In all the supermarkets in the UK and some independent greengrocers we often see fruit and vegetables sold packaged in plastic bags. The same retailers will sell the particular fruit or vegetable both in pre-packed and loose form, which leads one to believe that the pre-packed version is simply offered for convenience or to maximise profits. However when one considers the huge amount of plastic that is used for making this packaging it wouldn't be hard to believe that the damage to the environment would be the same or even more than that which plastic carrier bags cause. There is not reason why fruit and vegetables(with very rare exceptions) can't be sold in their natural form by weight. Furthermore the supermarkets can replace the small clear plastic bags that they place on the fruit and vegetable aisles with brown paper ones (same as those that they offer for buying mushrooms). Soft fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes and blueberries can also be sold in rugged cardboard punnets instead of plastic ones. Cardboard punnets are made of recycled paper and cardboard and they can be recycled again and they are biodegradable. Furthermore, cardboard does not contain any BPA or similar chemicals which are present in plastic packaging and which can leach into our food and end up in our boddies.

The UK government rightly stopped the supermarkets from offering plastic carrier bags for free and they also have the power to stop retailers from offering fruit and vegetables pre-packed in plastic packaging which is not necessary and causes pollution.