Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a blog post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the twelfth day of the month is "Complaint."
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I've mentioned repeatedly in this space that if something bothers me every day, I try to fix it. There are, unfortunately, some things I can't fix, either because I don't have the resources or it's just absolutely out of my control. This is one of those things.
I use disposable contacts. I don't wear them every day. Yes, I am wracked with guilt over the waste. No, I don't get mad when I can wear them for more than two hours.
My complaint is that they come in rows of five. FIVE. I am lucky because both of my eyes use the same strength contact lens. I have TWO eyes. These things do not match up and I'm forever dealing with stray packages of one contact in our medicine cabinet.
I find this packaging to be inconvenient and annoying and there's nothing I can do about it.
What pesky packaging annoys you?
I guess that packaging must be because most people would need two different prescriptions? So they would have two separate packages for a work week? I guess? My son wears the kind that last for two weeks and they just come in a big box, but he has different prescriptions for each eye so he always has two boxes. The packaging that makes me mental is when I go to Costco and get a bottle of medicine, like Advil, for example, and it comes attached to cardboard, with plastic over the bottle. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's just one bottle, just sell the bottle. I guess it's to deter theft, but I hate it.
ReplyDeleteAll the extra packaging at the grocery store is crazy! And, yet, we still get boxes of shards of crackers, so I guess it's not a perfect science.
DeleteWhat Nicole said about that freaking cardboard and plastic packaging...not only does it deter theft, it deters using the product at all.
ReplyDeleteClamshell packages are the absolute worst. Someday I'm going to do serious injury to myself trying to open up some crazy thick plastic with a pair of scissors.
DeleteAll packaging annoys me because I cannot ever open it the way the package claims it can be opened. I horribly mangle all packaging, and the ones marked Easy Open are the worst. Boxes with instructions that say Push In And Pull Out To Form Pour Spout are liars.
ReplyDeleteMy migraine pills come in a terribly impossible package that are blister packs all stuck togther. I have to pull one off, then bend the designated corner, somehow peel the protective foil from it all off the back, then push the pill out of the blister. It's so teeny and frustrating that it makes my headache worse. Who thought of such torture?
Oh, boy. My dog has medications that come in packages like that and I take a few minutes when the prescription first comes in and open all of them at once and put them in a used spice container. *sigh* Otherwise it would make me mad every day when I have to open them - this way it's just one big frustration at one time. I can't imagine dealing with it when I have a migraine!
DeleteInteresting! I never thought about that because I've always needed two different strength contacts, so I'm used to getting two boxes. Or more than two: this is the first year I've used dailies (since they're one of the only multifocals that comes in the strength I need, and the others felt like sandpaper), and I was rather shocked when I picked up a year's supply and it was so huge. A year's supply of monthlies, I can hold in my hand! But the dailies came in their own little tote bag. The waste does bother me, but being able to see without always needing readers is worth it to me.
ReplyDeleteYes, I got a year's supply because of some rebate, so when I picked up all those dailies, it was SO MUCH packaging. I was surprised. Also, I had to reorganize the bathroom cabinet where I store all that stuff. I'm with you, though, that I struggle with other types of contacts because they dry my eyes out so much.
DeleteMy complaint is with eyelid wipes. They come folded up into a tiny square inside a package you rip open. Opening the package is easy, but then unfolding the wipe is difficult because it's slippery, soapy. Thus I end up fingering the thing every which way, or sometimes dropping it on the counter, before I use it on my eyelid and I worry if the darned thing is sanitary. I snarl every time.
ReplyDeleteMy husband has this SAME COMPLAINT. He gets styes and weird things on his eyelids, so he needs to clean them, but he has mentioned that they're so slick and he's dropped them before. You're not alone!!
DeleteI hate the extra space in so much packaging. I recently bought some melatonin and it came in a GIANT bottle. When I opened up the top, 75% of the bottle was filled with air. Not only does it feel like a giant waste of plastic, it takes up so much room in my cupboard. This drives me crazy.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely be moving those pills into a smaller container. I am KNOWN for this. There's just a random glass bowl of Vitamin B pills in our cabinet. *sigh* I'm sure there's a reason for the excessive packaging, but it seems like there must be a more environmentally friendly solution.
DeleteNothing to add, but I am reminded to drop in to the optician to see about new glasses. I can’t use over-the-counter because, unlike you, my eyes are definitely not the same. So thanks … I think.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'll consider this as a solid PSA then. Get thee to the eye doctor!
DeleteI use disposables as well, and this would never even have occurred to me because my eyes have very different prescriptions. I think it must be pretty rare to have both eyes exactly the same!
ReplyDeleteIs it rare, I wonder? It's been like this for me for about ten years and before that, they were only a tiny bit different. Hm. I'll have to ask the eye doctor next time I go.
DeleteI wear dailies as well! They are so much better than the contacts I used to wear as I have terrible calcium build up if I wear non-dailies. But they are expensive. I have the same rx for both eyes, too, so having them in packs of 5 is not my favorite.
ReplyDeleteSo this packaging is not optional because my RA injections needs to stay cold but I hate my monthly delivery. There are ice packs within a styrofoam cooler within a box. It is so much packaging and I hate that they use styrofoam but I imagine it's their only viable/cost-effective option.
Yes, I can see how delivering medications that need to be kept at a certain temp could lead to a lot of excessive, non-recyclable packaging. What a bummer, but your health is important, so needs must!
DeleteMy 11 y/o is obsessed with toaster strudel and is forever losing little frosting packets in the freezer and ending up with too many pastries at the end of the box.
ReplyDeleteOh, that would be the WORST. Who wants just a regular pastry without the frosting?! Blech.
DeleteI was switched to these very same dailies a year or so ago, and I similarly angsted over the waste, but I also have hellishly dry eyes, and also I don't use bottles and bottles of solution anymore, so I thought maybe it kind of evened out? I have different prescriptions for each eye, though, so the number doesn't vex me, just the packaging. And I still kind of dread putting them in.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...maybe you're right about the trade-off in cleaning solution and eyedrops and the rest. I guess if I really cared about this, I'd just stick with my glasses and never wear contacts, although that's inconvenient, particularly when I'm exercising.
DeleteWow. That would also annoy me. But how interesting that your eyes are both using the same RX? I think that might be unusual.
ReplyDeleteI loathe anything OVERLY packaged up and not recyclable.
I didn't realize that having the same strength for each eye was so unusual. I'll have to ask my eye doctor about it the next time I see them.
DeleteI'm guessing you don't have astigmatism so that might be why you can wear the same prescription in both eyes? I have horrid astigmatism and even the astigmatism contacts don't work well for me, which is why I mostly wear glasses these days. I have this HUGE pack of dailies (and two different packs, since my prescription is different per eye) that I will be using for eternity because I wear contacts so infrequently. So at least if it's wasteful, you're actually USING them. I may have to throw half of the contacts away because they'll expire before I can use them. Oof.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize it was so rare to have the same script for both eyes! No astigmatism or super high prescription for me, so contacts make sense for me, particularly when I'm doing high-impact exercise or sweating a lot. If it weren't for exercise, I'd probably just do without contacts, but I need the contacts to really help me workout.
DeleteI relate to this so much. I hate producing waste and try to limit it wherever I can. I hate when things are individually wrapped in plastic inside another plastic wrapping (e.g. bigger packages of toilet paper).
ReplyDelete