Most people who buy products online have probably experienced the annoyance of receiving multiple packages for one order, but one homeowner's shopping experience with Home Depot takes things to a whole different level.
What happened?
In the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit, the homeowner shared several photos of boxes stacked to the top of their garage that they said contained air filters. The poster questioned Home Depot's packaging choices, explaining that each box held just one air filter. To make matters worse, the OP discovered one of the filters was bent, rendering it unusable.
"I ordered 20 air filters and the company shipped 20 individually boxed air filters," they wrote in the post.
As if that wasn't wasteful enough, the botched delivery gets even more baffling. In a follow-up comment, the homeowner explained the delivery actually included two shipments: "They actually only sent 19, one got delivered the next day."
"Not only [did they create] so much waste, they made the delivery driver come twice, for an order that could've fit in one or two boxes, unbelievable," one commenter replied.
"You need to contact customer service for the damaged claim on the bent filters too. Now they can pay for shipping twice and send it to you correctly," another suggested.
Why is business waste concerning?
Not only does the excessive amount of packaging create a lot of trash for the OP to get rid of (if they don't choose to recycle it), but it's also a hassle for the delivery drivers. Even though the recycling rate for cardboard boxes was over 93% in 2022, according to the American Forest & Paper Association, it's far more sustainable to reduce packaging waste when possible.
It's unknown if the boxes are made from virgin or recycled cardboard, but either way, they still require energy, water, and labor to produce. As GreenMatch detailed, manufacturing just over 1.1 tons of virgin cardboard generates more than 1,100 pounds of carbon dioxide pollution. If the boxes aren't recycled at the end of their lifecycle, they decompose in landfills and release toxic gases such as methane, which contribute greatly to our overheating planet.
While making recycled cardboard is much less resource-intensive — GreenMatch estimates savings between 25% and 50% on energy and up to 99% on water — inefficiencies in the supply chain can easily cancel out the benefits.
🗣️ Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to recycle old clothes and electronics?
🔘 Giving me money back 💰
🔘 Letting me trade for new stuff 👕
🔘 Making it as easy as possible ⚡
🔘 Keeping my stuff out of landfills 🗑️
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
Is Home Depot doing anything about this?
Home Depot announced a commitment to sustainable packaging in 2020, which entailed eliminating hard-to-recycle plastics from its private-brand packages by 2023.
In 2021 alone, the chain said it redesigned 286 packages to reduce materials and size. It also removed 138 school buses' worth of expanded polystyrene foam from its packaging, replacing it with eco-friendly materials such as molded pulp and paper.
It also uses optimization technology to maximize the product load on its delivery trucks, so perhaps the OP's experience was simply a one-off fluke or an issue with a particular store.
What's being done about business waste more broadly?
Other retail giants, such as Best Buy and Amazon, are reducing plastic waste in packaging by offering recycled and reusable options for certain products.
You can support these efforts at home by purchasing from brands that use plastic-free packaging and learning about local recycling options, which will help keep trash out of landfills.
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