A popular provider of weight loss products delivered free samples to one customer in an absurdly large cardboard box, leading one Redditor to observe, "They are not even doing capitalism right," given that shipping may have cost more than the samples themselves.

What's happening?

In r/Anticonsumption, the person shared a photo of a massive cardboard box containing two Nutrisystem chocolate pretzel bars. Plastic pillows fill most of the box's empty space.

"What came in this giant box for my boss," the poster wrote, confirming it was just "2 bars in this huge box," adding that they didn't know why the samples came separately from their supervisor's order.

"What a waste," one commenter responded. 

Why is this important?

Companies often send free samples to customers or businesses to boost sales and build brand loyalty. However, this can lead to sunk costs and excessive waste, particularly when companies develop specially sized sample containers or ship samples separately.

"Recycling-sorting machines are built for standard-sized products, like water bottles, so the machines may not recognize miniature products," Lea d'Auriol, founder of Oceanic Global, told PopSugar last year when discussing the impact of sample packaging in the beauty industry.

In the case of the Nutrisystem delivery, while the cardboard is biodegradable and can be repurposed as a cost-effective weed suppressant, the plastic elements will take years or generations to break down.

Conventional plastics are also derived from polluting dirty fuels and contain chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems.

Is Nutrisystem doing anything about packaging waste?

Kainos Capital, which acquired Nutrisystem from Tivity Health in 2020, says on its website that it has adopted five of the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals, including No. 13 of 17: climate action, which focuses on minimizing the rise of global temperatures and its effects.

The company says it offsets unavoidable pollution through projects such as tree planting and wind turbine installation and that it is working to optimize its supply chain. The Cool Down couldn't find any packaging-specific goals from Kainos Capital, but the company says it encourages "the reduction of food and food packaging waste within our offices."

Which of these factors would most effectively motivate you to recycle old clothes and electronics? Giving me money back 💰 Letting me trade for new stuff 👕 Making it as easy as possible ⚡ Keeping my stuff out of landfills 🗑️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

For its part, Nutrisystem promotes its weight loss plans as an eco-friendly choice, with easy meal planning helping to reduce food waste and its plant-based plans accounting for less agricultural pollution than meat-intensive diets, among other things. 

What can be done about packaging waste more broadly?

Nutrisystem is hardly the first brand to receive criticism for shipping items in excessive packaging. You can minimize the risk of this happening when you shop online by checking to see whether a seller offers minimal or plastic-free packaging.

Other ways to reduce packaging waste (and plastic waste more broadly) include shopping at zero-waste stores, opting for plastic-free products for everyday essentials, and — if you can't avoid plastic, which isn't as easy to recycle as it may seem — participating in free recycling programs from beauty retailers such as Ulta and Sephora.

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