I know you get your regular daily dose of packages. Trash day has become quite the event as we flatten all the boxes we have received and try to squeeze them into recycling.

But have you noticed how the volume of the packaging vastly exceeds the volume of the contents?

We need to solve two problems here. First the over-packaging of items being shipped and second the misleading over-sized packaging of the contents.

1: Anyone needing to package their products must make every effort to minimize that packaging. The smaller the package the more can be loaded on to the truck, the container, the cargo ship, and the fewer the fossil fuels we will need to ship them.

The packaging must be completely recyclable. No more styrofoam. Should be made from recycled materials. Plastics should be minimized in the packaging.

All packaging should be able to be returned the vendor for free via the shipping company or by returning the packaging to the store.

2: Packaging must not be used to make the product look bigger (think about the candy packets in movie theaters). This is both wasteful and misleading.