I recently bought a Wahl beard trimming kit at Costco. The features listed on the retail packaging were just what I wanted. The box was massive; it made it seem like I was getting a lot of value for little money. The side of the package had an energy star logo and it said “powered by an ENERGY STAR qualified battery for a better environment”. Pretty cool – I like to be green. When I got home and opened the carton, look at what I found…
700% excess packaging and a lot of air! There was no indication that any of the inner cardboard had any recycled content. There was no indication that soy-based inks were used in printing the large retail outer packaging. If Wahl really cared about creating a better environment, they wouldn’t create packaging that’s such an environmental disaster.
Speaking of hot air, Wahl’s web site brags about their commitment to the environment:
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Our Commitment
Wahl, as an ethical global manufacturer and distributor of electrical appliances, realizes the environment is a key stakeholder, along with our customers, suppliers, shareholders, employees, communities, and countries where we do business.
- We are genuinely committed to reducing our impact on the environment.
- We will strive to define world-class best environmental impact practices and achieve ambitious targets.
- We will continually reduce energy used and materials consumed throughout our end-to-end supply chain processes.
- We will set a good example to our stakeholders by actively promoting sustainability, recycling, and using environmentally friendly materials wherever practical.
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Wahl (and Costco) still have some work to do! I intend to email both companies with a link to this post.
Walmart and Amazon both claim to be making great strides in reducing unnecessary packaging on the products they sell – I admit it does seem unfair to compare bricks and mortar retailers with on-line only businesses like Amazon on this point, but still, this packaging seems to cross a line.
Did I take it back? No, but I thought about doing that. Next time…
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