Poll: Styrofoam or cardboard for your wine shipping?
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“I have too much Styrofoam.” That was the “problem” that a wine writer confessed to while introducing himself at a recent wine writers conference.
There comes a point in the wine lovers’ evolution where getting wine from the local store just won’t suffice. We want a certain bottle, sometimes from the winery or sometimes from a store that offers a better price. So we have the wine sent by UPS or FedEx.
Of the boxes I receive, about half are filled with Styrofoam and about half with cardboard inserts to protect the bottles during transportation. In honor of Earth Day, which is the “greener” material?
My collaborator Pablo Paster calls it “a philosophical choice.” That’s because Styrofoam is much lighter than cardboard thus the box emits fewer greenhouse gases during transportation (though its manufacture emits 8.6 times the equivalent amount of cardboard says Pablo). Even though it can be recycled, it rarely is; new polystyrene is so cheap to manufacture. Thus it ends up in landfills where it takes up a lot of space and needs hundreds of years to break down. Cardboard can be recycled more readily. Both can be reused but probably aren’t reused more than once or twice.
Since I’ve expressed my opinions about the dreaded Styrofoam before, I’ll put the question to you: Which packaging material do you prefer, cardboard, with higher GHG transport emissions today, or Styrofoam, which doesn’t biodegrade?
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On April 22nd, 2008 at 6:05 am ,Bill Wilson wrote:
I prefer the cardboard–takes up less space, easily stackable, and it doesn’t leave little foam bits all over your bottles!
On April 22nd, 2008 at 10:14 am ,JDWebster wrote:
I’ll admit I voted for styrofoam for purely selfish reasons, I really feel that It keeps the wine more secure during shipping. And I can turn it on its side and use it as extra racking when I run out of space, as I invariably do.
Jon
On April 22nd, 2008 at 10:45 am ,winehiker wrote:
Thanks, Doc, for again raising the issue. I believe the point here is that we cannot continue to opt for short-term solutions that create long-term problems. How we package our goods has everything to do with the values we place on how we shall continue to live on this finite planet.
On April 22nd, 2008 at 11:14 am ,Rich wrote:
Great issue! Whether you dislike Styrofoam on environmental, health, convenience or other grounds, we must eradicate it from the face of this planet! Also, I am allergic to it! Even though I have to cut up a lot of cardboard each week for recycling, I use the time to think of a Styrofoam-free world (and one without plastic water bottles).
On April 22nd, 2008 at 12:50 pm ,VinquireThea wrote:
It’s a tricky situation. You need the best way to cushion and insulate the product, while being economical and ecological.
I wonder why we don’t get wine shippers made out of the cornstarch peanut material that was so popular a few years ago? Or the sugar cane to-go containers that are all the rage in the SF Bay Area.
On April 22nd, 2008 at 1:49 pm ,Kat wrote:
Styrofoam is my preferred packing material, primarily because I can bring it into the store and we can reuse it. Cardboard usually just turns into a cat bed in my apartment, and then I have to go and cut it up for recycling. I cut up enough boxes in the store to not want to have to do it at home.
Also, when shipping across the country, or even just in-state, it’s much easier to pack and keeps the wine in a more stable environment, temperature-wise. The shredded-cardboard inserts have no insulation, and usually end up shedding all over my apartment and myself.
On April 22nd, 2008 at 2:06 pm ,Weston wrote:
styrofoam yuck it gets everywhere in the house, both are recyclable I guess. I perfer cardboard tho
On April 22nd, 2008 at 2:37 pm ,winehiker wrote:
Thea, I think you’re on to something.
Kat, are you (and other merchants) providing incentives for your customers to return their styrofoam materials to you for additional use? Do you or the jurisdiction you’re in have a public styrofoam recycling program?
On April 22nd, 2008 at 2:58 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
winehiker -
I saved a bunch of Styrofoam containers and took them to a big shop near me. They didn’t want them. Oy! And to think that each case costs them $12 new… I haven’t been back to that store for a while…
On April 22nd, 2008 at 4:31 pm ,winehiker wrote:
Tyler, I too have tried that! I’ve also tried it with incandescent light bulbs, which have lead in them - but I used the phone that time.
I’ve often mentioned to folks that styrofoam has a half-life of 10,000 years, but I might have been wrong about that. Apparently it’s got a half-life of Never according to these folks.
On April 22nd, 2008 at 6:22 pm ,Winehiker Witiculture wrote:
[...] you considering the type and amount of packaging in the products you [...]
On April 22nd, 2008 at 6:46 pm ,Arthur wrote:
Can the styrofoam containers be recycled?
I have this uneasy feeling about the ability of cardboard to protect the bottles from heat and impact during transport. I have been saving the larger styrofoam containers I have received as I am preparing to move and, again, feel they will better protect my wines.
I used to get styrofoam while in wine country, but since I bought a cooler on wheels, I find I can carry more wine and keep it cooler with a reusable cold pack.
On April 23rd, 2008 at 12:55 am ,chris wrote:
vino is not greeno
it is expensivo
protect your stuff
don’t be gruff
just send a check to green peace “O”
On April 23rd, 2008 at 12:57 am ,Arthur wrote:
Another round of applause for Operaman, everyone!
On April 23rd, 2008 at 8:26 am ,Tish wrote:
I prefer styro for its thermal properties, and assuage my guilt by bringing empties over to a wine store that is more than happy to take and reuse them. Incidentally, they tell me NOT to bring my cardboard ones… too much breakage.
On April 23rd, 2008 at 10:48 am ,Mike wrote:
As a producer who ships thousands of cases of wine a year across the country, I really wrestle with this issue. But alas, I have to go with Styrofoam. Last year, I received two different shipments of wine off the same UPS truck at the same time. Both from local wineries. One six pack was packed in cardboard, the other in Styrofoam. The bottles in cardboard were quite warm and displayed no headspace, i.e., the wine got so warm it had expanded and was pushing on the cork. The bottles in Styrofoam still had ample headspace and were somewhat cool still. Given that wine is a perishable product, that was all the evidence I needed. I’ve also heard of too many reports of breakage when shipping in cardboard.
On April 23rd, 2008 at 10:51 am ,David wrote:
At the winery I work at, they used foam shippers completely when I started there 4 years ago. I worked hard at moving them into recycled pulp (cardboard) trays instead. There was a lot of resistance at first.
What we found is that the 12 bottle pulp tray shippers just didn’t hold up well during shipping with UPS.
We now use foam for the 12 bottle shippers but recycled pulp trays for everything else.
On April 23rd, 2008 at 11:52 am ,Matt wrote:
I recently made the decision to switch the tasting room I run from stryo to pulp trays. Plup trays are just so much easier to store and take up little space in our already over stuffed cellar. Personally though I believe that stryofoam is a better insulator and is safer but its a risk I’m willing to take on sub-$30 bottles.
On April 23rd, 2008 at 5:32 pm ,Patrick wrote:
I buy most of my wine in Chicago and fly home with it. I only see styrofoam inserts in the stores when I ask for or buy a shipping carton. It always protects the wine well, but my basement is now filled with empty foam cartons. The recycling is a problem.
On April 24th, 2008 at 8:05 am ,Dr. Vino wrote:
It’s too bad that some of the comments here complain of breakage with cardboard/pulp. I guess I’m lucky to never have had that problem.
Re: insulation, do you really find that it helps? I suppose the flipside is also true: if it gets too hot in a truck all day when being picked up then it could *stay* hot in the warehouse that night.
It’s really amazing that there isn’t a better option–one that is insulating, cushioning, and biodegradable.
On April 24th, 2008 at 12:16 pm ,Rich wrote:
I’ve received a lot of cardboard packing and never received a broken or damaged bottle. I guess using soil as the packing material would be too heavy. Maybe popcorn (particularly the caramel corn variety) would work well. Might be an insulator, too.
On April 24th, 2008 at 12:36 pm ,Arthur wrote:
Tyler,
How does creating a fleet of climate controlled wine delivery vans impact the environment?
On April 25th, 2008 at 7:04 am ,Gabriella Opaz wrote:
While I look out over a sea of styrofoam containers sitting in my livingroom, unable to be recycled by my town in Spain, I’m sad. I would much prefer to receive my bottles in a mound of edible popcorn, rice cakes or even popped wheat than styrofoam! Obviously, I realize that protecting the wine is key, but I have to imagine in 2008, we can be more creative than this.