Shame on You Crate & Barrel

You can watch the youtube video below to get a sense of the amount of packaging that was used to deliver these spoons. I must admit that the packaging wasn't simply piled on top of the spoons as the video shows, but was nicely bundled the first time I opened the box and looked for the spoons. The video was made as an afterthought because I felt I had to share with the world how irresponsible Crate & Barrel was being by using such an absurd amount of packing. 

Why Crate & Barrels Packing and Shipping Process is Shameful

1. These spoons aren't fragile and didn't necessitate this many layers of synthetic packaging protection.
2. The box is way oversized.
3. The packaging envelope included 2 identical damage cards.
4. These spoons were part of a gift registry from many months ago and I will be going to the same shopping center as the nearest Crate & Barrel this weekend (they could have emailed me with a voucher or given me the option to select if I wanted shipping or pickup).
5. I returned all the other cutlery pieces of this particular set I had received already because the other items rusted after one washing in the dishwasher (that should be in their database).
6. Now I have to ride my bike or take the bus to the store to return these items. (Thanks to Rob - I had written drive before! oops)
7. There was no name included indicating who gifted these spoons.

Now, I'm not the type of person that just criticizes. Here are some suggestions on what Crate & Barrel could do to clean up their wasteful act.

A Few Things Crate and Barrel Should Change

1. Create a fragility rating for each of the items you carry - something like 1 - 5.
2. Package your items based on this rating (least fragile gets less packaging in general).
3. Size your boxes to be slightly larger than products being shipped (You can't ignore the greenhouse gas emissions from the delivery trucks and airplanes who have to use more space than necessary - i.e., a truck could carry 50,000 spoons or 500 spoons on a route depending on how you package).
4. Send an email when shipping items, or give people the choice when checking out online, indicating that they have a choice to do an in-store pickup at their local Crate & Barrel (we may need to run an unavoidable errand nearby in the near-term).
5. Don't send damage cards. With your current fortress-style packaging approach, there won't be damage, and, if there is, then I think it's fair to expect your customer to go online to file a damage/return claim.
6. Your spoons - they rust because they're made with cheap metal. Cheap things don't last and that's not sustainable.