February 11th, 2008 · No Comments

By John DeFore

Consumers have long complained about the cost of razor blades, which dwarfs that of the shavers they snap onto; for eco-conscious consumers, the one consolation is that buying a refillable razor at least eliminates the wasted plastic involved in using disposable ones.

But sometimes the advantage is smaller than it could be. In a recent visit to Costco, we found a bulk package of refills for the Gillette Mach3 Turbo that used vastly more packaging material than necessary.

The cartridges themselves are about half an inch tall by an inch-and-a-half wide; the package measured one foot tall, 7.5 inches wide, and an inch deep, with raised plastic molding all around the edge. Well over half the surface area was wasted space.

We contacted company spokesperson Kelly Vanasse and confirmed our assumption that the package “was originally constructed for anti-theft purposes.” Vanasse added that this box was on its way out, to be replaced by “new packaging that reduces the amount of plastic on the package by 72% for a 13% reduction in the total packaging weight.” The new design, though, retains the long-and-wide format that leaves over half the surface unused; it also uses virgin cardboard.

Both designs are over-sized for a reason: They won’t fit into shoplifters’ pockets. Two less wasteful solutions spring to mind. Gillette could package the blades in a more sensible box that would then be fitted with the kind of reusable anti-theft device already used by many retailers. Or, instead of perpetuating an outrageous shaving “arms race” in which consumers are continually told they can’t get a truly close shave without the latest multi-blade technology (the reality of multi-blade hype has long-since surpassed the parody that “Saturday Night Live” did years ago), Gillette could offer simple, low-cost replacement cartridges that would do the job without being a target for shoplifting. Until then, switching to a straight razor appears to be the most logical move for eco-concerned folks who’d rather not surrender their faces and legs to untended hair growth.

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