Adobe. Packaging. Green. Fail.

The WAIP (Wasteful and Irresponsible Packaging) Award this week goes to ..........

ADOBE SYSTEMS.

I decided to invest (having moved to a new laptop and upgraded all my other hardware and software), in the new Adobe Acrobat X, which has several improvements over previous versions. I took delivery of the product today, and love the new program! BUT.. the pagkaging really turned me off. This is how Adobe Acrobat X is packaged:

And this is the product that all this lavish cartonboard, lamination, gloss and ink actually houses:

Aside from the wasteful packaging, just think of all that extra air that is being transported all over the world in this box, and all the extra weight that requires all that extra energy to move around.  And the extra cost to me, the consumer, for all of this cost the company is incurring. In a company with an embedded sustainability culture, this wouldn't happen.

Adobe claim to be environmentally conscious and environmentally responsible.Their 2009 CSR summary report proudly notes that Adobe was recognized by Newsweek as one of the 20 greenest companies in the world (This was in 2009. Actually, they ranked #7 in 2010) . Adobe writes "we highly encourage and promote conscientious environmental stewardship among our employees and our business partners." The summary report doesn't refer specifically to packaging, and I couldn't find anything on packaging initiatives on the  Adobe CSR website.  

All in all, a major FAIL for ADOBE in packaging sustainability.
 

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainabilty Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz/en  (BeyondBusiness, an inspired CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)