This alert on the plastic wrap of my new garments

Omg, I remember it, I upvoted it then and now its locked. Legendary message though

Or perhaps we can just stop wrapping everything in gratuitous amounts of plastic.

Plastic, wrapped in plastic, wrapped in plastic. I should probably go back to buying clothes in physical stores.

So much clothing is also made from plastic these days. Tires and clothing are two of the biggest contributors to the microplastic problem by a wide margin.

Tires! Lets figure out how to use natural rubbers more!

Apparently, even natural fibers are getting treated and coated in synthetic materials too, and the clothes manufacturers don’t have to disclose what it is. The tags will say 100% cotton, but no mention of the coating that they use. Legally, they only have to tell the consumer what the fibers are made of.

God, the looks I got from the clerk where I buy shirts when I said no the elastane shirt and polyester tie, and insisted on pure cotton and silk, threw me for a loop. But then you find out stuff like, most wool is washed in plastic, grr. Just let me buy normal materials, ffs. Or wood coated in a plastic lacquer, just stop!

Only difference is the store has removed the plastic for you

Not the only difference – a store most often buys items in bulk by the hundred or thousands of items, none of which (talking about clothes and similar here) have to be individually wrapped in plastic & individually shipped. When people buy online they often buy ONE ITEM AT A TIME. And that’s especially harmful if it comes directly from overseas, as the item will often be wrapped in plastic (so that a UPC code sticker can be attached and to comfort the customers mind and let them know it is un-used), then again wrapped in a plastic shipper, then individually driven and delivered to their door. So if there is a store you like and can buy in person especially if you combine multiple purchases/trips at once it is much less impactful/wasteful –> Item shipped in bulk to store store loose (almost always shipped together with other items) – you drive to store and buy (possibly combined with another trip you would have made anyway) VS Item shipped in bulk to distribution (or directly from overseas to a postal hub which distributes it) / each item in individual bagged – bagged items placed in shipping bags individually – each item shipped individually and driven to its specific destination

> none of which (talking about clothes and similar here) have to be individually wrapped in plastic & individually shipped. Doesn’t stop them from doing so. Sure the store receives 1 box with 20 shirts, but each shirt is still individually in a plastic bag that we have to remove before stocking it. Same with a lot of the kitchen gadgets and utensils.

Gildan t shirts are wrapped 2 in a plastic bag. We fill a 39 gallon trash can with this plastic every week after shipment is received. So, it sure would be nice if bulk buying helped reduce plastic waste, but it does not 😔

I did not know that about shirts, that sucks and seems quite stupid. I guess in regard to those the only waste reduced by buying from a store is the shipping materials (and any excess transport over that which is used to drive to the store if one were to drive to a store just to buy one shirt). I am actually a big fan of buying online and it’s “complicated” trying to be less wasteful, but I still contend many small items are very wasteful to ship individually but people have become accustomed to that and expect every single little thing to ship individually, for no added cost to the buyer themselves (that they see upfront).

All the clothes in grocery stores came in a plastic bag too. We just removed it before the store opened :3

well, there’s egg and bacon, egg and plastic, egg, bacon, and plastic, egg, bacon, sausage, and plastic, plastic, bacon, sausage, and plastic, plastic, egg, plastic, plastic, bacon, and plastic, plastic, sausage, plastic, plastic, plastic, bacon, plastic, tomato, and plastic, plastic, plastic, plastic, egg, and plastic, plastic, plastic, plastic, plastic, plastic, plastic, baked beans, plastic, plastic, plastic, and plastic

That doesn’t actually reduce plastic so much. A lot of clothing in stores was also packed in plastic for shipping. The store staff simply had removed the plastic before putting clothes on shelves for display.

If you think buying at physical stores means it didn’t arrive there wrapped in plastic, sadly you’re probably mistaken.

The individualization of responsibility. Corporation makes wasteful product that harms the planet, then blames the *consumer* for purchasing it

We all need to be more conscious consumers. Companies only exist because of demand. Stop the demand, no more company. Both have roles in our over consumerist society. Start by changing what you can control: which is your ability to NOT buy things you don’t need or source second hand and locally as much as possible.

I agree. I’m just saying this is how corporations try to absolve themselves of any responsibility. They say “we’re just making what consumers want!” when the reality is that they’re cutting corners by using cheap, wasteful plastic to save money and most consumers buy what is available/accessible.

The abdication of responsibility. Consumer buys the wasteful product that harms the planet, then blames the *corporation* for purchasing it. See what I did there? Maybe responsibility lies with everyone since corporations are just collections of people, who fall within the set of ‘everyone’.