What's a smart wrapper?

[moonshadow]

Last week we got a work order on a "smart wrapper" that wasn't working.

A colleague emails me "what's a smart wrapper?"

My official response?

"One that stays in school and off drugs."

This is why I'll never make it in corporate America!

BTW: The actual correct answer is this.

[crfriend]

The difference between "wrap" and "crap"? The sound effects. The similarity? The first letter is silent.

I can see benefits in a "smart" type of the former; none for the latter.

[dillon]

Great. More plastic waste. Just what the world needs.

[moonshadow]

Great. More plastic waste. Just what the world needs.

Alternatives?

[crfriend]

Great. More plastic waste. Just what the world needs.

Alternatives?

I was about to say the same thing.

The only thing I can think of is wax-paper which was used many, many years ago but which was supplanted by plastic which is both cheaper and does the job better. (Wax-paper is still used today by some boutique butcher shops, but the product so packaged is usually cooked that same day and not stored in the fridge for several before consumption.)

[denimini]

When I saw the thread title, I thought it must be a sort of formal kilt style skirt.
Reading the post I thought it must be a lazy busker.
Then I saw the picture, literally.
Like most things, it is OK for some situations but wrapping 2 capsicums is not a good example of appropriate use - I would wash them before use anyway.

[jc.33]

Great. More plastic waste. Just what the world needs.

Alternatives?

I saw a documentary on a family that produces close to zero waste. Their solution for this problem was to bring reusable containers with them to the store and only buy items available in bulk. For grains they had muslin bags and for meats/liquids they used glass mason jars.

[dillon]

The obvious alternative is fruit and produce that ISN'T pre-wrapped in plastic. When you see that kind of wrapping in a supermarket, it usually means the produce in it is old enough to vote.

[moonshadow]

Well this joke seemed to go flat right out of the bottle.

[hoborob]

Moon that's only because the smart wrapper did do it's job right the first time...........

[skirted_in_SF]

I saw a documentary on a family that produces close to zero waste. Their solution for this problem was to bring reusable containers with them to the store and only buy items available in bulk. For grains they had muslin bags and for meats/liquids they used glass mason jars.

That's a bit extreme for me. I do use reusable bags to carry my purchases and reuse plastic bags for my fruit and vegetable purchases at either the farmer's market or local produce store. Other than milk and cooking oils (and the occasional bottle of wine), I don't buy any liquids. I used to buy bulk flour/oatmeal/cornmeal but my resources have gradually disappeared and have had some problem with meal worms.

[Kirbstone]

It's astonishing how, in the pursuit of hygiene &c. practically everything available in supermarkets is either shrink-wrapped or in tins or plastic containers. Bulk buying is fine if you keep chickens to eat the bad & waste stuff (which we do).
Inevitably I find myself visiting the local recycling place every so often with a bootful of tins, jars/bottles and plastic packaging. What they do with it then is their business.

Tom

[jc.33]

skirted, I agree not practical for anybody. I believe the Mom was an author who wrote a book on minimizing waste. So I think it was all part of her image to sell more books. But kudos for her for practicing what she preached.

[dillon]

In my own household, we now recycle more than we dispose directly to landfill. We routinely generate on a weekly basis well more recycling than our issued bin will hold, and not even a full kitchen bag of non-recyclable refuse. Our food waste goes to a backyard "pile" (I won't call it compost since that term implies a very specific process that entails a C:N ratio between 10:1 and 40:1 plus active aeration either in a static draft or by physical turning.) Our "pile" feeds earthworms and our indomitable marsupial friends, the opossums! Occasionally the material gets removed and tilled into my vegetable garden. But we are fortunate to live in environs where things decompose rapidly and constantly in the outdoors, with 50+ inches or rainfall annually and our generally mild to sub-tropical coastal climate. Unfortunately, that also includes my firewood supply. But the really neat thing is the degradation of dog crap, which our old Irish setter generates daily. We are blessed with being on the northernmost range of dung beetles, which will tear a "lawn muffin" to pieces and incorporate it into the soil in a week or two. I like to poke open the older turds with a stick just to watch the little buggers at work.

I would note that neither styrofoam trays or plastic film are accepted in our community's single-stream recycling process.

[skirted_in_SF]

I would note that neither styrofoam trays or plastic film are accepted in our community's single-stream recycling process.

I think it is pretty rare to have recycling set up for either of them. While I think styro is still used here for things like meat trays, in the People's Republic of San Francisco it is banned for uses like fast food and carry out boxes.