With greenwashing prevalent across the food industry, it’s no wonder we’re all confused about what packaging is actually not-so-bad for the environment (no packaging is inherently good, but it’s possible to have some that doesn’t hurt the environment as much), and also what bin we’re actually supposed to use! Here is a brief guide on our packaging at 5+ Foods, as well as some other external resources to help you go down the rabbit hole!
Huge thanks to my mate Nick for the inspiration on this blog topic, and also to Emma from Footprint Group Events, who wrote a great article about eco friendly packaging at events.
FIVE PLUS FOODS PACKAGING:
Icy Poles:
The clear film wrapper:
Eco friendly status: Home compostable Natureflex bags. They are made of cellulose derived from wood pulp, sourced from responsibly managed forests. They technically resemble paper more than plastic.
What you can do with it:
a) Place in your home compost. For a faster breakdown, tear them into smaller pieces.
b) If you don’t have a compost, place them in your landfill bin. They will still take some years to break down, but nothing like the impact of plastic!
The outer packaging, paper bag and labels :
Eco friendly status: recycled paper bags, that are also recyclable! The labels are printed using a Heaps Good printer and eco-labels. The labels are made from sugarcane waste, and are commercially compostable. Heaps Good are an Aussie owned business and B-Corp Certified.
What you can do with it:
a) REUSE! You can always reuse the bags for going on a picnic or storing fruit and veg in your fridge.
b) Alternatively, cut the labels off the paper bag and put the paper in your curb side recycling bin.
c) Unless you’re lucky enough to have access to ‘industrial composting’ (which most of us don’t, but check your council website if you’re unsure), put the label in your kerbside landfill bin.
Veg Blocks
The zip lock bag
Eco friendly status: Sourced from Biogone, a Melbourne based company that have designed a landfill biodegradable plastic that breaks down significantly quickly than conventional plastics, and doesn’t excrete microplastics.
What you can do with it:
a) Peel the labels off the bags, wash the bag, and you’ve got a perfectly good ziplock bag to reuse!
b) If you need to dispose of it, remove the label and send the bag to soft-plastics recycling (but let’s be honest, that’s not readily accessible anymore!). So, you can then put it in the landfill bin, confidentially knowing it doesn’t cause microplastics in the environment!
Other resources:
If you’re interested in reading more about sustainable packaging, I suggest starting with the article by Footprint Group Events. While they focus on packaging at events, they’ve done a great job at summarising some issues and solutions for the average person.
Other resources include:
Guide to understanding eco-friendly packaging for events
Your local council website about ‘waste and recycling’