Packaging gripe

[denise]

Oh great news. Let's hope it comes to our shelves soon and it doesn't break down before we get a chance to open the packaging.

[Ellie]

Well spotted, Heather, great for the environment x

[Heather R]

In today's "i", though doesn't solve the opening bottles, etc. I have to resort to pliers to open milk

[Shaun]

Bought vitamin d tablets out of Lidl. Plastic bottle about 5in high with 200 tablets. The pills take up about 1/2 in from the bottom and trying to get them out of the bottle requires poking with a knife. Why such a big bottle?
😲

Hello Denise
It’s due to filling, it’s a vertical fill so they need room to pour into (known as ullage), regarding the bottle size, two reasons 1. mass production, you can use the same pot for lots of different products, 2, production line set up, production lines run pretty much 24 hours, downtime to change parts takes time and loss of production time, These reasons help keep costs down.
by the way, the pots will be getting smaller soon , plastic reduction targets will see to that
shaun

[denise]

It's Friday 13th!

[denise]

Have I done that? Tried to pull packaging open, it's split down the seam and it goes everywhere. No way to tie it back up.
Bought vitamin d tablets out of Lidl. Plastic bottle about 5in high with 200 tablets. The pills take up about 1/2 in from the bottom and trying to get them out of the bottle requires poking with a knife. Why such a big bottle?
😲

[Barry52]

Resealable pouches.

Opened a new pouch of granola this morning after carefully cutting with scissors. After filling my bowl for breakfast I tried to reseal the pouch and ended up tipping the whole contents on the floor. I can’t get down to clean it up so it will have to wait until my wife comes back.

[denise]

I received a box from Amazon full of cardboard with one frock inside. 😐

[denise]

Lynne
I agree with you. I was trying to open something. It wasn't delicate or under threat of going stale but I couldn't get in. Oh I recall it was flea drops. I couldn't believe the struggle I had to get a small plastic tube out of so much plastic without using a knife and scissors. This little tube was in a big cardboard box. I couldn't believe the size of the tube.

[Lynne K]

I can relate to both the need for safe food packaging (especially if the food has to travel far) and the difficulty opening packages. Pre MND I struggled with jar tops so bought gadget to help. Getting a new toothbrush for my electric toothbrush out of the pack is ridiculously hard. Even my husband struggles. Anything that you buy from a stand either at a grocery shop or the likes of PC World (even some toys) are
packaged like they don’t ever want anybody to get into them. I could go on but I won’t. Life is too short to waste the time. I have a pain of scissors by my chair which does the job in some cases but a very sharp knife (soon to be blunt) is often the only risky way to go in some case, for either of us,

I’m in favour of plastic reduction but it’s easier said than done. Internet shopping for clothes recently I was horrified by all the plastic bags (on individual items, sometimes then another on a group of items and then into the plastic packaging bag. I haven’t any hope of reusing all of those so into the bin they go with my very heavy heart. I used to put all of my plastic bags in the Tesco bag recycling tube but we moved so it’s not our regular shop any longer.

Lynne

[denise]

I come from further north than that

[Graham]

By eck Denise, you're bringing a tear th'eye. Now where's mi tripe'n'ale?

[denise]

Getting pills out is so very annoying. Then they jump out of your hand and hide under the sofa!
no food delivery here. 30 minutes to closest supermarkets.
I know I've wasted food simply because I've opened the packet and not sealed it back up, usually because once open there's no way to seal it unless you've had the foresight to buy sandwich bags to pack it away.
I recall the bacon slicer, 2oz of sweets that used to stick to the bag, Nan putting the butter and milk on the marble mantle piece because no refrigerator. Milk delivered by horse and cart and going with my nan to the dairy to fetch an extra jug of milk. Fish and chips out of newspaper. And change from a tanner.
Denise xxx

[Shaun]

Hello Barry , food waste was all the food suppliers number 1 target, and it has significantly reduced over the years, and our packaging and ability to order just in time has played a significant role.
However now that the emphasis is on that devil in disguise the plastic bag, food waste will increase, you will see a decrease in shelf life and prices will increase.
morrisons ran trial on cucumbers without plastic, their wastage and spoilage increased by about 40%, if my memory serves me well

Denise, I know it’s frustrating sometimes, so I suggest you write to your favourite supplier and nicely explain your issue and even make a suggestion what might help, They may not be able to help, but customer feedback is important, and with any luck they might send a letter back with a voucher,

Just think how would we all of coped these last few months if we couldn’t get long shelf life products delivered to our door, and had to go to the corner shop everyday for our provisions . Long live packaging I say But I do wish tablet blister packs were easier.

shaun

[Heather R]

I find pulling with my teeth is x sometimes the best solution. Have just got some plastic strips to make a loop on plugs so you can pull them out more easily, what a simple and effective solution (for me anyway!) x