2020-06-25 – Have you noticed the proliferation of zip-lock packaging?

I don’t mind it so much on single-use items, though it is a little messy trying to get those tiny ketchup packs open. You do have to wonder who the marketing people think are going to want to close these things so they can use them again.

On larger packages, I sorta get it. You want to keep things fresh and you don’t want the contents spilling out into the cupboard. But if that’s the aim, why are they so hard to zip closed? (Or open?) And it’s hard to deliberately get the contents out passed the zip.

My beef is with Scoop Away cat litter. I don’t know what the freshness issue is with cat litter. Your cat may be different than mine, but, with my cat, once I open the package, I’m going to keep using it until it’s done. I’m not going to use it once in April and then not again until August. I wish!

And the stuff’s not going to just fall out of the package. Do you realize how heavy these packages are? (If you don’t, let me tell you. It’s 40 pounds when new. When my boys reached that weight, they stopped being babes-in-arms, if you know what I mean.) If you set one of these packages down with the opening on top, nothing falls out of them as long as gravity persists. (And I’m perfectly capable of taking advantage of this “gravity effect” in just folding the package closed, no zip required.)

Here’s the problem. The package is just a bag. It has no shape. But it’s heavy. When you want to pour some litter from the bag to the litter-box, it’s awkward. There’s nothing to hold onto. And this stupid zip-lock strip is preventing the cat litter from pouring out.

I didn’t ask for this package to be zip locked. Don’t tell me you asked for it.

I know that the latest thing in cars is keyless entry. But just wait. I wouldn’t be surprised if the next new car you buy is zip locked.

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