Life before plastic

[veggiechicken]

We all know that there's a problem with plastic and some supermarkets are struggling to find replacements for plastic packaging.
The older we are, the easier it is to remember how we use to buy things that weren't excessively packaged. I've no idea when, for example, apples started to be sold in plastic bags, rather than loose fruit selected by the customer.
I know there are market stalls and local shops where you can still pick your own, but, for the weekly shopper at a supermarket when did the plastification of food start - and why?
Was it done for convenience, speed of shopping, stacking, storage, transport, protection of food from handling, health and safety? I really don't know.

When I was a young 'un and sent out shopping on a Saturday morning, clutching a list from my Mum and a shopping basket, everything I bought fresh was loose or in paper, even meat and fish. I'd buy a block of icecream wrapped in paper and run home with it before it melted. We didn't have a fridge, certainly not a freezer.
Washing powder was in a box and you washed with soap - it wasn't ready diluted and easy to squirt.
I feel privileged to have led a much more simple life - one day, we may all be winding the clock back and living without plastic - and I'm ready for it!!

[greenishfing]

I remember being sent shopping too. But do you remember the market stalls putting veg/fruit in strong paper carriers which were great until you had a rest ,put them down on the floor and the bottom went soggy and fell out? I also remember the weight of shopping because there was more glass involved.
I do remember though, as kids, we knew which shop every bottle went back to for the deposit back and we would scour the local area for dumped ones.
Did cream come in glass bottles? I don't remember. I presume we got it off the milkman.

[Bren In Pots]

Collecting and returning bottles was a good little earner, our Milk man delivered with a cart and we went out with a jug eventually it was delivered in bottles. We still have a door step deliveries so do our neighbours either side, it been the same milk man for nearly 40 years but hes recently retired so someone new has taken over.

[Jungle Jane]

I remember when I was young in the supermarkets there were a load of boxes near the tills & you got a box to put all your shopping in to take home,no bags.

[lottie dolly]

Yep,remember the block of green soap,ice cream was got from the ding dong van,loose into your own dish,peeps did have their own bags for shopping,son does what he spotted another shopper doing,great idea,pick your loose veg and pop into your own bag and place in trolly,then at checkout,empty onto the belt,when scanned back in said bag,all in 1 place and know where they are,collecting empties was good,the main thing back in the days were,people was more respectfull of of things around them,the parents were stricter,we were taught not to waste ext,ext,

[Thelma Sanders]

IIRC lots more things came in metal containers than nowadays, like treacle/syrup still does, even more were in simple cardboard boxes or sometimes in drums, like Birds custard still is.
I used to shop with a willow basket, 'til supermarkets turned up in the '60s and placcy bags began to be free at checkout. My shopping always seemed to work out at roughly £6 per carrier bag then lol

Supermarkets still sell fruit and veg loose, plastic bags are for the convenience of those who just want to pick up a bag quickly, how do you properly inspect what your getting, if you do that?
Yes, we used to collect bottles and take them back for the deposit, we used to get bottles of pop delivered on a Friday. Not the plastic bottles you get nowadays..
I don't remember recycling the tin cans, although we used to collect bottle tops to fix on home-made scooters for 'go-faster' decorations

[Guest]

I remember school clothes coming with a spare button and a fabric patch. Whilst not a plastic thing, it does irritate me that everything now is made expecting a short life. All my girls clothes seem to be fleecy fabric.

[rary]

Most fruit and veg which is prepacked has a warning to wash before eating, so there is no need to prepack other than having to buy more than you need, butter was cut from a block and patted into shape then placed on a sheet of greaseproof paper,bread was (here anyway) Scottish plain, sold uncut and placed into a paper bag then it started to come in prepacked followed by pre-sliced, after that pan bread came on the market and if I remember correctly when plastic carrier bags came out the supermarkets tried to charge folk for using them but most folk objected to pay for advertising so the country was flooded with free plastic bags,

[nickdub]

We've certainly made a move to more short term throw-away society in my lifetime, which is in part about people's mindset, so in theory that could be reversed.

The problem of plastic and packaging however is not as simple as it looks at first sight imo. A lot of food is wasted because it is spoilt before it ever gets eaten. Good packaging to help improve how long food lasts in an OK state is a trickier proposition than it looks, I reckon.

BTW if I was going to pick one thing about food in this country it would be improving the amount and quality of food prepared at home from fresh ingredients - this modern trend of ordering more takeaways and delivered food is idiocy.

[greenishfing]

At one point my mother had a corner shop so from a very, very young age ( 6 or 7)we worked in it. The criteria being we could add up. Everything was wrapped in greaseproof paper. She would buy sides of bacon and we would slice it to order on the bacon slicer, wrap it in greaseproof and put it in a paper bag. (Amazingly my sisters and myself all have our fingers intact). Cheese and butter was wrapped in greaseproof too. Everything went into paper bags.

[veggiechicken]

Don't start me on sell by/use by dates!!
As you know, I'm a yellow sticker shopper - my justification is that the food would probably be binned if not sold that day, so I'm helping to reduce food waste.
Most of the stuff I buy is either bunged in the freezer or eaten fresh during the following week. I've never known anything "go off" in the few days after the "Use by" date. Fruit and veg in particular - do potatoes really need a "Use by" date. You can tell by eye, feel and sometimes smell, what is fit to be eaten.
If spuds are on sale unpackaged, they don't have "Use by" dates - so why do they have them on plastic bags?
Is there a Rule that says, "Any food in a container must have a Use by" date"? Take away the packaging and food lasts longer!!

[greenishfing]

The main problem now is that in the average family both parents work full time. Therefore everything is bought in a hurried "supermarket shop" where the main criteria is speed. Speed in shopping, in preparation, in cooking etc. Long dates are needed. Ready meals and Takeaways add to the problem. This is a reason for the obesity crisis.
I cannot see this changing.

[greenishfing]

At one point my mother had a corner shop so from a very, very young age ( 6 or 7)we worked in it. The criteria being we could add up. Everything was wrapped in greaseproof paper. She would buy sides of bacon and we would slice it to order on the bacon slicer, wrap it in greaseproof and put it in a paper bag. (Amazingly my sisters and myself all have our fingers intact). Cheese and butter was wrapped in greaseproof too. Everything went into paper bags.

I was trying to remember how we saw/reached over the counter and then it came back to me....strategically placed upturned beer crates.

[Chestnut]

I am very fortunate to have a market within cycling distance, where the butcher, fishmonger, cheese stall and 2 greengrocers are happy to let me bring my own containers. There’s even a place I can buy dried stuff by weight, but smaller quantity items like spices are preweighed in little plastic bags
However, even the UK grown stuff still has more fuel miles than my allotment, so growing my own still wins hands down ;-)

[Forage420]

There are plastic packaging materials now which are made from corn starch and other plant fibers and supposedly they are designed to compost but the catch is that they need to go through a commercial facility to compost properly, a home compost bin doesn't generate nearly enough heat to affect them. Sadly, it's not stopped these new plastics from being labelled as biodegradable. The consumer will look at that label and not realise there are caveats.