Eat your food packaging, don't bin it: scientists

Japan needs this - way too much packaging here.

I went to Mos Burger last week and got two hamburgers. Each came in its own paper bag, which in turn was put in its own plastic bag. I would have been happy with both burgers in a single paper bag, and no plastic bag.

We lived with my grandparents when I was a kid for a while. Looking back at that time in the 1950's, there wasn't any waste. There were no plastic bags. Grandma or mum took a shopping basket to put stuff in. Old clothes and sheets got remade into handkerchiefs (no tissues), cleaning rags, quilts or floor mats. Leftover food went to the cat, the dog or the chickens. Vegetable peel and grass cuttings became compost. Paper and string was carefully removed from packages and saved. People took care of things, so there was hardly any garbage.

There is, as Strangerland points out, far TOO MUCH packaging in Japan. Stuff that is already well wrapped gets another wrapping or bag and that placed in yet another bag. This all becomes garbage which has to be disposed of.

It's great that science is researching new forms of biodegradable plastic, but on the other hand, the problem could be avoided partly by taking a shopping bag to put purchases in and refusing the unnecessary wrapping.

Whenever I've been to Mosburger, the burgers are put inside a waxy piece of paper. I've never come across plastic bags. I remember the old days when McDonalds use to use polystyrene containers. Now THOSE were really bad.

Yes, I always have a plastic bag in my rucksack for the shopping. Most people are too damn lazy.

Beware of toxic substances.

Used to go where ice cream was served in a white bowl that look like Styrofoam, but after ya finish the ice cream, ya can eat the bowl - it just melts in your mouth

I would have been happy with both burgers in a single paper bag, and no plastic bag.

Try saying so, then. The customer is god, after all.

I usually do. I forget sometimes though.