I was surprised and pleased to see this in Tesco the other day. I shouldn't really have been surprised. Morrisons launched compostable packaging back in January and Sainsbury's introduced it in September 2006. I can't find any info on Tesco's compostable packaging but they announced degradable plastic bags in May last year.
I thought it would be fun to watch how this degrades over the weeks on my compost heap, on my blog. Does that sound like fun to you? Thought not.
Great progress on the green front, but holy cow look at that copy. 'will naturally breakdown'? 'Breakdown' as one word is a noun, as in 'I can't talk now, I'm having a breakdown,' or 'My car has suffered a breakdown'. Tesco needs to recycle this label in a new, correct English version.
Posted by: Mike Reed | Feb 27, 2007 at 16:43
Actually im quite interested to see the final result :)
Posted by: Freeza | Feb 27, 2007 at 16:45
Good point Mike.
Posted by: Ben | Feb 27, 2007 at 16:52
Kiwi fruit - how many air miles did that take? And why does it need to be in a plastic bag anyway? (Just so Tesco can kid you they're 'green', no doubt.)
Posted by: davidthedesigner | Feb 27, 2007 at 16:53
I reckon this post will lead to a one-page feature in Gardeners World.
Posted by: Claire Gates | Feb 27, 2007 at 17:12
Haha I take my hat off to you for that Claire.
Posted by: Ben | Feb 27, 2007 at 17:16
That actually does sound like fun, look forward to watching the progress.
Posted by: Angus | Feb 27, 2007 at 18:25
I'm interested to see the bag decomposing. However even transporting the material the fruit is wrapped in is a distribution chain in itself. Most fruit and vegetables come in their own packaging called skin. Many German supermarkets encourage their customers to use a resusable bag or even provide the boxes that goods are shipped in for customers to use.
At present I believe UK supermarkets use a compressor to compact the large cardboxes that flow in each day. Maybe a supermarket person could clarify that point if they are reading.
Good work though.
Posted by: Charles Edward Frith | Feb 27, 2007 at 18:38
It would be interesting to watch the bag decompose, but rotting fruit and vegetables aren't as appealing. Though I suppose, if you're there and I'm here, you'll do the smelling and I'll just view the photos, eh? Thanks for sharing, Ben. Looking forward to seeing the progress.
Posted by: van cooley | Feb 27, 2007 at 19:29