this post was submitted on 05 Jun 2024
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Solarpunk technology

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Why TF would you package an avocado?????

Veggies need no packaging or laser etching for that matter

This is cultural waste

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago

You're preaching to the choir, but it's better than the plastic they've been using

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

This legit feels like a scene from Idiocracy. "We tried giving the plants Brawndo... it's the thirst mutilator!"

Just don't package them like every other sensible country on Earth.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Eh, cucumbers for example having that plastic survive a lot longer which reduces waste (and makes logistics lighter which saves resources) which comes out as net benefit compared to what it takes to package them like that. I used to think the plastic was dumb but was surprised when I looked into it.

Not sure what's the cost/benefit with avocados, it's probably different with every veggie. And now that I think about it, might depend on local situation. The source I read was Finnish.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Where I live, the Avocados just lay there without anything on them at all.
The cashiers have a list with the register codes for all unmarked fruits and vegetables right in front of them, and anyone who's worked there for more than 2 weeks knows them by heart.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (1 children)

They do that here with some fruit and veg, but avocados… they're obsessed with plastic packaging

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Well they're the TESCO AVOCADOS. DON'T YOU DARE CONFUSE THEM WITH regular avocados.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Some organic fruits or vegetables, e.g. cucumbers, have laser branding to distinguish them from their non-organic counterparts.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Ours just have paper ribbons.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

The glue is not unproblematic and a customer could just swap the stickers.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Hope more companys will do this, most fruits don't need plastic packaging.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 5 months ago (1 children)

They don't need laser etching either. Take a basket of fruits, put a label on the basket.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

The labels are usually plastic and the glue isn't good either, the laser just needs electricity to do the print, and that print is completely without waste.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Except, you have to build the laser... And the assembly line...

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Most of the assembly line is already there to measure, clean, decontaminate and package the stuff, and a laser like that isn't hard to build, in the end, the waste reduction doesn't only reduce plastic output (wich was my main point) but also reduces the amount of Co2 output significantly over time. The amount of maintenance a laser needs is very low, it doesn't burn stuff, its not doing anything harmful lasers are prefect.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 5 months ago (2 children)
  1. You don't need to put literally anything on the avocado whatsoever, no sticker or anything.
  2. Are you seriously trying to say that building a bunch of fucking lasers and modifying assembly lines would be less wasteful that a tiny label which, by the way, does not need to be made of plastic.

This is a pointless, wasteful novelty

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

How exactly are they told apart then? There is always multiple Providers, "Organic" "From XY" you need to tell them apart.

And yes im 100% shure that it reduces plastic waste because everything is made from and with plastic. Modification of assembly lines isn't hard either, they are modular most of the time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

How many different avocados have you seen in a single shop? In big supermarket there can be like 2 or maybe 3, small and big ones and the "premium" one with paper and/or plastic packaging sold for double the price for idiots

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

A shop near me sells around 10 types of avocado's.

[–] refalo 1 points 5 months ago

thankfully you don't work in the industry

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yes, the label is plastic or paper, but you'll have 1 label (reusable) for 50 or however many fruits fit into the basket in shop instead of having every single one labeled.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Thats not how this works at all.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That's exactly how it works.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Yeah when you live somewhere with just such shops maybe but its not very common in most countries. And therefore you are wrong.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Most fruits and veg don't need any packaging at all. At most for a few, a sticker with a segment to show the best ripeness color if they insist on branding that sum bitch.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Exactly, the print can be used just on the fruit and you could put them in your reusable bag you bring to the store.

Just print on the fruit and put them in big crates so people can pick however many they need and pay per KG or per Pice. The Laser is 100% waste free.