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Seattle, WA — Amazon.com has expanded the amount of products that come in what it considers Frustration-Free Packaging, but this time it's not other companies that are changing their packaging; it's Amazon itself.
The online retailer has launched its own private label brand called AmazonBasics, which is starting off with various electronics cables and blank CDs and DVDs, all which are shipped in minimal, easy-to-open, recyclable packaging.
Amazon plans to add more products to the label as well as introduce AmazonBasics products to its international sites in the coming months.
Frustration-Free Packaging is an initiative created by Amazon to eliminate difficult-to-open, overpackaged products. The program favors recyclable, easy-open cardboard over plastic clamshells and gets rid of packaging bits like wire ties and excess plastic bags.
Amazon Pkg
Boomers and seniors everywhere will applaud this effort, especially those with arthritis. Fewer trips to the ER from slipping knives and scissors to open those rediculous plastic pkgs will be the beneficial result
The next step
OK, Amazon has taken one step toward waste reduction. I wouldn't call this the pinnacle of sustainability, but it's a start. What if Amazon started looking more closely as what was in the packaging? A recycled package for a plastic product is not going to change anything. But, if Amazon saw the light and decided to only deal in sustainable products, that would have real impact. If WalMart can think this way, what's the mystery? Then again, maybe if we were all thinking sustainably, we might begin to question why we're buying some of this stuff in the first place. We can't really consume our way to sustainability, can we? Think about it...http://www.naturalstepusa.org