I eat a lot of snacks. I don’t always have the energy to cook for myself so I will rely on food in wrappers and shiny metallic bags to provide me sustenance. I throw away a lot of these shiny wrappers as there is not a way to recycle them. They are even in most paper boxes of food to preserve the food from humidity and mold. This is important for me as someone with severe allergies that I need those packaged foods as bulk stores are not safe for me due to cross contact with allergens. An archaeologist may look at these empty wrappers and wonder why there are so many scattered around, they are quite colorful and shiny so maybe they will think they were used as offerings or as decorations. If they find a bag full they may think about how this culture had a general mistrust of fresh foods and had an obsession with packaging food. There is a strong sense of sanitation when it comes to foods but I am sure in 1000 years they may be concerned about the leaching of these containers and the amount of them there. We as a society have an obsession with wrapped goods. It is much more convenient to eat a bag of chips then find a vendor who makes them fresh or make our own. There is currently not a convenient way to store much of this food and I rely on it for accessibility to safe food. Once medicine has evolved and I can take something that makes me have to worry less about cross contact and be able to participate in bulk stores and the like. We are food hoarders like squirrels storing away nuts for the winter, we buy in excess to ensure in an emergency or a craving the food will be there. We are in a time where food is something we do not have the time for. With time being a commodity, “wasting” time cooking meals from scratch is not efficient and buying prepackaged foods and snacks is much better so we can work longer hours. Food packaging will cover the earth, as there is simply too much of it and it is light enough to flow in the wind. They will be everywhere like glitter.

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-pile-of-empty-bags-from-chips-and-snacks-prepared-to-be-recycled-31887098.html