7 ms·

The amount of pollution / trash this company produces seems pretty counter to their mission statement.

by teen 9y ago

leftnode 9y ago
We canceled after a week precisely for this reason. I couldn't believe how much trash a single shipment generated.
- spike021 9y ago
  what's a single shipment typically composed of? Curious since I was thinking of trying it. Do you mean like cardboard/plastic packaging? I was thinking materials would come in re-usable container. Not fancy, but even somewhat "cheapy" re-usable material.
  - jonknee 9y ago
    From Googling around, lots of plastic bags: https://www.jennettefulda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ingedients.jpg https://www.jennettefulda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ing...
    - icehawk219 9y ago
      I haven't used Blue Apron but used one of their competitors and you'd get the ingredients like this but they'd also be in a big styrofoam container (to help insulate against the elements). The other problem was if you had 2 recipes that each called for a cucumber you'd get 2 individually bagged cucumbers. I don't know if they're smarter about this but that was a big turn off when I tried it.
  - schraitle 9y ago
    Lots of individual plastic bags, but they are recyclable in the giant plastic bag recycling box at the grocery store. We would just stuff them all into a larger bag for storage and drop it all off next time we actually went to the store.
- resolaibohp 9y ago
  I hear this a lot from people. When I go grocery shopping I have bags and boxes for nearly everything I purchase. When I order items on Amazon I get boxes and tons of packing materials. What is a better alternative that does not generate tons of trash? Blue Apron also does a good job at allowing you to send back the materials so they can recycle them. I just point this out as I think they get a lot of criticism for a company that I don't think generates more trash than a lot of alternatives and they give an option to recycle.
  - swsieber 9y ago
    Right - but I don't have daily trash for spices. Or for eggs. It's not the fact that they generate trash. It's the frequency and quantity.
  - ceejayoz 9y ago
    > When I go grocery shopping I have bags and boxes for nearly everything I purchase. You don't get enough cold packs and insulation for it to stay cold for a couple of days in a hot shipping distribution center / truck, though.
- artursapek 9y ago
  Trash is generally a byproduct of convenience, so I'm not surprised to hear this product generates a lot of trash. One can say the same thing about Keurigs, that hilarious Juicero thing, and many other services. I instinctively avoid this kind of thing now, not just because of the quality compromise but also this trash efficiency compromise. It's really short-sighted and lazy to consume in this fashion. Go to a damn farmer's market and plan out your week, people!
  - Karunamon 9y ago
    Your accusatory comment assumes that the reader: * Lives in an area with a farmer's market in accessible range (i.e. they don't live in a food desert[1] like ~24 million Americans - and that's just any kinda real market) * Spends as much or less at the market as on a service like this, factoring in all externalities such as food waste, travel time and expense, and so on * Has the time to spend getting to the market and shopping * Has the cash on hand (many farmers markets are cash only - anyone on SNAP, ~43M people[2], is now excluded since those benefits are usually on cards) * Has a situation that allows "planning out their week" [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert [2]: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/21/donald-trump/trump-43-million-americans-food-stamps/ http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/...
    - artursapek 9y ago
      Somehow those people in "food deserts" managed to get by for hundreds of years before this era of wasteful ultra-convenience startups.
      - ceejayoz 9y ago
        They're a fairly recent development. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2516593/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2516593/ > In 1961, more than 75% of London’s inner-city population lived within 1 kilometer of a supermarket, giving them easy access to a variety of foods, says principal investigator Jason Gilliland, who directs the university’s Urban Development Program. In 2005, he says, that number was less than 20%.
sp332 9y ago
From what I recall when we had it, it was a lot less trash than going to the store and getting everything packaged individually. And I'm sure the shipping is less polluting than having all the customers drive around too.
- jonknee 9y ago
  > From what I recall when we had it, it was a lot less trash than going to the store and getting everything packaged individually. But all the stuff Blue Apron sends you is individually packaged (down to stuff like a single green onion in a bag)...
  - bpicolo 9y ago
    For various small bits they send a single brown paper bag (per meal).
    - sp332 9y ago
      Hm, it might actually be worse since they send a small package for each portion of spices etc. instead of me just buying one glass jar and using it for ages. I mean they once sent me a single egg in a big cardboard structure. https://goo.gl/photos/9xDYYQGtba6LPM1Y7 https://goo.gl/photos/9xDYYQGtba6LPM1Y7 Very biodegradable in this case but still an interesting question.
      - bpicolo 9y ago
        You can imagine them eventually having an option for "i'll supply eggs, milk, flour" or whatnot, but I can definitely imagine that you'd have an awkward product experience when you figure out you actually don't have any
      - Karunamon 9y ago
        So what's the greater waste? The cardboard necessary to package one egg, or the other 5 to 11 eggs in your fridge that were thrown out because you didn't use them?
jmeyers44 9y ago
Do you have evidence that a meal kit produces more "trash" than the packaging required to ship all of the included products to a store? Additionally, your argument is incomplete without addressing the efficiencies that meal kit companies gain by limiting food waste. The real question is what provides a more efficient food system, a grocery store or a meal kit?
- giobox 9y ago
  I'd love to see a proper study as well. Every argument I've ever seen against these meals in a box services regarding trash, including the ones I've read in this thread, are entirely based on individual personal anecdotes. Superficially I can see the appeal of arguing based on the packaging you receive, but this fails to account for recycling options, and ignores aspects like the avoidance of food wastage given the precisely measured amounts. There's clearly more to this problem than 'wow that's more cardboard and plastic than I expected'.
  - teen 9y ago
    Ofc it's going to be anecdotal. But that doesn't mean it's not true. 12 eggs indivially wrapped vs a dozen. 1 green onion in a plastic bag instead of a few in a smaller grocery plastic bag. Individual plastic bottles to hold 3 tablespoons of vinegar.
    - giobox 9y ago
      I'm not arguing it isn't true at all - just saying that anecdotes alone aren't going to prove this one way or another, at least not to my satisfaction. > Ofc it's going to be anecdotal Not really. People link to studies/research here frequently in comments.
- teen 9y ago
  https://www.jennettefulda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ingedients.jpg https://www.jennettefulda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ing... I mean just look at this photo... A resealable plastic bag for 1 green onion?
bkanber 9y ago
You can ship the boxes, gel packs, and foil bag back to them for recycling. They give you a free shipping label. https://support.blueapron.com/hc/en-us/articles/202510818-How-do-I-recycle-my-Blue-Apron-packaging- https://support.blueapron.com/hc/en-us/articles/202510818-Ho...
- dominotw 9y ago
  doesn't the carbon footprint of shipping it back offset the recycling?
  - kafkaesq 9y ago
    That's a perfectly valid point, above, which definitely should not have been downvoted. This business about "just ship it back to us and we'll recycle it" is obviously suspect. If anything it sounds like a scheme they came up with so they could check some box in some policy subscription about "offering recycling opportunities at all stages in the supply chain", or something similar. Even though when you think about, it's obviously how wasteful that "recycling" route is. A loophole, in other words.
    - dominotw 9y ago
      they are obviously counting on the fact that their customers are 1. lazy/busy 2. don't care that much about recycling.
    - bkanber 9y ago
      It's not that obvious and not so much a loophole. Shipping is more efficient than you give credit for (eg shipping recyclables from UK to China is still net-beneficial as opposed to landfilling [0]), and most likely recycling back to them is advantageous. The gel packs are reusable, you ship them 10 at a time, and "Reuse" is better than "Recycle" in "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". [0] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/aug/19/recycling.waste https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/aug/19/recyclin...
      - 9y ago
bpodgursky 9y ago
Plus, a lot of the additional cost is literally the cost of the gas spent delivering individual meal boxes to your door (which is pointless individual pollution).
- Terribledactyl 9y ago
  That's a little disingenuous, they have a minimum order size, and consolidate delivery dates in an area to maximize route efficiency. A fully packed delivery truck in a densely subscribed area would be more efficient in terms of fuel than all of those individuals driving to the store. But yes, minimal customers, in a big area, buying few meals consecutively would be worse.
  - chickenfries 9y ago
    I dont buy that you can assume that delivery saves fuel. You're assuming everyone makes one full round trip from home to the grocery store every week, when most people incorporate it with their other errands, commute, etc.
liquizar 9y ago
I'm sure they will move towards compostable packaging problem more or less solved from their standpoint
scottbez1 9y ago
My favorite was the single egg carton: https://i.imgur.com/tLAIx5Z.jpg https://i.imgur.com/tLAIx5Z.jpg Sure, maybe it's not actually that much extra packaging compared to 1/12th of a normal egg carton, but it certainly felt ridiculous to receive in the mail...
toomanybeersies 9y ago
I agree that these recipe-as-a-service companies have too much packaging, but I wonder if there is more embedded energy in them than the alternatives. For a lot of people, Blue Apron et al aren't replacing a weekly shopping run, where you grab everything you need for a week. It's replacing people buying fast food, which is also very heavy on packaging.

The amount of pollution / trash this company produces seems pretty counter to their mission statement.

by teen 9y ago

The amount of pollution / trash this company produces seems pretty counter to their mission statement.

leftnode 9y ago

We canceled after a week precisely for this reason. I couldn't believe how much trash a single shipment generated.

spike021 9y ago
what's a single shipment typically composed of? Curious since I was thinking of trying it. Do you mean like cardboard/plastic packaging? I was thinking materials would come in re-usable container. Not fancy, but even somewhat "cheapy" re-usable material.
- jonknee 9y ago
  From Googling around, lots of plastic bags: https://www.jennettefulda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ingedients.jpg https://www.jennettefulda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ing...
  - icehawk219 9y ago
    I haven't used Blue Apron but used one of their competitors and you'd get the ingredients like this but they'd also be in a big styrofoam container (to help insulate against the elements). The other problem was if you had 2 recipes that each called for a cucumber you'd get 2 individually bagged cucumbers. I don't know if they're smarter about this but that was a big turn off when I tried it.
- schraitle 9y ago
  Lots of individual plastic bags, but they are recyclable in the giant plastic bag recycling box at the grocery store. We would just stuff them all into a larger bag for storage and drop it all off next time we actually went to the store.
resolaibohp 9y ago
I hear this a lot from people. When I go grocery shopping I have bags and boxes for nearly everything I purchase. When I order items on Amazon I get boxes and tons of packing materials. What is a better alternative that does not generate tons of trash? Blue Apron also does a good job at allowing you to send back the materials so they can recycle them. I just point this out as I think they get a lot of criticism for a company that I don't think generates more trash than a lot of alternatives and they give an option to recycle.
- swsieber 9y ago
  Right - but I don't have daily trash for spices. Or for eggs. It's not the fact that they generate trash. It's the frequency and quantity.
- ceejayoz 9y ago
  > When I go grocery shopping I have bags and boxes for nearly everything I purchase. You don't get enough cold packs and insulation for it to stay cold for a couple of days in a hot shipping distribution center / truck, though.
artursapek 9y ago
Trash is generally a byproduct of convenience, so I'm not surprised to hear this product generates a lot of trash. One can say the same thing about Keurigs, that hilarious Juicero thing, and many other services. I instinctively avoid this kind of thing now, not just because of the quality compromise but also this trash efficiency compromise. It's really short-sighted and lazy to consume in this fashion. Go to a damn farmer's market and plan out your week, people!
- Karunamon 9y ago
  Your accusatory comment assumes that the reader: * Lives in an area with a farmer's market in accessible range (i.e. they don't live in a food desert[1] like ~24 million Americans - and that's just any kinda real market) * Spends as much or less at the market as on a service like this, factoring in all externalities such as food waste, travel time and expense, and so on * Has the time to spend getting to the market and shopping * Has the cash on hand (many farmers markets are cash only - anyone on SNAP, ~43M people[2], is now excluded since those benefits are usually on cards) * Has a situation that allows "planning out their week" [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert [2]: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/21/donald-trump/trump-43-million-americans-food-stamps/ http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2016/jul/...
  - artursapek 9y ago
    Somehow those people in "food deserts" managed to get by for hundreds of years before this era of wasteful ultra-convenience startups.
    - ceejayoz 9y ago
      They're a fairly recent development. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2516593/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2516593/ > In 1961, more than 75% of London’s inner-city population lived within 1 kilometer of a supermarket, giving them easy access to a variety of foods, says principal investigator Jason Gilliland, who directs the university’s Urban Development Program. In 2005, he says, that number was less than 20%.

sp332 9y ago

From what I recall when we had it, it was a lot less trash than going to the store and getting everything packaged individually. And I'm sure the shipping is less polluting than having all the customers drive around too.

jonknee 9y ago
> From what I recall when we had it, it was a lot less trash than going to the store and getting everything packaged individually. But all the stuff Blue Apron sends you is individually packaged (down to stuff like a single green onion in a bag)...
- bpicolo 9y ago
  For various small bits they send a single brown paper bag (per meal).
  - sp332 9y ago
    Hm, it might actually be worse since they send a small package for each portion of spices etc. instead of me just buying one glass jar and using it for ages. I mean they once sent me a single egg in a big cardboard structure. https://goo.gl/photos/9xDYYQGtba6LPM1Y7 https://goo.gl/photos/9xDYYQGtba6LPM1Y7 Very biodegradable in this case but still an interesting question.
    - bpicolo 9y ago
      You can imagine them eventually having an option for "i'll supply eggs, milk, flour" or whatnot, but I can definitely imagine that you'd have an awkward product experience when you figure out you actually don't have any
    - Karunamon 9y ago
      So what's the greater waste? The cardboard necessary to package one egg, or the other 5 to 11 eggs in your fridge that were thrown out because you didn't use them?

jmeyers44 9y ago

Do you have evidence that a meal kit produces more "trash" than the packaging required to ship all of the included products to a store? Additionally, your argument is incomplete without addressing the efficiencies that meal kit companies gain by limiting food waste. The real question is what provides a more efficient food system, a grocery store or a meal kit?

giobox 9y ago
I'd love to see a proper study as well. Every argument I've ever seen against these meals in a box services regarding trash, including the ones I've read in this thread, are entirely based on individual personal anecdotes. Superficially I can see the appeal of arguing based on the packaging you receive, but this fails to account for recycling options, and ignores aspects like the avoidance of food wastage given the precisely measured amounts. There's clearly more to this problem than 'wow that's more cardboard and plastic than I expected'.
- teen 9y ago
  Ofc it's going to be anecdotal. But that doesn't mean it's not true. 12 eggs indivially wrapped vs a dozen. 1 green onion in a plastic bag instead of a few in a smaller grocery plastic bag. Individual plastic bottles to hold 3 tablespoons of vinegar.
  - giobox 9y ago
    I'm not arguing it isn't true at all - just saying that anecdotes alone aren't going to prove this one way or another, at least not to my satisfaction. > Ofc it's going to be anecdotal Not really. People link to studies/research here frequently in comments.
teen 9y ago
https://www.jennettefulda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ingedients.jpg https://www.jennettefulda.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ing... I mean just look at this photo... A resealable plastic bag for 1 green onion?

bkanber 9y ago

You can ship the boxes, gel packs, and foil bag back to them for recycling. They give you a free shipping label. https://support.blueapron.com/hc/en-us/articles/202510818-How-do-I-recycle-my-Blue-Apron-packaging- https://support.blueapron.com/hc/en-us/articles/202510818-Ho...

dominotw 9y ago
doesn't the carbon footprint of shipping it back offset the recycling?
- kafkaesq 9y ago
  That's a perfectly valid point, above, which definitely should not have been downvoted. This business about "just ship it back to us and we'll recycle it" is obviously suspect. If anything it sounds like a scheme they came up with so they could check some box in some policy subscription about "offering recycling opportunities at all stages in the supply chain", or something similar. Even though when you think about, it's obviously how wasteful that "recycling" route is. A loophole, in other words.
  - dominotw 9y ago
    they are obviously counting on the fact that their customers are 1. lazy/busy 2. don't care that much about recycling.
  - bkanber 9y ago
    It's not that obvious and not so much a loophole. Shipping is more efficient than you give credit for (eg shipping recyclables from UK to China is still net-beneficial as opposed to landfilling [0]), and most likely recycling back to them is advantageous. The gel packs are reusable, you ship them 10 at a time, and "Reuse" is better than "Recycle" in "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". [0] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/aug/19/recycling.waste https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/aug/19/recyclin...
    - 9y ago

bpodgursky 9y ago

Plus, a lot of the additional cost is literally the cost of the gas spent delivering individual meal boxes to your door (which is pointless individual pollution).

Terribledactyl 9y ago
That's a little disingenuous, they have a minimum order size, and consolidate delivery dates in an area to maximize route efficiency. A fully packed delivery truck in a densely subscribed area would be more efficient in terms of fuel than all of those individuals driving to the store. But yes, minimal customers, in a big area, buying few meals consecutively would be worse.
- chickenfries 9y ago
  I dont buy that you can assume that delivery saves fuel. You're assuming everyone makes one full round trip from home to the grocery store every week, when most people incorporate it with their other errands, commute, etc.

liquizar 9y ago

I'm sure they will move towards compostable packaging problem more or less solved from their standpoint

scottbez1 9y ago

My favorite was the single egg carton: https://i.imgur.com/tLAIx5Z.jpg https://i.imgur.com/tLAIx5Z.jpg Sure, maybe it's not actually that much extra packaging compared to 1/12th of a normal egg carton, but it certainly felt ridiculous to receive in the mail...

toomanybeersies 9y ago

I agree that these recipe-as-a-service companies have too much packaging, but I wonder if there is more embedded energy in them than the alternatives. For a lot of people, Blue Apron et al aren't replacing a weekly shopping run, where you grab everything you need for a week. It's replacing people buying fast food, which is also very heavy on packaging.