Amazon inspires reuse with cardboard cat condos and other quirky (re)designs

28 Jul 2020 --- Amazon has instilled a sense of fun into its packaging by encouraging customers to convert cardboard boxes into cat condos, forts, rockets, mini-golf windmills, boxcars, rockets and robot costumes across the US. The reusable designs can also be recycled and come as part of the e-commerce giant’s ongoing “Less Packaging, More Smiles” program. Amazon boxes are designed to reduce carbon footprint through right-sizing and material and weight reduction, which saves on transportation and associated fuel emissions.

Customers can use the QR code on the boxes to access more information about the campaign, including a series of instructional videos and tools. Additionally, customers can visit “Amazon Second Chance” to learn how to recycle all types of Amazon packaging and devices and shop for refurbished or reused items.

“We had a lot of fun dreaming up the new designs. We were inspired by some of the creations we have seen our customers make at home,” Kim Houchens, Director of Customer Packaging Experience at Amazon, tells PackagingInsights. “We’ve seen customers reuse our boxes to create everything from costumes and forts to dog and cat playhouses and decided it was time to find a new way to deliver some added smiles and show how easy it is to recycle all types of Amazon packaging.”Click to EnlargeAmazon's boxes encourage customers (and cats) to see the reuse potential in packaging.

Amazon’s team of engineers calculated how much material could feasibly be removed from the cardboard boxes while maintaining product protection throughout the multitude of e-commerce supply touchpoints.

Amazon is taking action through “The Climate Pledge” – the company’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint and become net-zero carbon by 2040 – 10 years ahead of the Paris Agreement.

“Since 2015, we have reduced the weight of outbound packaging by 33 percent and eliminated over 880,000 tons of packaging material – the equivalent to about 1.5 billion shipping boxes. We’re continuing to find ways to scale new packaging innovations, such as our paper mailer that can be recycled curbside,” Houchens notes.

Amazon provides information on how to recycle all types of Amazon packaging, and how to trade in, recycle, or repair Amazon and non-Amazon devices and products, through its “Amazon Second Chance” online resource.Click to EnlargeAmazon boxes are designed to reduce carbon footprint through right-sizing and material reduction.

The influential company also made a US$10 million investment in the Closed Loop Fund as part of its commitment to minimizing waste and making it easier for customers and communities to recycle. Over the next ten years, Amazon’s investment will increase the availability of curbside recycling for 3 million homes in communities across the US, diverting 1 million tons of recyclable material from landfills and eliminating the equivalent of 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the company indicates.

This month, Amazon announced the elimination of all single-use plastic packaging across its more than 50 fulfillment centers in India. The e-tailer replaced air pillows and bubble wrap with paper cushions and adopted 100 percent plastic-free, biodegradable paper tapes, delivering on a pledge to eradicate single-use plastic by June 2020.

By Joshua Poole

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