Read the text. What is the purpose of the author?
Products in supermarkets these days are so 1)........... (beautiful) presented: bread is wrapped
in a plastic bag, biscuits in cardboard boxes, apples on plastic trays. Have you ever bought a
product simply because you liked the way it looked? Ask yourself what is more important -
the contents or the 2) (wrap)!
Yes, we do need packaging. It preserves goods, protects them against damage and makes them
3).... (present) to consumers. But there is a high price to pay. Did you know that anything between
10 - 50 % of the price of food today is down to its packaging? Or that packaging makes up 32% of
the total weight of solid waste? This is bad news as most packaging is not 4).................................................................................. (recycle), but
dumped in landfills or burnt. This results in more 5) (pollute), in addition to the pollution caused
by the manufacture and 6) (transport) of packaging in the first place!
7)..... (thankful), supermarkets are now working to cut back. As packages become smaller and
lighter, less energy is needed to transport them. Lighter packaging means less waste. However, there is
still a long way to go!
So, what's all this got to do with you, the consumer? Well, don't buy 8).............................................................. (produce) simply
because of the way they look! Instead...
* Choose products that use minimal packaging or 'green' packaging that is 9)......................................................... (reuse) e.g.
glass jars for storing things in, recyclable (look for the recycling symbol!) or biodegradable.
• Avoid individually wrapped foods. Buy in bulk, not in small 10)....................................................................... (pack)!
• Choose products that come in concentrated form, such as 11)........................................................................... (wash) powders and
fabric softeners, or those that do more than one thing, like shampoo and 12).................................................
(condition) in one.
• Take cloth bags to the supermarket instead of asking for more plastic bags, which take
around 400 years to break down!
• When large products are delivered to your home, ask 13)...................................................................... (manufacture) to take
back the packaging (bubble wrap, boxes, etc) so they can reuse it.
