I’m genuinely curious about how we replace packaging like this with sustainable alternatives. Do I bring my glass bottle to the store once a month to refill it? Is there a bottle exchange program, and then it has to get washed out, right?
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Yes to all of those. And also companies collecting all of the packaging they produce and being responsible for recycling them. If every company was responsible to bear the costs and burden of its own waste, manufacturing would change significantly.
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Does that mean that as a consumer I'm now obligated to bring the packaging back to the store? What if I ordered online; do I have to ship it back? Also, IME the WEEE directive hasn't done anything to improve sustainability in the electronics supply chain; it's just another cost.
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I'd love to be rid of single use plastics, but I'd like to see a proof-of-concept for the whole supply chain. How do I, as a consumer, interact with the system? Do I need to plan ahead when I go to the store to ensure I have my used bottle with me? Does it cost more or less?
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As points out, the old milkman model had a lot of benefits (problems with our current dairy farming model aside), but the reasons it fell out of favor need to be addressed, especially if consumer convenience in the form of instant gratification drives any of those reasons.
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Replying to @bmastenbrook
I've seen some stores doing the fill-a-glass-container thing. For stuff like soap, it seems like it would make the most sense to just sell it by weight. For food products, bottle exchange.
And honestly, I say bring back the milk man.
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I mean, on the one hand, costs are going to have to go up, since we're currently just ignoring the externalities of destroying our planet's capability of supporting human life. But there are definitely ways to minimize inconvenience.
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Ahhh yeah, absolutely! I'm especially interested in hearing how we can push that down to lower income folks. Can we even address consumer waste without addressing the massive inequality in our societies?
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Lower income people tend to use far less energy / resources. The higher income people are just doing more things that make them feel efficient and environmentally friendly while their resource impact is drastically higher. Recycling and reusing bags is a drop in the bucket.
For example, a lower income person is almost certainly eating food requiring drastically less energy and land to produce. Eating high-end, organic food and a wider variety of fancy foods is the opposite of energy efficient.
Food alone makes a huge difference for energy usage.
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I'm sure my energy consumption is far lower than the average Canadian from not commuting or consuming much. A ton of resources is certainly used to supply the dairy-heavy, high end food diet that I eat though. Still, doubt I use nearly as much as most people, esp. pre-COVID.
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