[throwaway892238]

They mentioned bamboo, and I'm surprised nobody has done this, but you could build a machine to weave extremely sturdy and reusable boxes out of bamboo fiber. They would of course be more expensive, heavier, and bulkier, but they would pay for themselves may times over in time. Reusing them could be as simple as a return center or pick-up service. As padding, you could stuff the empty space in the box with shredded bamboo. They'd be weather-resistant, tough, flexible, and stronger than steel. And growing more stock takes a fraction of the time and cost compared to trees.

[crazygringo]

Generally speaking, in today's economy reuse is a bug, not a feature.

We could already reuse thick plastic packaging instead of cardboard, but we don't, because it's so much more expensive to collect, clean/sanitize, sort by 40 different sizes, and store in a warehouse.

Heck, we could already reuse glass soda bottles the way they still do in many developing countries around the world, instead of recycling them to melt them down and form new bottles. But again we don't, because the cost of collecting separate streams for each brand of soda bottle is too expensive in the developed world.

So while the idea of reusable bamboo packaging could be appealing, them problem is in the reuse part sadly. Much more economically efficient to produce something one-use, put it in a general recycling stream, and then re-form.

[Schroedingersat]

> because the cost of collecting separate streams for each brand of soda bottle is too expensive in the developed world.

Then we just make a standard set of bottles and make them pay a much larger collection bond on any non-standard bottle which is split with the collection center on reuse.

No reason we have to tolerate waste just so each brand can feel like a special snowflake.

[mitthrowaway2]

The payoff for this kind of standardization would be enormous. Bottles are one example. Books are another. If books were made in universally standardized shapes, then bookshelves could be sized to fit them without wasted space, and so on.

[midoridensha]

Here in Japan, that's exactly how it is for books: most popular novels and such come in just a few standard sizes. Books from the same publisher usually have the same color pattern on the jacket too. Bookshelves look very neat and tidy as a result.

[cmarschner]

Glass recycling (as in refilling) is done all over Europe. I’m surprised it’s not done where you live. So it’s certainly done in the developed world.

[stephencanon]

Yeah, the dairies here in New England do it as well.

[greedo]

There's a dairy that delivers in parts of the midwest that uses glass bottles for their milk products. They charge a $2 deposit when you buy the milk. Pretty good milk in my opinion, though more expensive than the bulk milk, but I like supporting a local dairy, and knowing I'm not filling up a landfill lets me sleep better at night.

https://www.burbachscountrysidedairy.com

[toomuchtodo]

Oberweis Dairy in Northern IL does the same. I’ve been told that it gives the product a premium feel, which helps justify the price premium.

[lotsofpulp]

How does the landfill usage compare to the extra energy used to transport the greater mass of glass? And the extra energy use of the frequent stop and go of a smaller residential delivery truck moving heavy liquids and glass, and the resulting brake/tire dust.

[greedo]

They don't do residential delivery, they just supply the grocery stores.

[jjtheblunt]

Same in Phoenix (Danzeisen Dairy i think), and Oberweis around western suburbs of Chicago at least.

[klooney]

Strauss family farms does that in the SF Bay Area, available at all the fancy grocery stores.

[_carbyau_]

Everyone has a tale of ridiculous overpackaging. IE Thumb drive in shoplifter-proof plastic, wrapped in bubble wrap, in a double layered cardboard shoebox.

We have standards for transport. Shipping containers, pallets. But not a widely used standard for packaging various things.

But then I guess it'd be subject to standards proliferation: https://xkcd.com/927/

[RC_ITR]

>They would of course be more expensive, heavier, and bulkier, but they would pay for themselves may times over in time

The most expensive parts of any thing are almost always human labor and energy (for transportation mostly), so it is unlikely that this would be true from any holistic point of view.

[phkahler]

What if all the bamboo grown is already used for other things? A whole new box industry would need new supply.

[hosh]

Bamboo is a grass, and very fast growing. Some of the running species are vigorous enough to be considered invasive outside its native ecosystem. (The running bamboos spread via rhizomes, a couple feet deep, making them extremely difficult to get rid of once established). They can grow, be harvested, and regrow again faster than many trees, even if those trees are coppiced. They also produce a woody like construction material that is more durable than some of the fast growing trees (such as balsa).

Point being, growing more bamboo is easier than growing more trees in order to supply something like cardboard.