Many familiar items are getting an unnecessary makeover to add packaging and branding that's never been there before. This is most obvious in the produce aisle, where fruits and veggies that were once sold loose are now just as likely to come individually wrapped.
One traveler was shocked to find another example at the Dubai airport when they were passing through.
What happened?
According to the Redditor, they stopped at McDonald's at the airport for breakfast, where they ordered a banana with their meal.
"Ironically, at [the] point of ordering, I was thrilled that there was a healthy 'add on' meal option with my hotcakes," they said. "Usually, whenever I treat myself to hotcakes at home (Australia), I'll always add a [bring-your-own] banana. This is wild though."
The Redditor included photos of what they received: a banana inside a sealed plastic sleeve, with prominent McDonald's logos and a picture of another banana printed on the clear window.
"Bananas literally have their own packaging!" said an outraged commenter. "I can't deal with this."
Yet this is not the first time an establishment has wrapped its bananas in plastic, even though it makes them spoil faster.
Why does it matter if McDonald's sells plastic-wrapped bananas?
Obviously, bananas going bad more quickly is a problem for the customers who buy them, especially if they don't get eaten immediately. It also increases food waste at McDonald's, which in turn increases prices as the company has to cover the cost of the lost food.
Also, plastic is bad for the environment. It can rarely be recycled and instead sits in landfills or clutters up the ocean.
🗣️ Which of the following sustainable changes would make you most likely to choose a particular airline?
🔘 Using cleaner fuel ⛽
🔘 Reducing in-flight waste 🗑️
🔘 Making it easy to choose low-emissions itineraries 📋
🔘 I don't pay attention to sustainability when I fly ✈️
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
The back of the plastic package in the photo features a recycling symbol. However, there is no specific information about the type of plastic, making the advice to recycle it useless. Different types of plastic cannot be recycled together — and in fact, one misplaced piece like this could ruin a whole batch. Detailed recycling information would prevent that, but it's unavailable.
What is McDonald's doing to curb plastic waste?
The restaurant chain has made several strides to reduce plastic use at its locations, according to its website. It has switched from plastic to paper straws in Europe, revised its Happy Meal toys, and started offering patrons the option to recycle packaging. The vast majority of people cooperated with that program.
What can I do to reduce plastic waste?
Whenever possible, packing your own food instead of getting fast food is likely to generate less trash. You can use silicone food containers instead of plastic, reducing your plastic waste even further. If you do order from a restaurant, see if they offer reusable to-go containers through a service like DeliverZero.
Similarly, you can buy a reusable water bottle instead of bottled water, and you can do the same with many other products like razors.
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