Is the Amazon Green?

Well, I am pretty sure that the jungle is, and no doubt the river itself in places. But that is not the Amazon I am referring to here. I will explain further.

With all the recent build up to St Patrick’s Day on the 17^th day of the month of March, in the year of our Lord Two Thousand, One Hundred and Sixteen, and the prominence of the green with which these festivities abound, I got to thinking. Whoah! Careful now, I hear you say. Don’t strain yourself. Okay! Okay! So, I got to thinking about green of a different nature. Here goes.

So why is it that when I order a single book, let’s say 8” x 8” and less than an inch deep, that it arrives in a box 30” x 24” x 8” or so. Stuffed with brown paper, or bubble wrap. This seems to be extremely wasteful, environmentally unfriendly, and economically unsound. This would not seem to make any sort of corporate sense either. If this were a one off I could perhaps understand, but it seems to be the norm, rather than the exception.

In this current age of ‘going green’, caring for the environment and packaging reduction requirements hitting many businesses, it seems a little ethically irresponsible that one of the biggest companies in the world appears to be neglecting a large section of their Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR. Still, I like to get my packages as quickly and easily as the next person, and love the convenience of shopping online with Amazon. I am sure they have their reasons.

Just some food for thought, I guess.