7 times grocers went overboard with plastic packaging

These jaw-dropping examples of over-packaged foods will infuriate you.

When was the last time you wished you could buy a pre-peeled banana or a halved avocado, so that you didn't have to bother doing the work yourself? Hopefully never! There are some jobs that really do not need to be outsourced, no matter how exhausted or lazy you may be feeling. Nevertheless, many retailers persist in offering these 'convenient' options, and yet they're horrifying examples of convenience taken too far -- to a point where you now have to deal with superfluous garbage that wouldn't be there otherwise.

The following list of over-packaged foods comes via Bored Panda and Twitter, and I've pulled out a few of my favorites (as in, most depressing) to share with you today. Keep these in mind next time you're deliberating between washed, bagged greens or a naked head of lettuce. Less plastic is always the goal.

1. Plastic-wrapped, de-pitted avocado halves

Canadian grocer Sobey's defended this product, saying it was "for people who might be new to using avocados and for a little more convenience. It eliminates the guesswork when it comes to ripeness." Well, they're certainly right about that last point; you're guaranteed the least fresh avocado in the store if you buy one that was cut open days earlier. And now, instead of having a pit and peel to toss in the compost bin, you can throw plastic wrap into the trash and haul a cardboard box to the curb.

2. Pre-peeled bananas on Styrofoam, wrapped in plastic

Just in case you didn't realize they're supposed to be peeled before you eat them... Or maybe it's for all those thousands of people who die in banana-peeling incidents each year. The thought of someone else handling a banana I'm about to eat is rather off-putting. This is a stunning example of stupidity at its most flagrant.

3. Jelly beans, wrapped individually

This image comes from someone who ordered 5 lbs of sugar-free Jelly Belly beans online, and they came individually wrapped. Maybe your friend circle is different than mine, but I don't know a single person who would eat a single jelly bean and then call it quits for the day.

4. Banana in a bag

Oh, Starbucks. Why? You know you're just asking for it when you go and do ludicrous things like labeling a single Cavendish banana as if it's some kind of unusual variety and sealing it up in a plastic bag. The picture is made even sadder by the presence of what looks like water in a plastic cup.

5. Vacuum-packed Garlic

Bored Panda/via

I'm sounding like a broken record here, but the amount of time you'd spend peeling garlic cloves is surely equivalent to the amount of time it would take to deal with all the plastic waste generated by buying pre-peeled cloves. Ugh. And there is no way it has the same flavor as the fresh stuff.

6. Strawberries and Foam

Bored Panda/via

I thought strawberries in plastic cartons were bad enough, but then I saw this -- individual strawberries spaced out on a bed of foam. This is insane! At least one of the berries appears to be rebelling, by growing legs and escaping the confines of its designated spot.

7. Plastic-swathed coconut

There is no reason, ever, to need to 'protect' a coconut from potential damage. Have you ever tried to open one of those babies? My last experience had me out on the back deck swinging a hammer in an attempt to crack it open. And yet again, Marks & Spencer thinks its "Genuine Coconut" needs additional packaging, along with a decorative hat, base, or whatever that thing is.

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