Yesterday, we went produce shopping. I was amazed at the fact that organic produce has to be wrapped in plastic. In order to be a certified organic store, this is one rule that has to be followed. I guess the organic produce can not come in contact with anything else, so they wrap it in plastic. This just isn't organic in our mind. Plastic wrap, with a Styrofoam tray is NOT organic in the least. I am not sure who came up with this rule, but it seems to defeat the purpose of the produce being organic in the first place.
The other thing that struck me was the amount of prepackaged salads, and other produce blazing the isles. There were at least 5 kinds of prepackaged salads. Along with them were prepackaged tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, and others. I understand that the prepackaged salads are a time saver. But how much time does it really save. What is wrong with buying the lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and celery separately and make it yourself at home. Imagine 200 people a day buying the prepackage salads. Take that and multiply by 200 grocery stores. That is 40,000 bags a day ending up in the landfills. This is just a small example of what the real numbers are. Imagine this happening all over the country on a daily basis. Imagine how many plastic bags are ending up in our landfills....just from prepackaged lettuce and produce.
We have decided that we want no part in adding to the problem. When we go produce shopping, we carry along a wicker basket and use that to haul home our veggies. No need for plastic bags.
When we get home, we wash and drain all produce on a clean cotton towel. We then make our own salads, feeling that we did at least a small part in helping our landfill.
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