I only buy chicken one way now — and it cut my plastic way down

This isn't a recipe — just something I've changed that I keep thinking about.

For a while it bugged me how much plastic came home every time I bought chicken: the tray, the film, the little absorbent pad, all of it in the trash five minutes after I got home. So I made one change: I buy it from the butcher counter now, in my own container (or wrapped in paper), instead of the shrink-wrapped trays.

What I've noticed:

• Way less plastic. That's the whole reason, and it delivered.
• It's often fresher, and I can buy the exact amount I want.
• It costs a little more sometimes, a little less other times — closer to a wash than I expected.
• The one downside: it takes a minute more, and not every store has a real counter.

I'm not preaching here — plenty of nights the convenience of a tray wins. But this one stuck, and it made me look at the rest of my cart differently.

Have you changed how you buy anything to cut down on packaging? Did it stick, or did real life get in the way? I want to hear what's actually worked for you.