Today my perserverance has paid off!
In my weekly food shop I have really been struggling to buy cherry tomatoes with no plastic packaging. Yes, I found some in recyclable packaging in Morrisons, and I can buy loose tomatoes on the vine for about 2 and a half times the price but it is really frustrating me that I have to pay so much more.
I have therefore been reluctantly buying them on occasion in a plastic bag at my local fruit and veg shop (that I am presuming can be recycled in the plastic film recycle scheme), however #plasticfreejuly has spurred me on to push my local fruit and veg shop once again.
So far I have asked them 3 times if I could please buy them in a paper bag and they have told me that that is all they have or they are trying their best. I knew I was getting to them though when they ripped open the plastic bag and emptied it into a paper bag for me!!! The crazy thing is they have another location in town where they do sell it loose in baskets and they then tip it into a paper bag when you buy it so I know it can be done. I just think it comes down to a matter of space and I do understand. I just can’t be going all the way into town just for tomatoes.
So today I plucked up the courage to ask one more time. I made sure I timed it first thing in the morning when it was quiet and I hoped that they were still unpacking the morning delivery. Luckily they were still in the process of putting the tomatoes into the plastic bags so I managed to get them to put mine directly into a paper bag, WOO HOO!
They were very polite in meeting my request however I could tell they thought I was a right pain in the arse! So if anyone else local would like to help me to get our cherry tomatoes plastic free, please go ahead and ask them too and maybe they will realise that I am not the only one that wants it to change.