How to reduce your plastic packaging consumption at the supermarket

Thursday, 10 March 2022

Hannah Blumhardt and Liam Prince ditched supermarket plastics five years ago.

Hannah Blumhardt hasn't set foot in a supermarket in five years in a bid to cut single-use plastic from her life.

While her approach might seem drastic, her concern about plastic isn’t unique. Complaints to Consumer NZ show some shoppers are frustrated at what they see as excess and convoluted packaging on supermarket shelves.

“Customers are getting increasingly frustrated with all the extra packaging. Why do you need plastic-covered vegetables? No one understands the logic,” Consumer NZ head of content Caitlin Cherry said.

The packaging that prompted the most complaints to Consumer was a Watties three-pack of mini cans of baked beans ($5), Cherry said.

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Watties value pack comes with extra plastic.

Despite being value for money at a cheaper price than purchasing three separate cans, the amount of plastic shrink-wrap around the cans meant some customers avoided it.

Only purchase fruit and vegetables without plastic packaging, Blumhardt said.

“If it annoys you don’t buy it,” Blumhardt said.

Blumhardt is the co-founder of The Rubbish Tip, which advocates for zero waste. She and co-founder Liam Prince decided to ditch their rubbish bins in 2015 over concerns about ocean plastics, and the energy and resources associated with producing and managing disposable products.

The Commerce Commission says those outside the big two retailers can’t compete on price, range and location.

She said communicating with the supermarket and supplier helped have an impact.

The second-most complained item to Consumer NZ was individually wrapped electric toothbrush replacement heads. Each head usually comes with a double layer of moulded plastic inside a difficult-to-open outer box.

Verkerks Salami Protein Snack Pack ($4.89), six individually wrapped tear-seal packets each with three small pieces of salami inside, also irked consumers.

In the meat section at the supermarket, fresh meat on pre-packaged plastic trays were a major source of frustration, Cherry said. Corn that had been de-husked and then vacuum-sealed was another.

“If you want to come out of the supermarket with no plastic, it means not buying lots of things,” Blumhardt said.

Picking the fruit and vegetables and bulk bin aisles that did not have plastic was a good start.

For essentials, she said ditching the supermarket altogether could save help the environment and save money.

“There are so many alternatives outside the supermarket, and often it’s cheaper to buy unpackaged food in these other places,” Blumhardt said.

“It does require people to change their habits,” she said.

Consumer NZ suggested people took their own bags when shopping,

“You can find mesh fresh produce bags that you can weigh on the scale at the supermarket and can store your fruit and vegetables well at home. Purchase dry food from the pick and mix section. Here you can purchase as much as you like of one food item, and it goes in one bag. Visit your local butcher for meat and eliminate purchasing the plastic tray.”

Supermarkets have been approached for comment.