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About Those Air Cushions in Amazon Packages

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Re: About Those Air Cushions in Amazon Packages

#131

Post by taurath »

abalone wrote: post #128
developer2 wrote: post #119

> frustrated customers on forums discussing how many air-filled cushions they were getting > while deflated air cushions can be recycled, many cities won’t collect them curbside Pop them, put them in recycling. It's plastic, it's not my job to deal with the fallout. Either it's recyclable and I've done all I can, or it's the retailers' or cities' problem. The idea that there are "frustrated customers" is beyond me. I…

If plastic bags are not curbside recyclable then throwing them in the bin doesn't help. Consumers absolutely do bear responsibility for the environmental impact of their consumption choices.

Consumption choices is a strange term when every store surrounding someone does double plastic bags all day. If the city is concerned, address the problem at the source and not the leaves where I gaurantee you no amount of social pressure will have anywhere near the effect.

Re: About Those Air Cushions in Amazon Packages

#132

Post by ryandrake »

pinot wrote: post #129
abalone wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If plastic bags are not curbside recyclable then throwing them in the bin doesn't help. Consumers absolutely do bear responsibility for the environmental impact of their consumption choices.

In parent's defense, every city has different rules sometimes different recycling vendors within a city. They rarely communicate these rules in an effective and routine manner.

I don't think I've ever understood the "what goes in recycling, what goes in organics" rules in any place I've ever lived. It's a total unknown. I put stuff in whatever bin makes intuitive sense and the man in the truck takes it away. Until either 1. the rules are explained in a sensible way or 2. the city starts fining me for putting something in the wrong bin, my behavior is not going to change.

Re: About Those Air Cushions in Amazon Packages

#133

Post by lucaspiller »

anexprogrammer wrote: post #36
greglindahl wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

UPS wants 2 inches of space between the product and the outer box... keeps real damage from happening if the outer box is slightly punctured by something. https://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/packaging/g...

That's sensible. What isn't is the often vast oversize of Amazon packaging. Like sending one hard drive in a 2cu ft box with lots of packaging. There's now lots of scope for the item to move around so the single item inevitably ends up in a corner against the outer box. Amazon never seem to actually bubble wrap anything any more - which has led to damage more than once. Neither the string of air pockets, as in the ar…

I'm in the UK, and over the past few months I've received Amazon packages with paper, air cushions and bubble wrap (glass tea pot) - I assume it depends on what you order.

Re: About Those Air Cushions in Amazon Packages

#134

Post by lucaspiller »

ethbro wrote: post #106
kalleboo wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Japan the packaging I see most from Amazon is where they strap the item down with a strong plastic wrap to a thick piece of cardboard that's glued to the bottom of the box. This keeps it centered and they don't need any filler at all.

Curious question: what condition due the boxes typically arrive in? Are punctures and crushed boxes common or rare? It definitely seems like a better method, but I'm curious if the shipping handling is different there. (For reference, in the SE US I'd say about 1:15 Amazon boxes arrives with some kind of damage. 1:40 with worrisome damage)

I'm in the UK, and basically every package I get has some sort of minor damage. Squashed corners, punched sides, etc. I had a box that looked like somebody had ripped it open the other day. The inner manufacturers box was fine though (it had paper packaging).

Re: About Those Air Cushions in Amazon Packages

#135

Post by abalone »

taurath wrote: post #131
abalone wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If plastic bags are not curbside recyclable then throwing them in the bin doesn't help. Consumers absolutely do bear responsibility for the environmental impact of their consumption choices.

Consumption choices is a strange term when every store surrounding someone does double plastic bags all day. If the city is concerned, address the problem at the source and not the leaves where I gaurantee you no amount of social pressure will have anywhere near the effect.

That's consistent with shared responsibility. We work together as citizens to make laws that express collective goals. Some cities have banned plastic bags quite effectively. Perhaps we should federally regulate shipping environmental impacts as well.

Re: About Those Air Cushions in Amazon Packages

#136

Post by Laforet »

massysett wrote: post #46
anexprogrammer wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's sensible. What isn't is the often vast oversize of Amazon packaging. Like sending one hard drive in a 2cu ft box with lots of packaging. There's now lots of scope for the item to move around so the single item inevitably ends up in a corner against the outer box. Amazon never seem to actually bubble wrap anything any more - which has led to damage more than once. Neither the string of air pockets, as in the ar…

Amazon ships a huge box, then loads it halfway with paper or air bubbles. Everything shifts around, so it protects nothing in transit. They often ship non-delicate items like clothes in cardboard boxes, where plastic bags would be less wasteful and more protective. Overall, the result of their shipping is that I spend a lot of time deflating plastic, breaking down boxes, and moving lots of garbage to my garage and, s…

Boxes are easier to stack and move especially if you are handling Amazon volumes of goods. Quite often the amount of items that can be carried by a truck or plane is limited by their weight not size, so it may not be as wasteful as it seems.

Re: About Those Air Cushions in Amazon Packages

#137

Post by abalone »

ryandrake wrote: post #132
pinot wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In parent's defense, every city has different rules sometimes different recycling vendors within a city. They rarely communicate these rules in an effective and routine manner.

I don't think I've ever understood the "what goes in recycling, what goes in organics" rules in any place I've ever lived. It's a total unknown. I put stuff in whatever bin makes intuitive sense and the man in the truck takes it away. Until either 1. the rules are explained in a sensible way or 2. the city starts fining me for putting something in the wrong bin, my behavior is not going to change.

Serious question: did you ever look it up? What's the problem exactly.. did the municipal recycler not have a website that stated what they accept? Could you not find the website in a google search? When you say "explained in a sensible way", do you mean you did find an explanation but it didn't make sense?

Re: About Those Air Cushions in Amazon Packages

#138

Post by lucaspiller »

uxp wrote: post #111
ekzy wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They should just ship with reusable boxes. Better boxes with inner protections, where you would get some kind of credit if you post/bring it back empty, or reuse for personal mail. Maybe we should only be allowed to send packages with these boxes

Reminds me of a European grocery store. As an American, I was confounded to see a lack of bags at nearly any store I visited that wasnt a tourist gift shop my first time I ventured across the Atlantic. Then it started to make more sense than the garbage-cycle we have over here.

In most EU countries you need to pay for plastic* bags now, so they often aren't on display to make sure people pay - you just need to ask the cashier.

*And a lot have starch bags, which break if you try and put more than two milk bottles in or anything sharp.

Re: About Those Air Cushions in Amazon Packages

#139

Post by anexprogrammer »

gumby wrote: post #71
anexprogrammer wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's sensible. What isn't is the often vast oversize of Amazon packaging. Like sending one hard drive in a 2cu ft box with lots of packaging. There's now lots of scope for the item to move around so the single item inevitably ends up in a corner against the outer box. Amazon never seem to actually bubble wrap anything any more - which has led to damage more than once. Neither the string of air pockets, as in the ar…

> Here in the UK Amazon seems to have switched solely to paper inner packaging. Environmentally I prefer this. It's not clear to me you should (perhaps you should, the balance simply isn't clear to me). A plastic air cushion weighs almost nothing, so shipping it to the merchant and then to you uses almost no fuel. It is rarely recycled but instead become sequestered carbon in a landfill. For me, they are convenient t…

You may be right. I don't have answers. I'm not sure anyone does. I've often wished it were easier to see all the externalities and environmental issues in our stuff. So I can make decisions with my eyes open. I think it's likely we're making many poor choices for the right reasons at the moment.

I'd be surprised if unbleached brown paper, screwed up as padding, came out worse environmentally than oil derived plastic. It's probably polythene or variant which doesn't really biodegrade and lasts for centuries. Or leaches chemicals or ends up in the ocean and photodegrades to little bits.

How do we evaluate 1,000 year lifespan vs months for impact? Does that change if we consider it ending up inside wildlife or the ocean foodchain?

Here in my part of the UK at least it's essentially non-recyclable.

I think I'd like to use less, but that's very much an instinctive view. I'd rather corn starch replacements for much packing as it better suits a one time temporary use.

Re: About Those Air Cushions in Amazon Packages

#140

Post by neolefty »

developer2 wrote: post #119

> frustrated customers on forums discussing how many air-filled cushions they were getting > while deflated air cushions can be recycled, many cities won’t collect them curbside Pop them, put them in recycling. It's plastic, it's not my job to deal with the fallout. Either it's recyclable and I've done all I can, or it's the retailers' or cities' problem. The idea that there are "frustrated customers" is beyond me. I…

Seems like there are two kinds:

The opaque, crinkly ones -- they seem like the plastic that's in shopping bags. Maybe it's okay to deflate them and recycle them together? Even if your municipal recycling doesn't take them, I've seen lots of grocery stores that do (in the US).

The clear ones -- Like a sandwich bag, maybe a polyethylene? Can these be recycled with shopping bags too?

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