Unboxed: An inside look at e-commerce packaging and waste
You know what’s better than new stuff? New stuff that you didn’t have to leave your house to get. The simplicity, ease, and fun of opening a “present” that is exactly what you wanted every few days is what keeps us, and the world, coming back to online shopping. In 2018 consumers spent $517.36 billion online with U.S. merchants, up 15% from 2017, while brick and mortar retail sales grew only 3.9%.
The need for good packaging is more important than ever before, in part because it is a way for companies to brand themselves. For example, each Amazon box that is delivered has the printed Amazon “smile” on the side of it, and a paper-based tape that says “Amazon Prime” down the center of it. Amazon ships 1,600,000 packages a day. That is a lot of brand exposure on porches and businesses all over the world.
But is the ease of use damaging the environment more than we think? Nearly every package comes in a box, sometimes even a box in a box, and sometimes those boxes are much bigger than the product. To make matters worse, there are packing peanuts or bagged air to take up the empty space, which means we literally pay to ship air. The reasoning isn’t bad though, since the “average package is dropped 17 times,” according to ANAMA Package and Container Testing in New York. This creates a balancing act between keeping package size and weight down and maintaining safe products.
One alternative to boxes is envelopes. Amazon has begun using envelopes, which does cut down on some packaging. But because there are only a few different sizes to choose from, this can at times still mean a lot of empty space. Scotch, a 3M brand, has tried to solve this problem by developing a self-adhering material that can be cut to size. Flex & Seal comes like wrapping paper on a roll and only sticks to one side of itself. The adhesive is strong too — after 30 seconds, the seal is so secure that it needs to be cut open with scissors or ripped open by hand. Flex & Seal was developed with small business and Etsy shops in mind, but will be scaled up. A 200-foot-long bulk roll will be available later this month.
However, this product is still plastic, and although it can be recycled wherever plastic bags are accepted, many are still adding to the landfills and ocean. For those interested in waste-free options, keep an eye out for start-ups like LimeLoop which makes reusable packaging out of recycled billboards, and RePack which reuses bags made out of recycled materials. Or shop package-free at Trash is for Tossers Package Free Shop, which use old boxes in its inventory to ship waste-free products, and Wild Minimalist, which makes sure all its products are shipped without plastic.
As we move into a more e-commerce-based world, companies will be forced to design packaging that isn’t meant to sit on a shelf, but rather, is meant to be shipped. The diversity in shipping methods and products is growing at an exponential rate, and this is definitely something to watch.
