Egg cartons

[csibona]

I am disturbed by the trend to package eggs in plastic cartons instead of cardboard cartons. My wife and I have called Eggland's Best and made a complaint about their over packaged plastic egg cartons. We only purchased the eggs because they were the only available choice of USDA organic eggs at the market in which we shopped. I much prefer cardboard cartons that I can toss into the composter.

I realize their packaging is part of their marketing strategy and differentiates their product in the marketplace. But, for me, it is a negative differentiation. If they want to use clear packaging I believe they should at least use a compostable product. What do others think?

[applestar]

Well, I stack and save those plastic egg cases to reuse for hatching Monarch butterfly eggs in the summer, for lining the bottom edge of the fence along my veg garden bordering my neighbor, and along the bottom edge of the veg garden fence in early spring and in fall to help block the cold wind a little bit. My extra-high raised bed acts like a cold frame when bordered with doubled clear plastic egg crates and covered with plastic sheeting and/or spun-bonded covers.

I do compost the compressed paper pulp egg cartons. I find the styrofoam ones COMPLETELY USELESS.

[cynthia_h]

Same here. Seed starters that I can tear easily & put directly in the ground *or* compost--which is to say, cardboard egg containers--YES.

I don't buy anything else, organic, cage-free, pastured, whatever. It's such a negative effect for me that the marketer doesn't get *any* of my money.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

[Zofiava]

I agree with this. I don't understand WHY a company would choose to use this type of packaging. Especially if it is an organic product. I understand some people only buy organic to keep themselves healthier, but most people that I know that eat organic do it in part for the earth. It's such a contradiction to package organics in styrofoam!

[lj in ny]

Our big grocery chain here in WNY -Wegman's- recently changed from styrofoam to recycled paper egg cartons. YAY!!!

https://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PressReleaseDetailView?productId=690897&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&langId=-1


They use plastic boxes to package their organic salad greens. I'm not really crazy about that. They are #1 plastic so at least they can be recycled. I also use them as mini greenhouses to start my seeds. I only buy lettuce in the winter time when I can't harvest it from my garden or get it at the farmers market.

Maybe you can send Eggland Farms the press release from Wegmans? It looks like they did a lot of research before they made the switch.

[tomf]

Same here. Seed starters that I can tear easily & put directly in the ground *or* compost--which is to say, cardboard egg containers--YES.

I don't buy anything else, organic, cage-free, pastured, whatever. It's such a negative effect for me that the marketer doesn't get *any* of my money.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

What a good idea, I get my eggs in the cardboard kind, why did I not think of this. Thanks for the idea cynthia, this is what I love about this forum.

[rot]

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Applestar,

How do you collect Monarch Butterfly eggs? When?

You must be raising milkweed plants. Do you harvest and feed the larvae or do you put the larvae on the plants?

Our Monarchs arrive late winter. Very few this year and no caterpillars made it to maturity. Last year we must have launched 50. I don't know what's going on. The Mexico winter population took a big hit but they're not supposed to be the same as the California broods.

Geez Loueez. Just how do you do it?

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When I tried the egg cartons for seed starters the roots never penetrated in time. The 2nd attempt I poked a hole in the bottom of each one first. Still no luck. What's the trick?

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[applestar]

I think I explained pretty well in this post:
[url]https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=117411#117411[/url]

I keep them indoors and feed them leaves collected from milkweed in my garden. I always rinse the leaves before bringing them in, but I don't disinfect them in bleach water like some people do. (I'm don't believe in overly anti-bacterial practices.)

You can also raise Black Swallowtail cats:
https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89870#89870

I'm pretty sure I've posted before about raising the monarchs but I can't seem to find the threads at the moment.

[rot]

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Thanks for the links Applestar. We've had a mixed bag with butterfly rescue attempts. It was a lot of work and really tough to watch them not make it.

It sounds like raising caterpillars and releasing butterflies isn't quite so intensive an effort.

We've been raising Mexican bloodflower we got from a give-away at a farm fest. I finally was able to get a couple of natives going just this year. The Mexican is spreading so we have a bunch of that about now. The natives look like they are just starting to flower. I will be collecting seeds like I did with the Mexican and so I hope to have heaps in the years to come.

We are slowly getting more native flowers for the local pollinators. I don't think the neighborhood needs anymore imports.

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