When consumers buy products online, they're looking for convenience and savings. It defeats the purpose if a supplier provides an inconvenient experience with unnecessarily inflated costs — not to mention the additional impact on the environment when suppliers are wasteful. One buyer took to Reddit to complain after having a frustrating experience of this kind with Amazon.

What's happening?

The original poster shared photos of their purchase on r/Anticonsumption, saying: "This is just ridiculous!"

The photos show a tiny eyeliner in a 4-inch box, according to the measuring tape the OP displays. But that box is packaged in another cardboard box about 2 feet long for shipping, and the empty space is filled with packing paper.

"All this for one little eyeliner, Amazon?" the OP wrote. "Absolute waste, this should've been sent in a mailer!"

Why are Amazon's packaging practices important?

The difference between a single mailer and a cardboard box isn't that big at first glance. There's a little more garbage for the OP to deal with, and they may have a harder time with a package left on their porch than a mailer in their mailbox, depending on their housing situation, but these seem like small problems.

But Amazon ships millions upon millions of packages like these. Every time it up-sizes one unnecessarily, it increases its costs for packaging material, which means greater costs for consumers. It also ensures fewer packages fit in each shipment, so it has to send more trucks, increasing shipping costs even more. This also increases its paper waste and air pollution, deepening its impact on the planet.

Is Amazon doing anything about this?

Amazon claims to have made progress in this area. On its website, it says it has reduced packaging weight by nearly half since 2015 and even shipped 12% of its items without any packaging except the manufacturer's existing box.

However, it's clear that these standards have not been applied across the board, and there are still areas where waste can be reduced.

What's being done about excessive packaging more broadly?

You can avoid this problem by avoiding Amazon altogether. Do your online "shopping" with a local buy-nothing group to get secondhand items with no packaging materials whatsoever — and at no cost to you. It will save you money while also keeping useful items out of landfills. You can also skip packaging altogether by buying secondhand.

Which eco-friendly initiative would make you most likely to buy products from a clean beauty brand? Using less plastic packaging 🗑️ Using more organic ingredients 🌿 Recycling empty containers 🫙 I don't buy clean beauty products 🚫 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.