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Packaging can be beautiful and elegant but can it be harmful to environment?

by | 30-01-2015 23:04




Packaging can be beautiful and elegant but can it be harmful to environment?

                Every special anniversary, Christmas, Birthday, or New Year, we receive gifts. They are wrapped in colorful papers to match the event. The wrappers always look nice. Some with glitters, some are decorated with shiny paper, and some are designed beautifully. I myself always unwrap them carefully to get the whole papers to use in the next year. But someone simply just tear off the wrapper and throw them away. I come to think are the wrappers really that needy?

                After the Boxing Day, tons of wrappers from all over the world will become paper wastes that cannot be recycled. Some family may keep them for the next year while some may dump them into the bin. How can the action effect nature

            Firstly, the poor management of paper can harm nature. If the wrappers cannot be recycled, where can people possibly keep them? Actually, why would we keep them at all? That?s why most of the wrappers end up in the incinerator. Burning tons after tons of paper can create pollution. Some of the wrappers contain plastic and give out toxic emission when burned. The process of burning also results on the emission of green house gas that provokes global warming.

            Secondly, the waste of materials and land. Papers are made from trees. Big paper companies deforest some area to clear the land and plant the paper trees. With more requirements of papers, more areas are deforested. Furthermore, the factories that produce paper have to work harder to meet the demands during the special events.Most of the greenhouse gas comes from the machinery in factories. In my opinion, papers industries can save both their revenue and environment if the demands for papers go down.

             

   According to the harms created, wouldn't it be better if we just cut down the requirements for gifts wrappers? I come up with 4R possible solutions

1. Redesign: DIY your gift wrappers into new invention! For example, wrap your diary, notebook, make collage and so on.

2. Reuse: Tear the wrappers carefully and keep them until the next event.

3. Reduce: Stop using the wrappers. the best way to get rid of pollution is to reduce its cause.

4. Remember: Never buy the gift just because of its beauty packaging.


                Some excessive things are not needed. We need to cut down from using something not essential to help the world. The look of the presents doesn't matter much in fact. The thing that matters is the things inside the box or underneath the wrappings.


P.S. On New year 2015, My dad's best surprise New Year gifts for my mom is a veggie garden. Instead of a fancy box of gift, he create vegetable garden in front of our house about 30 square feet. (It used to be grassy garden) My mom is a veggie lover. Here are also my special gifts for my relatives and friends: Vegetable seedlings and seeds in hand-made package designed by me.