13 Eylül 2010 Pazartesi

Overpackaged Travel Accessory -- on Earth Day

Bad enough to be in the air, leaving a carbon control, but extra waste galls

We're leaving soon for England and Scotland, feeling a twinge of guilt for flying and probably a pinch in the purse because of the dollar-to-pound exchange rate. To make the long Denver-London nonstop a tad more bearable, I just got new Sony MDR-NC40 noise-cancelling headphones that plug into a plane's sound system.

I can't swim or row to England, but because it's Earth Day, I'm particularly aware of the un-green packaging for these lightweight, made-in-China headphones. The cardboard box encasing the product and its protective plastic cocoon is about 10 by 6 1/2 by 4 inches. The black background means that in many places, the box cannot be recycled, and it appears not to have been made from recycled material either.

Inside, the headphones are encased in a plastic clamshell box secured with with one transparent plastic tape, with another compartmented plastic tray inside. Four strips of adhesive foam are on these plastic parts. I do not see a recycling code on anything. The bilingual instructions were printed and warranty -- seemingly not on recycled paper -- in Malaysia. I realize that an electronic gadget needs to be protected.

It might seem hypocritical or hair-splitting, given that they are designed for use on airplanes, but I do wish that my new headphones had left a smaller carbon footprint. Now, I'm going to have to toss all that packing material that could have been made from recycled materials and itself be recyclable.

Hiç yorum yok:

Yorum Gönder