Putting Sainsbury's to the test

You may recall that we had a response from Sainsbury's referring to their commitment to reducing packaging. We'd accused them of using excessive plastic packaging in their products whilst pretending to be green earth lovers by encouraging us not to use carrier bags.

Here's what they said, for the record:

We are focusing on reducing the amount of packaging we use wherever possible.

So it seemed like a good idea to buy a few items and see whether their claim holds up.

Exhibit 1: Tomatoes

These are not just ordinary tomatoes... wait, that's not right. Anyway, here are the cuplrits, tucked away in their lovely plastic packaging.



Yes, that's a plastic tray, and a plastic wrapper too.



But not to worry, no doubt this lovely plastic can be easily recycled.



Oh dear, that's not good, is it? The plastic wrapper can't be recycled. So why have they used it? Perhaps the old greengrocer approach would work - you know, the one where you put your tomatoes in a brown paper bag and away you go.

Next: Herbs.