Three Cheers for Amazon!

I love Amazon today more than usual. If you click on the pic, it will enlarge it, or you can go here to read it at the Amazon site. Anyone with kids knows how heinous packaging is on toys. I always wondered (as I was trying to free a toy from a box) how they managed to get that blasted little thing screwed down so tight? After abandoning scissors and kitchen knives for a machete, I wondered if those twist ties were being done by hand. Were there scores of Chinese factory workers with bloody calloused fingers from tightening those twisties? And why do things have to have a box. And an inner box. And individually wrapped pieces. Which are twisty-tied to a piece of cardboard. Sheesh! It's insane!

I also hate that clamshell packaging, which requires a blowtorch to open. Once you have that mangled twisted plastic shell off, you find out that there's something not right and you need to return it. The clerk at the counter looks at you like you're some kind of maniac, as if he can't possibly fathom how or why you would do something so horrible. Of course they have to take it if you have a receipt, but still...

Amazon is launching a multi-year initiative for "frustration-free packaging". What that means, in addition to being less frustrating, is a considerable reduction in packaging, making it environmentally and energy better as well. In their example, the Fisher Price toy has eliminated some 1,800 square inches of plastic and cardboard and 36 inches of twisty wire!

Think about ordering from Amazon for gifts. Often they have free shipping on items, depending on the vendor (if you order from the vendor, like Toys R Us, on the Amazon site you pay shipping, but if you order from Amazon you often don't). It's less hassle to order online and I find I'm more intentional about what I buy because I'm not being bombarded with shelves and shelves full of stuff to distract me.

Think about it!