Amazon has delivered 21,680 packages to Western Washington University since September, Jeff Rogerson, mail processing manager with Western’s Mail Services, said over email. That’s 30% of all packages delivered to campus.
Most of the 51,934 packages from other carriers also contain goods from Amazon since Amazon uses other delivery services besides itself, Rogerson said.
What makes these figures especially staggering is that Western has a 4,145 residence capacity, according to the University’s website.
Alec Dawson, who lives on Campus, orders essentials from Amazon at least once a week.
“It’s easier for me to not make a whole two-hour commute to the store,” Dawson said.
Convenience has always been one of Amazon’s main appeals, but it comes at a price. Buying from Amazon means supporting the company, which many aren’t happy to do. Dawson doesn’t like giving her business to Amazon or Jeff Bezos.
“I’m not a fan of him or his practices, and I don’t like contributing to the waste that goes into making these products,” Dawson said.
Amazon is infamous for misconduct, including poor labor conditions. 41% of Amazon warehouse workers report being injured working in Amazon warehouses, and 69% have had to take unpaid time off because of exhaustion or pain, according to the Center for Urban Economic Development.
Amazon has also been in hot water continuously for union busting, tax evasion, underpaying employees and a litany of other wrongdoings.
With Western gobbling up all these Amazon orders, where does all the packaging go? Into the recycling and garbage bins around campus. Sarah Foster, operations manager at the AS Recycle Center, said Amazon packaging is prevalent in WWU’s recycling.
“It is likely that if you were to pick up any recycling from any of the academic buildings or dorms, that you would find mailers and cardboard boxes from Amazon,” Foster said.
Students need to be diligent about recycling the thousands of Amazon packages they summon to campus. Otherwise, they’ll end up in a landfill. Dawson is careful to properly recycle the packaging from her Amazon orders.
“It’s important to me to know where my garbage is going,” Dawson said.
It’s also important that students recycle their Amazon packages correctly. Some types of Amazon packaging can’t be recycled on campus. Bubble mailers, plastic film, air pillows and bubble wrap can’t go in campus recycling. You have to take them to recycling drop-off locations. The nearest one is at the Haggen on 36th St.
While bringing packaging that can’t be recycled on campus to drop-off locations is recommended, it doesn’t guarantee that those items will truly be recycled. A report from the U.S. Public Research Group found most Amazon packaging given to store drop-off locations ends up in landfills. Researchers placed tracking devices in Amazon packaging thrown in drop-off bins around the country and found no evidence that they’re being widely recycled.
If you try to recycle any of these items on campus, the AS Recycle Center workers who sort through all 650 recycling bins from around campus will have to weed them out — and throw them in the garbage.
The AS Recycling Center’s main responsibility is to collect and sort recycling at WWU. They remove things like bubble wrap that can’t be recycled here, but they don’t have the resources to ensure they’re recycled somewhere else.
“So, our role includes removing those items from the recycling stream and into the trash,” Foster said.
Some Amazon packaging materials aren’t recyclable at all. For instance, you can’t recycle styrofoam in Bellingham, according to the AS Recycling Center’s list of non-recyclable items. The only place to put styrofoam is in the trash.
Speaking of trash, many people don’t even bother trying to recycle their Amazon packaging. Pop open the lid to any dorm dumpster, and you’re likely to spot a perfectly recyclable cardboard Amazon box in there.
Forget the packaging. What’s inside these Amazon orders can be wasteful if you aren’t careful. The sea of Amazon packages Western stuffs down its gullet isn’t entirely made up of essentials. Amazon is full of low-quality items that aren’t built to last.
The only Amazon package on-campus resident Rhyanna Mercer ordered this year was a stuffed panda.
“It’s really important,” said Mercer. “Well, not really, but…”
Mercer paused.
“I didn’t really need it, but I really wanted it,” Mercer said. “And you know what? It makes me happy.”
It’s fine to order a toy or something off of Amazon, but be careful with how you dispose of that packaging and make sure you make the most out of what you bought. Lauren Boaz, who lives on campus, recently purchased an Amazon package full of ceiling decorations for her dorm room. Boaz said she hopes they’ll last her as long as she needs.
“I’m hoping that they last me a good couple years so that I can reuse them as like birthday party decorations,” Boaz said.
Don’t feel guilty about ordering a stuffed animal or decorations from Amazon. But try to keep those non-essential purchases to a minimum, like Mercer, and get the most out of them, like Boaz.
Of course, recycle if you can. Throw that styrofoam away, but take the time to put that cardboard in the recycling and take that bubble wrap to the grocery store.
Ordering products to your doorstep with the click of a button is a privilege, and we need to earn it by doing so in the most responsible way possible.
Hope Rasa (she/her) is a city news reporter for The Front this quarter. She is a second-year Western student majoring in news/editorial journalism. She enjoys running, hiking, reading and spending time with her cat. You can reach her at hoperasa.thefront@gmail.com.
