There's a NY Times article about how many countries are beginning to drown in plastics since China stopped accepting tons of it to sort and make us of. It has lost so much value in recycling that it has become an undesirable product everywhere.
I bring this to the kitchen forum because it seems that the larger percentage of plastic that comes into our home is kitchen related and the obvious fixes are not easy or realistic or will make any dent in the gigantic problem.
Living in a small hamlet, I drive 2 hours regularly to shop mainly at Costco and other stores as needed where most everything they sell is encased in some form of plastic. We use our own bags. Farmers Markets are good but not dependable on a routine year round basis.
There is a rare event happening near my Costco, a community fair where people can bring things that need to be fixed so as not to toss them in a landfill. How sad that this is not always available
I feel responsible but manufacturers are not being responsive -- yet. If they change, we all change -- but to what do we chage? Just buying a couple batteries brings plastic home, it's a bigger problem than how groceries are packaged.
Without telling somene else what they should do, do you see a way out of this? Smart people who have to deal with the mountains of it don't seem to have answers.
I don't think people buying produce or other items are very open to picking unwrapped foods from large bins (am imagining what the Costco cooled produce room could look like without the plastics). Bring your own Lock n Lock to the deli department where they'll dish you out a family meal or salad? Not likely to ever happen.