"Waste of Packaging" Contest: Time to Vote

I had to throw my support behind the empty nano box. At least the other products had a need for packaging. Empty blister packs don't even give you the satisfaction of toying with the display model.

I nominate Tea Forte, a set of 15 tea bags, wrapped in small paper boxes, wrapped in a metal box (with a clear panel), which can only be purchased online (necessitating the wrapping of the metal box in a shipping container that undoubtedly contains some sort of bubble-wrap/packing foam). All for 15 cups of tea!

Best yet, it's TreeHugger approved!

This competition has really opened my eyes to packaging waste. Today I bought a vegetarian sandwich (the so-called Veggie Delite) from Subway. The sandwich was placed in a paper bag, wrapped in a large sheet of grease-proof paper and then placed in a plastic bag. That'll teach me to stop daydreaming at the checkout! Such a waste for just one meal.

The packing container for iPods (or any of Apple's hardware) is hardly wasteful. These are not items to be discarded. I've kept both boxes for my two previous iPods, which I used when I resold them. Same with my iBook and my original iMac. Apple's packaging continues to become increasingly minimized, especially when compared with other hardware manufacturers. Hell, just walk into any Apple Store and look at the Apple branded packages, compared to any other third party packages in the store. Could they do better still? Sure. But this poll makes it look like Apple is the most wasteful company around. Truth is quite the opposite.

For the iPod it is worthwhile to consider the cost (financial and environmental) of remanufacturing the product if the packaging fails if it's dropped in shipment, it's walking a fine line between not wasting packaging and making sure it will be safe enough to get the product to the user.

For extreme packaging, in a lab I worked at, they bought a half million dollar microscope and boy howdy, was it packed to the dickens in a big wooden box that was custom fit to hold it, and totally useless after unpacking. But if the shipping company dropped it off the loading dock too hard and busted it it sure costs more than the excess plywood to make a new one.

I would totally vote for the Mambas, they are tasty but damn it, I do not need every little candy wrapped up that much. Even if you don't care about the waste it's a pain to produce so many little wrappers.

Damn, I really wish I had sent in something ... I never brought this contest up with my husband, since he was out of town for such a long time. Oh well ... at least I can still give the link. The plastic packaging in most MREs, including what the Army uses, is NOT recyclable, as it has to last 20 years before being used (they now no longer stamp the packaging date on it, but did while my husband was in the Army). The MREs in the Army have much much more packaging than this one I've pasted here he says. Plastic outer coating, cardboard box, individually sealed meals with each food item individually wrapped regardless of what it is (e.g. Tabasco bottles) in case you can't eat it and you can put it back into your pack. Of course this stuff serves a purpose, but it is unfortunate that the packaging can't be recycled. :\ That's the price of war, huh?

Want to see it all laid out? (Not Army, and not including the outer packaging)

I agree about the blister packaging, but the story about the Bliss packaging is also unbelievable. Add to that what one commenter had to tell us, that the product was shipped locally! Plastic bottle in a small box then placed in a bigger box AND wrapped in bubbled wrap! I can't believe this guy is losing to an EGG CARTON that is supporting local, organic egg distributors! These people actually make a living reusing and recycling, not by selling yucky body lotion and shipping it senselessly! HELLO PEOPLE! Wake up!!!!!

ok, so this is a contest about wasted packaging NOT apple, i know from experience that these "big box" stores will require private label packaging and custom packaging to meet their needs in the retail environment, apple is mearly providing them with a solution that meets the retailers needs, and it's SUPER wasteful....

One reason why I voted for the egg carton is because so many people buy eggs. While the iPod fakepackage and Bliss Lotion are hugely wasteful- not as many people buy those. But eggs? Lots of people buy them which means even more waste. I always put those cartons in the recycle bin, wondering if they even get accepted by the recycling facility.

Jenne raises an interesting point. I'm not sure the rules are clear on this matter, having read the original Call for Entries post. Specifically, are we looking at the wasteful packaging of a specific object, or the cumulative effects of wasteful packaging in the waste stream?

In terms of the egg carton's cumulative waste, I completely agree that it has more systemic effects and would be happy to concede victory on that point alone.

But in terms of a singular example of gross overpackaging, I tend to think my BLISS entry is, well, gross. =)

Just a quick comment re: the ipod box: it's a theft deterrant. I agree with the comment about using "claim tags" but it's not as if apple is just being cute with its package. Those things are small enough to fit into a clutch purse or suit jacket so the retailers must do something to try to keep theives from walking out with the merchandise. In this case a poor solution, certainly, but not without reason.

@Devra: Most retailers already solved this problem by keeping small portable electronics behind the counter or behind locked glass, and chaining up a display item. This is quite honestly the only example of packaging in this contest that really serves no purpose. At least the egg cartons hold eggs.

The volume of unnecessary packaging is scandalous. In the UK, supermarket packaging has definitely become more excessive in recent years. I don't buy the excuse that the plastic is 'recyclable'. It still wastes resources and energy in manufacture and transport, and most consumers probably don't recycle it anyway.

We got so sick of the excessive packaging at our local stores that we've started photographing the worst examples and putting them on our blog.

Rob
TotallyWasted.org

I ordered underwear on-line for my beau. It arrived in hard floppy plastic wrap with a glossy insert and a hard thick cardboard. I cut the glossy insert into a postcard and mailed it back to the Canadian distributor with a stern finger wagging.

Kathleen Molloy, author - Dining with Death
www.diningwithdeath.ca