![Does anyone else marvel at the amount of packaging corporations use to send out their products?
[Here is a letter I wrote to USA Business Products today]
To Whom It May Concern ~
There was a massive box on my porch today. I couldn’t imagine what it might be. The only thing I had ordered was 6 packs of Glossy Photo Paper, Surely this massive box couldn’t be that, could it?
Actually, and sadly, it was.
I received my order from your company today, and I have to tell you, I was appalled. I ordered 6 packages of KOD 8209017 Glossy Photo Paper 100 packs. You did not have them in one location, I guess, because there were packing slips from two different locations inside the gigantic box that housed TWO SEPARATE SMALLER BOXES, one with 5 packs of paper and one with 1 pack of paper!
The box with 5 packages measured 9x14x5.
The box with 1 package measured 9x14x8 and was stuffed with 6 air pillows!
The two boxes were then thrown into a gigantic box together (21x18x13) along with 16 more (that’s right, 16!) air pillows and shipped off to me. So there was a total of 22 air pillows used for my 6 packs of paper!
I have been given the gift of THREE cardboard boxes, in varying sizes from small to massive, plus 22 air pillows that need to be recycled.
What if I lived in a tiny apartment? Where am I supposed to put this excessive packaging?
But that is not my biggest concern - consumer difficulties.
I am writing to you today to open up a dialogue with whomever manages your Packaging/Shipping purchases and policies.
I want to suggest that you are WASTING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF MONEY AND RESOURCES with your CARELESS SHIPPING PRACTICES.
I have been researching this issue for a while, and am in the middle of writing a piece about it, rife with incriminating photos of shipments I have received, similar to yours.
Here’s the bottom line.
Every time you package something in a bigger container than is needed you are incurring enormous waste. Not only on the cost of the unnecessarily large container, but on the cost of the popcorns, air pillows or whatever that is used to fill it up, as well as the cost of extra tape that is used to seal it. Not only that, but CARDBOARD BOXES DON’T GROW ON TREES!! Trees are cut down to make these cardboard boxes you are so carelessly throwing about.
From there you need to look at the cost of the extra SPACE ON THE TRUCK that you are paying for. You are paying to transport AIR! Because your packages are so unnecessarily large, you need to use more trucks than is necessary to get them delivered, costing YOU more for EXTRA GAS, as well as EXTRA EMPLOYEE PAY. And then there is the consumer. You are burdening your consumer with more waste and packaging than they need, which now has to be disposed of. Luckily, I have an online business and am usually able to re-use almost all of the packaging materials I am sent, but that is not the case with many of your customers, I’m sure.
My two separate boxes of paper packs were obviously together, in the same shipping station, at some point, since they were thrown into the gigantic box together. The 5 pack of paper could easily have fit in the box that had the other single pack (which was in the BIGGER small box). All your shipper had to do was open up the two boxes, and put the five packs inside the other box, and dispose of the smaller box. Instead, your shipper elected to throw the two boxes, as is, into another massive box, and ship it that way. That is RIDICULOUS.
I suggest that you reconsider your shipping practices, and make every effort to have your goal be as LITTLE packaging as possible. In fact, you might offer a $100 reward each week, in each location, to the shipper who packages the greatest number of items in the smallest amount of volume! The amount of waste your company creates must be monumental. You could probably save yourselves thousands upon thousands of dollars by revamping your irresponsible shipping practices.
I was told by an employee in your Sales Dept that somebody would call me. She took my phone number and said she expedited my complaint, and assured me that someone in the Purchasing and/or Shipping Department would get back to me.
I was assured that someone from your company, who is in a position to actually make decisions, and can address and correct this situation, would be getting in touch with me by phone.
I look forward to speaking with someone from your company.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Tara Thralls
P.S. I took photos of the boxes, and of the long stream of air pillows, however, I didn’t include them, as I am not sure if you would even open an attachment.
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Does this bother you, too? I can’t be the only one that is astounded by the amount of Corporate Waste that is generated in the Shipping and Packaging of their products, right?](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcs5k5Mwi81qeawdho1_500.jpg)
May 4, 2012
By Mary Wentworth (about the author)
Stopping global warming is the signature issue of our time. If we do not reverse global warming, nothing else will matter. Not bringing the Wall Street crooks to justice or closing down the corrupt banks or stopping our government from spying on us.
A vital step is closing down our nukes. Nuclear power is not a legitimate alternative to the burning of fossil fuels because it is far more dangerous albeit in a distinctly different way. The risk of further contamination of our earth on which we depend for our survival cannot be tolerated.
In spite of the risks, powerful corporate executives are looking to use profitable nuclear plants to address problems associated with stopping global warming.
Even if CEOs refuse to do so, we have to recognize this stark fact: nuclear radiation knows no boundaries. It is incumbent on us to join other countries in ending nuclear power for it is immoral that by keeping ours running we would be putting at risk countless others around the world.
The disaster in Japan reminds us again of how dangerous this form of energy is. A molten mass of radioactive material lies at the bottom of the three reactors that experienced meltdowns shortly after the earthquake and tsunami hit northern Japan on March 11, 2011.
Structural remains of the containment vessels serve the short-term purpose of preventing radiation from leaking out into the atmosphere and contaminating not only Japan, but also much of the world. A second earthquake, predicted by seismologists to take place within the immediate future, has the potential to bring those structures tumbling down.
A hundred thousand Japanese have already been relocated within the country. There are recent reports that during negotiations over ownership of the Kuril Islands, Japanese officials told their Russian counterparts that due to Fukushima they are looking at evacuating roughly forty million people to one or more sites overseas. (See HYPERLINK “click here“ click here)
Continued use of nuclear energy is being seen as part of a mix of alternatives to fossil fuels. A recent rebroadcast of a PBS program (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/nuclear-aftershocks/) featured several interviews with energy experts who proclaimed that our future energy needs couldn’t possibly be met without nuclear power. For this reason plans are being made to replace the ones that will be phased out.
Since there was no indication to the contrary, one can assume that this calculation about future energy needs was based on a continuation of the present way of life in industrialized countries. In other words, as economic growth, a core requirement of the capitalist system, continues, even anemically, additional power will be needed for new factories, office buildings, shopping centers, businesses, homes, schools, sports arenas, and transportation of all kinds as well as for waging war.
Even James Hansen, the premiere climate change expert, fears that closing down nukes would bring about a greater reliance on coal, increasing global warming. It’s either/or. But is it, really? The Entergy-owned Indian Point reactor on Long Island, for example, provides a quarter of the electricity used by New York City (click here). Conservation alone could easily eliminate the need for this plant.
Why not begin now to work toward making our energy-consumption commensurate with the energy that we can produce from alternative sources? Those who have run the capitalist system for the last hundred years have extravagantly and exploitively ravaged the planet’s resources for their personal gain. It has to stop.
![BAYER STOCKHOLDERS VOTE TO KILL THE BEES
…but citizens around the WORLD are still signing the PETITION demanding the cessation of production of BEE-KILLING PESTICIDES!
Update: 30 April 2012
It’s outrageous. Despite our massive petition delivery directly into the Bayer meeting, major shareholders voted to keep their bee-killing poisons. Let’s keep up the pressure — sign the petition and send to everyone. When we reach one million signatures the petition will be delivered to the Board of Management and Supervisory Board of Bayer, and our next step is to call for strong government regulation to save the bees.
Posted: 24 April 2012 Quietly, globally, billions of bees are dying, threatening our crops and food. But if Bayer stops selling one group of pesticides, we could save bees from extinction. Four European countries have begun banning these poisons, and some bee populations are already recovering. But Bayer, the largest producer of neonicotinoids, has lobbied hard to keep them on the market. Now, massive global pressure from Avaaz and others has forced them to consider the facts, and in 24 hours, Bayer shareholders will vote on a motion that could stop these toxic chemicals. Let’s all act now and shame the shareholders to stop killing bees. The pressure is working, and this is our best chance to save the bees. Sign the urgent petition and send this to everyone — let’s reach half a million signers and deliver it directly to shareholders tomorrow in Germany!
[Photo by Tara Thralls]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3b3g5lnMu1qeawdho1_500.jpg)
