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5 ways to fight retail overpackaging
Tired of all the small items in huge boxes, wasted cardboard and excessive packaging? Here's what you can do to fight back.
Tue, Apr 13 2010 at 3:27 PM
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SHRINK WRAP: There's a big need to decrease the amount of packaging involved with all of our stuff. (Photo: kemalbas/iStockphoto)
Maybe this has happened to you: a desk pen set arrives in shoebox-sized packaging. One aspirin, shrink-wrapped on a six-by-six inch card. A small electronic part that arrives wrapped in more plastic than the device itself.
What a waste! It's overpackaging, and your local landfill is bursting with it.
Why all this packaging?
There's nothing wrong with reasonable packaging; we all want the stuff we buy to be clean and undamaged. But retail packaging has a dual purpose — protecting a product, and getting you to buy it. The latter case is where things get out of hand.
The aisles of your local grocery or department store are a battleground. Vendors spend big money fighting for shelf space. Once they have it, they want to be seen. Hence the millions of dollars spent annually by companies in the design of over-the-top packaging with high "shelf appeal."
Trashing the environment
The problem with overpackaging is twofold: it wastes raw materials, and most of it ends up in our already overburdened landfill systems. A lot of packaging is made of plastic, too, meaning it will be around for centuries.
To make things worse, much of the plastic used in packaging isn't marked for recycling. It'll be a treasure trove for future archeologists — assuming we all don't drown in our own garbage first.
What you can do to fight overpackaging
You are the consumer. You’re the end user. Ultimately, what you say goes. So don't take overpackaging lying down. We've rounded up five ideas to help you fight the glut of unnecessary garbage. Pick a few — and help wrap up a big mess.
1. Vote with your purchase
You can be assured that big companies pay close attention to the relationship between packaging changes and sales. Thanks to modern inventory systems, product movement can be traced right down to the shelf of your local big-box retailer.
Make this work for the good. When confronted with several equivalent products, choose the one with the least (or most environmentally friendly) packaging. This is the slow boat to change, but it strikes directly at the root of overpackaging: profit.
Can't find something with reasonable wrapping? If possible, put off your purchase and choose one of the options below.
2. Tell companies what you think
Direct customer input is a powerful thing. Done right, a phone call or a well-written letter can have real impact on the way a product is presented.
It's always helpful to take a pen and pad of paper when you shopping. See a horribly overpackaged product? Jot down the customer feedback info on the side panel and take action.
Be polite, but be very specific. Say where you were, what you saw, and why you didn't buy. If you bought a competing product, say so. Then challenge them to do a better job. If you keep a blog, write it up and include a link. Just stick to the facts and avoid heated rhetoric. It's true about honey catching more flies than vinegar.
Don't have a blog of your own? Send your story to OverPackaging.com.
3. Recycle your packaging
It's not always possible to avoid buying overpackaged goods. When that happens, make the best of things and recycle properly.
Not recycling yet? Now is a great time to start. Pick up some beginner's tips from RecycleNow. For a list of your local recycling centers, visit the granddaddy of "how-to" recycling websites, Earth911.
Recycling can also mean repurposing. Hang onto those Styrofoam peanuts — they'll come in handy. Can a box be put to some other use? And plastic food containers make great drawer organizers. Get creative!
4. Buy in bulk
This is a great way to stomp out overpackaging. Those warehouse stores really manage costs, which means you'll find goods taped and shrink-wrapped together, rather than sold separately. Why buy three boxes of macaroni when you can buy a big one and save a lot of cardboard?
Opportunities to buy unpackaged goods fall under this umbrella, also. Food co-ops usually expect you to bring your own containers to distribution, which is great. Veggies at your local farmers market are unlikely to be packaged at all, and you'll be saving all that fuel used and carbon dioxide expended in transporting groceries cross-country.
Bulk buying demands organization at home. Arm yourself with plenty of airtight storage containers. If you're buying frozen goods, consider a top-opening chest freezer. They use less energy than refrigerator models, and are the ideal place for frozen storage.
5. Buy used
As the saying goes, "Why buy new, when used will do?" In this case, buying used would ideally be done on the local level (to avoid the burden of shipping).
Newspapers, weekly shoppers, your local Craigslist board, Freecycle, thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales are all likely places to find what you want. Almost nothing you find will be packaged, and you're putting an item to use which might otherwise have been discarded.
In a way, this is a bit of retro-recycling for the product's original packaging. Every time an item changes hands and makes a purchase unnecessary, you've diluted the impact of its original manufacturing, transport and packaging. So don't keep a good thing to yourself — take those useful items and pass them on!
Related on MNN: Do you have too much stuff?
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The problem is people. Theft of small items drive the need for oversized packaging. Damage during shipping, stocking & shopping drive the need for protective packaging. If it weren't for the packaging we would pay more to cover losses of product. Human theives & careless people cause this.
Huh?
"Those warehouse stores really manage costs, which means you'll find goods taped and shrink-wrapped together, rather than sold separately"... this is exactly what you DON'T want - the shrink-wrapping/bag etc is just excess packaging! Why would this be a plus? Large boxes are OK, but half the time that large box just has 2 or 3 of the regular size boxes inside! NOT good.
I was very impressed when I got my iPod delivered. A box just large enough to contain the device and it's already minimalistic retail packaging. But I hate when things come in large plastic blister packs. I do recycle all the packaging from things I get. Cardboard boxes get folded down to recycle or get repurposed for storage of other items, twist ties get used to bundle small things together, and styrofoam elements can be used to cushion items in packages sent to others.
The problem is people. Theft of small items drive the need for oversized packaging. Damage during shipping, stocking & shopping drive the need for protective packaging. If it weren't for the packaging we would pay more to cover losses of product. Human theives & careless people cause this. When you understand "why" things are done it helps in finding the best solutions.
Toy packaging is the worst with all of those twisty ties and tape...takes 15 minutes to get a Dora doll out of its box!
I've been complaining about packaging for years! I'm glad to see someone else with the same complaint! I recycle what I do run into but there are some products I refuse to buy just because of the packaging. Vitamins are a big problem for me though. when you get, say, 20 pills in a bottle large enough for 500 it's a real letdown by the manufacturer! I try not to buy those but it's not always so easy.
In the UK a company can be fined for excessive packaging. Now that it the way to do it! A common goal defined by law that will have a real impact on the environment. We recycle as much as we can but I still have trash cans full each week. We DON'T need all the excess, we are just conditioned to buy, buy, buy.
We live in the age of materialism which will be followed by the age of excessive garbage.
Thanks for taking the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love learning more on this topic. If possible, as you gain expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more information? It is extremely helpful for me. - http://www.1800recycling.com