Remix clone Hacker News

Plus all of the food hygiene and logistical implications of handling products in bulk, multiplied by the 30,000 different products in a typical supermarket.

I don't know about the US, but in my country butter is packaged in waxed paper, which is fully biodegradable.

▲

layer8 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

It wouldn’t be that different from how a lot of cheese is being handled where I live. Except they currently put the cuts into plastic wrappings (which are “sealed” by the price sticker) instead of customer-provided containers. On the other hand, for fruits we already do use nets brought by the customer, and the weighing happens at the checkout.

▲

riffraff 4 days ago | parent [-]

In my hometown in Italy you can ask to put your cheese or cold cuts from the counter in a container you provide.

I'm not sure this ends up as a net positive compared to the paper with plastic lining they provide tho, since you have to wash the container at some point.

▲

antisthenes 4 days ago | parent [-]

> I'm not sure this ends up as a net positive compared to the paper with plastic lining they provide tho, since you have to wash the container at some point.

Unlike different kinds of plastic, water is 100% recyclable and doesn't come from nasty petrochemicals in the first place.

	▲	riffraff 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		Water is, but detergent is not

▲

Loughla 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

>multiplied by the 30,000 different products in a typical supermarket

It's almost like we're going to have to reduce our consumption or something. Maybe we don't need 200 different kinds of cereal and 300 different kinds of coffee available every single day.

	▲	Tagbert 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		And due to the labor, it can only handle a low volume of goods with a high markup. When I go there, you end up waiting in line to be helped by the one or two people working that counter. Meanwhile, the cheaper, prepackaged foods can be picked up as needed.