Self composting Packaging.

[Oneslowz28]

Those of you who know me, know that I am not one to jump on the "green" bandwagon or even talk about "green" things. However, this simple idea makes so much sense that I have to support it and also ask why has this not been done before?

Its basically seeds and fungi spores that are added into the cardboard at the time of manufacturing. Then the box can be torn up and just planted whole.

My question is... why has this not been done to normal shipping boxes? When discarded the box will basically begin composting itself.

Source: http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/the_life_box_packaging_that_turns_into_trees_16882 .asp


http://s3files.core77.com/blog/images/0lifeboxp01.jpg

[Airbozo]

Could you imagine if a package gets wet en-route and shows up at your door covered in seedlings and mushrooms?

lol

Does anyone remember the corn starch shipping peanuts?

[Oneslowz28]

You do have a point there. Yea I remember the water soluble packing peanuts. I got something in from one of the various PC companies a few months back with some. When I opened the box and took out the item some of the peanuts came out and one fell in my tea. It was gone when I looked back over.

[mDust]

Who says "I think I'll plant some trees in my back yard today! Let me just tear up these boxes and bury them..."

My question is... why has this not been done to normal shipping boxes?
What Airbozo said and because it puts a shelf life on the box. A humid day is all the moisture the fungus would need to start growing. We can't have fungus sprouting up in a dark warehouse or the back of a delivery truck.
We also can't have trees growing inside landfills, as the roots could damage the protective layers that keep all the nasty stuff contained. Cardboard boxes, along with most other paper products, break down just fine as it is. They don't need any help...
A better idea: pump landfills full of various types of bacteria and mold/fungi to help the pile break down faster.

[x88x]

We also can't have trees growing inside landfills, as the roots could damage the protective layers that keep all the nasty stuff contained.

That's a good point, that didn't occur to me.

The biggest problem I see with this for a consumer, is that it makes cardboard boxes necessarily disposable. I rarely throw cardboard boxes away, instead reusing them for either shipping stuff back out, moving, or storage. With these, I wouldn't be able to do that...nobody could. It would be a boon for cardboard box manufacturers because any time somebody needed a box, they would have to buy a new one. Call me cynical, but I can't help but wonder if that was the whole idea behind this to begin with. Heck, even HP is reusing their boxes now; I got a replacement drive from them a couple weeks ago, and it had old packing tape on it, and a sticker saying something along the lines of "sorry it's not as clean as a new box, but we're reusing boxes now, which saves us lots of money". Personally I've always been a much larger proponent of reusing over recycling.

[Oneslowz28]

Yea lots of companies are reusing boxes now. About 1/3 of the review samples I get in are in reused boxes. Kinda funny getting a thermaltake box in from a DVD Drive manufacturer.

[x88x]

Hahahaha, nice. :D

[ownaginatious]

Speaking of compostable packaging, has anyone bought sun chips in that biodegradable bag?

That's probably the loudest chip bag in existence...

[mDust]

Speaking of compostable packaging, has anyone bought sun chips in that biodegradable bag?

That's probably the loudest chip bag in existence...

Haha! Don't eat them out of the bag. Problem solved.

When I was a wee lil' tike, we would be watching a movie as a family or something and my dad would grab a bag of chips... It would never end peaceably as my mom could never stand that noise. Ah...childhood memories... Putting a couple handfuls on a plate or something works wonders and also prevents eating the whole ******* bag...but that might be your genetics (http://www.theonion.com/articles/scientists-discover-gene-responsible-for-eating-wh,691/) so I won't go there.

[dr.walrus]

Yeah great, because I want other plants in my compost pile.. No, because if I use that compost to plant my vegetables in, it'll be full of dandelions!