Online shopping is choking our landfills when we could recycle better

Last week’s news about Amazon purchasing Whole Foods has left consumers in a tizzy. On the one hand, it will make high quality food even more accessible. On the other hand, as is always the case, it presents new problems to be addressed.

One of these issues centers around the proliferation of shipping boxes. Americans love affair with online ordering has dramatically increased the amount of cardboard boxes making their way to our landfills.

And it’s not only boxes. Plastic packaging has greatly increased as well. This video from the California Product Stewardship Council was featured on a recent NBC Nightly News broadcast.It features CPSC’s Heidi Sanborn and Robert Reed of San Francisco’s Recology discussing how our growing addiction to online shopping impacts our landfills.

Consumers have always had a say in what manufacturers provide. We vote with our dollars.When we speak up, they listen. It’s up to us to tell manufacturers that we want less wasteful packaging with our online orders.

Interestingly enough, that type of packaging has been around for more than five years in a variety of forms. So why aren’t more companies using it?

It comes down to two things. It’s cheaper for them to use what they already have in hand. AND they aren’t convinced (yet) that we really want something better for the environment.

So tell your favorite online store that you want more eco-friendly packaging. Insist that they do a better, more responsible job with their packaging. After all, they know if we don’t like what they do, we’ll take our money and shop elsewhere. Money – and people – speak to their profits.