As editor of America may be the land of frivolous lawsuits, but England is host to a county council that's suing a supermarket chain over "excessive packaging."
Elisabeth Rosenthal of The New York Times wrote a story about the case on Saturday, and followed up with a post in the paper's Green blog yesterday.
According to the story, the suit was brought by the Lincolnshire County Council against Sainsbury plc, which packages its Taste the Difference Slow Matured Ultimate Beef Roasting Joint in plastic wrap, atop a plastic tray, under a clear plastic cover surrounded by a cardboard sleeve.
Interesting, since Sainsbury has gotten quite a bit of publicity for its effort to reduce single-use plastic packaging, particularly with its reusable cotton "I am not a plastic bag" bags, which it sold for $10.
Packaging is one of those topics where everyone feels like an expert -- like the weather. So the topic seems to have struck a nerve, especially with the timing around Christmas, when so many consumers are struggling to un-pack things like toys and electronics.
Check the comments posted on Rosenthal's blog for a taste of what consumers think of the packages that some Plastics Blog readers have a hand in creating.