4 ms·

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Amazon use more packaging materials than brick and mortar stores? They have to box up the items which would otherwise be in

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Amazon use more packaging materials than brick and mortar stores? They have to box up the items which would otherwise be in their own boxes. Also the brick and mortars would probably do a better job of recycling/disposing of packaging.

Broken_Hippo 9y ago
" Also the brick and mortars would probably do a better job of recycling/disposing of packaging." That doesn't hold true everywhere. Recycling for me is easy. The city gives me a trash can for paper products, and another for plastic. But in the states, it was always spotty. I lived in a little town with no curbside recycling, and I didn't have a car. There was never a real push for recycling most places I lived in the states, and most states offer zero cash back for empty bottles and cans (it greatly increases the number of them recycled). Here (Norway) I can simply put them into a machine in the grocery stores, though some aren't accepted. On top of that, commercial trash is quite a bit different. City dwellers usually pay for trash removal through taxes. The businesses, though, pay for it themselves. Most are motivated to recycle their cardboard because the company pays them to pick up trash. (plastic and other similar things just go in the trash). Now, lets consider Amazon. They have a bit more in common with a factory than a brick and morter. Some of their stuff isn't in their control to recycle, though they could offer returnable packages. The rest, though, is doable. After all, some factories send absolutely nothing to a landfill (Subaru in Lafayette, Indiana is one of those). I'm pretty sure something similar can happen at Amazon if they had the right incentive. They'd already have the trash incentive brick and mortar stores have.
scintill76 9y ago
I agree. Unless your brick and mortar store puts every 4-5 items into their own cardboard box with padding and tape, then a typical Amazon habit is using way more material. Unless I'm missing something, GP's point is obviously true... Even if a high percentage of Amazon packaging gets recycled, that's more wasteful than just not using it for shipping, right? Then, we get into the relative carbon footprint of people driving to the store, and as others have pointed out, that could be marginally low when you consider they are already at the store, or are out and about for other reasons.

Broken_Hippo 9y ago

" Also the brick and mortars would probably do a better job of recycling/disposing of packaging." That doesn't hold true everywhere. Recycling for me is easy. The city gives me a trash can for paper products, and another for plastic. But in the states, it was always spotty. I lived in a little town with no curbside recycling, and I didn't have a car. There was never a real push for recycling most places I lived in the states, and most states offer zero cash back for empty bottles and cans (it greatly increases the number of them recycled). Here (Norway) I can simply put them into a machine in the grocery stores, though some aren't accepted. On top of that, commercial trash is quite a bit different. City dwellers usually pay for trash removal through taxes. The businesses, though, pay for it themselves. Most are motivated to recycle their cardboard because the company pays them to pick up trash. (plastic and other similar things just go in the trash). Now, lets consider Amazon. They have a bit more in common with a factory than a brick and morter. Some of their stuff isn't in their control to recycle, though they could offer returnable packages. The rest, though, is doable. After all, some factories send absolutely nothing to a landfill (Subaru in Lafayette, Indiana is one of those). I'm pretty sure something similar can happen at Amazon if they had the right incentive. They'd already have the trash incentive brick and mortar stores have.

scintill76 9y ago

I agree. Unless your brick and mortar store puts every 4-5 items into their own cardboard box with padding and tape, then a typical Amazon habit is using way more material. Unless I'm missing something, GP's point is obviously true... Even if a high percentage of Amazon packaging gets recycled, that's more wasteful than just not using it for shipping, right? Then, we get into the relative carbon footprint of people driving to the store, and as others have pointed out, that could be marginally low when you consider they are already at the store, or are out and about for other reasons.