this is why we can’t have nice things
One of my quirky pet peeves is inefficiency. Specifically, inefficient packaging. As insignificant as a concern as this may be, I think it will start to have significant consequences as people rely more on e-commerce and shipping in terms of costs, both financial and environmental.
So, for the baby’s birthday, I ordered (shh, don’t tell) this safety knife set because he always wants to help me cook and I want him to have 10 intact digits. Like I said, I’m quirky.
Today, the knife set and the other gifts that I ordered arrived and I gleefully set about opening boxes. I couldn’t quite remember what was due, so when I got to the biggest box, I wasn’t sure what was inside.
I offer my foot for scale, if that helps. I wear a size 8, 8 1/2.
Another shot of the impressive box, complete with my stained shirt. (My grandmother gave me four shirts for my birthday. I’ve worn three. I’ve also stained three. Eff my life.)
At this point, seeing the cooking.com tape, I’m figuring it’s the knife set, but I’m not yet concerned about the size because I didn’t check the dimensions when I ordered it. Maybe that makes me a bad consumer. I don’t know.
Ooh, looks enticing.
Dig, dig, dig. “Any minute now,” I say to myself, “I’m going to reach the gift. Sweet!”
Eventually, I reach China this:
I know what you’re thinking: SRSLY?
Srsly.
I estimated this to be 27 feet of Fill-Air. TWENTY-SEVEN FEET. All for this.
And, look, I get it. I ordered this around the busiest shopping time of the year. I can only imagine the fatigue that the shipping staff of cooking.com and amazon.com were experiencing and I’m sure they were experiencing packaging challenges that would make me barf. But this is really ridiculous. It’s inefficient and wasteful and frankly I expect better.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:24 am
Have you seen Amazon’s frustration-free packaging?
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:34 am
@Dean J, yep. unfortunately, none of the items available through frustration-free packaging have been those that my kid wants.
December 3rd, 2009 at 3:30 am
jesus christ…
over at consumerist.com they regularly feature stories like this, you can search for past ones under the tag “stupid shipping gang”. you should send them your photos!!
December 3rd, 2009 at 9:04 am
That packaging is ridiculous, but thanks for the gift idea. My kid would love to help me cook.
December 3rd, 2009 at 12:04 pm
@mikebee – I was just about to make the same suggestion. I love the stupid shipping gang posts.
December 3rd, 2009 at 1:41 pm
you make excellent points! killing the environment! bah humbug.
i was trying to save those types of boxes from things we mail order and we had such a pile and nothing to do with them that we finally pitched them. i was sad and frustrated with my lack of reuse.
December 3rd, 2009 at 2:10 pm
@mouthy_broad (michele), I’m familiar with that feeling. Our city recently (or maybe they were always doing and I was just oblivious) started collecting cardboard for recycling. If your city doesn’t do something similar, check earth911.com to see if there’s an alternative program near you. I think places like office supply stores will take boxes off your hands.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:33 pm
@kdiddy,
i will look into that, thanks! we don’t recycle cardboard to my understanding here in the nation’s capital. not exactly a model for america, huh?
December 5th, 2009 at 6:35 am
@mouthy_broad, you can compost cardboard!!! way better than recycling. alternatey, offer up on freecycle or craigslist as moving boxes. externalize the guilt, help someone out & give the boxes a second life.
December 3rd, 2009 at 5:52 pm
There is an entire room in my basement filled with boxes and that packaged air crap because I refuse, no . . . REFUSE, to throw it away. It will get reused! It will! Eventually.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 pm
@Burgh Baby,
you go girl! i live in a tiny 1 bedroom apt so i can’t squirrel away the boxes very easily! (unfortunate)