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Page 6, Thursday, October 28th, 1971, WHITBY FREE PRESS What's really in that package? -by lim The next t i m e you're in the super- market take a closer look. Is the pack- agingmerely a container, or is it some- thing more? Pollution probe Mary Ki tchen, a r e s e a r ch worker for University of Toronto's Pollution Probe, discovered that packaging is very much something more. Along with four other researchers, Mary spent th r ee months thi's past summer finding out just how much supermarkets add to the pollution problem. When the lady of the house goes shop- ping at her neighbourhood supermarket s h e usually picks the brands she has been using for years.. . . without knowing why she picked that particular brand. Ge t ting a shopper to change brands is a difficult task at best, and a creative challengeforthe advertising field. The advertisers do i t by making the container i n t o an a p p e al ing package. Thus the probl em. Every man, woman and child in this country throws out an a v e r age of f ive pounds of garbage per day. Mary Kit- chen found out, "Most of the garbage a housewifeputs out comes from the sup- ermarket.I" With this in mind Pollution P r o b e s t arted visiting supermarkets with their main target of investigation being "packaging". The resu t s were surprising and many suspicions were confirmed as Mary discovered, "The role of packaging has changed completely. fo ANLeanFUELS S Fuel Oil $ Steve Oil " Gasoline a Diesal . cils & Grecses mco 0F*nc *OI8$*lu &SUNOCO" Clarence Roper John Maclean 668-4462 579-0151 TAUNTON ROAD Just East of Ritson Rd. stainless steel construction with HONEYWELL Plenum type humidistat wili humidify up to 8-room home PLUMBING DISCOUNT 701 Brock. st. N. Whitby 668m6601 Hours: 9 a.rn. to 9 p.m. Mon-Fri Sat. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Lowest Pricos PLUMBING pISCOUNT Originally the role of packaging was to protect the product from the el ements, bumps an d bangs, or to keep it fresh. Then somebody got the idea of putting more than the product name on the pack- age. Packaging & Advertising One thing led to another and about the last thing packaging does now is to pro- tect the product. Packaging now is the sales medium used to seli the product. Th e new sy s tem had some rather obviousdisadvantages. The advertising on the package may boast to no end about the product butas Mary found out, "You have to actually try the product before you find ou t if it is represented prop- erly. " Unnecessary Advertising More problems. . . the cost of the pack- aging has to be added to the sales price of the contents. In other words, the con- sumer is actually paying more for the product just so he can read all the ad- vertisingon the package! In many cases the product does not need a package. Th e c ontainer should suffice. An ex- ample ofthis is a bottle of pills or hand cream. Why should the bottle be put into a c a r d b o ard box ? it 's just addi tional expense. The expense is double because the package itself costs money and when it is thrown away, adding to pollution, we have to pay to cure the mount ing pol - lution problem. How many of you ladies realize this i when you choose that particular brand on the shelf? Most of th e da î ly essential s in the supermarkets are packaged in cheap c on tainers. Because the price of sta- pies must remain low, little is spent on t h e con t a i ner. The next time you go shopping, lookfor the staples. You will f i n d them on th e lower shelves below eye level. Why? Because these are low profit items. With high profit items you find a dif- ferent situation. These are at eye level on the super- market shelves and they wi ll be in bright, eye-catching, expensive packages. One of the biggest headaches about packaging i s that once you have removed the product from the package, many stores are unwilling to take it back if it is not satisfactory. Prepackaged Fruit & Vegetables Unnecessary packaging is now invad- ing the fruit, vegetable andmeat depart- mentsof most supermarkets. Mary Kit- ch en i nterviewed housew ives and ex- plained, "This isone thing many house- wives are really objecting to.Il it's get- ting so if y ou want to pick through the fruits and vegetablesyou'll1 have to go to a f a r m e r s 1 market. Otherwise you'll1 h ave to se t t ie for the size, colour, freshness and quantity prepackaged by the supermarkets. Despi te housewive's objections, most supermarkets continue to p r e p a c k a g e fruit, vegetables and meats more than ever before. Investigation aiso showed the super- markets themselves were guilty of pol- luting when they cleaned barbecue rot- isseries with javex and threw both javex and grease doNn the drains. The Poi- i u t i on Probe t e am al sospotted many supermarkets throwing scrap meat cuts down the drain as well. The solution is to use packaging that is bio-degradeable. In other words it will self-destruct or rot when exposed to the elements. Th e i ow i y garbage bag is caising pol lution because the plastic bag w ill n o t rot so it k e e p s the contents from rotting and returning ,to the soil. The role of packaging is in need of a change and only a change in public opinion can bring that about. In short, ladies its up ta you. Want to Brighten Up Your Dinner To-Nite ? Let Us Help You With a Touch of Sunlight4 SVNGÇaàT RESTAURANT Specializing in Chinese Food 668-7021 "and taste the difference" FREE Home Delivery 10% OFF on FaSt Take Out Orders Pick Up orders 116 Dundas W. Quail SAVE Noney onDI Premium Buality Fuel Oil DX OILI Cy 66-334 "I Think I'd Better Consult My Banker." it is a good idea to consult your banker before you make any major purchase such as a Hi-Fi, washer & dryer or fine furniture. Most banks like the savings to be had at brockway furniture and will provide low cost loans for this use. brockway 936 Diaingham Rd. BAY RIDGES Phone 839-1332 DX <0 m6$b,>