It seems that almost every package I get these days is resealable. We bought a bag of tortilla chips that comes in a resealable package. Cheese slices and shredded cheese come in resealable packages. The M&Ms I keep in my desk drawer comes in a resealable package. Resealable packages are all the rage.
And I mean rage. I can never get the resealable packages to work right. I am not alone. The Little Miss asked if she could open the bag of tortilla chips the other day. Sure, I said. When I found the bag later, she’d opened the resealable package the old-fashioned way, completely circumventing the resealable part, effectively nullifying it.
Many of the resealable packages tell you to “tear here” to open. When I do this, I find that “here” is either too high or two low. Too high requires pulling scissors from the drawer to cut the strip enough to separate the parts that allow you to pull the seal open. Too low, the physical of separating the seal are almost impossible.
Sometimes, I rip open the resealable package only to discover that I ripped both sides of the seal off one side of the package, rendering the seal useless.
Sealing a resealable package is almost as difficult as opening one. I can never seem to align the seals with one another to get a clean grip. I run my finger along the seam only to find that the package is not sealed at all. I do this two or three times, and finally, take a zip-lock back out of the drawer and put the resealable package in the zip lock bag.
There are some packages that would seem to benefit from being resealable, but so far I haven’t seen any. Boxes of cereal come with that bag inside that is impossible get open. Once open, it is difficult to close it in a way to keep the contents fresh. You’d think the cereal people would come up with resealable cereal packaging. The wrap that a head of lettuce comes in would be worth investigation. I rarely use a full head of lettuce at once, preferring to tear off some leaves to put on a sandwich. Getting that head of lettuce back into the plastic film is difficult.
Junk mail would benefit from resealable packaging. When you open one of those envelopes that looks like it is handwritten, but it is really someone trying to fool you into thinking it a personal letter, it would be nice to reseal it and mail it back to the sender, postage due.
Soda cans and other carbonated beverages would benefit from being resealable. Sometimes, I don’t want an entire can of soda, just a sip or two. If I put the can back in the refrigerator, it goes flat after a day. It would be nice to have resealable soda cans.
On the whole, I’m not really sure what benefit a resealable package provides that I can’t get from old-fashioned packaging. On the side of our refrigerator are a number of clips. We use these clips to keep non-resealable packages sealed. I never have a problem with the clips. There is no cutting or tearing, no frustration when trying to reseal a package.