overwrapping......

[chaostrulyreigns]

everybody seems to be concerned about plastic carrier bags at the moment. no-one seems to worry about amount of plastic, cardboard and tags on toys.

I have just spent 8 minutes getting the wrapping off 5 knights and accessories from ELC and also stabbed my hand while doin it. (fume).

next time i feel like asking the shop assistant to remove the packaging her/himself before I leave the store. why should the end-user be responsible for disposal of excess and inpenetrable packaging when we do not want it in the first place.
maybe increased time staff have to spend with customers will open the retailers' eyes to this ridiculous situation. 8 minutes!!!!!

and don't get me started on find a screwdriver to change batteries!!!!

does anyone dare me to make them remove the packaging in the shops???

[ib]

I agree. I hate it when I buy some tiny thing and it comes in enough packaging to fill the rubbish bin.

Why?

[BustleInYourHedgerow]

Um why would you want to make the shop asstant's life more miserable? Is it not the responsibility of the manufacturer?
Fair enough I find all that crappy wrapping annoting but would not blame shop assistants, they get enough gip as it is.

[piprabbit]

The packaging on toys is so OTT that it ruins the atmosphere on my DCs birthdays.

DD excitedly opens present. Can't break through packaging on own so asks me to help. I try. And try. Go off to find some scissors. Try again. Eventually manage to undo packaging, but am left with a handful of small plastic bits scattered around which MUST NOT be left for my toddler to eat. Clear up deadly plastic bits.

Next, I find toy needs batteries, but now I need to find correctly sized batteries and a screwdriver to open the compartment. Or some bits need clipping together as the toy is not fully assembled. I am now cursing under my breath like a loon.

Finally toy is ready to go.

DD has lost interest and is eating cake.

Once it took 4 adults 45 minutes to unpackage and assemble the horrid pink palace DD was given. Ridiculous.

[ZacharyQuack]

I assemble the toy opening toolkit and hide it behind the sofa on Xmas Eve. Kit includes:

• flat head and philips screwdrivers, in assorted sizes
• scissors
• craft knife
• wire cutters
• pliers
• rubbish bags
• assorted sized batteries
• sticking plasters
• hip flask of vodka

[IrritableGrizzly]

ZacharyQuack I am definitely going to steal your toy opening kit - that is absolute genius (especially the hip flask!)

Agree the amount of packaging is terrible, and most of it is quite unnecessary. Makes me wonder if all toys in the 'old days' arrived broken into small pieces. I certainly don't remember that happening!

[malovitt]

I think it's usually obvious when batteries are required, isn't it? And having a screw down battery compartment is pretty sensible really.
I used to unpackage all toys after purchase, put batteries in if necessary and then repackage and wrap up.

Assembling things together after opening was part of the fun and anticipation though.

[thirtypence]

Come on, you would moan if the battery part was accessible and batteries could end up in a child's mouth. I wish remote controls had a screw so that people couldn't steal the batteries in motels.

Unwrap the toys before you wrap them so they are instantly playable.

Or buy secondhand toys and avoid packaging altogether.

[FaintlyMacabre]

Never mind children's toys, have you tried to open a Tesco pregnancy test recently? There I was, desperate for a wee, frantically hacking tiny pieces of industrial strength plastic and cardboard off with nail scissors.

At least it was positive after all my efforts. Childbirth will be a doddle in comparison.

[diddl]

Here in Germany it´s more than acceptable to leave the packaging in shops.
Although you would normally remove it yourself and give it to the shop assistant to dispose of.

[GoldenSnitch]

It was DS's 2nd chritsmas last year and I partly unwrapped and put batteries in all of his presents before wrapping them. Saved a lot of frustration on Christms morning

[kreecherlivesupstairs]

Agree diddl, I do the same in Switzerland and it's a hard habit to break. The woman on the till out in Tesco's stockport looked a bit confuddled when I took the duvet covers out of the plastic and left the wrapping at her station. It costs me so much to throw rubbish into bins (special bags) and it is such a faff to go to the recylcling place that I think leave the rubbish is the way to go. No matter what country you are in.

[addictedtomn]

zachary - i love it! i'm also going to be steeling that one!

[addictedtomn]

christmas is the worst wwhen you get through 5+ binbags of wrapping paper and cardboard, the wrapping paper on its own would only fill 1 bag. i get so annoyed.

[thirtypence]

Soft plastic like the stuff that supermarket PJs come in I keep and use to send stuff that I sell on Ebay.

[piprabbit]

I'm capable of unwrapping, assembling and filling toys with batteries ahead of time, when I've bought them myself. But when they are gifts from relatives, who are sitting there eagerly waiting to see DCs playing with new toys, it can be a traumatising experience... will definitely put together a present opening kit before Christmas, thanks for the idea Zachary.

[TsarChasm]

Oh gosh yes this is a bugbear of mine too (so many bugbears now I'm a grumpy old lady)

But Christmas morning with 3xdc all clamouring at once for toys and trying to get dollies and cars etc out of their boxes. Sometimes you even need a blimmin screwdriver to get the thing out

It really does spoil the atmosphere and puts eveyone in a bad mood.

[overmydeadbody]

YANBU

But toys are well wrapped to stop shoplifters as well as to stack better on the shelves and transport better.

I remove packaging in shops, what's wrong with that? I do it will food too, I leave the extra unnecessary packaging at the till for the shop to dispose of.

[overmydeadbody]

M&S are the worst when it comes to eccesive food packaging, it's not just packaging, it's M&S packaging.

[overmydeadbody]

When it comes to christmas presents, I unwrap them first myself and put the batteries in etc. so that when DS unwraps the present it is ready to play with.

[ZacharyQuack]

PIL are the worst at buying toys with a million little wire twisties and sharp plastic exoskelelton. Last Christmas I started handing some over to FIL to unwrap. Oh, how he complained

[chaostrulyreigns]

thanx everyone for their comments.

i think the WI started a campaign a while back to leave excessive packaging in the shops.

Retailers have to pay to dispose of their rubbish, so if we take this to the Nth degree i think they may soon start to rethink their packaging policies as we leave mountains of the stuff in the shops.

i thought some of the comments about European policies were interesting, but they always seem much more progressive than us in many areas.

And ZQ your comments about the toy opening kit will be warmly embraced in our house.

another one i've thought of -- why are greetings card wrapped in a plastic wrapper, yes I know it's to keep them pristine but sooo wasteful it makes me weeeeeeeep. boohoo

[bran]

Complain to the retailer. Apparently a large chain of toy shops in Ireland had so many complaints the Christmas before last that they forced the manufacturers to simplify the packaging under threat of refusing to stock the worst offenders if it wasn't changed.

[lillyput]

Great discussion, hopefully, removing excess packaging and leaving it with the retailer will become 'de rigor' in the not too distant future, as more and more of us are becoming increasingly environmentally aware. Personally, I tend to buy my offspring good quality recycled toys i.e., second hand. However, when buying gifts, I inevitably find myself drawn to the new and shiny (complete with big packaging). Wouldn't it be great for our kids not to have the same bugbear? Then again, the issue will only be replaced by another one.........wonder what!.........noise levels of household nappy recycling machines maybe?

[thirtypence]

Has anyone noticed that electrical items are coming more packed around with plain cardboard in really quite complicated arrangements, or moulded recycled looking papier mache stuff?

I don't get why they can't do that for toys too.

[alwayslookingforanswers]

ahh now I agree on the packaging - I do however like battery compartments that require a screw driver.