The latest @plastisphere episode just reminded me of my permanent grief with electronics packaging.

I recently bought two fingernail sized USB Wifi-Dongles. This means, the dongle is really just a 3-5 mm extension of the USB plug. It's minuscule. Also, they are 7 or 10 €, which in and by itself is questionable.

But the point was: They came in 20x20 cm plastic packaging with a carton sheet holding the picture and some marketing yadayada. The *packaging literally weighed more than the product*.

Then on the other hand, through my work I ordered a LAN to USB dongle. Not exactly the same, but just as my Wifi experience, it was ordered online and never even lay on display but in a warehouse.

It came in a simple carton box, just the size of the thing. Maybe with a plastic bag for moisture protection.

So, lessons learned:
* It *is* absolutely possible to sell products in simple, just-as-needed boxes.
* It absolutely makes no sense at all to package into on-display packaging when stuff is at the large majority sold online.
* Even if it's to be put on display, there are non-plastic ways of doing this. They manage to sell batteries in carton-only boxes. And at 10 € a piece, theft protection simply is a ~~moot argument~~ nonsense.

This should be legislated much, much more restrictively.