Inhabitat

November 20, 2008

Amazon Debuts Frustration-Free Packaging

Just in time for the overly packaged holiday season, we are thrilled to see that Amazon is debuting a new eco-friendly idea called ‘Frustration Free Packaging’. If you’ve ever tried to open a plastic package twice the size of the product inside and ended up with box cutters in one hand and carpal tunnel syndrome in the other you may know ‘wrap rage.’ Then once you finally got the plastic off, you still had 18 wires to unwind and a mountain of mostly unrecyclable trash. The folks at Amazon are working hard to remedy this problem with the introduction of Frustration-Free packaging. Amazon is working with manufacturers to eliminate dreadful clamshell packages for simpler brown boxes. Not only will it make wrapping and unwrapping much easier, but these boxes can broken down like any other and recycled.

Frustration-free and plastic-free packaging is something we’ve been hoping for for a good long time.
Currently Amazon is only offering 19 products with Frustration-Free packaging but is looking to expand the program with hopes of wrapping all of their products sans fuss in the coming years. The holiday season is a month-long consumption crash we have no intentions of sacking but we love to see more thoughtful giving with low impact packaging and production.

+ Amazon Frustration Free Packaging

Tip Via Richard Seireeni

6 Responses to “Amazon Debuts Frustration-Free Packaging”

Christian Biggins Says:

November 20th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

Thats so good. The amount of plastic that gets thrown out during the Christmas period is absolutely shocking. I dont understand how companies can continue to use packaging like this!

SPG Says:

November 20th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

Amazon is a great place to do this as the product selling is done online and doesn’t need to be presented for shelf appeal. The next step is to apply these principles to products on shelves in a way that doesn’t diminish their marketability.
One other concern is that depending on how this is implemented this may not be a green solution at all, but an increase in waste if these products are simply unpackaged and repackaged at amazon. Has anyone confirmed that they are leaving the factory in Amazon frustration free packaging? If so, then hooray for Amazon!

Argadol Says:

November 21st, 2008 at 2:58 am

That’s the way every packaging should be !!!!

scalde Says:

November 21st, 2008 at 1:00 pm

Nice one, Amazon! If product companies were motivated, they could exploit creative opportunities for providing shelf appeal with a single marketing display, rather than repeating the marketing info and packaging in each unit.

SPG: According to the Amazon Web site, products go directly from assembly line to frustration-free package:

“Does Amazon throw away the original retail packaging and re-box items in Frustration-Free Packaging before shipping them to customers?
No. Instead, we work directly with manufacturers to box products in Frustration-Free Packages right off the assembly lines, which reduces the overall amount of packing materials used.”

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=200285450#oldpackage

teamPAHL Says:

December 5th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

if you have read the “Wal-Mart Effect” then there is a section in the very beginning about how Wal-M got the deodorant companies to stop packaging their products in a container inside a box and shorten its packaging to just a stick alone. If only more big companies would swing their weight like this, it could save a lot of waste. Next up should be the food packaging industry.