You're right Will. Flipping plastic around everything one buys. I've heard that some people take it all off after the checkout and leave it dumped on the side for the supermarket to deal with, to make their point about how unnecessary it is.

Only yesterday I had to get my husband to help me open a giant sized toilet roll pack. The plastic covering was so tightly wrapped I couldn't get into it! And I'm not particularly arthritic or feeble.

I realise one needs to protect food from contamination, but objects such as scissors, which you mentioned, or cleaning cloths, batteries etc don't need hygienic protection, unless from thieves I suppose.

Hard to imagine the fifties, when everything was bought loose and popped into one's shopping bag. Spuds, carrots, sprouts, bread, loose nails/screws, butter (in greaseproof paper) meat (wrapped in white paper) sugar (in a twist of blue paper) nothing had plastic around it.