"Eco-Friendly" Packaging Here To Stay (1 Viewer)

looks like eco-friendly packaging is here to stay

Sony to launch green initiative with Mall Cop - 3/23/2009 - Video Business

I applaud the elimination of O-rings, and using thinner shrink wrap (personally, I think shrink wrap could be eliminated altogether were it not for the North American fetish with opening a new package--the theft deterrent labels all the way around should suffice ), but I REALLY don't like these cases with the cutouts. they scream "cheap and nasty." They could probably save the same amount of plastic by making the box walls a fraction of an inch thinner.

I can see it now. Discs will no longer need to pop out of broken (or not) hubs to get all scratched up, etc. They really should at least leave the backside alone.

Also, I suspect w/ the cutouts, the backside will flex more, which will probably result in discs accidentally popping out of their hubs more easily. I certainly noticed that when I opened up my Silence of the Lambs BD.

_Man_

I guess SONY doesn't care about people who like to protect the cover art inserts of their BLu Rays that they pay so much for.

I guess we can now expect our prices to drop on Blu Rays right Sony? I doubt it.

If the cost isn't passed down to the consumer then I say protect the cover art and don't give me holes. If they want to drop retail prices then so be it. It is only for PR for the companies to say look what we did for the environment we took a really simple Blu Ray case that is already smaller than a DVD case and now we are making it cheaper and it will be prone to being damaged more easily.

Most stores treat DVDs and Blu rays like bricks tossing them around and even when you buy one they manhandle them like it were nothing.

Sorry I like to have my collection looking good.

The cost passed down to the consumer is a significant reduction in the waste of limited natural resources and the reduction in pollution. More than sufficient benefit. There comes a point where it's not a dollars and cents issue, and a point where it's an issue of intelligent use of limited resources.

We can reduce the amount of plastic used by eliminating portions of the case that are not seen without comprimising the structural integrity, so we effectively have a responsibility to do so.

Further, there's no reason to assume that there will be any comprimise in the integrity of art. There's no evidence, as there's almost no instaces of the cases on the market and those that are present are very recent.

As far as the stores go, what has changed? Those who care will do exactly what they do now, shake the package, check it for damage, and pick through the rack.

We burn through absolutely ridiculous amounts of waste every day. Here's an example of waste that can be reduced, so it is incumbant upon us to reduce it. The more ways we can reduce waste, the more resources we preserve. It's additive.

When we're talking millions upon millions of an item every year, that math adds up really quickly. So unless you want to explain to your grandkids that the earth is a resource barren landfill because "Looking good" is more important that conservation, you may want to consider whether or not this really matters much in the grand scheme of things.

Because we're making billions of tons of platics every year that come from some limited resource, and do not degrade in any reasonable timeframe.

Hear, hear, Ryan. I agree wholeheartedly.

I can't picture this: "...Amaray-style case with parts of the box wall cut out..."

Can someone please describe it or post a link to a picture?

Thanks,
Doug

I noticed this with my new BD copy of Quantum Of Solace. The case is very flimsy and parts of the label have no backing when you open it up, think of the reels on a reel to reel tape deck or movie reel and that is what the plastic shell looks like.

These cases sound similar to the eco-friendly keepcase Lionsgate used on "Still Waiting," although it did arrive with an O-ring sleeve.

So much for being eco-friendly.....

Yeah, a slight difference in the amount of material used to create a DVD case is going to turn the planet into a "resource-barren landfill."

:rolleyes

I will have to see it in person to make a conclusion but based on the description I fail to see any issues with this UNLESS of course the pieces being cut out do cause the case to flex and have the disc pop out.

Maybe it is just me but I don't throw darts at my cases so I don't really care if it isn't 100% thick plastic and there are some "holes" which I would hope would be in strategically located places so you wouldn't just grab a case and bam, push the cover art through it.

So yeah, I am cool with this in theory but again, I'll have to see the finished product to know for sure. I do have to chuckle at how companies/people go about trying to "save the environment"...how about movie studios cut down on ridiculous movie premiere events just to show off the celebrities that prolly use a hell of a lot more energy and stuff than bluray/dvd cases.

So the packaging they are talking about is what we see with the Silence of the Lambs Blu-ray?

It is very easy to squeeze the case and push the cover art through, at the very least to wrinkle it and I could see the disc getting damaged at worst. This case is flimsy. I am all for saving the planet but this is not the way.

I'm all for "saving the earth"...but there's packaging and there's *packaging*.

Yes, minimise the packaging that's intended to be thrown away, or the packaging for a consumable product where the whole thing is "thrown away" in short order.

But I really don't appreciate flimsier packaging of the type that is meant to be kept and to protect the interior product i.e. virtually an integral part of the non-disposable product.

Going from Amaray to slim DVD cases makes sense. DVDs are still decently protected. If "they" really cared about the environment they'd use slim cases the size of the disc i.e. like a CD jewel case but of the slim DVD case thickness and material. That would save far more plastic and protect the BD perfectly, and would save resources consumed in making more shelves for me to store them on LOL (I could fit more on less shelves).

Sony is strictly about making money. I bet there's some more coin in this licensed package design for them somehow...

as posted in Cameron Yee's SOTL review

the whole idea just feels like a nightmare. I wish I didn't care what shape my collection was in and I wish I didn't like to keep my collection looking like new. I wish I were like those who toss there dvds etc around and use them as coasters etc.

I don't and therefore I detest this case. it DOES NOT FULLY protect the cover art insert.


I wish I could meet the person who created this case, they obviously could care less about their collection in fact I doubt they own a blu ray. They probably don't even like film.

People need to get used to the fact we want a fiilm and we paid for it for God's sake let use keep in it a case that protects it. If not though the discs in a bin at Walmart and we can fish them out for 5.00 each.

For mass consumer shovelware DVDs ok, for BD collectors Fail.

This type of case crossed my path not too long after I learned about ink-saving fonts:

The Robe came with a cut out case and it looks awful - cheap and nasty. Seems more like a way of saving money in the pretence of going "green". If going "green" is so important, then just stop buying DVDs!

By that logic, we should also stop using anything that causes any pollution. The idea is cut back where we can on the damage being done.

I'd guess that using less plastic is less of a motivation than cutting down on the shipping weight of pallets of product.

All in all I don't mind the new case, though I too wish they'd just made some of the case walls thinner rather than having big cut outs.