• beliquititious@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    40
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    21 hours ago

    I don’t understand why some books are wrapped in plastic at all. Like is it to protect the cover? Prevent people from reading it at the book store? Some weird contract with a vendor that requires a percentage of books be wrapped? A quirk of the shop that printed the book?

    It makes zero sense.

    • Chev@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      7 hours ago

      Both is correct. But the second one is less about reading and more about making a crease. People who buy new books, want to be the first ones to read it. If they wouldn’t care, they would just go to the library.

    • theneverfox@pawb.social
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      45
      ·
      20 hours ago

      Probably so they can be stored carelessly in dirty warehouses that may or may not control for humidity

      • FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        6 hours ago

        Used to work in a warehouse that did exactly this, can confirm drove a forklift loading pallets of books on trucks and “humidity control” meant closing the bay doors that didn’t have trailers backed in so the snow wouldn’t blow inside.

      • beliquititious@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        18 hours ago

        Aren’t books shipped in boxes though? I guess maybe a printer might palletize the books and find it cheaper to not wrap the whole pallet?

        It still seems like the individual book is the wrong place to focus on protecting it from damage it might incur in transit.

        • FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          2
          ·
          6 hours ago

          They are shipped on shrink wrapped pallets in boxes. The thing is, your local Walmart/target/airport shop doesn’t need 1500 copies of the latest Patterson novel, they stock a few of each current book in store. Meaning that pallet gets opened up at a hub warehouse and 2-3 books are going to 2-300 different stores along with whatever else has been purchased that week to restock the shelf. That book passes though a lot of hands before you buy it at the register

    • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      62
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 day ago

      that’s still bad though. it requires petroleum based processes to grow the corn and then convert the starch into a plastic like substance when the book could have just not been shrink wrapped. i get that you’re joking, and i’m being pedantic, but not enough people realize bioplastics are not the solution, they’re a gap measure, like EVs, and i’m usingeyour comment as a soapbox

      • HowManyNimons@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        19 hours ago

        Bioplastics also cause contaminated petroplastic recycling batches, are difficult to compost (my city, like many cities, does not have the facility), and release methane when breaking down in a landfill.

        • undefined@lemmy.hogru.ch
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          18 hours ago

          What’s up with cities (in the US) not having the facilities for this? I know it’s not a perfect solution but everyone I see walking their dog in Los Angeles has these compostable bags.

          Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like Europe does (generally speaking). Is it a matter of laziness or something else on our part?

          • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            13 minutes ago

            building these facilities must be funded by levies, and most jurisdictions vote no on most levies because no one ever feels like they can afford more taxes. really, if the world worked correctly, the richest people and companies would just pay for these things because society benefits them more than the rest of us, and we should receive benefits from society

      • kameecoding@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        23 hours ago

        I guess they could have been wrapped in bulk, but I wouldn’t say you can ship books around without any protection.

        It could have been an e book though