Get out your machete; it’s time to open some packages

By Beverly Wellington

The ridiculous amount of plastic, paper and cellophane that encases our merchandise is enough to drive one absolutely bonkers. Say hello to a little thing called “overpackaging.”

Formidable author and Globe and Mail columnist, Leah McLaren mentions in her article “I’m suffering from overpackaging rage,” a term in which most people can relate: “wrap-rage-aholic.”

What exactly is a “wrap-rage-aholic” you might ask? One who despises companies who insist on packaging their goods in thick, uninviting layers of wrapping materials, be it plastic, cellophane, paper, cardboard, shrink-wrap, bubble wrap (feel free to stop me anytime).

McLaren gives an example of wanting to purchase a single Granny Smith apple from her local food grocer. Unfortunately for her, she was forced to buy a bag containing four shrink-wrapped, perfectly waxed apples. The price of this quartet? Roughly $4.50. More than likely the price was so high because of the exuberant amount of packaging, rather than the quality or crispness of the apple.

Think back to Christmas time when you were out shopping. You would wait in overlong lineups of last minute shoppers, pay for your purchase, then a shocking thing would happen. The cashier began to wrap each and every one of your items in a few layers of paper, shove said items into a box, or perhaps an oversized bag, perhaps both. When you got home, that paper did not remain on your gift. No, it was ripped off and tossed in the garbage. So why do we feel it necessary to waste so much money and paper on something that, in essence, doesn’t need it?

A recent government study in Britain found that almost 40 per cent of packaging available in most grocery stores cannot be recycled without difficulty. In America, one-third of their waste is product packaging, and only 43 per cent of it is recycled! Clearly Al Gore did not make his point about global warming clear enough.

The extra price of packaging is also enough to make one want to rip their hair out in protest (maybe that’s why Britney did it). Ten to 40 per cent of the total cost of food products goes toward packaging alone. As McLaren puts it, “wrap rage seems the only sane reaction to the needlessly shrink-wrapped society.”

A London-based store, cleverly dubbed Unpackaged, operates like an “old-fashioned general store,” but without the much-unneeded overpackaging. Reusing food containers, such as jam jars and Ziploc bags, are encouraged. The result? One is able to purchase exactly what one wants, for a much cheaper price than at a regular grocery store.

Less really is more.