I noticed yesterday that, next to the baskets just inside the supermarket, they had stacked sturdy cartons with hand-holds in the side. So you could take your purchases out to the car in it and then carry on using it at home - maybe even use it again for shopping. An improvement even on "the old days".
Those floating islands of plastic rubbish are really frightening. There are plenty of videos and stills of them on line. To look at them it's hard to believe that we're ever going to save the planet.
Trying to remember what we had in the bathroom in the way of packaging in the "olden days". Toothpaste and things like zinc ointment were in metal tubes and tins. Talcum powder came in metal containers, bath salts in jars.
Cleaning agents came in glass or metal jars, tins and bottles.
Sweets were weighed out into paper bags.
Sometimes I prefer the hygiene that a sealed plastic container offers.
Back in the 80s there was a move here to reduce packaging and people were encouraged to take their Tupperware to the butchers and cheese counters. The assistants, however, were not allowed to put things in containers from outside - they couldn't guarantee the standard of hygeine. Not sure why it's now allowed, if it wasn't back then.