A Word on Packaging OR SOTC 5/365

So, last week, a coworker calls me from Costco, stating that there's a four-pack of 8-gig-each flash drives on sale for $30 and do I want a pack? Sure, that's a pretty good deal for memory sticks, so I say go for it. She says she'll bring them to me at the office when she's next in.

As she described the product over the phone, I envisioned four memory sticks, lined up either in a row, or two-by-two, in that thick seamed-around-the-edges-and-need-heavy-duty-kitchen-scissors-to-cut-it-open-and-even-then-you're-going-to-hurt-yourself kind of plastic that everything is packaged in these days. And I envisioned that packaging to be roughly 5x7".

Boy, was I wrong.

I have witnessed excessive packaging before. I once ordered a small stationery item for work--a hole punch, or a stapler, I think. It was packaged in its own small box, but that was then shipped (and by shipped, I mean local delivery) in an 11x14x8" box filled mostly with crumpled paper (I was so glad it wasn't packing peanuts). Ridiculous.

When I saw the goodies on my desk today, it was a little bit like that all over again. The four flash drives were indeed packaged in that thick seamed-around-the-edges-and-need-heavy-duty-kitchen-scissors-to-cut-it-open-and-even-then-you're-going-to-hurt-yourself kind of plastic. But that plastic was also sealed in between two layers of roughly 9x12" cardboard.

Srsly?!

Flash drives generally range from 1.5-2.5" long. People marvel at these tiny little objects--these tiny little pieces of circuit board that hold more bytes of information than my first laptop did. Technology has always been about being sleeker, thinner, and more compact than the preceding model.

So, why do these same companies not seem to show the same attitude towards the packaging they put these products in?

Okay, not all companies.

I've always appreciated the compact, only-what's-necessary packaging of my Apple products (one more point for them).

But they are the exception, not the rule.

It just seems so backwards.

       Dear SanDisk,
       
       Please stop packaging items
       the size of my thumb
       into cardboard
       the size of my laptop.
       
       Sincerely,
       Tech-Savvy but Eco-Friendly

Seriously.

So, when I was out getting groceries the other day, I picked up a bottle of melatonin (trying to get my sleep cycle back on track; see previous post). I have seen melatonin in pill, liquid, and thin strip form. Generally in little containers. And of course, when I bought a bottle of the pill kind, and it said 90 tablets, I didn't think twice about the size of the container. I never do. And while I know that pill containers are like potato chip bags--there's always more air than product--I really felt this one took the cake.

This picture still doesn't quite capture the discrepancy--there's only one more 'layer' of pills underneath when you see. It was ridiculous. The bottle could have been half the size and still accommodated just as many pills. What a waste of packaging. Hopefully I won't lose any sleep over it.