable jar. Making sure the label comes off easily and it’s appealing enough to hang onto is all it takes to give packaging a new purpose. At our house we’ve saved loads of empty jam jars – with a cute shape and labels that are a cinch to remove – and we’ve been using them as glasses since 2018.

What’s great about these options:

• These are lovely examples of innovation that add to the product experience
• They provide extra motivation to choose a more sustainable package
• They demonstrate how appealing and stylish eco-friendly packaging can be

How they could be better:

• Enclosed packaging may lose out when placed next to packages that let you see the food inside
• The extra features may not be the right fit for all types of groceries, so this may be limited to a few select products

07 Packaging as a service

Finally, the ultimate zero-waste packaging solution is fully reusable packaging. In zero waste grocery stores, which are popping up all over the place, you typically bring your own jars, bags, or other containers and fill them up from bulk containers. This is also doable at some major supermarkets, but some make it easier than others to use your own container. I’ve definitely seen the capability at my local Whole Foods market, but when I’ve tried using their scale to tare my container I couldn’t figure out how to work it and I gave up.

The reason I’ve labeled this opportunity area as a service is because there is huge room for improvement in making reusable containers as convenient as conventional packaging. This means removing the extra effort required by the shopper to use reusable containers. One of the best examples I’ve seen is the Loop service, which is perfect at making reusable containers super easy to use (their service isn’t available in Seattle yet, so I’ll have to wait to try it out).

I also love the model where you can buy bottled milk and dairy at the store, and then return the empty bottles for a refund. In Seattle, I’ve seen this with Twinbrook Creamery and one of our local upscale markets has this for in-house prepared meals in their deli section. You can buy a little ramekin of quiche, for instance, and then bring back the dish for a refund. As lovely as these options are, they tend to be pricier than alternatives so they fall short on my affordability criteria.

For the store refund models, I would also love to see stores improve the return process for empties. Right now you keep it in your cart with your groceries and get the refund when you check out. This is find if you just have a bottle or two, but becomes problematic if you want to scale this idea to more products. I envision a return station as you enter the store, where you drop off the containers you’re returning and swipe or scan to identify your store account and get refunded without waiting around for someone to inventory your empties.

What’s great about these options:

• They totally eliminate the problem of dealing with waste
• Customers get to enjoy more durable, high quality packaging
• It removes the step of requiring containers to be cleaned out
• Helps maintain convenience and ready-to-eat food options without the plastic waste
• Creates an opportunity for businesses to foster brand loyalty by becoming a member or investing in the ecosystem

How they could be better:

• There is a trade-off because reusable containers are much more carbon-intensive to produce, so they need to be reused a lot to be worth it.
• For zero-waste and bulk shopping, it requires a bit of extra effort from the customers
• The price point for fancier service models may be too exclusive
• I would love to see a bigger ecosystem that lets you get all your groceries from one place with all reusable packaging.
• Making the return/swap system simpler at grocery stores would be a big improvement

So what’s stopping us?

So, if all these great plastic free packaging solutions exist, then what’s stopping us from buying all these awesome options in the store instead of the same old plastic-wrapped everything? Here are my speculations.

• Consumer voice. companies seriously care what we think, because they live and die by tiny decisions we don’t really think that much about (which is why they work so hard to influence our decisions). vocalizing our preference for plastic-free and voting with our dollars can make a big difference.
  
  
• Cost. I suspect many companies stick with their familiar plastic options because it is more cost effective than greener alternatives. This could be addressed if regulations reflected the environmental cost of wrecking the planet in the cost of materials (aka carbon pricing)
  
  
• Scalability. Many of these new plastic free innovations may be produced at a very low volume (and in some cases are still works in progress) and just aren’t ready to be produced at a mass market scale.
  
  
• Inertia. Companies that are making plenty of money with their product packaged as usual may not have an incentive to try to change. This points us right back to the top of this list, where consumers making their voices heard can influence companies toward a better direction.
  

Also, we have one more problem.

As I contemplate all of these great plastic free packaging innovations as alternatives to the status quo, I realize that to make the best impact another major problem needs to be addressed. All this effort could be foiled if consumers fail to change the way they dispose of their waste.

In my household I go to a lot of trouble to clean, sort, sometimes disassemble, and collect different types of waste. My household is pretty extreme compared to the norm. We have curbside recycling, plus extra recycling categories collected by Ridwell. On top of that, we have curbside compost plus backyard compostable food scraps. And, of course, we also collect recycling in our bathrooms as well as the kitchen so all our toilet paper rolls (and the paper wrappers from our sustainable bamboo toilet paper) don’t wind up in the trash. We also still have trash, which goes to a landfill.

My point here is that I barely have my husband on board with all this sorting and cleaning and waste disposal work. I can’t imagine getting a critical mass of households all over the country to follow suit. If we are going to improve the way we handle waste, we need to make it more convenient to dispose of things. We need universal composting and minimal effort recycling. I personally think composting is a terrific option because you don’t have to clean out all your food packaging if it’s going into compost.

But right now, even if every plastic-free alternative were available in grocery stores right now, I imagine more than half would still wind up in landfills instead of being composted because composting isn’t required in most areas. I would love to see a world where composting and recycling become the default norms, and landfill bound waste is considered a hassle to deal with and is generally avoided. I suppose that dream starts with getting more plastic free packaging into our grocery stores.

So, what to do?

Don’t freak out about trying to ditch plastics. At worst, it’s impossible, and at best it’s a pain in the butt. So please go easy on yourself.

Try to get a little better over time. Slow but persistent progress is the winning strategy for being eco-friendly without driving yourself nuts. If you gradually find more things you do that eliminate some plastic, that is awesome. Pat yourself on the back!

Don’t blame yourself. Blame the system. Keep in mind that not being able to buy a food you love without buying plastic around it isn’t your fault. Instead, give yourself a break, but go ahead and give the system some noise.

If you’re willing, make some noise. Let companies know that you wish your favorite products came in plastic-free wrapping.

If you have some influence, use it! I worked for years in the design world and looking back I wish I had dedicated more energy to sustainable innovation. If you work in the world of design or product creation, don’t leave yourself anything to regret, go out there and propose some plastic-free awesomeness!

And remember to download a handy summary of all these innovative plastic free packaging ideas, so the next time you’re looking for inspiration you’ll have just the thing to grab.

Thanks for reading!