Packaging is Serious-Can You Get This Open?
Read more articles on Life's Nuances and Let Me Share With You.December 9, 2007
Posted by Karen Amato Schwartz
December 9, 2007
Posted by Karen Amato Schwartz
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Have you been having trouble getting some packaging open lately? Either someone is making it tougher to get to our goods or my fingers are getting weaker. Maybe it’s both.
I first noticed this about 6 weeks ago after being served snacks on my flight to Las Vegas. It was a real struggle to get the bag of dried fruits open. I figured, well, maybe they wanted to make sure the apricots didn’t get any drier, so they used super-duper, heavy duty plastic. Then I attacked the cheese and cracker box, which was another challenge. By now I’m thinking that perhaps it has something to do with high altitude and pressurized conditions…As I looked around, I saw several passengers who had ignored their snacks, but whether it was due to apathy or frustration over not getting the darn things opened, I’ve no idea.
Since then, I’ve made it a point to notice just how thoroughly foods are now being made airtight and sealed to avoid contamination, which also relates to needing scissors to open almost everything. I could not-repeat, could not-open a package of cheese the other day with just my hands, and needed a knife to start the removal process of another bottle’s seal. Today it actually took about 6 seconds to tugging (instead of 1 or 2) to open a bag of cereal, and so I was prompted to write about this phenomenon once and for all.
Many times I’ve wondered just how much it’s costing the manufacturer to wrap things to make sure consumers get fresh quality and the assurance that no tampering has occurred. I wager it’s at least 10% of the overall price. We buyers are guaranteed that what we buy has never been touched by other humans, because there’s no way anyone can get past all the wrappings, nor would they want to, unless they have a strong desire to keep the final product.
The amount of packaging will be apparent in every neighborhood on the garbage collection day after Christmas-boxes, tubes, paper, tissue, plastics in every form, Styrofoam and cardboard will be overflowing from trash cans. It seems a shame, doesn’t it? At least we can recycle plastic bottles and tin cans, but the rest is just adding to the inevitable waste dumps we humans have created.
I rather like the time when I frequented stores that eschewed all of these trappings. Folks scooped peanuts, flour, sugar and the like right into reusable containers for weighing and transporting home. Bags weren’t offered; shoppers had to bring their own. Shopping in bulk like this made me feel that I was doing something for the good of the environment, but these stores seem to have fallen by the wayside. I never once felt that anyone had been tampered with what I was purchasing, or that my safety was compromised. I would love to see this practice resurrected, as it does seem to be green-conscious, but I’m afraid lawsuits would surface about severed fingers found or terrible viruses harbored.
Oh well. The next time we struggle with getting something out of its dead-serious wrappings that mean business, we have to remember that we brought it on ourselves…
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