Mr Green buys cheese without non-recyclable plastic packaging

Filed in Blog by on July 17, 2008 5 Comments
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cheese in a box with no plastic wrapping
What a headline – hardly worthy of the Guardian at this stage, and more of a mouthful than an gram of cheddar, but you know how it is; when you’re on a mission, small things please small minds.

Mr Green and Little Miss Green are partial to a bit of mature cheddar. In fact, Mr Green is partial to a LOT of mature cheddar. Even Pussus Green has been known to partake of a little as an occasional treat.

More recently Mr Green has been aware that he’s generating a pack or two of non-recyclable plastic wrapping from the cheese that ends up in the landfill each week.


As we are gearing up for our zero waste week during the first week of September, we’ve been searching around for an alternative. Yogurt making I’m procrastinating about, so I really can’t see me rolling up my sleeves to make cheese yet.

Every cheese we have found, and believe me, we have searched o’er hill and dale; comes in plastic. He remembers back to the days of shopping with Mother, when he would take home a parcel of cheese wrapped in parchment paper and tied up with string. Those were the days when Mr.Sainsbury would give extra special service at his deli counter.

Fast forward a few decades and Mr Sainsbury probably doesn’t really give much of a monkeys about us, as long as we buy his goods. For your convenience (and his), all the cheese comes in plastic; ensuring longevity and ease of storage.

Our local shop, however has come to the rescue! Once a week, our lovely shopkeeper (who doesn’t even bother to offer us a carrier bag any more – horrah!) buys a huge block of cheese in bulk from the cash and carry. She cuts it into pieces, weighs it, prices it up and cling wraps it to sell to her customers.

We discovered yesterday, however, that she is très happy to slice us off some cheese and put it straight into a reusable box of ours. Yipee!

What’s more, it’s a bit of a bargain too. Much cheaper than anything we have found in the supermarkets. Who said going green was more expensive?

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About the Author ()

I am a long time supporter of the Green and Sustainable lifestyle. After being caught in the Boscastle floods in 2004, our family begun a journey to respect and promote the importance of Earth's fragile ecosystem, that focussed on reducing waste. Inspired by the beauty and resourcefulness of this wonderful planet, I have published numerous magazine articles on green issues and the author of four books.

Comments (5)

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  1. YAY! Result! Well done that man. Must ask my fav small and local butcher if he’d let me put his sausages in my reuseable tubs – if I remember to take them……

  2. Greenbaby says:

    Wonderful solution! I confess that we have comingled curbside recycling here in my city and it sometimes makes us a bit lazy. They accept all types of plastics, aluminum, glass and paper products. While it’s nice to have such a convenient option, it’s good to remember that reducing is far more eco-friendly than recycling. Thanks for the inspiration!

  3. Mrs Green says:

    Let us know how you get on with that, Sarah. It took a while to remember the boxes, but now we grab boxes and reusable bags together as part of a habit. It catches us out if we decide when already out that we need something, but it’s not that often now.

    Hi Greenbaby – lovely to see you; thanks for your comment. I think you bring up a very important point, and one which is close to my heart too. I always have in the back on my mind that recycling is treating a symptom and the 3 Rs – reduce, reuse, recycle are in that order for a very important reason.

    Always good to be reminded of that – thank you!

  4. Yeah, I’ve conquered yogurt making, but I seriously doubt I will ever get it together enough to make cheese. If I do, I’ll let you know! lol

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