The greening of tech packaging
The new Windows 7 packaging.
(Credit: Microsoft)Before Microsoft announced Windows 7 pricing, the company detailed earlier this week how it plans to package the operating system.
Microsoft claims that Windows 7 packaging "has a 37 percent weight reduction, and the econometrics score has improved by 50 percent over its predecessor." Instead of forcing customers to read instructions on how to open the box, Windows 7 packaging will open just like a DVD case.
"We've reduced the number of elements in the package down to three: the plastic case, the paper sleeve, and a simple Getting Started Guide," Microsoft wrote in a blog post. "The plastic case opens easily like a standard DVD case, and it will have a single easy-to-remove seal at the top--and that's it!"
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, packaging accounts for a third of consumer garbage. And as CNET pointed out on the Green Tech blog, "plastics comprise 12 percent of U.S. waste each year, but are rarely recycled, while some scientists fear that irresponsible dumping is making a plastic soup of the world's oceans."
Although software arguably should not require any packaging, instead relying purely on Internet downloads, and plastic packaging could (and should) probably be avoided altogether, Microsoft's reduction of packaging materials corresponds with a trend that I think is better for all of us.
During this year's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote speech, Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, made sure everyone knew that the packaging for Apple's products is more environmentally friendly than ever.
Apple claims on its Web site that "MacBook packaging is up to 42 percent smaller than that of the original MacBook." The company explains that by making the packaging smaller, it can increase the number of units on each pallet, leading to lower carbon emissions. The MacBook Pro packaging is up to "41 percent smaller" than previous boxes.
Amazon.com announced last year that it has started working with retailers to reduce the amount of packaging sent to customers as part of its "Frustration-free Packaging Initiative."
And in 2007, Hewlett-Packard announced that its print cartridge packaging was going green. According to the company, it expected the reduction to cut down on 6.8 million pounds of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic annually. It also expected the change to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 37 million pounds.
That's just a small sample of companies changing packaging to become more environmentally responsible. It's commendable. But unfortunately, it's not universal.
Further steps
Reducing packaging is only half the green picture; the materials used are just as important. Plastic, for instance, doesn't degrade and become of use to nature. It also takes a lot of energy to create, further increasing its carbon footprint.
Apple, D-Link, and many other companies use cardboard when packaging products. Cardboard is seen as better for the environment than plastic because it's more recyclable and takes less energy to produce.
Another consideration: why can't makers of software, including games, ditch physical disc sales altogether? Most companies in the software space allow consumers to download their applications from the Web. If users need physical media, they can burn the operating system onto their own discs.
Although we should applaud companies for taking steps to improve the environmental impact of their products' packaging, there is certainly room for improvement. Microsoft is hardly a leader in this space, considering that Windows is one of the last major software packages without a download option.
Along with its colleagues, the Redmond giant is coming to understand that the time for environmentally irresponsible tech packaging is over.
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Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has written about everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Don is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and posts at The Digital Home. He is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
A suggestion for the companies: ship less product to each store, but on the display sign, have the words: "This can also be purchased at www.... (whatever)...com" But then the retailers wouldn't like that, I suppose. They'll work it out eventually.
This is all too little too late. There is so much lamentation about DVD and CD sales being down, well I say push them down farther. Anything data should be procured online if at all possible. It's the responsible way to go. The more people who procure their data this way, and do steaming for all the movie rental they can get away with the better off our environment will be, especially as computers consume less and less power to achieve the same level of computational output.
B/C we then lose our right to re-sell the item when we are no longer have a need/want for it (right of first sale, I believe its called). I know everyone says that downloads over the internet are the way of the future, but I will resist as long as I can with things like movies, music and games. I used to be wary of used games but now I buy them all the time, especially with the new durability of Blu Ray. My local Game Crazy retailer gives just as good a guarantee on used as they do on new games and they cost $10-$20 less depending on the game. Sometimes new titles even become available within weeks of launch depending on how quickly the local dweebs blow threw it and move on to the next one.
That's not entirely accurate.
As noted in one comment, Microsoft offers software available for purchase via the online Microsoft Store (http://store.microsoft.com/home.aspx) with the option of downloading the software package or having a packaged copy shipped to the purchaser.
Personally, I tend to keep software packages for quite a long time, keeping the CD/DVDs in a safe place along with my serial number and manuals.
Ever try downloading software and games on a PC without a internet connection?
And downloading Operating Systems from the web puts you SOL when your computer's OS is corrupted and doesn't boot or your putting a OS on the machine for the first time. Not many want to buy a pc just to build another or fix another one.
What no DVD!
Oh, and my copy of PS Elements had no packaging at all. But daves_done is right, I can't resell it.
This is good stuff.
Hardware packaging can be the same as well-- the graphic cards seem to be the worst offenders, as if packaging bulk is a proxy for GPU power. A 1cm x 10cm x 20cm card is in a 20cm x 30cm x 50 cm box! Maybe it's intended to crowd out the competition on the store shelves-- at least the size is meant to attract attention. I bought a cheap brand that was in a box not much larger than the card, but it was hard to find amongst the megaboxes.
Perhaps there could be a law requiring an orange packaging efficiency sticker to be attached to the box-- maybe that would embarrass the manufacturer having a "00.2% efficient" label.
- by LLIB_SETAG July 5, 2009 5:40 PM PDT
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(20 Comments)All Microsoft Software packaging is designed on Macintoshes in Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit division that makes MS OFFICE for MAC on their Redmond One Campus.
But, while good news on the green factor, MS needs to be even more prudent in green packaging design & be more like Apple in their green packaging.