The zero waste challenge is looking for your input. Metro Vancouver wants to cut the waste we each make every year by 25 per cent. Reducing the amount of packaging on the items we buy will save waste and money.

Paper products, like the cardboard boxes used for shipping and packaging, make up almost a quarter of the municipal solid waste in metro Vancouver -- and that's on top of what's diverted for recycling.

Consumer Reports' Mandy Walker says people routinely send in letters complaining about small items arriving in way too much packaging. To see for itself, Consumer Reports ordered small items from 13 companies, including Avon, Staples, Drugstore.com, Oriental Trading Company, and Best Buy.

"We were really surprised to find so many tiny items came in boxes that were way too big," notes Walker when the orders arrived.

For example, Drugstore.com sent a single lip balm in a box big enough for a toaster. A shoe-box sized box from Avon arrived with just one lip balm as well.

The same sized box from the Oriental Trading Company contained just one small vial of beads.

And a platter-sized box from Staples could easily fit 200 pencils but contained just one.

"We consulted a packaging expert and we found that companies can save money if they buy the same size boxes for everything they ship, "explains Walker.

But not everything arrives over-sized. A small pack of batteries ordered from Quixtar came in a small shipping envelope.

Less packaging could make a real difference. Every year each of us creates an average of 126 kilograms of waste. Through the Zero Waste Challenge Metro Vancouver wants to cut that number by one quarter. Cutting excess cardboard will help reach that goal and saves trees, and the water and greenhouse gas emissions created when they're made. Not to mention and all those big delivery vehicles driving around carrying boxes of air.

Other ideas include:

  • Reduce before you buy. Do you need to buy the item or can you borrow or rent it? Or repair something you already own.
  • Choose items with the least amount of packaging possible.
  • Reduce unwanted junk mail. Contact the Canadian Marketing Association at www.the-cma.org
  • Choose rechargeable batteries.
  • Choose reusable products over disposable.
  • Give away working items you no longer need. Local charities and www.freecycle.org can often find new homes for gently used items.

To share your ideas for waste reduction consider attending one of the public evening meetings for Metro Vancouver's Zero Waste Challenge coming up April 16, 22, and 29th. For exact times and venues see www.metrovancouver.org.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen