I would not be at all surprised if the amount of money spent on packaging the numerous items that are purchased on a daily basis, rivals or even surpasses that spent on the items themselves. If we are not already throwing an unbelievable amount of electronics and appliances into landfills, the packaging that those things are sold in, most probably creates an equal amount of refuse. It seems that on an almost daily basis, I must fight to remove the excess materials surrounding something that I have recently bought. Sox, clothing, batteries, and food items are only a tiny fraction of those things that are presented in the most elaborate packing schemes imaginable.
The often complex packing of merchandise is done in order that items can be displayed in such a way as to entice customers to buy them. It is done to prevent theft. It is done to prevent malicious tampering. The only legitimate excuse for such overuse of packaging materials is to prevent the leakage and spills of liquids. I live in a rural area which requires me to drive more than an hour to shop for certain things. This requires at least a half tank of gas in my old pickup, so ordering things online has seemed to be the lesser of two evils. I save or recycle most of the materials that my things come shipped in. Whenever I have plain cardboard boxes, I use them beneath my garden beds and compost to lure earthworms. Still, there are so many items that could be sold with far less packaging materials. Not only would it save costs to the manufacturer, it would cut down on cost to the consumer.
Cost aside, the biggest reason for cutting back is the profuse waste that is produced. Obviously, the manufacturer of the packaging materials is making a huge profit. This kind of corporate greed will not cease unless we begin to make our voices heard. We can write letters to manufacturers and to our politicians and to the stores where we make purchases. We can request that things be made available in bulk and buy as many things as possible in bulk, to reduce waste. Marianne Williamson, sadly, has dropped out of the presidential race. But, she is correct in saying that it is the people who will drive the changes that we so desperately need – not the politicians or our government which has been bought by greedy corporations. Let’s begin today to stand up to those things that are causing irreparable harm to our planet. We cannot wait for someone else to fix the wrongs. We must each do individually, all that we can do, to make a difference.
