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Why aren't more people talking about this? (1 Viewer)

Megatron

Dingle!
Maybe I just missed all the talk, but where are all the demands for manufacturers to cut out waste that is mainly used to make items look pretty when sitting on a shelf? I'm talking about the ridiculous amounts of plastic, cardboard, twist-ties, clips, etc. that accompanies the actual toy, that goes directly to the trash can or recycle bin upon opening? We're banning straws, but when I open my son's Bakugan, there's significantly more packaging than there is toy. The little dollhouse my daughter got for her birthday had almost a half a cubic foot of cardboard and plastic tie-downs that went straight into the recycle bin (and it took me way too damn long to open, but that's a different story). Hell, even the cologne my wife bought me was wrapped in plastic inside a box, inside another cardboard sleeve. The amount of packaging that accompanied the tiny bottle was almost laughable. I understand the challenges with marketing, presentation, shipping, etc., etc., but at what point do we start to demand that these companies start to be just a little more responsible? Ok, I'm done.

 
I think everything should be in arial font in lowercase letters with products housed in only 99.9% brown recycled cardboard.

Can I have my straws back, then? It's been a convenient excuse for stores to charge $2.60 for fountain soda still while not providing take-out situations. I want my free refills back.  

 
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I still collect sports cards which is probably uncommon enough but have you seen the packaging they use on some of the high end stuff? A crazy amount of waste. This is a great observation though. There is way more waste in packaging than a tiny little straw.

 
I just don't understand how people can get so worked up over straws, but I have heard little to no talk of making changes to this type of packaging. I had not heard of the waste-free packaging on Amazon, but I will be looking for it now that I know it's there.

 
stop people form stealing the toys so easily and this woudn't be an issue
Ya, I think that is the reason for all the twist ties and 3x cardboard to toy ratio.  But, toys coming from Amazon, etc, wouldn't need to be packaged like this.  I think the Walmart's of the brick and mortar world get special packaging on certain items, so I would think the Amazon's of the internet retail space should be able to push manufacturers with package with less waste.

 
I just don't understand how people can get so worked up over straws, but I have heard little to no talk of making changes to this type of packaging. I had not heard of the waste-free packaging on Amazon, but I will be looking for it now that I know it's there.
Amazon's instituting chargebacks to retailers for items that cannot "Ship In Own Container" starting next month.

This should eliminate the big brown box that you receive when ordering a larger item from Amazon.

To me, Costco is example #1 of wasteful packaging and it's only going to change when the consumer votes with their dollar, or governments institute a solution.

 
Not to mention how much of a gigantic pain in the ### those clamshell packages are.  Half the time I damn near impale myself trying to open them. I think people will get away from those when they discover how awesome "frustration free" packaging from Amazon is.  I go out of my way to try and buy that way. Probably the only reason I still have 9 fingers.

 
I still collect sports cards which is probably uncommon enough but have you seen the packaging they use on some of the high end stuff? A crazy amount of waste. This is a great observation though. There is way more waste in packaging than a tiny little straw.
I think at least some stuff in items like this is to discourage theft. But it's like that 50 dollar knife with the security tag on it. Saw one where some thief brought their own knife and just cut it loose around it, leaving the empty package still hanging by it's "security" tag.

 
Times New Roman and I will die on this hill :boxing:
Fight. is. on.

Saw one where some thief brought their own knife and just cut it loose around it, leaving the empty package still hanging by it's "security" tag.
Yep, saw one where the razor blades in Costco packaging were slit with the razor itself and left for an employee to find out about.

Okay, I didn't really see that. But it would be cool. The anti-theft packaging on them is ridiculous. 

 
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Ron Swanson said:
Not to mention how much of a gigantic pain in the ### those clamshell packages are.  Half the time I damn near impale myself trying to open them. I think people will get away from those when they discover how awesome "frustration free" packaging from Amazon is.  I go out of my way to try and buy that way. Probably the only reason I still have 9 fingers.
Yes! I utter more profanity opening presents on Christmas morning than I do the rest of the year combined. It's ridiculous!

To those saying it's for security purposes, I completely agree. I know some of it is for marketing, some for safety during shipping, and some for discouraging theft, but it's absolutely ridiculous. I just wish people would get worked up as much about this as they did straws. Somebody smarter than I am could save companies millions (billions?) by inventing something that solved for all 3 but still managed to cut down on waste.

 
Walking Boot said:
Amazon has waste-free packaging for a bunch of stuff. It's becoming more common. 
Maybe, but I hardly ever see it. I'm amazed sometimes at how much box they use to ship small stuff.

 
Same goes for just about any medication you buy. You get a giant bottle and there's like 20 pills that barely cover the bottom of the bottle.

And let's be honest, bottled water is one of the worst offenders. Companies like Nestle are bottling millions and millions of gallons of water from public waterways for free and generating tons of plastic waste in the process.

 
I think the straw issue is due to the danger to sealife such as turtles, not because of plastic and waste.

I also think if we were to strip down the packaging of things shipped from, say, Amazon, there would be a reaction from some people to not buy the product, seeing it as inferior, a knock off potential, or not desirable to collectors who want original product boxing ( how else are those mellinials going to do all those "unboxing" videos we all want to subscribe to?)

 
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Biodegradable packaging.  We can fly to outer space, have a facetime chat instantly from around the world whenever we want, and build AI robots..........but nobody can invent biodegradable packaging?

 
I think the straw issue is due to the danger to sealife such as turtles, not because of plastic and waste.

I also think if we were to strip down the packaging of things shipped from, say, Amazon, there would be a reaction from some people to not buy the product, seeing it as inferior, a knock off potential, or not desirable to collectors who want original product boxing ( how else are those mellinials going to do all those "unboxing" videos we all want to subscribe to?)
There should be a YouTube channel devoted to unboxing the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

 
Biodegradable packaging.  We can fly to outer space, have a facetime chat instantly from around the world whenever we want, and build AI robots..........but nobody can invent biodegradable packaging?
It exists, but is more expensive and less durable (duh) than conventional plastic.

 
It exists, but is more expensive and less durable (duh) than conventional plastic.
So nobody can invent more durable and cheap biodegradable packaging?

A computer used to be the size of a room, now it's the size of a playing card.  Someone can figure this out.

 
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Megatron said:
Maybe I just missed all the talk, but where are all the demands for manufacturers to cut out waste that is mainly used to make items look pretty when sitting on a shelf? I'm talking about the ridiculous amounts of plastic, cardboard, twist-ties, clips, etc. that accompanies the actual toy, that goes directly to the trash can or recycle bin upon opening? We're banning straws, but when I open my son's Bakugan, there's significantly more packaging than there is toy. The little dollhouse my daughter got for her birthday had almost a half a cubic foot of cardboard and plastic tie-downs that went straight into the recycle bin (and it took me way too damn long to open, but that's a different story). Hell, even the cologne my wife bought me was wrapped in plastic inside a box, inside another cardboard sleeve. The amount of packaging that accompanied the tiny bottle was almost laughable. I understand the challenges with marketing, presentation, shipping, etc., etc., but at what point do we start to demand that these companies start to be just a little more responsible? Ok, I'm done.
I went to Italy 15 years or so many of the local people would take their jug to the local wineshop in town and fill it up as needed. No need to waste bottles on their regular tablewine. This had me thinking, why aren't we doing this here? Why buy a new jug of Tide, new bottle of milk, new tin of coffee, etc. It would make sense to have a bulk store where we refill containers. Maybe you drop off your old ones (for the store to clean) and they hand you clean new used containers? I know there are some logistic issues to it, but it seems to make sense. 

 
Same goes for just about any medication you buy. You get a giant bottle and there's like 20 pills that barely cover the bottom of the bottle.

And let's be honest, bottled water is one of the worst offenders. Companies like Nestle are bottling millions and millions of gallons of water from public waterways for free and generating tons of plastic waste in the process.
Agreed. I don't understand the concept of making a bottle only to fill half of it with air. In an age of process efficiency, and squeezing every last dollar of profit out of a business, it's crazy to me that companies wouldn't make smaller bottles just to save money on materials.

 
I went to Italy 15 years or so many of the local people would take their jug to the local wineshop in town and fill it up as needed. No need to waste bottles on their regular tablewine. This had me thinking, why aren't we doing this here? Why buy a new jug of Tide, new bottle of milk, new tin of coffee, etc. It would make sense to have a bulk store where we refill containers. Maybe you drop off your old ones (for the store to clean) and they hand you clean new used containers? I know there are some logistic issues to it, but it seems to make sense. 
Most americans are too lazy/self absorbed to do this. Government mandated reduced packaging and making it all biodegradable are probably a more realistic solution, unfortunately. 

 
Same goes for just about any medication you buy. You get a giant bottle and there's like 20 pills that barely cover the bottom of the bottle.

And let's be honest, bottled water is one of the worst offenders. Companies like Nestle are bottling millions and millions of gallons of water from public waterways for free and generating tons of plastic waste in the process.
Absolutely one of the most insane things that American consumers buy into. 

"Tap water, that my utility and tax dollars pay for, sucks and is full of contaminants!!! I only drink it when it comes in plastic bottles, with pretty labels and marketing slogans and sold back to me for $5/liter!"

 
Absolutely one of the most insane things that American consumers buy into. 

"Tap water, that my utility and tax dollars pay for, sucks and is full of contaminants!!! I only drink it when it comes in plastic bottles, with pretty labels and marketing slogans and sold back to me for $5/liter!"
/flint

 
Biodegradable packaging.  We can fly to outer space, have a facetime chat instantly from around the world whenever we want, and build AI robots..........but nobody can invent biodegradable packaging?
Or just shoot the junk out into space.  Or just shoot homeless people.  I'm cool with either one, honestly.

 
What about Flint?

The tragedy in Flint does not, in any way, relate to the point that about half of all bottled water is coming straight from municipal water supplies.  Water supplies that are already being paid for by our tax dollars.  They are literally selling us our own water.

The industry produces tremendous amounts of plastic waste and significantly exacerbates already catastrophic drought conditions throughout the country.

 
I think the straw issue is due to the danger to sealife such as turtles, not because of plastic and waste.
If communities truly cared about ocean wildlife they would crack down on cigarette littering. But that would affect homeless people and minorities in greater numbers so that's a non starter. 

So yeah, lets go after plastic straws. 

 
Hard to blame businesses.  Every business will do whatever they are legally allowed to do to make as much money as they can.

Dont want it?  Make it illegal.  It's the only solution that could actually work.  Or people can just make believe that businesses will decide to "act right" some day.  Sorry, wont happen, those aren't the type of people who become big business owners.

 
so i'll be the bad guy here, I'm a package designer—somewhat, I do a lot of bottles and food, not so much retail products, but I know the industry. 

its all about looking good on the shelf. Selling in retail is hard enough. Put your product in a plain brown box and try to sell it and its impossible. You need all the zip ties, glue dots, rubber bands and cardboard so that every toy in the line looks exactly the same inside the box, and every little accessory is highlighted. People don't read packaging, they won't see that there are 25 extra pieces buried in the box, you got to show them. You also can't print the product on the box all the time, bc people have become skeptical of products they cant see and taking it home only to find its 1/2 hhe size and made like crap. 

On top of that, you need to fit X into a big brown box to ship it to the retailer or customer, so things are designed to nest into each other during transport. And you are not transporting them on feather pillow, boxes get knocked around and if the product inside the packaging isn't secure, that He-Man figure comes out looking like he just went through a wresting match inside the box. 

Also retailers are giving less and less shelf space to products. Each inch of a shelf has to be profitable and giving space to floor models and displays are not always going to make them money. 

But I agree...a lot of it is wasteful and we need to change the way we shop. 

 
And as mentioned "biodegradable " or "recycled" packaging, yea it exists, but it is expensive. We do little to no physical recycling here, it all gets shipped overseas before it is broken down enough to be refused. Recycled stuff is great in theory, but every time it touches another process, that adds cost. 

Cardboard is technically 'biodegradable' 

 
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so i'll be the bad guy here, I'm a package designer—somewhat, I do a lot of bottles and food, not so much retail products, but I know the industry. 

its all about looking good on the shelf. Selling in retail is hard enough. Put your product in a plain brown box and try to sell it and its impossible. You need all the zip ties, glue dots, rubber bands and cardboard so that every toy in the line looks exactly the same inside the box, and every little accessory is highlighted. People don't read packaging, they won't see that there are 25 extra pieces buried in the box, you got to show them. You also can't print the product on the box all the time, bc people have become skeptical of products they cant see and taking it home only to find its 1/2 hhe size and made like crap. 

On top of that, you need to fit X into a big brown box to ship it to the retailer or customer, so things are designed to nest into each other during transport. And you are not transporting them on feather pillow, boxes get knocked around and if the product inside the packaging isn't secure, that He-Man figure comes out looking like he just went through a wresting match inside the box. 

Also retailers are giving less and less shelf space to products. Each inch of a shelf has to be profitable and giving space to floor models and displays are not always going to make them money. 

But I agree...a lot of it is wasteful and we need to change the way we shop. 
If the presentation of the product is the deciding factor on the purchase of the product, people dont need to buy that product.  

Make more important ####.  

😀

 
And as mentioned "biodegradable " or "recycled" packaging, yea it exists, but it is expensive. We do little to no physical recycling here, it all gets shipped overseas before it is broken down enough to be refused. Recycled stuff is great in theory, but every time it touches another process, that adds cost. 

Cardboard is technically 'biodegradable' 
Hence the "invent cheap new biodegradable technology" sentiment.

 
If the presentation of the product is the deciding factor on the purchase of the product, people dont need to buy that product.  

Make more important ####.  

😀
I hear ya, but try something in a plain brown box and and see how your sales go. I go back to toys as an example, but kids especially work on sight and impulse. No kid is gonna throw a #### fit on his mother in the target toy isle b/c he saw a pain brown box and NEEEEEEEEEDSSSSS whats in it. 

 
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Everything you're saying just backs up the fact that we can't expect manufacturers to "do the right thing". Big government needs to step in and protect us from ourselves.

 
Hard to blame businesses.  Every business will do whatever they are legally allowed to do to make as much money as they can.

Dont want it?  Make it illegal.  It's the only solution that could actually work.  Or people can just make believe that businesses will decide to "act right" some day.  Sorry, wont happen, those aren't the type of people who become big business owners.
This is part of my point though. Wouldn't using less packaging ultimately add to their bottom line?

 

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