If you’ve every bought Hewlett Packard ink jet cartridges you probably noticed that they each come with a postage paid envelop in which to ship your empty cartridge back to HP for recycling.

In the 5 years that I’ve owned my HP ink jet printer I’ve probably gone through 4 or 5 black cartridges and I have to say this program left me feeling pretty good about HP.

When I run out of ink I usually buy a single #56 black ink cartridge to replace the empty one. HP sells them in small boxes made of recycled paperboard.

They also sell packs of two – like a black cartridge and a color cartridge. These also come in a small box made of recycled paperboard.

I never gave the packaging much thought…until this weekend when I saw HP’s tri-pack at Costco (yes, I went to Costco, but it was only the second time I’ve ever been and the experience affirmed everything I think is ugly about that place).

Instead of a paperboard box, HP has encased 3 inkjet cartridges and a cardstock cover in a 9 3/8” x 10 7/8” plastic behemoth.

Most shocking is what HP has written on the back of the card stock – “Same great product. Less packaging than before.”

Apparently this is an improvement over their previous tri-pack. A case study on the HP website proudly claims this new packaging reduces material by 40%, while replacing 1,100 tons of PVC with 300 fewer tons of recycled PET plastic.

While these improvements are commendable, I think HP is missing the point here. What happened to using paperboard boxes? I’m no packaging expert, but I would be shocked if recycled plastic packaging required less energy to manufacture than a paperboard package. In fact, the 3 cartridges could probably have fit into a box made from the cardstock inside the plastic case!

Speaking of the cardstock inside, HP also printed a few sentences about their environmental stewardship, which they say “…extends to product design, manufacturing, distribution, operations and recycling.” Don’t see “packaging” in there do you?
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Because of all this, I almost didn’t buy the 3 pack. But I wanted to photograph it, take it apart and figure out what HP was thinking. As I looked around Costco, it seemed almost every product is packaged in over-sized plastic. This left me wondering whether Costco is actually encouraging its suppliers to create big over-sized packages to make customers feel like they’re getting more, more, more!

If you hate Costco, you probably also hate Walmart – but at least Walmart is wielding its influence with suppliers to reduce waste and increase adoption of sustainable business practices.

So who is really to blame here? Costco? Yes, if it is not working with suppliers to reduce wasteful packaging. HP? Of course, they must be held accountable to the environmental principles they print on their packages. Consumers? Definitely, if we’re not choosing products with environmentally responsible packaging we’re simply feeding the beast.

Buying the 3 pack was a tough choice for me and even though it saved me a few bucks I will not be doing it again.

Generally speaking, tech brands are pretty awful at environmental stewardship. That’s why I felt so good about HP’s recycling initiatives and why I now feel so let down. Sadly, I thought HP was above packaging like this.

If you feel the same and want to let HP know, copy and paste this blog into the environmental issues contact form at HP.

And do your part to live technically green by considering the size and type of packaging when you’re shopping for your next tech product.