David Graas - designing better garbage is not an old hat

How to best reduce and avoid waste has been discussed in some environmentally conscious countries already in the late 80s. I remember teachers in primary school urging to leave bulky boxes and the mass of plastic in the supermarkets to help put pressure on the retailers who should put pressure on to the producers to rethink materials used for packaging. Although the idea didn't catch on, it was worth a try.
Designer David Graas for example is all for making the package into the product. Below some interesting thoughts on the psychology of package design and our personal amortization system of products we buy.

"What do most of you do to the shoe boxes that you ‘bought’ together with your shoe purchases? Do you keep them or throw them away? For me, I generally keep them. I will use them to store my old shoes. In my shoe closest rests many shoe boxes with shoes that I no longer wear. The purpose of their existence now is no longer to provide comfort to my feet but to collect dust."

Economist Richard Thaler suggests:

“The more expensive they were, the more often you’ll try to wear them. Eventually, you’ll stop wearing them, but you won’t get rid of them. And the more you paid for them, the longer they’ll sit in the back of your closet. At some point, after the shoes have been fully ‘depreciated’ psychologically, you will finally throw them away.”

This is what Mr. Thaler calls “sunk cost”.

http://www.idasia.org/david-graas-designing-better-garbage/
http://www.davidgraas.com