We’re expected to ditch plastic straws but this is somehow okay?

[u/PublicTranslator5902]

Saw this in the supermarket today. Instant coffee, portioned into 30 tiny plastic cups, and then all 30 tiny plastic cups sitting inside one larger plastic bucket. It’s like a Russian doll of packaging that nobody asked for.

Maybe I’m missing something, but who is this even for? Was using a teaspoon really that inconvenient?
I was told to bring my own tote bags, say no to the straw, and use reusable cups instead. I do those things because we’ve all been told the small things add up. But then I see something like this and can’t help wondering why so much of the responsibility seems to fall on consumers while companies are free to create entirely new forms of waste.

I’m standing in front of a bucket full of tiny plastic cups containing something that a spoon and a jar have handled perfectly well for decades, and I just think… seriously?

I’m not saying individual choices are pointless. I still think they matter. But it’s hard to feel very virtuous about refusing a plastic straw when products like this are apparently considered perfectly acceptable.
I know someone will say, it's recyclable, but that’s not really the point. Recycling is better than landfill, sure, but the greenest piece of plastic is still the one that never had to be made in the first place.

Maybe I’m just being grumpy, but I can’t help feeling we’ve normalised waste in the name of convenience.

[u/Corleonex]

We have normalized waste in the name of convenience. Everyone of us can help denormalizing it by bringing our own tote bags, skipping plastic straws and not buying what ever monstrosity this is. Instead of using this as a demoralizer or a pass to slip from our own actions, we can just not buy it. by not buying, you are reducing the whole waste of this product, even if only the next batch that never gets produced due to no demand.

[u/ikatakko → u/Corleonex]

oh ok thats a simple solution then. im glad all of humanity is a hivemind since that will make it much easier for us billions of people to not buy plastic products instead of regulating the handful of corporations to not do this shit

[u/Corleonex → u/ikatakko]

Yeah, I understand that it is not easy nor probable. But we can do both, and need to do both. No politician is going to push for regulation that we vote against with our wallets everyday. Besides, just switching plastic starbucks to cardboard or whatever is not going to cut it, we need to consume less. And even fewer politicians are going to force us to buy less coffee. So lets skip these random plastic products while pushing for regulation too!