We're redesigning one of the spaces in our house to make some more room, and to save money, I'll admit we've been using other people's money (in the form of gift certificates) quite liberally. Which for us means web orders. Which means packaging and mailing and product miles galore.
And that gives me a very horrible feeling sometimes. I am convinced that there has to be a way to do this all with less packaging.
Case in point: We bought a net to protect some of our things from the predations of our precious (but nosy and destructive) cats. The box the net is sold in is about 3' x 1' x 2". The box Amazon shipped it in was 5' x 2' x 2'. Now luckily, it wasn't filled with packing peanuts, but still... it's an incredible waste of space, if nothing else.
What happened to the days when vendors simply wrapped things in brown paper and sent them off? Or better, why couldn't Amazon have sent us the net and the fourteen other things we bought that day all in the same box--there was definitely room in there!
Then there are the companies who individually wrap everything when they mail it. Yes, I realize that clothing companies and bedding companies and all are doing volume business and need to automate as much as possible, and that they need to protect their products from the elements and all. I get it. But here's an idea: Why not just line each shipping box with a plastic bag, dump the clothes or whatever into it, and seal that one plastic bag, seal the box, and send it all on its way.
I know the clothing isn't made in plastic bags. When boxes and boxes of it come into the clothing stores, the shirts and pants aren't individually wrapped (yes, I realize they are in certain stores, but not the ones of which I am speaking). So why waste such an incredible amount of plastic by individually wrapping every single freaking shirt in a twenty shirt order? It's madness!
I have a lot of beefs about the way things are packaged all over, in fact. Well, except at some stalls at the farmer's market. Some stalls do wrap things or give you plastic bags or whatever, but some offer you food and only food or crafts and only crafts. Bring your own bag and have at it.
Which, I suppose, is just another reason to buy and eat locally. The only problem with that is that we just can't afford the furniture that is handmade in my area. And there aren't enough local clothiers making what my family currently needs to help us out.
I think I'm going to go buy some shares in wind energy. Or something. Sometimes daily life and the fight to live it responsibly exhausts and saddens me.
Sorry all, hard weekend. I'll be cheerier tomorrow.
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Older folks such as myself can remember a time when this kind of waste was unthinkable. Plastic seems to be an invention that has had many negative effects on society from my viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteI also think plastic has helped to fuel the disturbing trend toward a more hermetically sealed society. Everyone is afraid of germs, of dirt, of other people's cooties.
ReplyDeleteSo we wrap our packages in plastic and slather our children in alcohol-based cleansers and then wonder why our world is filling up with garbage and our children have immune systems that are wildly over-reactive because they've never been allowed to create an antibody.
Personally, my kid's playing in the mud. He's touching things. If he gets a cold, he gets a cold, but I'm not making sure all his toys are dipped in bleach every time he has a playdate.
And he's not taking his food to school in a Ziploc bag.