We all know about the problem.
You buy a nice item, usually an electronic gizmo but sometimes a toy, and you can’t open it.
Knives won’t cut it, and you need sharp heavy duty scissors to cut it open. Yet even then, the cut areas won’t bend easily, and the edges of the plastic packaging are sharp, and cut your fingers if you aren’t careful.
Welcome to the wonderful world of clamshell packaging.
You know what I’m talking about: That heavy PVC clear plastic covering that coats the item, keeping it safe from damage if it is dropped, and just large enough to deter shoplifters.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, an average of 6,000 people a year end up in the emergency department for packaging-related injuries. Many more get minor wounds from using sharp implements to extricate products…. “You cannot pull them apart with your nails or your teeth, and it takes away the fun when you get so angry at trying to get the thing open,” said Toni Brayer, MD, a San Francisco internist who wrote about the issue on her blog (www.everythinghealth.net).
For those without heavy cutting tools, and the expertise to wield them, Yahoo Green website has these suggestions: use a can opener. Video is on the link.
Wikitools has alternative instructions, on using box cutters, scissors, and “Aviation snips”. I use my heavy duty scissors, the ones I use to cut heavy canvas and dog collars.
However, there is good news.
No, not another 1000 page government regulation.
Capitalism at work.
Amazon is launching a “Frustration Free Packaging” initiative.
“…In their press release, Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com said:
“I think we’ve all experienced the frustration that sometimes occurs when you try to get a new toy or electronics product out of its package. It will take many years, but our vision is to offer our entire catalog of products in Frustration-Free Packaging. We’d like to thank Fisher-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and Transcend for working with us in this effort - we truly appreciate it.”
So let’s hear it for Bezos and the other companies, who are aware of the problem and wish to save the fingers and tempers of thousands of potential customers: Those frustrated Americans who are unable to get the gizmo out of the danged box .
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Nancy Reyes is a retired physician living in the rural Philippines. Her website is Finest Kind Clinic and Fishmarket. She gets no money from Amazon for mentioning the company (which doesn’t have a branch here). Sigh.
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4 users commented in " Dangerous Clamshell Packaging! "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI want to say thank you for bringing more attention to this dreaded problem. Many is the time my husband has complained about or tried to find a new inventive way to open these “packages”. As you mention in your article, they are unforgiving in thier structure thus causing injuries. There have been times when we have refused to buy an item due to it’s “clam-shell” packaging. We both have worked years in retail and have many customers refuse to buy merchandise in those types of packagings. Do you think the manufacturers are aware of that? I’m glad that there will be alternatives. I know, it might seem like a trivial issue, but for many it’s really not. Imagine Grandma, with her arthritis, on her Birthday or Christmas morn trying to open one of these packages. Suddenly the item slips sideways and rips across her thin, fragile skin thus sending her and several loved ones on a trip to the ER. Not fun! Then the item in the clam-shell is no longer even wanted!
I can’t believe how stupid people are. Unless you are elderly or handicap you should be able to open any of these packages with a knife, scissors etc. And I’m sorry but 6,000 ER visits a year is not that many. One thing I know for sure is that there are at least 6,000 people dumb enough to end up in the ER because they can’t figure out how to operate a knife or pair of scissors. And what about the term “paper cut”? We all cut oursleves with a piece a paper from time to time and no one seems to be complaining about that. I think if people realized why stuff was packaged in clamshells (Theft, you can see what you’re buying etc.) they wouldn’t make such stupid remarks. It’s people like this who continue to ban and outlaw any choice that they themselves can’t handle. I cite seat belt, helmet and carseat laws as the tip of the iceberg. What’s next I wonder? We won’t be able to drive a car because people have car accidents? Give me a break. Everyone please stop whining. You’re all a bunch of half wit Sallys.
Sick;
No one was saying they should totally give up on “clam-shell” packaging, just that it was going to be nice to HAVE an option. I don’t know what you’re so angry about? Can you really compare saving a childs life with carseats and safety belts with “clam-shell” packaging minor injuries, who by the way, aree not always so minor. Seems like a pretty big stretch. So you love clam-shell, great! Thanks for you opinion.
I’ve always felt we have too much government yet the issue of dangerous packaging is one I think there needs to be more involvement. I understand why manufactures overpackage & make it nearly impossible to open, but really, is theft that much worse now than 30 years ago? I doubt it. One big concern I’ve always had are the elderly who live alone. All this silly,often dangerous packaging of all kinds of items presents some serious obstacles, including safety issues. There are so many foods that can’t be opened without having a pair of scissors handy, bottle caps/lids that can’t be removed, packages of food the elderly can’t tear - even on the so called “tear line” without the packaging contents flying across the floor. Many seniors have enough deficits, they have limited energy, and often times will go without eating unless someone is there to fix the food for them, as they simply can’t get the packaging open. I know this as I work with the elderly, showing them ways they can continue to live independantly, in their own homes, and I’ve seen the results of too much packaging. It’s ridiculous - even for those of us with good dexterity. Maybe if there were enough lawsuits by people who have been injured on this garbage trying to open it, manufacturers will take notice & change their ways.
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