Wrap Rage: A post-Christmas package design opportunity
Christoph Hitz "Man Vs. Clamshell'
It was frustrating waiting for Christmas. I confess to harboring that pre-adolescent excitement that attends the approach of the holidays. So when, at last, The Big Day arrived, it was more than irritating to be confronted with anti-theft packaging that required the better part of half-an-hour to safely rip open.
I’m talking, of course, about the ridiculous clamshells that incise the skin of so many fingertips. Out come Santa’s goggles, safety gloves, and the oxyacetylene torch, with Mrs. Claus/Nurse Mom waiting to triage the injuries you’re likely to incur in your effort to bring joy to the kids.
We need to rethink this danger to humanity and gargantuan waste contributor. Something besides my epidermis has to give. Seriously, The New York Times informs us as many as 6,000 Americans strain our trauma-center resources each year with packaging related injuries. Many people now arm themselves with nifty little package cutters rather than relying on the risky thrust-and-parry strategy of attacking clamshells with scissors or kitchen knives.
Product manufacturers must do something. We consumers have to insist on better packaging solutions. The amount of plastic wrap is excessive. Do we really need for a pill to be wrapped in three layers of plastic? Eco-minded consumers want packaging to be as minimal as possible, but manufacturers fire back stating they don't want their products to start decomposing in the store.
The King of the Internet Jungle, Amazon, has attempted a solution by creating Certified Frustration-Free Packaging (yes, that’s really what they call it). Amazon has brought us full circle, settling on the far more user-friendly corrugated e-flute for most deliveries. Yes, the cardboard box.
At a time when we’re encouraged to be thankful, I’m happy to point out that one almost never hears of cardboard-box injuries. In fact, on Christmas Day, many kids find the large variety of corrugated shipping containers to be the best toy of all, what with their versatility as hideout, tunnel, or spaceship. But have you noticed how outrageously overpackaged many Amazon items are?
I don’t have the ultimate answers. But I do know we need to get to a world with safe packaging and less packaging-related pollution. We need new and safer materials – and for all my friends in the design world, we have to reduce the amount of plastic used and maximize recycling rates, all while meeting functional needs at a reasonable cost. Let the invention begin. I’m already looking forward to next Christmas.
