I think it'd be better to actually find alternatives to plastic that we could suggest. I don't know what other greener grocery stores do, other than offer a less bulk items. Mushroom or soy or cardboard? I have bought cardboard containers at TJ's for their tomatoes.

BTW, my local TJ's just trashes their old produce and doesn't give it a food kitchen. Seems like a huge waste. Once again, I suggested this to the branch. The guy throwing out lots of bananas said that even the employees aren't allowed to take it home! Oh well, another issue beyond plastic.

I am now back from my trip and made it over to my local TJ's (the same as Stacey's) yesterday. I took a bunch of pictures, how should I get them over to you?

http://myplasticfreelife.com/2.....-nowadays/

Please read and leave your feedback in the comments.  Thanks!

There are unwrapped options for apples, pears, oranges and bananas and most peppers (excluding jalapeños).
Plums and peaches were only offered in plastic containers covered in plastic mesh with a plastic handle.
Eggplant, avocado, most potatoes and tomatoes offered non packaged options.
Most other vegetables such as asparagus, broccoli, squash (zucchini and yellow), cucumbers, cabbage, mushrooms and artichokes (plus additional ones that I did not specifically note) are ONLY offered in plastic packaging.  The organic variety tend to be packaged in cardboard containers with plastic wrap, while the non-organic varieties were mostly packaged in plastic or styrofoam containers covered in plastic wrap.

I did not notice what type of plastic, PLA or otherwise, the packaging was made of.  I can take a closer look on my next visit.  I'm interested to see what other people find.

Anyway, I'm wondering if this offering of loose produce is only true for eco-minded Bay Area stores or if it's the same way in other parts of the country.  If you do go and visit Trader Joe's, please note whether there are loose produce options for each of the plastic-packaged options.

Also, I noticed that some of the rigid plastic containers and trays are made from compostable PLA rather than fossil-based plastic.  PLA is not the wonder material that many people think it is--it will only actually compost in an industrial compost facility that accepts bio-plastics and it's generally made from GMO corn grown with lots of fertilizer and pesticides.  What's more, the plastic wrap around the trays is not compostable!  But I would still be interested to know what percentage of the plastic containers TJ's is using in various parts of the country are made from PLA or other compostable plastic and how much is conventional plastic that can be recycled and conventional plastic that cannot be recycled.

These are questions I will ask in my blog post, for sure.

I'll take some pictures today at my own TJ's.

I want to write a blog post about this issue this week and ask the rest of the readers of this blog what they think are the products to target first and for them to upload pictures too if possible.

I'm excited about this!

I'll make a Facebook page as soon as we have our ducks in a row, but I don't want to jump the gun until we know exactly what we are asking them to do specifically and exactly who we are targeting.

One possible step would be for me to write a blog post and ask readers what plastic-packaged items bother them the most at their local TJ's.  Then, I could put up a poll and get people to vote on the items they think are most important to target first.

The thing is, I want to be involved in an action that has a real chance of success and whose success can be measured.  It's important to create a petition that addresses all of TJ's arguments for why they can't/won't stop using so much plastic packaging, gives examples of companies that don't package their organic produce, and ask TJ's for some very specific actions.

To ask them to reduce or remove their produce packaging is too broad.  I think it's important to research exactly what items are being packaged in plastic and in what geographical areas and to target the items that would seem to be the easiest for them to change right away.  It's also important to know exactly what their objections are.  In the Brita campaign, we did this by writing letters to Brita and seeing the responses in the form letters we got back.

Anyway, there are millions of petitions now that sites like Change.org and Care2 exist.  Most of them fail because the petition writers did not take the time to do some basic homework or because they didn't have the stamina to stick it out and keep promoting it.

Would you guys be willing to get involved and do more than sign a petition?  Let's discuss.

Feel free to email me directly at beth [at] myplasticfreelife [dot] com.

I have additional questions for you.

Beth