Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
Sunday's New York Times has a story about quite an interesting lawsuit taking place in Lincolnshire, England. Apparently, the Lincolnshire County Council is so serious about regulations regarding packaging that it decided to sue a supermarket chain for “excessive packaging” of a piece of meat. The suit was eventually dropped, two days before it was set to be put in front of a judge, however the fact that the initial action was deemed appropriate and taken speaks volumes.
British packaging regulations were enacted in 2003 in order to reduce waste and were strengthened in 2008, requiring packaging to only the minimum that ensures “products’ safety, hygiene, and consumer acceptance.”
Is this sort of legal action too strong of a means by which to enforce the packaging regulations? I agree that reducing unnecessary packaging can be a smart, effective way to reduce waste; however, a lawsuit seems a bit on the extreme side. On the other hand, that supermarket chain in Lincolnshire did reduce the packaging of the meat in question by over 50% percent. Perhaps the issue is where to draw the line between practical and obsessive.
Regulations? Practical. Lawsuits over individual products? Not so sure.
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May '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
I'd argue that maybe any regulation, but certainly any regulation that goes beyond insuring product safety, is poorly conceived. Logic suggests that a manufacturer will not spend anymore than he has to to package a product. It is, after all, an overhead cost. But some products are virtually indistinguishable and so the packaging becomes a "part" of the product. There is, after all, no major difference in whiskeys. (Some purists will disagree, I suppose.) So, Jim Beam came up with the idea of bottling their spirits in (unnecessary) collectible bottles as a means of enhancing sales.
The market is an effective mechanism for dealing with this. Those who spend less on packaging can afford to charge a lower price for their product and compete in that manner.
Oct '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
Having lived in the UK under their rules, I operate with the belief that it's their country. But, given that the USA has a constitution that limits the role of government, the idea of any controls here, imposed by the feral government, is clearly out of bounds. States, however, and the UK equivalent would be Lincolnshire, could impose any such excessive regulation as their citizens desire... which leads to the earlier conversation about quitting New York and moving on to Texas. An elegant solution.
Oct '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
A good post that seems to be provoking thoughtful responses.
Two grammatical errors that ill-befit the website with the most intelligent center-right commentary on the web:
"Britain is serious about their packaging" is an example of pronoun-antecedent disagreement. The sentence should read "The British are serious about their packaging."
In the sentence containing "in front of a judge, however the fact that", we see an example of a comma splice. However is a conjunctive adverb; it does not have the power of a coordinating conjunction to join two independent clauses. Therefore, use a semicolon + conjunctive adverb, not a comma + conjunctive adverb, to join the clauses. The correct punctuation is "in front of a judge; however, the fact that."
Please mention to the other interns that confusing "their" and "there" is a big no-no.
And excuse the "pedagoguery."
Dec '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
I've heard that it's common practice among British mutton producers to package their product in sheepskin with an outer layer of wool to send it to market. It seems very wasteful, as these packaging layers have to be stripped off before the product is prepared for consumer retail sale.
May '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
The only packaging regulation I want to see is banning those hard plastic blister-packs. Is it possible to open one of those without injury?
Clearly, we need a study to determine whether packaging regulation is "practical", as here claimed. It can't possibly be efficient to set up a regulatory authority to govern the packaging of individual butcher shops.
Bottom line on package regulation: Don't touch my junk! (sigh, couldn't even go one post without...)
Aug '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
Like to see them try this in Harrod's Food Court.
Bloody busybodies !
May '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
RAYCON's "feral government" gets a 'like' from me.
May '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
J. D. Fitzpatrick: ...
"Britain is serious about their packaging" is an example of pronoun-antecedent disagreement. The sentence should read "The British are serious about their packaging."
...
I understand your logic,but historically (empirically) there is little support for this rule.
English writers have always used singular their.
May '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
In Japan, packaging is virtually the national religion. Every "gift food" is individually wrapped, and then placed in an elegant container inside an elegant box, and then wrapped carefully by the clerk, and then placed in a nice bag.
To do less would be unthinkably vulgar.
Oct '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
outstripp
I understand your logic,but historically (empirically) there is little support for this rule.
English writers have always used singular their. · Dec 27 at 7:12pm
True. In the absence of the comma splice, I don't think I would have made the observation. But having gone through 16 years of education and 2 years of grad school coursework, earning thereby a BA and MA in English Lit, without receiving significant grammar instruction, I was concerned that a Dartmouth sophomore might not know the basics. And there are editors who will, wrongly, fry youngsters for what they perceive to be ignorance. Adam, not being Jane Austen--or Ezra Pound or James Baldwin, both of whom regularly used comma splices--does not get a free pass. (Maybe he will after he writes How Christie Changed My Life.)
May '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
J. D. Fitzpatrick
outstripp
I understand your logic,but historically (empirically) there is little support for this rule.
English writers have always used singular their. · Dec 27 at 7:12pm
True. In the absence of the comma splice, I don't think I would have made the observation. But having gone through 16 years of education and 2 years of grad school coursework, earning thereby a BA and MA in English Lit, without receiving significant grammar instruction, I was concerned that a Dartmouth sophomore might not know the basics. And there are editors who will, wrongly, fry youngsters for what they perceive to be ignorance. Adam, not being Jane Austen--or Ezra Pound or James Baldwin, both of whom regularly used comma splices--does not get a free pass. (Maybe he will after he writes How Christie Changed My Life.) · Dec 27 at 8:09pm
In Adam's defense, we should note that he used the semicolon-however combo to perfection later in his post, indicating that the earlier error was likely haste-induced rather than ignorance-induced. Been there.
May '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
J. D. Fitzpatrick
outstripp
I understand your logic,but historically (empirically) there is little support for this rule.
English writers have always used singular their. · Dec 27 at 7:12pm
True. In the absence of the comma splice, I don't think I would have made the observation. But having gone through 16 years of education and 2 years of grad school coursework, earning thereby a BA and MA in English Lit, without receiving significant grammar instruction, I was concerned that a Dartmouth sophomore might not know the basics. And there are editors who will, wrongly, fry youngsters for what they perceive to be ignorance. ...
Incidentally, there is a political side to this discussion which Mark Liberman explains quite well by reference to Hayek's ideas about "grown- and made-order."
Oct '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
Scott Reusser
In Adam's defense, we should note that he used the semicolon-however combo to perfection later in his post, indicating that the earlier error was likely haste-induced rather than ignorance-induced. Been there. · Dec 28 at 5:56am
Sure. But how are we to know which, from the writer's perspective, was the accident?
I have zero, zilch, nada compassion for college students, especially ones majoring in English, who use comma splices in published (even self-published) writing. Call it the Reusser stance.
outstripp
Incidentally, there is a political side to this discussion which Mark Liberman explains quite well by reference to Hayek's ideas about "grown- and made-order." · Dec 28 at 6:21am
There's also a political dimension to grammatical license, as Theodore Dalrymple points out here. I'm fine with varying degrees of formality according to medium--using comma splices in texts or long-winded navel-gazing novels, for example. Not on the starter posts to the main feed, though. For similar reasons, I presume, the interns are wearing jackets and ties for the profile photos.
May '10
Re: Britain Is Serious About Its Packaging
J. D. Fitzpatrick
Scott Reusser
In Adam's defense, we should note that he used the semicolon-however combo to perfection later in his post, indicating that the earlier error was likely haste-induced rather than ignorance-induced. Been there. · Dec 28 at 5:56am
Sure. But how are we to know which, from the writer's perspective, was the accident?
I have zero, zilch, nada compassion for college students, especially ones majoring in English, who use comma splices in published (even self-published) writing. Call it the Reusser stance.
Well played! (However, while gramatically correct, your comment here is a fine example of the logical fallacy known as the non sequitur. An impressive memory nonetheless. Peace.) :)