I don’t understand why pasta is packaged in plastic. It’s not like it is going to go off, is it? And it’s not like we need to know what dried pasta looks like. In Italy and many other European countries pasta is mainly packaged in cardboard. In Bremen I have recently discovered a shop where pasta is sold loose from large containers. I wrote to Carluccio’s recently, hoping that their beautiful pasta is packaged in cellophane. A lady called Paola Pignataro replied: “The majority of our pasta packets are made of polypropylene, resin code PP5, therefore recyclable depending on local council policies.” She didn’t mention why they use plastic in the first place. Our council doesn’t allow that type of plastic in the recycling box and it would not surprise me if the majority of it is not recycled in the UK as a whole.
Once we ran out of pasta following our family’s non-plastic pledge in May 2016 we struggled to find an alternative. When we came across the Barilla range of pasta on our summer holiday in France this summer we quickly loaded up our car boot. Pasta is now a special treat at our house which is probably better for our waistline!
Hmmm, I may treat myself to a pasta machine!
Discovered this blog last year and I’m making a conscious effort to reduce my plastic use this year.
Pasta has been a pain (and I like it too much to give up). However, I have discovered a place that occasionally sells pasta in cardboard boxes, and it’s not massively far from you. La Botega on the Brassmill Estate in Bath is an Italian wholesaler that has a shop you can just wander into. They stock a wide variety of pastas imported from Italy (many of which I’ve never come across before). The majority are packaged in plastic, but they do have some in plain cardboard boxes too.
Their stock does vary though, so it may be worth phoning ahead, but I am pleased to say that I have several boxes of plastic-free spaghetti!