If You Buy This Avocado, You Are Part Of the Problem

I wouldn’t call myself an environmentalist as much as a common sense driven human. When I post about green tech, it’s because it’s cool, not because I’ve got a hard on for saving the world. I rarely recycle and I’ve probably even littered once or twice in my life. My point is that there are some things out there that are so stupid, that you have to point them out.

This is one of those things. There are many fruits and veggies that come in their own packaging. Think bananas, melons, oranges, avocados, and things like that. There are instances where it almost makes sense to pay a convenience fee to have one of those items prepped for you. For example, cubing up a whole melon is a pain in the ass, or if you are single, it might just be too much melon. With that taken into consideration, it’s kind of hard to justify the sheer waste of packaging that goes into this product.

I’m talking about Calavo’s pre-packaged Avocado halves. You can now by an avocado that has been pre-peeled, cut in half, and vacuum sealed in plastic before it is then wrapped in cardboard. According to Calavo, grocery stores intend the product for people who can’t tell how ripe an avocado is. If you fall into that category, here’s a primer for you:

– Is it hard? It’s not ripe.
– Is it mushy? It’s overripe.
If it feels like it might be good, try this. take your thumb and wiggle the stem gently. If it doesn’t budge, the avocado is not ripe. If it falls out and the stem scar is fresh and green looking, it’s perfect, if the stem scar is brown, it’s overripe.

Personally, what bugs me more than the waste this produces is the fact that I could probably peel and de-pit an avocado faster than I could open this package.

Source: Inhabitat