Some Packages are Just Wrong

I've complained before about the difficulty of using certain packages and about the reasons that packagers or retailers choose to use consumer-unfriendly packaging. But a package that held one of my wife's Christmas gifts is beyond frustrating. It is ethically wrong.

As I examined this gift, I noticed that the plastic packaging seemed extremely heavy. Of course I had to investigate and removed the cardboard that covered the pack of the formed tray. To my surprise, I found what looked like a piece of scrap concrete screwed into the package. The only purpose for this was to add weight to mislead the consumer about the quality of the product the package contained.

Upon further examination, I found that the product was once made of steel and was now made of a cheaper material. Rather than admitting this to the consumer, the manufacturer chose to bulk up the package to make the apparent weight the same. The consumer wouldn't discover the change until after the product was removed from the package at home.

Not only do I view this as unethical, it is most certainly not sustainable packaging. The extra material and energy to produce the package, the extra energy to ship 10's of thousands of these around the world, and the extra mass of whatever substance going into landfills in unforgivable.

Packagers are beset with enough challenges without creating ill will and possibly unnecessary regulation of the industry. Why can't some companies just do the right thing?

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