6 ms·
I actually wish they would use more cardboard boxes and less of the plastic envelopes. The cardboard boxes are easily recyclable or compostable. the plastic ge
by Tagbert 7y ago
I actually wish they would use more cardboard boxes and less of the plastic envelopes.
The cardboard boxes are easily recyclable or compostable. the plastic generally cannot be recycled but will sit in a landfill forever (at best).
- dplgk 7y agoCan you really compost cardboard? I thought it contained toxic chemicals.
- microcolonel 7y agoNo, generally the primary components of commodity parcel cardboard are biodegradable and non-toxic. AFAIK. The tape is probably the biggest issue, and more and more of that is becoming paper I think. I'd be interested to see packaging completely free of plastic.
- sneak 7y agoWhy?
- microcolonel 7y agoBecause plastic is fiddly to dispose of, and makes a mess when you just leave it lying around. Uncoated paper tends to disintegrate into safe mush, which allows you to dispose of it without much care, including by sticking it in a heap somewhere and forgetting about it. In a pinch, it also burns relatively cleanly, and doesn't gum up shredding/bundling equipment.
- gumby 7y agoCardboard is a lot heavier so costs more to transport, plus of course its production is somewhat energy intensive. On a lifecycle basis does it consume more oil than a plastic envelope? I prefer cardboard but I wonder if I ought not.
- kennywinker 7y agoAs always, part of the solution is to consume less. Better than paper OR plastic is not buying a thing that has been shipped from china to amazon to you.
- kalleboo 7y agoAlso the plastic lying in a landfill not decomposing is essentially sequestered carbon, isn't it? Which is better than burnt fuel sending the carbon into the atmosphere.
- arnoooooo 7y agoThat's assuming it doesn't get burned. A lot of places use incinerators to get rid of garbage.
- emanuensis 7y agoCardboard is great! i use it to keep the weeds down, as it composts. Amazon's is much better ... any other box requires a very laborious removal of plastics and metals.
- sneak 7y agoPlastic sitting in a landfill for a thousand years while it biodegrades is not harmful. Spending a lot of energy to transport the much heavier cardboard (and the energy to transport the materials needed to recycle it, plus the recycling process energy) is. Recycling is, for the most part (aluminum cans excepted) a feel-good exercise that is much more wasteful than putting something nontoxic into a landfill. Also, the plastic envelopes are a lot easier for me to dispose of into a large bag; the cardboard I have to break down first, and that consumes a much, much, much, much more precious and scarce resource than landfill space, and one that is entirely non renewable: my life-seconds.
- mwilliaams 7y agoAre you talking about the paper envelope lined with bubble wrap? I thought those were recyclable.