Bread and Water wrapped in Plastic

Amazed yet again by the lengths we go to to make the basic things complicated and more damaging to the environment.

Bread can not be sold without being encased in a plastic bag - how can it breath?

Water can not be served from a tap though rather from a bottle - how can this be?

Yes both are true based on my experience here in Hong Kong.

I was in a bread shop and watched them bring out beautiful freshly baked bread. Tasting a sample it was bread rather than some of this mass produced bread that is sweat and contains something that means it still has not gone off even after a week in the humidity. Anyhow back to this wonderful bread. They then proceeded to put it into plastic bags and it started steaming up. I asked them why they did not use paper bags. They said they would love to though the food safety authority insists that a loaf of bread must be served in plastic bag. Both the bakery staff and myself still do not understand why a paper bag does not do the same job of protecting the customer as a plastic bag. It is not as though Hong Kong needs more plastic bags!!!

Now to the water experience. I was in a juice bar and asked for a water along with my smoothie. They said I could buy a water from the fridge. I said that I was happy to drink the tap water. The staff then said to me that they were not allowed to serve the tap water to customers as it may not be safe and therefore they recommended I buy bottled water. So while sitting drinking my water from the bottle (yes another plastic item added to the waster for that day) I watched them make my smoothie. In went the ingredients including water from the tap!!! You go figure the difference between me drinking the water by itself and it being added to a cold smoothie.

Next they may be telling me I can not breather the air unless it comes from a plastic bottle or bag. Actually that may be a good thing.