Good news on the local environmental front with Whittaker's, the chocolate people, trialling a compostable peanut slab wrapper, but just in Wellington. Funny, isn't it? We used to buy Whittaker's peanut slabs unwrapped, but that was a long time ago, before any of us were "environmentally aware".
In those days so much product was either completely unwrapped or had a small strip of paper around it for handling. Other things, like sliced bread, were encased in waxed paper, and milk only came in glass bottles.
We bought meat from the butcher shop, wrapped in paper... in fact, there wasn't a plastic bag in sight. So what happened? Why did plastic become so instantly acceptable and when did wrapping get so complex that the product inside became insignificant in comparison?
Has it got something to do with "health and safety"?
Really? Try extracting a toothbrush from its packaging: you could hurt yourself! But who do you sue?
At some stage we became so frightened of natural germs that we developed special chemicals to kill 99.9 per cent of them, and to hell with the consequences. We began to over-package anything that would have an intimate relationship with any bodily orifice and the wrapping of choice would invariably be plastic. Why would you want packaging to last longer than the product it "protected"?
We are still surrounded by plastic wrapping. The meat department of any supermarket is a plastic-lover's paradise, with every cut encased in polystyrene and clear film, probably to hold in the gases that keep meat looking fresh long after its will to impress has expired.
Now when a company wants to "go green", what sort of governmental hoops must it jump through to appease the bureaucrats who put all the plastic safety measures in place?
Whittaker's chocolate is all encased in thin plastic, so I'm hoping that the move to a compostable packaging is across the whole product line and nationwide. But that's just one company. What about all the others who are protecting their goods from filthy humans with plastic or something equally everlasting? It's going to take a major shift in thinking to get companies worldwide to follow the trend away from over-wrapping and especially plastic.
Will some health and safety laws have to be repealed for this to happen?
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A pat on the back to the travelling people of the Gypsy Fair. They stayed for the weekend and operated their business down by the riverbank in Kowhai Park. Come Monday and the place was spotless! Not a scrap of rubbish and even tyre marks were minimal on the grass.
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Whanganui Midweek needs deliverers. If you think a compulsory walk once a week is just what the doctor ordered, why not get paid for doing it? Anyone can go for a stroll, but how many people come out financially better off for doing it?
A lot of people depend on the community paper for their news and local information.
Delivering Midweek is a good deed, a bit of exercise and a chance to make sure you get your own copy.
To get the details, text your name and address to 029 979 3181 or email the same to deliverer.enquiries@ovato.co.nz
