One of the things I am finding with writing is I often want to cover some topics more than once, and it is the case this time too. My repeat topic on this occasion is Amazon and their packaging policies, although this time I am going to mention prices too.
I have nothing against the Amazon concept as I use them, and they provide a good service for people like me who prefer to shop at home these days, but as mentioned in my last post, I believe they need to have a serious look at their packaging systems and the waste they are producing in an age when that is a subject we are all looking more closely at, and some of us are trying to do something about. 
Amazon is the largest Internet company by revenue in the world, and company’s like this will undoubtedly come under more scrutiny because of their success. However, on that note and in my previous post, I did compare them to a company I had never heard of before (no disrespect to the other company) and tiny by comparison to Amazon. Their packing was as bad if not worse, and so it shows this is happening everywhere. But imagine how much waste packaging Amazon alone is sending out on a daily basis and the costs will be millions of pounds I’m sure. I am not a businessman, but even I know less costs means more profit!
But here is the most recent example and it is a strap my wife bought for her fit bit and look how small it is, but compare it to the size of the cardboard envelope they sent it in, absolutely massive by comparison and just so much waste. Some, including Amazon, may disagree and say it is needed to protect the item, but surely 
the size of the cardboard packaging used should be more proportional to the item being sent, that would mean it is getting just as much protection? Further to this and as a comparison, the white envelope beside it is a standard greeting card envelope and in my opinion still too big, but certainly cheaper if it was used to send the strap. If the envelope was wrapped around the strap a couple of times, and some tape added, that is more than adequate protection.
Whatever their argument is, I would love to hear it, but in my opinion, there is an awful lot of cardboard that is simply not required by size. Surely a company the size of Amazon can have people employed just to look at this type of thing, and they would in turn undoubtedly save them those millions of pounds?
Let me give them an even easier and cheaper method for posting. If the warehouse staff had used two pieces of packing tape and wound it around the strap bag, once lengthways, and once breadthways and ensured it was well packed down, I can guarantee the strap would still have arrived in perfect condition!
Admittedly it doesn’t look very professional but is that so relevant when the end-user just rips their package open and throws it away (hopefully in their re-cycling), but that is what we do. We do not sit and gaze at the packaging for half an hour or so just to admire how well the item had been packed and presented. One of the reasons we use Amazon is for speed of delivery – we want it now and when we get it we open it, we are not too concerned about how it is presented. Again if Amazon made customers aware of their reduced packaging to help with the environment how many people would complain?
Wrapping it my way would be cheaper and would reduce demand on the environment as previously written about. As also written about, I do have some experience in this department of warehousing and logistics. Doing this would also save Amazon money, and so maybe I should be promoting myself to them for a possible job. Please note Mr Bezos; there is an e-mail link on this page!!
Finally, for Amazon on prices during this period of isolation, I have decided to revamp the garden, certainly doing more than a normal spring period. I was looking for a five-litre tub of fence preservative and found this on Amazon, I’m just glad I checked with my local independent DIY store which, by the way, is being more socially responsible with the way he is operating than the massive nationwide supermarkets, anyway I went to see him and paid £7.99 and saved some money!!
But on the subject of packaging, this is where once again I need to mention young Greta Thunberg and her activists, as I still believe this is the type of thing they should be looking at and commenting on and trying to do something about, simply because all that finger pointing at the older generation goes on daily, usually during each speech, and is wrong. The older generation did what they did because they knew no better, Greta we can discuss asbestos any time you want!
However, this younger generation is actively taking part in this aspect of waste, by using companies who produce so much rubbish, and therefore the added demand on our planet and environment and so contributing to the global warming issues that we have and that they blame us for, after all, they are all connected. So let me hear Greta and her friends stand up and say they will boycott Amazon and others who produce so much waste! It would, in my opinion certainly be more useful than jumping on and stopping trains and forcing people into petrol and diesel guzzling, fume producing cars – I bet they don’t.
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