Plastic Packaging

Open message to The LEGO Company. We make no guarantee that anyone from LEGO will actually read them, let alone respond!
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Spongey
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Plastic Packaging

Post by Spongey »

While building my King's Castle Siege (7094), I noticed one of the biggest problems with LEGO. In total, the set had nearly two dozen plastic bags to package the parts in. This plastic type is not recyclable (at least not where I live, and it's an urban centre.) In a day and age where protecting the environment is crucial, I believe it's necessary for LEGO to find a better alternative for these plastic bags.
There are a couple of options that I believe would be best for all parties involved. The first is the use of recycled paper or cardboard to store the pieces in, with ink made out of vegetable dyes. In areas with recycling programs, this will allow for the perpetuation of this cardboard, requiring fewer trees to be cut down. In areas without recycling programs, the cardboard will quickly decompose, and the vegetable dyes will ensure that no harmful chemicals seep into the surrounding soil. With the price of oil rising (oil being an ingredient in plastic), LEGO would be able to save money by not having to manufacture so many non-biodegradable bags.
Another alternative is the use of resealable plastic bags, such as those manufactured by Ziploc or Glad. These do not need to be torn apart, but can be resealed. Instead of having to discard all of the plastic bags, LEGO buyers can use the bags to store parts or other household items in, reducing the load that LEGO has on landfills.
LEGO has always been a socially responsible company, as well as one that has excellent reliability. It is time for it to become environmentally responsible as well.

I would like everyone on the site to respond to this petition. It asks LEGO to develop a greener method of packaging parts. Maybe a member of Eurobricks, fbtb, Lugnet, etc. (which I am not) could ask for the same to be done on the respective sites. After this, one of our noble LEGO Ambassadors could forward the petition to LEGO. This is a very important issue in my opinion, one that needs to be addressed before it's too late.
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Post by Shadowviking »

This is a great idea. I'll sign.
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Post by Emperor James »

it seems like there r more plastic bags than ever in the new big sets. probly cos of the numbering system in the instructions and stuff. but idk about your ideas, they just dont seem practical. paper bags just suck and resealable bags would be expensive and probably difficult to package.

however lego has at least reduced the amount of useless paper that comes with the sets, with kk2 it seems like there were always a bunch of crap, now its just the instructions.
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Post by smcginnis »

Three cheers for Spongey!

This is a fantastic idea. I definitely think LEGO should do it.

I do have one question though. I'm sure there's a very good reason, but I'd like to know why there are even bags at all. Is it so that when you open a set, the pieces don't fly everywhere? Or so that they don't fall out of a torn box? Thanks.

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Post by menono »

It helps me, personally, keep the parts organised into small, medium, and large peices.
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Post by Spongey »

smcginnis wrote:Three cheers for Spongey!

This is a fantastic idea. I definitely think LEGO should do it.

I do have one question though. I'm sure there's a very good reason, but I'd like to know why there are even bags at all. Is it so that when you open a set, the pieces don't fly everywhere? Or so that they don't fall out of a torn box? Thanks.

~smcginnis
Thanks for your support, although I have to give credit to an article I read in my local newspaper, which talked about how modern toys are too heavily packaged.
As for your question, the newer sets have bags that contain pieces for a certain part of the set. This is to make it a lot easier to build a 1000 piece set, because you don't have to search for a 1x1 plate amongst all of the other pieces. I think that bags are a good idea; I just don't like the type used.
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smcginnis
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Post by smcginnis »

Spongey wrote:As for your question, the newer sets have bags that contain pieces for a certain part of the set. This is to make it a lot easier to build a 1000 piece set, because you don't have to search for a 1x1 plate amongst all of the other pieces. I think that bags are a good idea; I just don't like the type used.
Yeah, I agree about the large sets; but for the smaller sets, such as the X-Pods or those little racer things (which, come to think of it, might not be bagged), they seem kinda pointless. Especially since the first two waves of X-Pods were in blister packaging, which the pieces could never have fallen out of.

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Post by Emp.Justinian »

Two bags per large set is plenty. On bag for the big pieces, one bag for the small pieces.

I agree that Lego is being wasteful.


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Post by Emperor James »

i dont sea how they can effectively seal up the pieces in an economic and environmentally friendly way.
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Post by boses »

I thought it was cool when the packaging itself was part of the model, like the bionicle and action figure knights kingdom sets. Even if you don't like Mega Bloks, the pirate skull sets and dragon eggs are an effective way of packaging, with immediate recognition by the consumer,and reusability (the skull becomes the baseplate). As for the inner packaging, maybe a bunch of holes could be punched in the bags (more then they do now) to reduce the overall mass of plastic used. Thanks, you've got me thinking. :wink:
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Post by Donut »

I am all for saving the environment, count me in as well!
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Post by Aragornn45 »

I like this idea. Not because I'm an outspoken fan of the green movement (although I do live in Washington state :D) but because I hate having to open all those dang bags, it gets kind of annoying after a while.
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Post by Chrislad77 »

I don't know it doesn't bother me at all. Opening all the bags up is part of the experience and I think Lego does this on purpose.

The intial post suggested that Lego could save money by not making these plastic bags and switching to biodegradable ones. Well clearly that is not factual or Lego would have done so already. They most likely do this because of the experience and it's the cheapest bags available for that purpose.

The real question for someone who signs this is, would they be willing to pay more for the same Lego product so that it could have the "improved" packaging?

Personally I wouldn't.
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Post by Hob Took »

I agree that there are way too many bags, and the lego company is being wasteful. The only reason you need so many bags were if you got one of these...

http://shop.lego.com/Product/AssetPopup ... setType=13

I can only speak for myself, but I don't really care if the pieces are mixed up or sorted. I like looking though a pile of bricks for one piece.

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Post by Sir Kohran »

I agree. However, having separate bags is, as Chrislad pointed out, part of the building experience - there's something cool about opening them up one by one and finding new pieces in each one. A lot better than the overwhelming sea of bricks you would often get in older sets.

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