When ordering products online, it's a given that they'll be shipped in some kind of packaging — often no worse than the packaging used to transport the same product to a store. However, the packaging is sometimes over the top, like with the batch one shopper received from AliExpress.
What's happening?
The frustrated shopper, a teacher at a U.K. school, posted about the situation on r/Anticonsumption. "One hundred buzzers, individually wrapped in bubble wrap, a bubble bag, three small bags, and finally, a big bag," they said, sharing photos of the excessive plastic used to transport the small electronic components.
According to the poster's comments, they ordered the buzzers for an electronics project in their technology class. The project was required for their curriculum, and thanks to the cost difference between ordering the parts online versus buying them locally, online was the only option.
They said it likely wouldn't have made a difference in the amount of packaging used, however. "I'd bet my last clam that every single buzzer on the planet was made in China — me ordering 100 of them directly from the manufacturer may have even reduced shipping pollution as it didn't also have to be routed via a local supplier."
"That's overkill," another Redditor commented. "At least you can reuse the bubble wrap and the bubble wrap bag."
Why is the excess packaging important?
A few plastic bags won't make or break efforts to protect the environment — but multiply this by the millions of products sold day in and day out, and that's a lot of plastic.
Bubble wrap and plastic bags may be cheap, but they still have a cost that is passed on to consumers. Excessive packaging means excessive expenses.
Also, plastic trash is rarely recycled and is often disposed of incorrectly. It ends up in the environment, breaking down into microplastics, which pollute the water you drink, the food you eat, and even the air you breathe. Microplastics are associated with cancer, but the full extent of their impact on human health is yet to be determined.
Is the company doing anything about this?
The original poster ordered these buzzers directly from the manufacturer via AliExpress. It's the individual manufacturer, not the sales platform, that determines how products are packaged.
🗣️ When you think about a product's packaging, which of these factors is more important to you?
🔘 The way it looks 😍
🔘 The information it provides 🧐
🔘 The waste it produces 🗑️
🔘 I don't think about packaging at all 🤷
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
However, commenters thought the manufacturer was unlikely to change its packaging policies. "If they sell them individually, it's very possible they prepack them in advance and not when you order," one user said.
"Yes, I think this is what has happened," the original poster wrote. "They realised it's quicker and easier to ship them as-is rather than repackage them."
What can I do about excess plastic packaging?
As the original poster pointed out, it's not always possible to find a provider that doesn't use excessive packaging. That said, choose providers that are plastic-free. You can also phase out single-use plastics in your life in favor of reusable items.
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