Plastic Has Taken Over: 22 Egregious Examples of How We're Drowning the Planet in Plastic (24 Photos)

Humanity is teetering on the edge of a point of no return—past which Earth will no longer be able to restore its natural balance, triggering a global environmental catastrophe. While a floating island of garbage drifts through the ocean and scientists struggle to find safe ways to dispose of billions of tons of plastic, manufacturers and retailers continue to wrap everyday items with absurd generosity.





The obsession with shelf appeal has turned packaging into a destructive fetish, cluttering our world with plastic in every imaginable shape and color. Frustrated social media users are sharing photos of pointlessly excessive wrapping that serves no real purpose other than making products look bigger and more attractive. Truly, civilizations come and go, but marketing is forever!



“The seller used this much plastic just to ship a single, ordinary candle.”





“My actual purchase is in the tiny bag on the left. Everything else is the packaging it came in.”



“Individually plastic-wrapped plastic straws inside a bigger plastic bag. A true environmental slap in the face.”



“Select jumbo potatoes individually shrink-wrapped in plastic. If only nature had invented a protective outer layer... like skin.”



“How much packaging do you really need for two candy bars?”



“Buying a tiny wallet resulted in an entire trash can full of waste.”



This seller clearly lacks faith in the natural strength of a coconut shell.



An antivirus software company ships a digital activation key inside a plastic disc case—even though no disc is included or needed.



One bottle can easily hold pills from nine separate containers, but manufacturers refuse to make them smaller because oversized packaging sells better.



Ten whole bottles of medicine combined weren't enough to fill a single container to the top.



There’s enough packaging here to wrap both the tiny purchase and the buyer.



Why wrap a plastic bottle of oil in even more plastic?!



Another textbook example of packaging dwarfing the actual product.



Pure bewilderment: a customer’s natural reaction to the mountain of packaging used to ship the tiny object in his hands.



A tiny black bottle shipped in a massive crate filled with plastic bubble wrap.



An eco-nightmare titled “5-in-1”: five mini bananas sealed inside one giant plastic bag.



The latest supermarket trend: aluminum cans wrapped in plastic.



Is a plastic mesh net really stronger than a watermelon rind?



“I bought ten pencils online and they arrived in two massive cardboard boxes. Unboxing and taking out the trash took nearly an hour. Definitely an unforgettable purchase.”



An environmentalist’s worst nightmare, coming to a supermarket near you.



What is even the point of packaging like this?



Look closely: three separate layers of different plastics on a single orange.



We really will put anything in plastic—including metal cans of fish.