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About Those Air Cushions in Amazon Packages
- bwang29 10y agoMy apartment complex has a large delivery bin area and I always wish I can leave the packaging boxes and padding/cushions in that area and only bring back the content of the box (provided that nothing is sensitive and nobody is watching). Would it be great if the delivery person can unbox the item at the delivery location with a fee and then bring the box back for recycling?
- madeofpalk 10y agoI struggle with a similar problem - I use a weekly food delivery service that delivers in a rather large polystyrene box and two ice packs. They offer to take last weeks when they deliver to recycle them, but leaving it out is rather difficult to do in my large apartment complex so I have to resort to always leaving them in the garbage room and I feel terrible for not recycling.
- MaxLeiter 10y agoOut of curiosity, are you talking about Blue Apron? I could benefit from a similar solution
- madeofpalk 10y agoYoufoodz (horrific name, great service) actually. Delivers whole fresh meals rather than raw ingredients http://youfoodz.com http://youfoodz.com I've used HelloFresh in Australia, a competitor/alternative to Blue Apron and the polystryene box they use is much much smaller because it only contains the small meat items. The Youfoodz box is much bigger https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0506/7861/files/Blog-Zarah.jpg?224189824513611957 https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0506/7861/files/Blog-Zarah...
- rmccue 10y agoHelloFresh (AU) recently switched [0][1]: they now use WoolCool (compostable & recyclable), plus gel ice packs (cut open and dispose of gel, recycle packet). Also means you don't need to return the boxes, which is handy in an apartment building. [0]: https://www.hellofresh.com.au/recycle-your-hellofresh-packaging/ https://www.hellofresh.com.au/recycle-your-hellofresh-packag... [1]: https://support.hellofresh.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/217747667-What-is-your-recycling-policy- https://support.hellofresh.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/21774766...
- eli 10y agoPretty sure Blue Apron provides return postage for recycling the box and packing materials.
- niij 10y agoI'm sure your environmental impact of having food delivered to your door by a courier is much greater than a single box anyway.
- phil21 10y agoDepends. A single delivery truck running a route for 20 customers is a heck of a lot more environmentally friendly than those 20 customers driving a car each to the store to load up.
- bkor 10y agoIt's more environmentally friendly to not drive. In Netherlands it's common to have a supermarket very close to your home (walking distance). Else you use a bike. A car is when you have a family and then you'd stock up for a week of supplies.
- djrogers 10y agoWe started using Amazon Fresh a few months ago, and they deliver in reusable totes. You collapse 3-4 of them and stick them in an in-collapsed one and leave it out for pickup the next time you have an order. Really wish the rest of my amazon stuff would come this way.
- r00fus 10y agoOk - what about returns? I have to remember to keep the box (at least) and packing materials (to suppress any complaints) for a week or two until I can ascertain that the item is fully functional/undamaged.
- eli 10y agoI just toss the box and packing materials. In practice, it's rarely been an issue.
- colinbartlett 10y agoWe order a from Amazon Prime Now occasionally and that stuff always just comes in a paper bag. No huge boxes, no packing material at all. Just a bag. I imagine that's because its time in transit is far lower and it's handled by only one currier. In the end, probably less efficient but at least on the packing materials side it's more efficient.
- dawnerd 10y agoHad a prime now package delivered this morning and it was literally just the item. No box or bag. Kinda weird but it works.
- douche 10y agoThis is really awesome when the delivery service has a tendency to just chuck parcels in the snowbank or mud puddle. Ive had to file more than a few complaints and get replacements because of this
- pYQAJ6Zm 10y agoI was pleasantly surprised when I got my first Now purchase delivered that way. I was expecting a box. But the paper bag is better -- I use them as “garbage bags” for paper and cardboard, which makes the recycling quicker on my end.
- wickawic 10y agoI have definitely purchased something on prime now in part because the bags fit so perfectly into my recycling bin...
- cperciva 10y agoI haven't seen any of these for years -- my Amazon packages always come with crumpled paper keeping things in place. Now I'm curious; does Amazon use different packaging in different locations? (I'm in BC, Canada.)
- quickben 10y agoBoth in Toronto apparently.
- bwang29 10y agoI've noticed two day airs are using a lot more air cushions in CA, US than standard shipping.
- agumonkey 10y agoDifferences in weight maybe ?
- semicolon_storm 10y agoI'm betting this is it. My packages that heavy/dense enough to potentially pop air cushions if dropped seem to all use crumpled paper.
- CodeWriter23 10y agoSome shipping methods you pay by the ounce, some by the pound. You'll probably see more kraft paper in methods paid by the pound, because the kraft paper is less expensive than the air pillows, and there's more slack to the next increment when paying by the pound. But for shipping methods paid by the ounce, a more expensive air pillow can keep the package from going up to the next ounce. That's one dimension of determining the proper dunnage. The other is, air pillows are more easily popped by heavier items or items with sharper edges (think blister packs), so the extra weight / shipping cost of the kraft paper averages out to be less expensive than the returns for damaged goods.
- tcdent 10y agoIn Los Angeles a large majority of our holiday packages had one or more newer (to me) "bubble wrap" sheets instead of the Sealed Air pouches made from two 15"x15" sheets of a thicker plastic film sealed into 2" spheres (dimensions approximate).
- vinhboy 10y agoThese little air bags makes a lot of sense to me, I wonder why it took them so long to become popular. How did everyone live through the packing peanuts phase and not realize this is a much simpler solution?
- justinator 10y agothe last package peanuts I seem to remember finding in a package were disposable by putting them in compost, which seems like an advantage over plastic bags.
- waterphone 10y agoI haven't seen anyone else using it yet, but iFixit uses a paper/cardboard lattice/expanded mesh as packing material.
- spilk 10y agoIf we're talking about the same thing, I see electronic component vendors like Digikey/Mouser/etc. using that paper mesh a lot.
- hanniabu 10y agoThese are awesomexpected and work great, but unfortunately I bet they're pricier which is a huge influencer in packaging decisions.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- mmanfrin 10y agoRecent ones you can, but those came about during the ascent of packaged air. Old ones were just plastic. New ones you can even eat. They're made of corn.
- ianai 10y agoIt seems silly to use something with finite supply for something so simple to substitute.
- krapp 10y agoI had to package and tape boxes at an Amazon fulfillment center over peak season one day. One of the "problems" I found with the process is the system tells you the size of box to use. You're not allowed to use a smaller size, even if it would work, only that size or larger. It also tends to overestimate the size of the item, so many boxes wind up with a lot more empty space than would be necessary, and more packing. I'm sure this bias is intentional, but I found it odd at the time.
- greglindahl 10y agoUPS 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/guidelines/how_to2.html https://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/ship/packaging/g...
- anexprogrammer 10y agoThat'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 article, or paper is as effective as they rarely use enough to prevent movement. Here in the UK Amazon seems to have switched solely to paper inner packaging. Environmentally I prefer this.
- massysett 10y agoAmazon 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, subsequently, the curb. Then a truck hauls it some more. All for packaging that ultimately protected paper towels, or that was so loose that the box rattled anyway. It's worse than worthless--it destroys value, takes time, is inconvenient, and hurts the environment, all for no useful result at all. And Amazon does not seem to care. It is so bad that I have shifted purchases offline to Costco in part so I don't have to deal with all this shipping waste. Costco doesn't even give me a bag.
- jhanschoo 10y agoI don't remember the source, but I remember reading somewhere that using only standardized boxes was an innovation that results in cheaper shipping of the same products than if they were packaged in irregular boxes instead.
- ThomPete 10y agoProbably the book The Box although that was about shipping in general.
- WalterBright 10y agoI loathe styrofoam, it's messy and hard to get rid of. The air bags are a huge improvement. Just stab them with a knife, and they take up no space in the garbage.
- tw04 10y agoOMG this, especially in dry climates. I HATE packing peanuts with a passion.
- chipperyman573 10y agoWhat's so bad about them specifically in dry climates?
- eridius 10y ago> At the time, bubble wrap was invented for use as wallpaper. How would that work? Nobody wants wallpaper that they have to replace each week because it keeps popping.
- alex- 10y agohttp://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=13092 http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=13092 Looks like they tried textured wallpaper and green house insulation before packing. Maybe it was a lot harder to pop in the wallpaper version?
- anexprogrammer 10y agoIt works surprisingly well as cheap insulation. Put the bubble side to the glass and limit accidental popping. Ideal for garages and sheds! Even seen it recommended for cheap double glazing for those of limited means or renting.
- ars 10y ago> it keeps popping :) Yup, it "just popped on its own", I didn't do it. LOL
- djrogers 10y agoThe original prototypes were made from shower curtains, so much thicker and stronger than what you're used to seeing wrapped around stuff.
- kalleboo 10y agoIn most homes here in Japan there's bugger-all insulation and all windows are single-pane, so in winter people put up bubble wrap on windows/balcony doors as insulation.
- drcode 10y agoHow 'bout those little things they put in the middle of pizzas to stop them from getting crushed? Too bad I'm not a journalist, because that would make for an awesome story. /s
- noarchy 10y agoWhere I live (in Canada) they tend to use balls of dough in the middle of the pizza to get the same effect, instead of the piece of plastic I've seen elsewhere.
- djrogers 10y agoWhere in Canada? Turns out it's a pretty big country ;-) I grew up in the Vancouver area and never saw dough balls. [1] comments like this are a bit of a peeve of mine as they contribute to the global mental picture of Canada as one homogeneous biosphere instead of a huge land mass with many different cultures and environments. Ever heard this one - "Oh, you're from Canada? My brother in law is from Canada; Jake Unrau - ever met him?"
- ChoGGi 10y agoI'ved lived in Toronto and Calgary, never seen any balls of dough (visited out East, no balls that I remember). Always those little plastic things or naught.
- noarchy 10y agoApologies, I had meant to include my area in my original post. I'm in the Ottawa-Gatineau area. I've seen this done around Montreal, too.
- CydeWeys 10y agoWhat's the point of this comment? Packaging/shipping technology is hugely important, because the annual amount of landfill waste involved is staggeringly large. There's also a big economic component to it. And as the article says, this is a $5.6 billion industry in the US alone that is growing larger with every passing year.
- jlarocco 10y agoI don't really care what they use, as long as they use something! A few months ago they shipped me a camera lens, external hard drive, and some other smaller products in a giant box with no padding whatsoever. The lens and hard drive boxes had plenty of styrofoam, so fortunately nothing was damaged, but I made sure to complain.
- akx 10y agoI'd assume they knew the lens and hard drive boxes were internally padded. That's still no excuse for a large unpadded box where things can jostle around.
- dclowd9901 10y agoEasy solution: require companies that produce waste products to also fashion a waste recovery arm. Force them to build externalities into their business models from the get go. I'm sure they'll figure out the most efficient way to manage it.
- thekevan 10y agoThe article says they are recyclable but most localities don't do them, they have to be taken to the grocery store & deposited with bags. Why would you target every small business with this expense?
- azernik 10y agoThe producer would be the manufacturer; the mandate could either fall directly on the manufacturer, or just require small businesses to arrange with the manufacturer for recycling.
- djrogers 10y agoIf the mandate fell on the manufacturer, do you think they'd just absorb the cost out of he goodness of their hearts?
- dclowd9901 10y agoNo, of course not. That's the entire point. The cost needs to be captured _somewhere_ in the private chain because right now it's just an externality that no public entity wants to deal with or can deal with.
- dclowd9901 10y agoIn my scenario, the manufacturer would have to either provide logistics for local disposal (seems ideal to me) or do their own service (that would be rough!). I imagine a cottage industry of recycle processing middle handlers would eventually lower the friction in this space.
- 10y ago
- corndoge 10y ago"Something I didn't quite know how to dispose of" Is it just me or can you not just pop them and throw them in the trash
- DiabloD3 10y agoBecause they have a recycling symbol on them, yet most recyclers (inc. mine) specifically say do not recycle thin film (such as these) even if they have a symbol on them, because it gums up their shit. So, yeah, a bit irksome.
- slededit 10y agoIts not a "recycling symbol" its a Resin Identification Code [1]. I Imagine the confusion is intentional. You can use it to assist with recycling if you know which types of plastics your town can handle and what the numbers correspond to. The mere fact the symbol exists is meaningless as far as recycling goes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_identification_code https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resin_identification_code
- colanderman 10y agoAgreed; I love recycling but these things account for probably less mass than any single kind of thing in my recycling bin (not the least of which is the damn boxes themselves). Way better than those awful peanuts that would take up a whole garbage bag by themselves.
- deelowe 10y agoJust drop them off at the closest grocery store. Anyone who recycles plastic bags will be capable of dealing with these as well.
- walrus01 10y agoYou see inflatable shipping air pillows, I see a new low cost production and unique marketing/sales method for "canned air": http://mashable.com/2016/05/01/australia-air-can-china/ http://mashable.com/2016/05/01/australia-air-can-china/ polluted dystopian future here we come!
- buckhx 10y agoPerri-Air
- greggman 10y agoAmazon does it different in Japan. They put items on a stiff piece of cardboard the same size as the box they will eventually put it in. Then shrink wrap the items and the cardboard. Then they glue / rubber cement the bottom of the cardboard to the shipping box. It seems like it uses less material but the boxes are designed to be torn open like a FedEx envelope which means they are not reusable which seems wastful
- brodie78382 10y agoI've gotten Amazon packages like this here in the US, but it's not a frequent occurrence. I prefer this method because aside from the shrink-wrap, everything else is recyclable cardboard.
- mikestew 10y agoMy dog loves the air packs, to the point that I can barely get a package in door without him grabbing at it. He'll open the package, pull the air packs out, pop them and walk away. The novelty must be wearing off, as he's been leaving unpopped ones lately. So, unlike packing peanuts, we get some secondary use out of air packs.
- pmiller2 10y agoAren't you afraid he'll try to eat them?
- gumby 10y agoPolyethylene is inert so I wouldn't worry much.
- pmiller2 10y agoInertness is kind of the problem. They can really plug things up.
- dredmorbius 10y agoGI tract blockage is an ugly way to die.
- mikestew 10y agoHe was heavily supervised the first few times, and I keep an eye out still. I'm as worried that he'd eat them as I am that you would, because he pops them for apparently the same reason you do. :-) (But, yes, of course your dog may vary, and I don't recommend this.)
- discreditable 10y agoLucky, my dog loves them so much he gets excited when I receive packages.
- chiph 10y agoSimilar here. I cut a few of them off the chain, and toss them in the air (their low density and a running ceiling fan mean they float down) and the cat attacks them. A few claw & bite punctures later and they're ready for recycling.
- rocky1138 10y agoCan't they just make them out of soy[1] instead of plastic? Then they'll biodegrade. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soybean_car https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soybean_car
- pedalpete 10y agoI think there are two opportunities for the environmental effects of the air cushions. 1) Re-use rather than recycle: What if you could let the air out at home, open up the bag, stuff it with other bags, and the outside of the bag had a postage paid stamp. It goes back to the company that made the bag so it can be re-used. 2) Make them out of compostable plastic. Much simpler than above, probably the better way. The key is that these air cushions don't need to last (likely) more than a few days. What can we do so that they have as little impact as possible. They may be better than the packing peanuts or other substitutes, but there is still opportunity to improve.
- briandear 10y agoMailing bags back? What's the transit cost of doing that?
- test1235 10y agoor the environmental cost of shipping them all around
- ekzy 10y agoThey 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
- uxp 10y agoReminds 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.
- lucaspiller 10y agoIn 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.
- Spooky23 10y agoWe have a really innovative solution to this problem. There exists places that take bulk case packages of products, place them on shelves and make them available to the public. You give them money, put the items in a paper/plastic/reusable bag and take them home. They are called stores. Many are located near common places, like intersections or near commercial office areas.
- uptown 10y agoWeird.
- niyazpk 10y agoAir cushions work well for me. I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old. When any amazon shipment arrives, I distract them with the air-cushions and put away the items delivered. Meanwhile kids jump on and burst the air-cushions, and I am left to deal with the remaining plastic.
- disposablezero 10y agoI stab them with my keys to let the air out and recycle at the store with other plastic material, since the local waste company doesn't recycle bags or film at all. It seems a shame considering how much plastic ends up in landfills, water ways, the ocean (great garbage patches in the gyres) and basically on every beach in the world. [0,1] Literally, (no pun intended), the oceans need a million or so plastic-skimming aquatic Roombas to undo the anthropogenic-damage just in the oceans. Btw: I'm wondering if anyone here recycles plastic using a filament maker for a 3d printer, either DIY or commercial, and how well that works. 0. https://news.vice.com/topic/pacific-garbage-patch https://news.vice.com/topic/pacific-garbage-patch 1. https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/garbage-island/563b9c912aab5c416bc75039 https://video.vice.com/en_us/video/garbage-island/563b9c912a...
- disposablezero 10y agoAlso, another note: Waste sorting and recycling regulations need to be continually ratcheted up because a few bins isn't working (ever see the disaster of the composting, recycling and landfill bins at Costco?). Do like Stanford does: have separate bins (up to 5) but also divert more of the waste stream for recyclables, composting, etc. with pre-landfill processing. Left to their own devices, people rarely voluntarily make changes which are vital to more sustainable ecology. It seems also that at some point in the future, it may become economical to mine landfills for materials when scarcity drives prices high enough.
- nocoder 10y agoThe issue I think is amazon has boxes in a few standard sizes. As a result for many products, they end up shipping in much larger boxes. I think it is economical to procure large amount of boxes in few standard sizes vs. have small quantities of many different boxes. This does lead to increase wastage though.
- jslabovitz 10y agoThis past summer, I ordered a container of household cleaner (16oz bottle with spray pump) from Amazon. Surprisingly, it arrived with no packaging whatsoever -- the bottle of cleaner was taped to a small piece of cardboard that contained the shipping label. Not surprisingly, the bottle was empty upon arrival, its contents having leaked out during shipment. I filed a complaint and they resent the product. The next shipment of the cleaner came wrapped in plastic bags, inside a traditional cardboard box (though no air cushions). I guess Amazon realized their experiment in minimization didn't work out all that well.
- bitJericho 10y agoAs an eBay customer, where the cost is usually a dollar or two cheaper, I find packaging is never a concern because robots aren't packaging my stuff.
- usaphp 10y ago> "At the time, bubble wrap was invented for use as wallpaper. That trend never caught on, but the material’s use as protective packaging took off. Before bubble wrap, the most common options for cushioning goods in transit were sawdust, newspaper, and rubberized horsehair."
- brodie78382 10y agoI had no idea this is a widespread concern. Over the course of years, I have kept every box and the shipping materials under the presumption that I would reuse it all at some point. Only flaw in my logic is that I order way more stuff than I ship out. This, combined with my laziness, has resulted in a spare room in the house now being known among friends and family as "The Box Room", which was full wall to wall, floor to ceiling with empty boxes and hundreds of those air cushions of varying style and size.
- justinclift 10y agoIs there a recycling collection program in your area? eg something that collects cardboard along with household waste If so, that seems like an easy way to start reducing the box count. :)
- pYQAJ6Zm 10y agoShare them with neighbors maybe, should they need to ship something?
- fstoppelman 10y agoIt's almost 2017, and the fact that this packaging is horribly polluting and absolutely terrible for the environment doesn't seem to be on the minds of most people. That's very disappointing.
- developer2 10y ago> 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. Is this really what ordinary citizens sit around obsessing over? I just don't get it; this would be concern #10,056 on my list of priorities.
- abalone 10y agoIf 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.
- pinot 10y agoIn 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.
- ryandrake 10y agoI 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.
- abalone 10y agoSerious 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?
- 9erdelta 10y agoIf Amazon made it so that you can drop boxes and packing material off a lockers, I would do it. Definitely a first world problem, but yeah the boxes and packing material backing up my garage is getting out of hand. The materials are in pristine condition and it feels so wasteful to pop/crush them.
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- radicalbyte 10y agoThere are machines out there which create custom packaging: http://boxondemand.com/ http://boxondemand.com/
- userbinator 10y agoIt's puzzling to see people not knowing what to do with what are essentially free plastic bags. You can deflate them and use them like you would any other bag, keep them inflated and continue using them as cushions, etc. It's not like they take much space deflated anyway. Recycling is good, but reuse is even better.
- gm-conspiracy 10y agoCustomers could elect to pay more for handling (the H in S&H), or have a pricier tier of Prime that offers eco-friendly biodegradable packaging materials.
- godmodus 10y agoi just stab them with a fork and deflate them here in germany before putting the deflated baggies into the yellow bag, and the box into the paper bag. not sure what's all the fuss is about. greener planet, happier people everyone wins. a real issue would be making better use of the space. i once got shipped a 10 liter box that contained a single zippo lighter.
- devy 10y agoWhether this is actually a progression over B&M stores is a different topic. But the amount of waste (most of these packaging materials are not being properly recycled. I do, but most of my neighbors don't) this $5.6 billion industry produced is astonishing. It's such a wasteful industry that China Post actually came up with laws and regulations ordering carriers to reduce wastes by simplifying packaging for online ordered goods just starting late 2016[1] Anecdotally, my friends in China told me that some of their double singles day items came in thin poly packs that without air cushions and most of the electronics are shipped with retail packaging as is and without an outer carton box. I think U.S. should follow suit. [1]: http://www.spb.gov.cn/dtxx_15079/201608/t20160812_826406.html http://www.spb.gov.cn/dtxx_15079/201608/t20160812_826406.htm...
- agentgt 10y ago> not to mention that stores in the U.S. use some 100 billion plastic bags every year It is amazing how many people still do not use reusable tote bags. If your like me and you forget to bring them or put them back into the car one way to remember is to put them on your coat rack or next to your master grocery list (ie a pad of paper you fill out during the week). Even if I forget the bags I will often buy a new tote bag at the store.... in practice the more bags I have the less I seem to forget them (ie spares in the car). I'm incredibly lazy so I have to imagine many others can do it.
- x1798DE 10y agoI'm dubious on the value of reusable tote bags. For one thing, I pretty heavily re-use plastic bags that I get, anyway. I use them to bring my lunch to and from work, I use them as laundry and shoe-bags when traveling (to keep dirty things separate from clean clothes in a single bag), and then I (and everyone I've ever met) use them as trash can liners for small trash cans. Given the large amount of additional resources it takes to create one of these reusable tote bags, and the fact that you need to wash them occasionally, it's not clear to me that they are a net benefit, even if you always know ahead of time that you are going to the store and always remember to bring them with you.
- agentgt 10y agoIn my experience a single reusuable tote bag can carry 8x of a typical grocery store plastic bag. We have bags that are 6 years old and probably been used more than 200 times. They are polypropylene bags which apparently are often made from recycled bags anyway. As for reusing plastic bags I do that as well as inevitable you will pick up some. As for washing bags I almost never do because almost everything put in the bag is in some other container. At least you have the option with reusable bags to clean them and thus could pre remove residues and toxins. With plastic bags you might be exposed to various toxins (albeit probably at low levels). Just pickup and smell new plastic bags if you don't believe me. Ideally you shouldn't smell anything but I almost always do which means something volatile is being released. The other issue is plastic bags aren't just bad because they take oil and energy to make... they are pretty awful for wild life. I have actually had to help turtles in the Charles River get out of plastic bags. Apparently poly bags take 11x what it takes to make a single plastic bag [1]. But this again doesn't take into account how much you can overload a reusable bag with out them breaking and previously mentioned points (as well as being far more comfortable to hold on to... I just love how plastic bags cut off blood supply to fingers). As for paper bags... they rip and suck in the rain. [1]: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/are-reusable-bags-worse-for-environment-than-plastic-2014-01-09 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/are-reusable-bags-worse-for...
- libeclipse 10y agoI once ordered a micro SD card off Amazon. The box it came in looked like it contained an Xbox: it was huge! Upon opening it and removing all the Air Cushions™, there was a tiny little envelope at the bottom with the microsd inside. Completely bewildering, albeit amusing.